Often driven by the need to improve customer satisfaction and retention, CRM systems can aid in understanding a customer or segment to focus sales and marketing activities. We will see more of an appreciation that profitability is a key variable in determining cross-sell promotions, product pricing and packaging based on historical as well as future anticipated consumer information. Lifetime value will be better understood to allow for organizations to think about potentially good prospects and the overall return on the relationship that is developed over time. CRM systems will be blended with operational and back- office systems to provide a seamless, real-time data environment. CRM will not only be about servicing the customer better, but also servicing the customer in the best interests of the customer as well as the business itself.
While CRM may already seem to be an old and jaded term, there is a bright future ahead that will bring new ways for small and mid-sized organizations to communicate, operate and strategize to manage their personnel, customers and prospects. Whether or not we believe that Mrs. Jones needs a new set of flippers, we can bet that CRM is here to stay and that it will continue to change the way we work and live.
Kamis, 27 November 2008
Minggu, 09 November 2008
Advantages of CRM
The advantages of CRM are so many that they cannot be listed in just one article. I'll try my best though to highlight the best of the lot. A properly planned and designed CRM system can give an organization a clear cut advantage over an organization that doesn't use it.
Personalized and better relationships with customers are the key to the success of an organization and that's exactly what a CRM system will give you.
The difference between an organization with a CRM system and without one can be clearly seen in the business decisions and the ROI.
A single customer
CRM shows us that every customer is unique and needs to be approached with marketing plan that is based on his/her buying habits. The customer cannot be treated as part of a group. Also you need to ensure that you never lose a sale owing to a delay that might be caused by any of your departments.
CRM software will enable this as all the departments in your organization will work in sync with each other. You will have a complete 360 degree view of each and every customer. This in turn will increase the opportunity for sales and efficiency of customer service. Increased customer satisfaction and retention is also a feature of a CRM system.
Clear advantages
* It projects an extremely customer centric face of the company to the customer.
* At the same time, back end operations are equally efficient.
* It will be much easier for you to predict customer behavior with techniques like collaborative filtering, predictive modeling etc.
* Historical data will be blended with predictive science to make highly precise decisions that can be accurate to a great extent.
* Listen to the needs of the customer and act accordingly to maximize the efficiency of your business.
Personalized and better relationships with customers are the key to the success of an organization and that's exactly what a CRM system will give you.
The difference between an organization with a CRM system and without one can be clearly seen in the business decisions and the ROI.
A single customer
CRM shows us that every customer is unique and needs to be approached with marketing plan that is based on his/her buying habits. The customer cannot be treated as part of a group. Also you need to ensure that you never lose a sale owing to a delay that might be caused by any of your departments.
CRM software will enable this as all the departments in your organization will work in sync with each other. You will have a complete 360 degree view of each and every customer. This in turn will increase the opportunity for sales and efficiency of customer service. Increased customer satisfaction and retention is also a feature of a CRM system.
Clear advantages
* It projects an extremely customer centric face of the company to the customer.
* At the same time, back end operations are equally efficient.
* It will be much easier for you to predict customer behavior with techniques like collaborative filtering, predictive modeling etc.
* Historical data will be blended with predictive science to make highly precise decisions that can be accurate to a great extent.
* Listen to the needs of the customer and act accordingly to maximize the efficiency of your business.
Selasa, 04 November 2008
References
1. Rigby, Darrell K.; Frederick F. Reichheld, Phil Schefter (2002). "Avoid the four perils of CRM". Harvard Business Review 80 (2): 101–109. doi:10.1225/8946.
2. Edwards, John (2007-11-29). "Get It Together with Collaborative CRM". insideCRM. Tippit. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
3. Bligh, Philip; Douglas Turk (2004). CRM unplugged – releasing CRM's strategic value. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-48304-4.
4. Koch, Christopher (10 May 2004), AT&T Wireless Self-Destructs, http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;45350857;fp;;fpid;;pf;1. Retrieved on 14 April 2008
5. Dyche, 2002, Managing Your CRM Project
6. Gartner, Inc (2008-09-12). "Gartner Says Worldwide Customer Relationship Management Market Grew 23 Percent in 2007". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
7. Gartner, Inc. (22 June 2007) Commonly Deployed CRM Application Vendors in 2006
8. Datamonitor (22 August 2007). Datamonitor suggests Oracle, SAP likely to remain atop CRM market
2. Edwards, John (2007-11-29). "Get It Together with Collaborative CRM". insideCRM. Tippit. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
3. Bligh, Philip; Douglas Turk (2004). CRM unplugged – releasing CRM's strategic value. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-48304-4.
