Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The Customer Relationship Management System provides you with the tools to perform a variety of customer service and marketing tasks. The CRM system is used to setup and maintain customers, contacts, and shipping addresses, to view, enter, and track sales orders, opportunities and actions, and to maintain customer specific comment and other information.
The business processes that are performed using the Customer Relationship Module include the following.
Customer Setup and Maintenance
The CRM System is used to create new customer records and to locate, view, and edit existing customer records. The CRM System also allows you to view, create, and edit other sales related information that is maintained for each customer. This information includes Customer Shipto Addresses, Customer Comments or notes, Special Pricing specific to the customer, Customer Cross Reference Item Information and other related information.
Contact Setup and Maintenance
Contact records can be setup and maintained using the programs in the CRM System. Contacts records store details about the individuals you do business with at each company. A Contact can be associated with an existing customer, or they can be input as “Unassigned” and then moved over to a customer if the customer is set up at a later time.
Order Entry
The CRM Programs allow you to quickly create new quotes, sales orders, and loaner orders. Orders can be manually entered or imported automatically using EDI and XML import programs.
Viewing and editing orders
Several different lookup programs in the CRM system can be used to view the details for and the status of the orders in the system. The Sales Order Management and some other programs also allow you to edit existing sales orders (if the order is open and available for editing).
Creating and Processing Opportunities
The CRM System allows you to create and process Opportunity records. Opportunity records are created to record and describe sales prospects for new or established customers or contacts. Action records are then created from and linked to the opportunity records to identify and track the tasks that need to be completed as each opportunity is pursued.
Creating and Processing Incidents
Incident records are used to record and to process various types of information. Incidents can be used to track repair or service situations or to record other issues that may require followup actions. Incidents are usually tied to a specific customer and contact, and they typically also have actions records associated with them.
Creating and Editing Actions
Action records are used to track and record action items that have been or need to be completed. Actions can be associated with multiple types of records, including Opportunities, Incidents, customers and contacts.
Profiling Customers
Defining and processing scripts for profiling your customers. The Customer Profile system allows you to define question and answer sets that can be used to prompt for and record information about your customers.
Viewing inventory availability and pricing
The Catalog Inquiry program and additional Product Management and Inventory Management programs can be access from the CRM menus and programs.
More:
CRM Maintenance/Utility Programs
CRM Daily Processing Procedures