What is a CRM Business Analyst?

crm business analyst

With an economy that’s driven by consumer demand and customer retention, businesses look to a CRM business analyst to drive sales and keep clients coming back for more.

CRM stands for “customer relationship management,” but the job responsibilities of a CRM analyst go beyond building customer loyalty. These marketing and business professionals don a variety of hats in their efforts to help companies thrive in competitive markets.

Whether you’re interested in hiring a CRM analyst for your business or you want to pursue a career in the industry, there are a few things you should know about the position.

How to Become a CRM Analyst

If you want to work as a CRM business analyst, then you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree in a relevant industry, such as business, marketing, economics, statistics or even computer science. Business analysts comb through hundreds of thousands of data points, which means that you’ll need an analytical mind and a penchant for detail if you want to succeed in the industry. While a bachelor’s degree might help you get your foot in the door of CRM consulting firms, you’ll probably need a master’s degree in business or a related field if you want to get ahead.

Companies today are looking for highly qualified analysts with significant customer experience because they need to stay competitive. Those with graduate-level degrees have the requisite skills and education necessary to generate sharp, detailed reports on customer habits.

Daily Tasks and Responsibilities

With such a vague title, it’s not surprising that many people wonder what a CRM analyst does on a day-to-day basis. Essentially, customer management analysts look at customer data and offer recommendations to companies based on their findings. Customer data can be pulled from anything, including surveys, traffic to the business’s website, browsing habits and purchase history. If you’ve ever been checking out your favorite social media site only to see a series of ads that seem eerily relevant to your life, then it’s probably the result of a CRM analyst.

Targeted ads attempt to draw you in by promoting things based on your shopping history and interests. The people behind these strategies are CRM analysts, who cull and analyze data to reveal consumer habits. They may also work with marketing departments to develop more effective ad campaigns. CRM business analysts look at a business’s existing client base and data to help companies resolve problem areas and keep up their momentum. Businesses hire these professionals so that they can make sense of their customers’ long-term habits. Once they understand how their customers think, companies can divert more energy into specific advertising strategies, such as email promotions or new products.

Job Prospects and Salary

According to Payscale.com, the median annual salary for a CRM analyst in the U.S. is around $58,000. At the low end of the spectrum, analysts earn about $41,000 while those at the higher end earn nearly $89,000 per year. Payscale.com also notes a high job satisfaction rate among analysts.

Among the expected skills of an analyst, project management ranks highest in terms of success. Businesses are always looking for reliable methods of predicting consumer behavior, and since the role of a CRM business analyst is to give insight into this behavior, it can be assumed that the demand for these professionals will remain steady.

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