4. Koch, Christopher (10 May 2004), AT&T Wireless Self-Destructs, http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;45350857;fp;;fpid;;pf;1. Retrieved on 14 April 2008
5. Dyche, 2002, Managing Your CRM Project
6. Gartner, Inc (2008-09-12). "Gartner Says Worldwide Customer Relationship Management Market Grew 23 Percent in 2007". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-08-15.
7. Gartner, Inc. (22 June 2007) Commonly Deployed CRM Application Vendors in 2006
8. Datamonitor (22 August 2007). Datamonitor suggests Oracle, SAP likely to remain atop CRM market
Case Study
I'd like to put M-Viron as the case study.
M-Viron Case Study
Company Background
M-Viron Case Study
Company Background
M-Viron is the leading network of local Orange mobile specialists with 17 outlets across the UK. Managing Director Sarah White, took over one shop in January 2004 and then the Stone branch in September 2006 – which is where the call centre is now based. At the time M-Viron focused on retail, but had some Business to Business customers, with their two telesales staff making all sales calls on mobile phones. The company has grown over the last few years from 7 members of staff in 2005 and now has 18 employees.
The Business Challenge
M-Viron operates in an extremely competitive sector facing varied business challenges on a daily basis from 3rd party retailers as well as the networks themselves. Managing Director Sarah White, was looking to grow the business and was approached by a competitor who was interested in selling her their predictive dialing solution. Sarah was put off by the price but was interested in the concept, so decided to start looking into alternative solutions and came across Telecom Applications.
M-Viron’s requirements meant that the majority of outbound calls are made to mobile phones. The adoption of the Telecom Applications solution with the TouchStar Dialler software meant that only live calls go through to their advisors as the software identifies engaged tones and phones which are set to voicemail mode. In addition, M-Viron can now generate inbound calls by leaving messages on customers’ voicemail.
Why Did M-Viron Choose Telecom Applications?
M-Viron were looking for the whole call centre package and were pleasantly surprised to find that Telecom Applications could provide the whole package from the Touchstar dialer, to computers and even the furniture.
“After finding Telecom Applications whilst searching on the internet I organised for them to come and demonstrate the software to me, I liked the look of the software and was very attracted by their straight talking and honesty,” said Sarah White.
“After also speaking to some of their competitors I was pleasantly surprised when I received the quotation, not only did the product have all the functionality that I required, it was also at a very reasonable price”
“They understood that I wasn’t a millionaire and also the limitations of a small business.”
“They were very accommodating with all my requests and did their best in ensuring that all of my needs were met”
“Another deciding factor was the 24/7 support that they offered, which is very important and useful to a company like ourselves, as we have to operate outside the normal 9-5 working hours.”
Our Solution
Telecom Applications installed a fully DMA / FSA compliant integrated blended call centre solution that was provided by TouchStar-Software UK. The fully automated dialler ensured that M-Viron hit OFCOM’s 3% drop call target by adjusting the settings if the drop rate went too high - and all of this is done without any human intervention.
The intelligent scripting tool allows the advisor to enter all the information into the script and dependant upon the answer to the question, will determine the direction in which the agent is directed.
Whisper coaching allows dedicated trainers and coaches to help train staff whilst on the phone - passing them valuable information with the customer blissfully unaware.
Implementation
At the point of sale, Telecom Applications advised that installation and training would be completed in 5 days and that there would be little interference with the day to day running of the business.
“The implementation went smoothly with no problems, the engineers arrived on Friday and by Tuesday we were able to load data into the dialler and start making calls,” said Sarah.
Benefits of Telecom Applications Solution
The following are some of the ways in which Managing Director Sarah White believes M-Viron has benefited from the Telecom Applications solution:
* Call Recording became a necessity for all Orange retailers and without the call recording functionality M-Viron wouldn’t have been able to continue trading
* The system is quick and easy to use and is backed up by constantly available support from the TouchStar and Telecom Applications team.
* Valuable training was provided by TouchStar coupled with 24hr support -eradicating issues before they affect the business
* Reports are easily generated with detailed statistics, real time and historic reports.
