Going back to basics to bust an age-old retail myth
“Are clienteling and CRM the same thing?”
A question that many brands have at the top of mind when diving into the world of retail tech. And it’s a good one.
But, no matter how many solutions companies claim to be a customer relationship management (CRM) and clienteling solution all in one, they really are two different things.
While both solutions aim to improve customer engagement and personalization, they each have distinct roles and capabilities that compliment each other when used in tandem.
In this blog, we will explore the differences between CRM and clienteling, why retailers need both, and the benefits they can gain by implementing both solutions.
What is a CRM?
A CRM solution is a software tool that helps businesses manage and track their interactions with customers.
CRM solutions allow businesses to capture, store, and organize customer data in one place, making it easy to access and analyze. Sales trends, buying patterns, and customer personas can be identified using data. This data can also be used to create sales strategies, streamline processes, and improve communication.
CRMs also allow businesses to intake customer information from multiple sources, such as point-of-sale (POS) systems, email providers, and other data sources. This data can be used to create customer segments that can be analyzed and used by marketing teams to understand how to incentivize or market to customers based on specific buying patterns.
Additionally, CRM solutions can power loyalty programs, allowing businesses to collect important information about loyalty card usage, rewards points, and customer responses to loyalty programs. CRMs can also help businesses power email and SMS campaigns to segmented or large customer bases.
What is clienteling?
Clienteling solutions are designed specifically for associates to effectively communicate with their customers on a regular basis.
These solutions integrate with CRMs to surface relevant customer information for associate use in-app. Associates can capture and update client information, which will be fed back to the CRM in a bi-directional sync.
When associates gather rich information at the store level on their customers and input it into the clienteling solution, it deepens insights and allows corporate teams managing CRM platforms to gain an expanded knowledge of their customers.
With this expanded understanding, associates can now activate personalized communication and build relationships with customers via various channels. Store managers can also utilize clienteling solutions to promote exclusive products, invite VIPs to events, and tailor localized outreach with specific messages to their audience.
Why retailers need CRM AND Clienteling
Retailers should have a combination of a CRM tool and a clienteling solution to to execute their CRM strategy, which can help retailers in several ways:
Surfacing client data
By integrating with a CRM solution, clienteling can surface client data, allowing associates to utilize the client book to look up a customer’s information. This helps them understand who their top customers are and grow new and existing clients by locating their contact details.
Syncing purchase history and sales data
Customer purchases influenced by outreach are stored in the clienteling solution and synced back to the CRM for accurate customer data. This enables corporate teams to conduct outreach campaigns based on top spenders and segmented spend groups.
Providing access to omnichannel profiles
Clienteling displays loyalty data like lifetime spend, tier, and rewards points in a customer’s profile. This helps associates quickly understand customer benefits and address inquiries about rewards points.
Generating post-visit follow-ups
Clienteling allows associates to view outreach tasks assigned by corporate, store managers, or themselves. Integrated with CRM, it triggers automated post-purchase follow-ups, ensuring consistent customer service even after they leave the store.
Utilizing omnichannel customer data to perform outreach
And finally, with the customer data that can be surfaced in a clienteling solution, associates and store managers can power localized outreach by viewing all customers that have shopped at their store location, or who are in a specific radius of that store location.
What’s in it for your brand?
When retailers combine a CRM and clienteling solution, they unlock a world of benefits that empower them to deepen customer relationships and drive sales growth.
By leveraging omnichannel data, retailers can gain an intimate understanding of their customers’ preferences, behaviors, and purchase history. This enables them to create highly targeted and personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with each customer on a deeper level, resulting in improved conversion rates and increased engagement.
Additionally, by identifying top spenders and understanding their motivations, retailers can develop tailored strategies to grow loyalty and nurture these valuable relationships.
Ultimately, the combination of a CRM and clienteling solution creates a novel revenue stream that grows year over year as retailers mature in their clienteling efforts. This enables them to maintain market share, differentiate themselves from competitors, and sustain a loyal customer base for the long term.
Bringing it all together
CRM and clienteling solutions offer retailers enhanced customer relationships, increased sales, novel revenue streams, and a deeper understanding of customers.
This combination enables targeted marketing, identification of top spenders, and tailored loyalty strategies.
By leveraging omnichannel data, retailers create a consistent customer experience, improving conversions, engagement, and long-term loyalty.
Learn more
Ready to learn more about Clienteling and how to fit it into your CRM strategy?
You’ve come to the right place. We’re the world’s #1 Clienteling solution loved by the world’s most iconic retailers like David Yurman, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Mulberry, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ferragamo, COACH, and Michael Kors.
Checkout our full webinar “Back to basics: What is clienteling vs CRM?” for more on this topic.
Still have questions? Contact us to chat or book a demo today!
