CRM - Keeping customers and growing your business

IF YOUR BUSINESS IS UP AND RUNNING, you know how hard you worked to get your first customers. But did you know that acquiring customers can be the easy part - keeping those customers loyal and making sure they return to do repeat business with you can often be much more difficult. However, existing customers can contribute significantly in helping you build a successful business - so it makes good business sense to manage these relationships effectively.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has been around for years but many small business owners don't consider it as an option as they think their business may be too small or just doesn't need it. On the other hand, small business owners that use CRM software to track interactions and keep in touch with customers and/or prospect customers could not envisage operating without it.

​There are many options available for small business with a lot of providers offering free versions - what is key is to take some time and research what the best option is for your business. All CRM platforms enable you to easily build and maintain a customer and/or prospect database. With this database you can:

• Store customer details, product preferences, special requirements etc
  
• Communicate with your customers easily and track responses to calls/emails
  
• Identify visitors to your website and track their activity, building a profile of what prospective customers are particularly interested in
  
• Deliver email marketing campaigns in bulk to promote special offers, discounts etc
  
• Follow up with inactive customers that have not bought in a while or did not complete a purchase, with a gentle reminder
  

PERSONAL DATA AND GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION GDPR
If you process personal data as part of your business, then GDPR applies to you. It is important to remember that:

• Customer AND employee data is personal data
  
• Storing personal data either electronically or in hardcopy constitutes 'processing' personal data and is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation. There is a lot of helpful information available from the Data Protection Commissioner in Ireland to make sure you are fully compliant with all data protection regulation.