* Intelligent scripting tool which provides the advisors with an aid to help them throughout the call
* New Campaigns can be created in minutes
* Campaigns can be changed without any disruption to the advisors
* Flexible and scalable – grows with your business
* Value added extra’s (e.g. 0870/0845 numbers, Lease Cost Routing, Cat5 Cabling etc)
* All of the above has led to substantial Increases in productivity and sales.
Results
* Increased productivity
* Increase in sales not just proportionate to increase in staff
* More than met all DMA & Ofcom requirements
* Company grew from 7 to 16 agents in 8 months
The Business Challenge
M-Viron operates in an extremely competitive sector facing varied business challenges on a daily basis from 3rd party retailers as well as the networks themselves. Managing Director Sarah White, was looking to grow the business and was approached by a competitor who was interested in selling her their predictive dialing solution. Sarah was put off by the price but was interested in the concept, so decided to start looking into alternative solutions and came across Telecom Applications.
M-Viron’s requirements meant that the majority of outbound calls are made to mobile phones. The adoption of the Telecom Applications solution with the TouchStar Dialler software meant that only live calls go through to their advisors as the software identifies engaged tones and phones which are set to voicemail mode. In addition, M-Viron can now generate inbound calls by leaving messages on customers’ voicemail.
Why Did M-Viron Choose Telecom Applications?
M-Viron were looking for the whole call centre package and were pleasantly surprised to find that Telecom Applications could provide the whole package from the Touchstar dialer, to computers and even the furniture.
“After finding Telecom Applications whilst searching on the internet I organised for them to come and demonstrate the software to me, I liked the look of the software and was very attracted by their straight talking and honesty,” said Sarah White.
“After also speaking to some of their competitors I was pleasantly surprised when I received the quotation, not only did the product have all the functionality that I required, it was also at a very reasonable price”
“They understood that I wasn’t a millionaire and also the limitations of a small business.”
“They were very accommodating with all my requests and did their best in ensuring that all of my needs were met”
“Another deciding factor was the 24/7 support that they offered, which is very important and useful to a company like ourselves, as we have to operate outside the normal 9-5 working hours.”
Our Solution
Telecom Applications installed a fully DMA / FSA compliant integrated blended call centre solution that was provided by TouchStar-Software UK. The fully automated dialler ensured that M-Viron hit OFCOM’s 3% drop call target by adjusting the settings if the drop rate went too high - and all of this is done without any human intervention.
The intelligent scripting tool allows the advisor to enter all the information into the script and dependant upon the answer to the question, will determine the direction in which the agent is directed.
Whisper coaching allows dedicated trainers and coaches to help train staff whilst on the phone - passing them valuable information with the customer blissfully unaware.
Implementation
At the point of sale, Telecom Applications advised that installation and training would be completed in 5 days and that there would be little interference with the day to day running of the business.
“The implementation went smoothly with no problems, the engineers arrived on Friday and by Tuesday we were able to load data into the dialler and start making calls,” said Sarah.
Benefits of Telecom Applications Solution
The following are some of the ways in which Managing Director Sarah White believes M-Viron has benefited from the Telecom Applications solution:
* Call Recording became a necessity for all Orange retailers and without the call recording functionality M-Viron wouldn’t have been able to continue trading
* The system is quick and easy to use and is backed up by constantly available support from the TouchStar and Telecom Applications team.
* Valuable training was provided by TouchStar coupled with 24hr support -eradicating issues before they affect the business
* Reports are easily generated with detailed statistics, real time and historic reports.
* Intelligent scripting tool which provides the advisors with an aid to help them throughout the call
* New Campaigns can be created in minutes
* Campaigns can be changed without any disruption to the advisors
* Flexible and scalable – grows with your business
* Value added extra’s (e.g. 0870/0845 numbers, Lease Cost Routing, Cat5 Cabling etc)
* All of the above has led to substantial Increases in productivity and sales.
Results
* Increased productivity
* Increase in sales not just proportionate to increase in staff
* More than met all DMA & Ofcom requirements
* Company grew from 7 to 16 agents in 8 months
Types of CRM
There are several different approaches to CRM, with different software packages focusing on different aspects. In general, Campaign Management and Sales Force Automation form the core of the system (with SFA being the most popular).
Operational CRM
Operational CRM provides support to "front office" business processes, e.g. to sales, marketing and service staff. Interactions with customers are generally stored in customers' contact histories, and staff can retrieve customer information as necessary.
