Customer Resource Management (CRM) software for printing services aids your business in the complicated task of managing the relationship your company has with clients. Many years ago, simple address and phone number records, with maybe some handwritten notes about specific customers' preferences, may have sufficed. Modern customers are much savvier when dealing with companies. They have less tolerance for poor service and will jump to your competition quicker.

Consider the needs of the following aspects of your organization's customer interactions, all of which, will have a direct or indirect impact on your customer relationship and sales.

1. Customer advocates and experience designers work to make customers’ experience with your company as great as possible.

2. Internal collaborative functional operations workers and processes support your customer facing operations through IT, planning and manufacturing.

3. External collaboration functions interact with your companies vendors and distributors; smooth relationships here translate directly into a better customer experience.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy the right campaign management CRM printing software

A marketing-oriented CRM application for printers coordinates the activities of those engaged in spreading the word about your company. The software, therefore, must be able to integrate contact and demographic information. The best marketing-oriented CRM software will help your sales teams create a campaign that presents clients (past, present and potential) with purchasing opportunities that they appreciate.

I recommend: Infor's CRM Epiphany can help your sales team create customized sales pitches using inbound (e.g., emails or phone calls) customer contacts. Chordiant Software, Inc. sells Chordiant Decision Management (CDM) software, which is designed to be scalable (it can grow with your business) and create sophisticated customer experience strategies.

Streamline your sales force with sales force automation (SFA) CRM software for printers

Your selection of CRM software for the printing industry should include SFA. A sales force that pesters customers with sales pitches for unwanted products is likely to turn off those customers even when they are ready to buy. Moreover, inefficient calls waste the valuable and limited resource of your salespeople's time.

I recommend: Customer Management Software available from Salesforce.com, inc. includes a Sales Force Automation application. Your sales staff can use it offline as well as online and it provides access to real-time customer data. The Goldmine family of products by FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. swaps data easily with Microsoft and Intuit (e.g., QuickBooks) products.

Understand your trove of customer data with analytical CRM software for printing services

CRM software for printing companies would not be complete without a means to make sense of the considerable data that your company can gather about its contacts. This type of CRM is called analytical or data mining. Using CRM software for printers to connect customers with geographical areas, age groups and purchasing habits gives your company a more complete picture of who is using your products and services.

I recommend: The Surado Solutions Inc.'s CRM Automated Reporting Module comes with over 180 pre-built reports and tools to allow your employees to monitor their own real-time performance. StarProbe Visual Data Miner has an attractive and useful visual interface to make the data more comprehensible.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you purchased a CRM program for the printing industry with an interface for Microsoft Office (MSO) applications, talk with your salesperson about continued compatibility before you upgrade your MSO system.