How Consulting Firms Can Harness CRM for Growth During the New Normal
There may be no better time for consulting firms to rethink their client-engagement models. The business environment is changing rapidly; Covid-19 has accelerated digitization. Implementing customer relationship management (CRM) platforms has never been so important for consulting firms that must find new digital ways to engage and work with clients, partners, and employees while increasingly conducting business remotely. In fact, some consulting firms failed to use their CRM systems to their full potential during the pandemic.
Consulting firms are built on the strength of their client relationships, but many firms struggle to develop an accurate view of these relationships and manage them effectively to drive sustainable growth. That gap in client intelligence can make it difficult to assess clients’ evolving needs, prioritize new leads, and track the quality and profitability of projects once they are booked. Covid-19 has heightened the urgency to strengthen relationship management and harness digital tools, as it has removed much of the face-to-face and on-premises contact that has long been a hallmark of the consulting industry.
Pioneering firms are already using CRM to optimize and automate key business development processes such as gleaning market insights, collecting data about clients and prospects, managing touchpoints with them, and forecasting and improving the profitability of projects. But as Charlie Brown, CEO of Context Partners, points out, CRM is more than that. “CRM isn’t an efficiency tool. It’s a relationship-building tool—that’s why there’s an ‘R’ in it—and it’s one of your only opportunities to put real effort and resources toward developing your network of relationships,” he says.
Highlights :
As consulting firms must find new digital ways to engage and strengthen relationships with clients, partners, and employees—
while increasingly working remotely— implementing customer relationship management (CRM) platforms has never been so important.
When instituting CRM, the biggest value comes through fostering collaboration, creating personalized experiences, and enhancing business development.
Although CRM technology is now highly advanced and widely used across a variety of industries, many consulting firms have yet to adopt it—and even among those firms that are adopting it, there is often a lack of willingness to adapt processes and change behaviors.
This article is posted at salesforce.com
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