What is B2B without CRM? Not much. Every smart B2B marketer knows that much of the process of converting prospects into loyal clients rests on customer service.

Four components of the “CRM Value Chain” to craft a practical, tangible CRM plan for your B2B sales team to follow are:

Marketing Management. Deciding who you are. This is your company’s marketing nerve center, where all core decisions are made about the customers and the brand. “The functions of marketing management [include] product features, packaging, and value propositions”.

Outbound Management. Telling the world who you are. “The outbound function should entail communications (TV, radio, email, etc.); experiences (product [and] service); and influentials (the media … bloggers … etc.)”

Customer-Focused Branding. Targeting individuals. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to think of the B2B brand as the collective set of attitudes and perceptions latent in the individuals inside the decision-making units at your firm’s customers.

Inbound Listening. Hearing what they’re saying about you. There are five primary elements of listening: sampling (tracking studies), chatter (Web or otherwise), engagement (two-way conversations), purchases (buying behavior) and loyalty.