What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) becomes directly applicable and enforceable in all EU Member States on May 25, 2018. Replacing an outdated data protection directive from 1995, it carries provisions that require businesses to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for transactions that occur within EU member states. However, the GDPR also regulates the exportation of personal data outside the EU.
This means that companies would have to adopt a new approach to data privacy and security as GDPR will force them to drastically change the way they process, store, and protect customers’ personal data. Additionally, they will be obligated to provide breach notifications to each of the member countries’ representatives and accurate accounts of breached data in significantly shorter timeframes than ever before. This demands a radical re-engineering of existing processes and an effective management tool.
How a CRM helps with GDPR Compliance?
A CRM can help keep track of your GDPR obligations and be readily configured to ensure that your GDPR compliance is up to the mark. As a matter of fact, most CRMs inherently include the necessary functionalities that help you stay on top of your GDPR game! Let’s look at how a CRM can benefit your GDPR in 5 ways:
1. Implementing GDPR policies
It is possible to make your CRM compliant to the GDPR or any agreed upon conditions. If the terms dictate that you only need the customer’s name and email to carry out your service, then your CRM can easily be configured to ensure that this is all it is able to store.
2. Consent Management
A CRM can be seamlessly integrated with all points of contact with your clients including Telephony, Email and Website forms. This allows you to maintain a record of all user interactions in one central database. In similar fashion, you can acquire and store user consent against each individual record through these channels. This makes it really easy to keep track of customer consent and helps you readily retrieve compliance evidence in a timely manner. It also makes it easy for you to update records accordingly when users request to update or withdraw consent.
3. Data Security
Leading CRMs come equipped with comprehensive safety features such as data encryption, multilevel security, anti-hacking tools and regular updates. Thus, helping you comply with the highest data security standards and prevent data breaches.
4. User Access Rights
Good CRM systems allow you to define roles and access privileges, letting you implement different levels of user access and ensure only the right people have access to sensitive data.
5. Right to Erasure
This GDPR article grants your customers the right to have any of their personal data removed without any undue delay. A centralized database such as that found in a CRM makes it really easy to identify these individuals and accordingly update or remove their records. You can also take comfort in the fact that there is only one copy of that individual’s records in your records and once erased, the chances of you accidentally bothering them with any further unwanted communication are highly unlikely.
The Bottom Line!
In this new day and age, concerns about personal data and how it is used by companies are at an all time high but this fear of data mismanagement is not unfounded. GDPR will continue be a top priority for companies worldwide in the coming years and it is essential that you are ready for it. The right CRM can help you face GDPR challenges head on and also capitalize on the opportunity to build better customer relationships.
Rolustech has rendered services to more than 600 satisfied clients globally and helped them with CRM Customization, Integration,Maintenance and Support. Take the first step and get in touch today for your FREE CRM consultation session!
