CRM for a Global Reach: Succeeding in an Interconnected World
Management Insight
We’ve often heard that today’s world is a globally connected one, but for quite a few people, the true nature of this wired world isn’t totally apparent until we come face to face with some of the most powerful new technologies that make virtual connections almost like face-to-face contacts. From advanced videoconferencing to a wide array of messaging and social media tools, remote relationships are becoming more “real” and saving businesses a lot of money on such pricy expenditures as air travel.
Sophisticated Customer Relationship Management or CRM is one resource for connecting those who may never meet in person, or for maintaining collaborations when one involved party is away. Across the quickly modernizing globe, these kinds of advancements are driving telework and telecommuting, remote team management, and better B2B and B2C outreach, all based on carefully designed digital data handling tools.
The best CRM and smart business designs rely on attention to detail. CRM solutions for global or multi-national operations should provide for the changes and customizations that will support these kinds of more complex interactions.
Time Zone and Language Features
One major way that digital services like CRM interfaces benefit global or long-range enterprises is by building in useful profile details such as time zone management. Just like those city-labeled clocks on the walls of a physical office, these details can save users from troublesome conversations about “what time it is ‘your time’” – additional details also go further in building a more intelligent view of a customer or client, helping internal staffers to understand what he or she deals with on a regular basis.
Language features help to connect those who speak a different native language that whatever is the norm at a headquarters or in major central offices. Accommodating the global customer might mean speaking (or supporting) many tongues, and CRM tools can help match work to language needs, for example, assigning a language expert or native speaker to specific calls.
Customs, Compliance and Other International Data
Another way that CRM systems can help is by integrating details, or note fields, for international transactions. From health care and technology to manufacturing, and across many other industries, rules on compliance vary dramatically across national borders. Having key guidelines embedded in CRM resources helps to keep everything kopasetic when 100% compliance is a must-have, and not a suggestion.
CRM for “Cultural Ambassadors”
Businesses that use CRM for precise customer data may also want more details on a customer or client personal knowledge about a business and its home base, to understand what will optimize the customer relationship. Although we often think of cultural ambassadors as those who meet incoming clients at regional airports, in a wired world, this role may be filled by those who are contacting these clients remotely on a regular basis. To be effective, good CRM tools should help the business answer not only the question of “what does the customer know about the company?” but also “what does the customer know about the cultural context?” – on the silver screen, audiences see time and time again that good cross-cultural business relationships often begin and end with individuals from diverse cultures coming together and sharing their experiences. This is another cornerstone of what this type of technology can help an enterprise accomplish in a data-centric era.
Ringio’s CRM can be built to enable the kinds of tasks that global or international-facing businesses face when going beyond home boundaries and breaking into foreign markets. Look for more details on how this easy to use visual interface can help support calls and generally enhance an enterprise communication model.
Justin Stoltzfus is a freelance writer covering technology and business solutions at Techopedia and Business Finance Store, as well as Ringio’s blog, focusing on emerging trends in IT services.
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