The contact history provides staff members with immediate access to important information on the customer (products owned, prior support calls etc.), eliminating the need to individually obtain this information directly from the customer.
Operational CRM processes customer data for a variety of purposes:
* 'Managing Campaigns'
* Enterprise Marketing Automation
* Sales Force Automation
Sales Force Automation (SFA)
Sales Force Automation automates sales force-related activities such as:
* Scheduling sales calls or mailings
* Tracking responses
* Generating reports
Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes:
* Designing and executing targeted marketing campaigns
* Designing and executing campaigns, e.g. customer acquisition, cross-selling, up-selling
* Analysing customer behavior in order to make decisions relating to products and services (e.g. pricing, product development)
* Management decisions (e.g. financial forecasting and customer profitability analysis)
Analytical CRM generally makes heavy use of data mining.
Sales Intelligence CRM
Sales Intelligence CRM is similar to Analytical CRM, but is intended as a more direct sales tool. Features include alerts sent to sales staff regarding:
* Cross-selling/Up-selling/Switch-selling opportunities
* Customer drift
* Sales performance
* Customer trends
* Customer margins
Campaign Management
Campaign management combines elements of Operational and Analytical CRM. Campaign management functions include:
* Target groups formed from the client base according to selected criteria
* Sending campaign-related material (e.g. on special offers) to selected recipients using various channels (e.g. e-mail, telephone, post)
* Tracking, storing, and analyzing campaign statistics, including tracking responses and analyzing trends
Collaborative CRM
Collaborative CRM covers aspects of a company's dealings with customers that are handled by various departments within a company, such as sales, technical support and marketing. Staff members within the departments can share information collected when interacting with customers. For example, feedback received by customer support agents can provide other staff members with information on the services and features requested by customers. Collaborative CRM's ultimate goal is to use information collected by all departments to improve the quality of services provided by the company.
Geographic CRM
Geographic CRM (GCRM) combines geographic information system and traditional CRM. Geographic data can be analyzed to provide a snapshot of potential customers in a region or to plan routes for customer visits.
Strategy
Several commercial CRM software packages are available, and they vary in their approach to CRM. However, as mentioned above, CRM is not just a technology but rather a comprehensive, customer-centric approach to an organization's philosophy of dealing with its customers. This includes policies and processes, front-of-house customer service, employee training, marketing, systems and information management. Hence, it is important that any CRM implementation considerations stretch beyond technology toward the broader organizational requirements.
The objectives of a CRM strategy must consider a company’s specific situation and its customers' needs and expectations. Information gained through CRM initiatives can support the development of marketing strategy by developing the organization's knowledge in areas such as identifying customer segments, improving customer retention, improving product offerings (by better understanding customer needs), and by identifying the organization's most profitable customers.
CRM strategies can vary in size, complexity, and scope. Some companies consider a CRM strategy only to focus on the management of a team of salespeople. However, other CRM strategies can cover customer interaction across the entire organization. Many commercial CRM software packages provide features that serve the sales, marketing, event management, project management, and finance industries.
Implementation Issues
While there are numerous reports of "failed" implementations of various types of CRM projects these are often the result of unrealistic high expectations and exaggerated claims by CRM vendors.
Many of these "failures" are also related to data quality and availability. Data cleaning is a major issue. If a company's CRM strategy is to track life-cycle revenues, costs, margins, and interactions between individual customers, this must be reflected in all business processes. Data must be extracted from multiple sources (e.g., departmental/divisional databases such as sales, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, finance, service etc.), which requires an integrated, comprehensive system in place with well-defined structures and high data quality. Data from other systems can be transferred to CRM systems using appropriate interfaces.
Because of the company-wide size and scope of many CRM implementations, significant pre-planning is essential for smooth roll-out. This pre-planning involves a technical evaluation of the data available and the technology employed in existing systems This evaluation is critical to determine the level of effort needed to integrate this data.
Equally critical is the human aspect of the implementation. A successful implementation requires is an understanding of the expectations and needs of the stakeholders involved. An executive sponsor should also be obtained to provide high-level management representation of the CRM project.
An effective tool for identifying technical and human factors before beginning a CRM project is a pre-implementation checklist. A checklist can help insure any potential problems are identified early in the process.
