What is customer relationship management?

Customer relationship management refers to any system used to manage your business’s interactions with customers. It helps you stay connected with customers and manage relationships throughout the entire customer lifecycle. In addition, customer relationship management software provides valuable data that can offer insights into key metrics such as conversion rates and customer retention.

Top customer relationship management features to use

There are many features to look out for when selecting customer relationship management software. To help you achieve the CRM results you’re looking for, we’ve honed in on some of the features and benefits that you might find.

Centralised data management

Centralised data management simply means having all of your data in one place. When choosing a customer relationship management tool, it is generally beneficial to look for features that support centralised data management. Below are some of the main benefits.

Making customer data easily accessible

It is easier for different departments to access customer relationship data when it’s centralised. Having quick access enables teams to make informed decisions more efficiently.

Helping secure your data

When all of your data is in one place, it becomes easier to monitor and secure. Knowing exactly where your data is kept allows you to implement safeguards such as encryption, fraud prevention, firewalls and access controls. This reduces the risk of data breaches and helps build customer trust. Customers who know their data is being stored safely may feel more confident in your business. Secure data management also helps ensure compliance with UK data protection regulations. 

Helping with the standardisation and accuracy of data

Centralising customer data makes it easier to maintain consistency and reliability. With all data following the same format, gaps and inconsistencies become easier to spot and address. This is particularly important when analysing data for business insights.

Making customer data easier to analyse

A centralised data system supports higher data quality, making it easier to generate actionable insights. These may include identifying audience segments, understanding preferred communication channels and analysing which campaigns have generated the highest engagement.

Managing the sales pipeline

CRM pipeline management helps you track and manage your customer sales pipeline, including customer acquisition. This makes it an effective tool for activities such as cold email marketing. Below are some of the reasons it can be useful to have this as part of your CRM package.

Helping to manage customer lead stages

CRM pipeline management helps optimise lead generation and helps track customers as they move through the sales cycle. It provides your sales team with key insights into each customer’s stage in the process and gives them access to the data they need to forecast outcomes and identify future lead generation opportunities.

Helping you to identify bottlenecks in your sales pipeline

This feature can help identify where bottlenecks are occurring in your customer sales pipeline. For example, it may reveal friction points in the customer journey such as shopping cart abandonment or gaps in customer support. By addressing these issues, you can make the customer experience smoother and increase loyalty.

Helping you understand your conversion rates better

CRM pipeline management helps you analyse which factors are driving customer acquisition and retention. Its analytics and forecasting features enable you to identify the specific reasons behind your current conversion rates, based on past customer interactions, transactions, audience segmentation and more.

Helping you forecast revenue

Historical sales pipeline data can support more accurate revenue forecasting. By enabling a data-driven approach to pipeline management, CRM pipeline tools give you greater visibility into likely revenue outcomes.

Social media integration

Another important feature of customer relationship management software is social media integration. If your business relies heavily on social media marketing, it’s worth reviewing which social media management tools are available.

Check which social media platforms your CRM tool integrates with, and whether these align with your existing social media strategy. While many platforms include basic CRM functions, not all offer the advanced features you may require. Some key CRM social media features to look for include:

• Social listening, or social media conversation monitoring: allows you to track customer discussions about your products and brand, including customer reviews. These tools can alert you to new engagement opportunities and help you strengthen your social media presence.
• Social analytics features: help you segment your audiences more effectively. As we explore in our guide to human experience (HX), customer engagement with a business is often subjective and being able to understand a customer’s emotional as well as practical needs is key. Understanding these factors allows you to create more targeted customer incentives based on specific needs and interests.
• Real-time trend monitoring: helps you track emerging trends in your industry and observe how customers are responding to them. Engaging with relevant trends can support higher conversion rates, for example, by introducing a new product feature that addresses a trending customer pain point.

E-commerce CRM

If your business focuses on e-commerce, having CRM tools tailored to online retail is especially valuable. Many of these features overlap with those found in sales pipeline CRM, which can also bring significant benefits to e-commerce businesses. Below are some key e-commerce CRM features to consider.

• Purchasing history and customer behaviour data: CRM tools can collect data on customers’ purchasing history, including buying trends, habits and product satisfaction. This enables you to identify high-value customers who spend more with your business, potentially opening up opportunities for influencer collaborations in the future.
• Personalised communication channels: CRM systems can help identify customers’ preferred communication channels, such as SMS, WhatsApp or email and enable you to build personalised marketing campaigns accordingly.
• Business growth opportunities and trend analysis: CRM software can identify business growth opportunities and track market trends, allowing your business to respond quickly using agile product management.

Identify which CRM tools match your business needs before investing in the tech. Sales pipeline marketing can help you with cold email marketing, while social media integration tools can help you develop your social media strategy further. Or, look at a centralised data management tool if you need to standardise the formatting of your data and help keep your customer data safe. Regardless of which tools you use, CRM can efficiently streamline your customer relations processes and promote customer retention.

FAQs

What might using CRM tools look like in practice?

Here’s a case example of how you might use CRM tools in real life: 

A small retail business selling plants uses CRM to track its sales pipeline and collect data on customers’ buying behaviours, such as whether they are variety seekers or habitual buyers. The business also uses social media listening tools to monitor which plants are currently popular, whether for their appearance or ease of care. By combining these insights, the business can develop personalised marketing and sales strategies that appeal to both existing and potential customers.

What are some CRM examples in retail?

Examples of CRM in retail include:

• Loyalty programmes designed around customer needs, behaviours and interests
• Personalised product recommendations based on previous purchasing history and behaviour
• Targeted email marketing campaigns based on customer purchasing history and audience segmentation