The reason behind the advent of the GDPR is obvious: cyber threats are increasingly frequent in the digital age. Therefore, the protection of citizen and customer data has become a priority.
Work Smarter
For many, implementing new practices and procedures is a simple “compliance exercise,” but there is another, more comprehensive, and smarter approach. It is important to underline that the GDPR was enacted in response to growing concerns about protecting personal data and how it is collected and used by companies.
Regulators believe that the consumer should know what data is collected about him and how that data is processed. The fear about what could happen in case of misappropriation of personal data is, in fact, widespread.
And What Does CRM Have To Do With All This?
With these premises, companies with greater flexibility and a spirit of innovation can apply the GDPR directly to customer relationship management activities, considering it a potential market differentiator. Indeed, the Regulation represents an opportunity to improve customer relations and to reorganize how the company treats customers and their data. Making the CRM system the organization’s backbone could offer a competitive advantage.
How Is CRM Useful To The GDPR?
In the article The action plan to Adapt to the GDPR we tried to distinguish the phases of a correct GDPR adaptation plan into 4 main macro-categories :
– GET INFORMED
– ORGANIZED
– EVALUATE
– MANAGE
Let’s go back to these points and understand how CRM can concretely become the cornerstone of your action plan to comply with the GDPR.
Get Informed And Evaluate
The CRM is the information hub par excellence and is a real “archive” of personal (and sensitive) data. When you want to find out about the personal data in your possession, if you use a CRM (and if you do it well), it could save you a lot of time! Let’s also think about the risk assessment phase, the CRM can be a useful ally in finding the right information to classify the risks associated with processing personal data.
Organized
Who accesses the personal data contained in the CRM? What kind of actions can it do to them? In an organizational phase, it is very important to start from the company organization chart to define roles and responsibilities in managing and processing personal data. From a GDPR point of view, modern CRM systems have adapted to allow the correct management of the roles of the users who use the system.
In the SugarCRM, for example, the “Privacy Manager” role can be assigned to the user, with the possibility of carrying out a series of activities directly attributable to what is indicated in the Regulation. Furthermore, the CRM also offers the possibility to manage the documentation required by the GDPR. In OpenSymbol, for example, we manage the Treatment Register directly within our CRM.
Manage
Even when it comes to the more “operative” phases of the GDPR, such as managing the rights of the interested party, the CRM comes to the rescue of the Owners and Managers. How can it help us when we have to, for example, manage the portability or access right? Through export, in just a few clicks, it is possible to provide Data Subjects with their data in accessible formats. And the much-discussed cancellation (right to be forgotten)?
Also, in this case, modern CRM systems have adapted to the GDPR logic and allow the logical deletion of data and information contained within the system to satisfy the request by the interested party correctly. If, on the other hand, you should run into a case of a data breach, you can easily communicate with the interested party to notify him of the violation through the campaign management function of your CRM. Since the same Regulation underlines the importance of acting without unjustified delay, why not take advantage of the CRM to save time?
CRM: The Core Of Your Action Plan To Comply With The GDPR
In addition to being a data collection tool, a modern CRM system offers potential customer qualification processes, opportunity tracking systems, and even maps and customer journey management features. This system infrastructure is, therefore, perfect for meeting many GDPR requirements.
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