Customer Relationship Management

Managing customer relations isn’t a new idea. Forging strong ties with clients has been important in business since the first storefront opened its doors. In today’s competitive world, creating happy, loyal customers is as vital as ever. So much so, in fact, that customer relationship management has taken on a life of its own. Also known as CRM, it involves all your shop does to improve client relations. That includes all contact and even the technology you use to land customers and keep them coming back.

Customer Relationship Management Concepts

Although it’s a basic idea, CRM is really a wide-ranging plan. It covers every way you interact with clients, which can include:

• phone calls
• emails
• face-to-face meetings
• marketing

CRM also includes tracking production and workflow. Plus, media like Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites help your efforts for managing customer relations. Every piece of info that can improve the customer experience is useful for managing the customer connection.

CRM Tools

With so many different aspects, customer service management could easily fall out of control. However, it’s no fluke that CRM emerged as a vital concept when it did. Today’s high-tech CRM tools make managing customer relations easy. Add-on elements that automate a big chunk of the process make up some of the most useful CRM tools. Some examples include tools that automate workflow, scheduling, ordering, and invoicing, as well as analytics and customer contact.

The first thing that comes to mind in useful CRM tools is software. It’s a handy way to simplify almost anything. Then, the Cloud made that specific tool even more useful. Data and functions in the Cloud are available on mobile devices so you can access them anywhere.

Managing Customer Relations Without Getting Overwhelmed

In view of the many CRM options you have to choose from, it could be hard trying to juggle it all. The key to good CRM, however, is picking which ones best serve your shop. Then, use them to make your own system. Having a tough time knowing where to start? Fullbay is one of the best CRM tools for heavy-duty repair shops. It automates just about every part of your business. Things like job scheduling, parts ordering, inventory, and even estimates and invoicing are as simple as a mouse click. It stores data and makes it available to you just as easy, too. Plus, Fullbay lives in the Cloud, so you can access all those resources wherever you go.

What’s more, customers will likely tell you the best part about Fullbay is the customer portal. It gives them a direct line to your shop anytime they need it. The portal lets customers request service, view estimates, PM, and repair history, check on job status, and even pay invoices. It makes them part of the process. Consequently, customer satisfaction and loyalty improve for more return customers and higher income, all bottom-line goals in customer relationship management.