CRM Skills: Definition, Examples, How To Improve And Tips

Updated 30 September 2022

Customer relations management (CRM) positions require candidates to have various hard and soft skills for overseeing the customer experience with the brands they represent. Proficiency in these skills can help CRM professionals to perform their duties and advance in their careers. By understanding the different skills necessary for succeeding in customer relations managerial positions, you can decide if you want to pursue a career in this field. In this article, we discover what CRM skills are, review some examples of these skills, learn how to improve them and find out how to use them effectively in the workplace.

What Are CRM Skills?

CRM skills are the various managerial skills that can enable customer relations managers (or customer relationships managers) to promote commercial brands and build lasting relationships with target customers. They hire, lead, direct and guide their customer relations management team. Along with creating plans, developing schedules and implementing projects, the customer relations managers are responsible for assigning work to all the team members according to their skills and work experience.

They track the project work to ensure it progresses on schedule. Aside from undertaking marketing and sales, customer relations managers are involved in research and development work. Additionally, they monitor the market and social media trends, determine what the target customers want and refine the plans to meet their brand expectations. They respond to customer concerns, provide product information, make product recommendations, explain product benefits and build brand loyalty.

What Are Some Examples Of CRM Skills?

As a customer relations manager, you may require the following skills for professional purposes:

1. Communication skills

Excellent verbal, written and listening communication skills are essential for being professionally effective as a customer relations manager. These skills can help you exchange ideas, opinions and information with your team members, the upper management and the company stakeholders. You can express yourself clearly, present accurate reports and share project updates on time. Additionally, you can explain technical concepts in relatively simple terms so that even laypeople can easily understand them.

2. Interpersonal skills

As part of their work duties, customer relations managers interact daily with a wide range of people, including team members, department directors, customer service agents and customers. Well-developed interpersonal skills can help you to get along with these diverse personalities. You can be more aware of how you present yourselves to others, communicate clearly with them and collaborate together effectively. You can learn to be patient, respectful and tolerant in your mutual interactions. You can avoid conflicts or find reasonable and peaceful ways to resolve disagreements.

3. Leadership skills

You hold a supervisory position as a customer relations manager and that involves overseeing and leading teams. With strong leadership skills, you can be more effective in performing your work duties. You can plan projects, set up work schedules, assign work tasks and ensure that project goals are met. You can present yourself as a reliable, responsible professional that people can depend on. You can be accessible to your team during work hours, ensure they have a supportive work environment and solicit feedback from them.

4. Analytical skills

Good analytical skills can help customer relations managers to review available customer data and analyse how effective the company's current policies have been in obtaining the desired business outcomes. You can use your critical thinking, creative thinking and problem-solving skills to devise better solutions to improve and increase customer engagement. You can collaborate with your team and other company personnel to enhance the customer experience, build trusting relationships with customers and expand the overall brand awareness in the market.

5. Technical skills

Increasingly, a great deal of customer relations work requires knowledge of and proficiency in various software programs and industry-related equipment. You may use CRM solutions to improve or develop your business relationships with colleagues, suppliers, service users and customers. You can use your technical skills to find new customers, understand their requirements and develop plans to meet these. You can devise budgets and carry out business communication and negotiations. The technical skills can also help you provide essential customer support quickly and on time.

6. Professionalism

The responsibilities of a customer relations manager include gaining customers and maintaining customer relationships after the sales or service process is complete. You can keep customers engaged by informing them about available after-sales services and updating them about upcoming products and services. Being professional, polite and empathetic in your relations with customers can help you identify opportunities to expand your customer base. You can find ways to resolve customer issues and achieve maximum client satisfaction.

How To Improve Your Skills As A Customer Relations Manager

You can take the following steps to improve your skills as a customer relations manager:

1. Earn a CRM certification

You can get a customer relationship management certification through various online courses. Having this certification can open up new career advancement opportunities for you since it serves as proof that you have undergone professional training and acquired the requisite customer relations skills to gain and retain customers. Many employers prefer to hire customer relationship managers with CRM certifications. The courses are generally of a few weeks duration and may be self-paced. The courses may include essential topics like customer retention, customer engagement, lifetime value and value management.

2. Understand customer needs

For successful customer relations management work, it is essential to understand who your target customers are and what they want. Reviewing collated customer data can give you insights into customer behaviours. You can use these to formulate effective strategies for attracting their attention and keeping them engaged.

3. Network with industry professionals

You may benefit professionally by networking with established and upcoming industry professionals at business events, on online forums and via social media. You can learn about the various business strategies, practices and technologies they employ to manage customer relations and satisfy customer expectations. You can get useful tips and ideas for building, cultivating and maintaining long term business relationships with your target customers.

4. Monitor industry trends

You can improve your skills as a customer relations manager by studying your industry in-depth. There are various ways of doing this. You can attend industry conferences, interact with industry leaders on social media, subscribe to professional publications and set up search engine news alerts. By monitoring industry trends and market developments, you can keep yourself updated and well-prepared to adapt to all the changes.

5. Ask for constructive feedback

Getting honest feedback about your professional strengths and weaknesses can help you to pinpoint the areas in which you can make improvements. You can ask your supervisors, colleagues and customers to provide feedback and then decide on the course of action to take. For example, if you need to develop your communication skills, you can increase your interactions with people and make conscious efforts to improve your verbal, written and listening skills. You can also take online or in-person public speaking classes to get comfortable with addressing large groups of people.

6. Establish a system for regular communication

Regular and consistent communication with customers is key to building lasting business relationships with them. You can determine the best mode of keeping in touch with your customers by understanding their preferences. If they prefer online communication, you can ask them to sign up for your company's newsletters or connect with the company on social media. You can then let them know about upcoming new products and services, sales, discounts, promotional events and other matters that might interest them.

7. Respond to customer concerns or complaints

Responding in a polite, friendly and timely fashion to customer complaints can help with improving customer relationships. It can show customers that your company cares about providing customer satisfaction, and they may then be more likely to purchase from you again. They may even inform their family, friends and acquaintances about the excellent service they got from you and help build your brand awareness in the market.

Tips For Using Customer Relationship Management Skills In The Workplace

The following tips may help you to use customer relationship management skills effectively in the workplace:

Promote open communication. Create a work environment where employees and managers can communicate openly, easily and quickly. Ensure that your team members can contact you in person, by phone or via email during work hours to share information and concerns.
Schedule regular work performance reviews. By regularly reviewing your employees' work performances, you can offer them timely feedback, help them improve their work and assist them with setting achievable career goals. You can also review your own work and take steps to enhance your performance.
Encourage innovative ideas. By encouraging your team members to present creative and innovative ideas, you can develop workable strategies for improving customer relations. You can also resolve customer problems and improve the customer experience.
Be confident in your interactions. If you present yourself as a confident, capable leader, the people you interact with are more likely to form a positive impression of you. They are more likely to trust you and turn to you for guidance.
Present a professional appearance. Along with being confident, it is essential to dress well and appropriately to present a professional appearance at work. Being neat in appearance can increase your social appeal and improve your professional interactions.