How To Optimize Your Ecommerce CRM Software

Ecommerce CRM Software can provide you with all the cloud CRM benefits you have been reading about, or it can leave you with an empty bucket wondering where those benefits went. Just because the software is in place doesn’t guarantee that it will provide the returns you want. In order to get what you want out of your CRM software you have to optimize it. Just like with any other form of productivity and communication program, optimization lies in your pattern of use – not just in the features it has for you to use.

Two Approaches To One Solution

Ecommerce never is about just one group. The goal is the same for both, that is to increase satisfaction which in turn will boost your bottom line. Cloud CRM benefits include ways to increase satisfaction and retention for customers and for employees, says Zifitech. Both will be using the program so you have to develop two approaches to get to your one solution. Start by thinking of these approaches as those targeted at the in-house group, and the other targeted at the customer and client group – or outside group.

Creating The Test Group In-house

To boost CRM adoption rates you have to begin with a testing and trial process. Convene an in-house group that is representative of all the departments that will be using the Ecommerce CRM software. Try not to include early adopters only. These are the people who are drawn to new technology in all aspects of their life. You want to have the “every-man” on your test team. Their feedback will provide you with much more valuable information.

Creating The Customer And Client Test Group

Since you can’t really handpick your outside test group the way you can your in-house on you have to adapt how you will construct the test group. The simplest way is to come up with a survey system that asks questions to identify early adopters (so they can be eliminated), and that also identifies those who would be most likely to interact with the cloud CRM system on a regular basis. Invite those people to then become part of your test group.

Gathering Feedback In-house

Testing is easy, open up the platform and let the groups conduct business as usual just on the cloud CRM platform only. When the trial period is over, gather feedback. When you are doing this in-house there are a few things you want to be certain of for feedback forms. Pay attention to providing for objective and subjective feedback. You won’t be able to quantify all of the responses so you also have to prepare time to review and analyze the surveys.

Getting Relevant Feedback From the Customer And Client Test Group

The same as with the in-house group you need to provide a means for both quantifiable and subjective feedback. Make sure you put more strictures on the response options than with the in-house group as the outside group won’t clearly know the boundaries of software assessment (unless that is your main product or service). It can be very helpful with this type of feedback to identify keywords across the surveys and then rank the words for instances after. This is a reverse approach compared to what is commonly used. When it comes to identifying the cloud CRM benefits that your customers and clients want, working backwards can help prevent you from missing anything they have identified as important.

Analyzing Weaknesses And Strengths In Both

The problem with most trial periods is that the feedback is assessed through the lens of confirmation bias. That is the term used to describe when you only see or validated what confirms your preconceived notion. AS best as you can you must quantify the responses in order to create a scale that can prevent bias. Don’t dismiss the subjective responses, but use keyword scales to give weight to the recurrence of the comments across the entire span of responses. Make sure you are seeing both the strengths and weakness of your cloud CRM program.

What You Can And Cannot Influence

There are always going to points that you cannot influence when it comes to getting people to adopt your CRM. There is much you can do to assure that the program is accessible and easy to use – such as making sure there is adequate user access levels and appropriate training. If you do identify an area through the feedback surveys that you cannot influence – such as customer or client complaints about a lack of 24 hour live phone support, use that as the inspiration for a solution. You may not be able to afford that kind of staffing and service, but you can provide better online documentation to make the majority of questions easily resolved online at any time through the use of the CRM system. After all, one of the main cloud CRM benefits is that it can draw from multiple databases to provide relevant interactions – take advantage of that when resolving issues that you cannot fix permanently in the moment.

Documentation Is The Key

The real key to optimizing your Ecommerce CRM Software is to do what it takes to increase the CRM adoption rates across both the in-house and outside groups. That is done through training, but it supported through documentation and onboarding, explains an article by DC Computers. For the outside group the documentation may also be the training too. Work to make sure that your documentation is presented in ways that maximizes access by different learning styles and emphasizes time constraints. Use multimedia files to present the information but keep it broken into time blocks that do not exceed 5 minutes. This will prevent the information from appearing overwhelming and increase the willingness of both groups to review the documentation. If they can do that, your adoption rates for your Ecommerce CRM software will rise and you will see the effect in your next quarterly reports.