Customer Relationship Management Software System | Ramblings of an e-trader

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Customer Relationship Management Software System

Going through my business records over the just ended long three-day holiday weekend, I was pretty surprised to realise that I have been in business for three years already come December. Wow, time sure flies. I also realise that my customer base has grown and I am having a difficult time managing my mailing list manually.

As you know, I am an online retailer and I need to keep all my customers informed when new stocks arrive. As a matter of fact, I am awaiting a consignment and am figuring out the best way to get the word out to everyone in an automated process. I used to send everyone a personalized email but that is no longer possible without a good customer relationship management software system in place.

I know of friends in the same business who have implemented customer relationship management software systems successfully. They use such systems to manage their buyers, keeping in touch with them, process orders and delivery, promote and market products and tracking the effectiveness of these campaigns easily, besides many other finer details.

I read in an article a long time ago that returning customers are very important and it is true. In fact, over 70% of my sales are to returning customers. That's why a good customer relationship management system would be very helpful in keeping close ties with these buyers. An automated process would free up my time to canvas for new sales and grow the business.

Although my business is just a small concern, I have big plans for it in the future. That’s why I would love to start it on the right footing. I may not be in urgent need to implement a customer relationship management software system but I know that it would be to my benefit to get it in place whilst my business is still small and manually manageable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Right now is a great time to get a CRM system in place. As the economy gets leaner, you will depend on existing customers more than potential ones. It will also save you time on managing your clients, and gives some new ways for marketing your products. Good luck.

CyberPartyGal said...

Thanks Anh! I relly needed this push!

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