| The defintion of Customer Relationship Management | | | | into CRM solutions and services has followed. |
| (CRM) that I favor is "CRM is the business strategy | | | | First Things First |
| that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and | | | | Successful CRM always starts with a business |
| personalize the needs of an organization's current and | | | | strategy, which drives change in the organization and |
| potential customers" | | | | work processes, enabled by technology. The reverse |
| From this we can learn that CRM is more than just a | | | | rarely works. |
| piece of software; CRM is a business strategy, one | | | | The key here is to create a truly Customer-Centric |
| that puts the customer at the heart of the business. | | | | philosophy that touches every point and more |
| "That's nothing new" I hear you say, and you would | | | | importantly every person in the company. From CSR |
| be right. Good business people have always | | | | to CEO everyone must live and breathe customer |
| understood the relationship between happy | | | | focus for all of this to work. |
| customers that come back again and again and | | | | At the same time you should look at your which |
| creating long term, sustainable profitability. | | | | processes could be re-engineered to make them |
| You just have to think of the local shop owner who | | | | more effective for your customers. Until you have |
| knew everyone of his customer's names, birthdays | | | | done this, put away your chequebook! |
| and particular ailments to prove that point. What is | | | | The Right Technology |
| new is that there now exists the technology to | | | | It is estimated that the global market for CRM |
| enable this customer-centricity on a much larger scale. | | | | services and solutions is currently worth $148 billion. |
| It is said that a successful CRM implementation will | | | | That means a lot of choice when selecting your |
| allow your Customer Service, Sales and Marketing | | | | technology - from web-based solutions aimed at small |
| people (and anyone else in your organization) to have | | | | businesses with less than 10 employees to solutions |
| a holistic view of each and everyone of your | | | | suitable for multi-national enterprises with millions of |
| customers. In theory this will enable them to make | | | | customers. |
| quick, informed decisions, create cross selling and up | | | | The Future |
| selling opportunities, measure marketing effectiveness | | | | CRM has already made a big impact in the world of |
| and deliver personalized Customer Care. | | | | Customer Service and will continue to do so. As more |
| Sound's great doesn't it! | | | | and more companies become customer-centric those |
| The History of CRM | | | | that fail to do so will lose competitive advantage. As |
| Following on from Enterprise Resource Planning or | | | | technology increases to develop at a startling rate |
| ERP (the business strategy that promised to | | | | the key emphasis will be how we can fully utilise it |
| automate the "back-office"), the term CRM was first | | | | within our business. |
| coined in the mid-1990s. CRM in those days referred | | | | However let's not lose sight of the fact that |
| to the software used to help businesses manage | | | | Customer Relationship Management is about people |
| their customer relationships. From sales force | | | | first and and technology second. That's where the |
| automation software (SFA) that focused on | | | | real value of CRM lies, harnessing the potential of |
| customer contact management to integrated | | | | people to create a greater customer experience, |
| knowledge management solutions, these were the | | | | using the technology of CRM as the enabler. |
| early foundations of CRM. | | | | CRM may or may not prove to be the answer to |
| The last couple of years have seen the term | | | | providing excellent customer care, but the philosophy |
| broaden to encompass a more strategic approach | | | | of putting customers at the heart of our business is |
| and the investment of billions of dollars worldwide | | | | definitely a step in the right direction. |