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July 17 2021
Author Tony Di Carlo

3 proven ways how the 360-degree view helps your business grow

A CRM platform can do many impressive things.  

Among the CRM highlights, we repeatedly hear how it can save time, streamline operations, produce smart reports or strengthen customer relationships.

After all, in the CRM world, the more hands-on we are – the more we can bend the system to our liking. But, one particular feature keeps reappearing in CRM conversations, even more so over the past few years, in the time of big data.

This popular CRM feature is the 360-degree customer view.

The 360-degree customer view has become a noted topic of conversation in the CRM circles, and it’s for a good reason.

To understand the impact of the 360-degree customer view, we have gathered some information for you to start understanding what it is and why it’s vital for your business.

 

What is a 360-degree view?

 

The expression 360-degree customer view describes the concept of stitching a complete image of your customer.

The idea behind a 360-degree customer view is to connect the dots by combining the data from various touch points that connect the customer with the company. For instance, when a customer uses the company website to purchase products or receive customer support. By combining the different data points, a 360-degree view will include the customer’s behaviour, past purchase information and communication history. 

Based on this available data, businesses can predict customers future behaviours as well.

Who wouldn’t want that?

How does a 360-degree view affect your business?

 

If done correctly, a 360-degree customer view will reveal its benefits over and over again. The leverage of obtaining up-to-date customer information is, in marketing terms, pure gold.

More specifically, the 360-degree customer view will ensure the following:

  1. Stronger customer relationships
  2. Increase in sales effectiveness
  3. Intelligent predictions of customer behaviour

It helps build better customer relationships 

When a company puts a 360-degree customer view in use, the customer gets a personalised approach – every time.

In particular, the 360-degree view will eliminate situations in which the customer has to give the same information to multiple account administrators over and over again. Also, imagine a customer gets contacted by a different sales rep from the same company in a short period. This annoying practice happens way too often, and it can quickly ruin even the best relationships.

In this example alone, by providing the 360-degree customer view, you will subsequently assure higher customer retention and loyalty.

360-degree customer view increases sales effectiveness

Intelligent cross-selling and up-selling to existing customers will not only increase the revenue but will also save precious time for your Salesforce. With a 360-degree view of the customer profile, your sales reps will be able to recognise opportunities for sales faster.

Additionally, sales reps will be able to segment the database based on the probability of purchase and nurture the segment accordingly. When the sales reps focus on the highest valued sales opportunities, their effectiveness grows, which inevitably results in revenue increase.

The 360-degree view helps predict customer behaviour

The 360-degree customer view means having valuable customer data at your fingertips – everything from their activities to priorities.

On top of that; as marketing, sales and customer support unite with separate data sources, the CRM will hold the information synced in the 360-degree customer profile. Having the data in one place will help the CRM system to predict the customer’s behaviour more intelligently, like where your customers are going or what they might need in the future. Predictive intelligence helps with cross-selling, up-selling, upgrading or re-ordering. Additionally, with this insight, leadership can come up with smarter strategies in sales approach or business outreach.

 

Final thoughts

With Salesforce CRM solutions and their current system capabilities, we can do so much more than aggregate the customer’s information.

However, achieving a 360-degree customer view is not easy. According to Gartner, only 5% of companies use a 360-degree view actually to grow their businesses.

Are you struggling to leverage the 360-degree customer view? If you want some guidance on this subject, reach out to our knowledgeable team here.

We are happy to support your business growth!

Tony Di Carlo - COO

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