Operational CRM
Operational CRM provides support to "front office" business processes, e.g. to sales, marketing and service staff. Interactions with customers are generally stored in customers' contact histories, and staff can retrieve customer information as necessary.
The contact history provides staff members with immediate access to important information on the customer (products owned, prior support calls etc.), eliminating the need to individually obtain this information directly from the customer.
Operational CRM processes customer data for a variety of purposes:
* 'Managing Campaigns'
* Enterprise Marketing Automation
* Sales Force Automation
Sales Force Automation (SFA)
Sales Force Automation automates sales force-related activities such as:
* Scheduling sales calls or mailings
* Tracking responses
* Generating reports
Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM analyzes customer data for a variety of purposes:
* Designing and executing targeted marketing campaigns
* Designing and executing campaigns, e.g. customer acquisition, cross-selling, up-selling
* Analysing customer behavior in order to make decisions relating to products and services (e.g. pricing, product development)
* Management decisions (e.g. financial forecasting and customer profitability analysis)
Analytical CRM generally makes heavy use of data mining.
Sales Intelligence CRM
Sales Intelligence CRM is similar to Analytical CRM, but is intended as a more direct sales tool. Features include alerts sent to sales staff regarding:
* Cross-selling/Up-selling/Switch-selling opportunities
* Customer drift
* Sales performance
* Customer trends
* Customer margins
Campaign Management
Campaign management combines elements of Operational and Analytical CRM. Campaign management functions include:
* Target groups formed from the client base according to selected criteria
* Sending campaign-related material (e.g. on special offers) to selected recipients using various channels (e.g. e-mail, telephone, post)
* Tracking, storing, and analyzing campaign statistics, including tracking responses and analyzing trends
Collaborative CRM
Collaborative CRM covers aspects of a company's dealings with customers that are handled by various departments within a company, such as sales, technical support and marketing. Staff members within the departments can share information collected when interacting with customers. For example, feedback received by customer support agents can provide other staff members with information on the services and features requested by customers. Collaborative CRM's ultimate goal is to use information collected by all departments to improve the quality of services provided by the company.
Geographic CRM
Geographic CRM (GCRM) combines geographic information system and traditional CRM. Geographic data can be analyzed to provide a snapshot of potential customers in a region or to plan routes for customer visits.
Strategy
Several commercial CRM software packages are available, and they vary in their approach to CRM. However, as mentioned above, CRM is not just a technology but rather a comprehensive, customer-centric approach to an organization's philosophy of dealing with its customers. This includes policies and processes, front-of-house customer service, employee training, marketing, systems and information management. Hence, it is important that any CRM implementation considerations stretch beyond technology toward the broader organizational requirements.
The objectives of a CRM strategy must consider a company’s specific situation and its customers' needs and expectations. Information gained through CRM initiatives can support the development of marketing strategy by developing the organization's knowledge in areas such as identifying customer segments, improving customer retention, improving product offerings (by better understanding customer needs), and by identifying the organization's most profitable customers.
CRM strategies can vary in size, complexity, and scope. Some companies consider a CRM strategy only to focus on the management of a team of salespeople. However, other CRM strategies can cover customer interaction across the entire organization. Many commercial CRM software packages provide features that serve the sales, marketing, event management, project management, and finance industries.
Implementation Issues
While there are numerous reports of "failed" implementations of various types of CRM projects these are often the result of unrealistic high expectations and exaggerated claims by CRM vendors.
Many of these "failures" are also related to data quality and availability. Data cleaning is a major issue. If a company's CRM strategy is to track life-cycle revenues, costs, margins, and interactions between individual customers, this must be reflected in all business processes. Data must be extracted from multiple sources (e.g., departmental/divisional databases such as sales, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, finance, service etc.), which requires an integrated, comprehensive system in place with well-defined structures and high data quality. Data from other systems can be transferred to CRM systems using appropriate interfaces.
Because of the company-wide size and scope of many CRM implementations, significant pre-planning is essential for smooth roll-out. This pre-planning involves a technical evaluation of the data available and the technology employed in existing systems This evaluation is critical to determine the level of effort needed to integrate this data.
Equally critical is the human aspect of the implementation. A successful implementation requires is an understanding of the expectations and needs of the stakeholders involved. An executive sponsor should also be obtained to provide high-level management representation of the CRM project.
An effective tool for identifying technical and human factors before beginning a CRM project is a pre-implementation checklist. A checklist can help insure any potential problems are identified early in the process.
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