CRM Solutions

This section of our technical library presents information and documentation relating to CRM Solutions and Customer relationship management software and products. Providing customer service is vital to maintaining successful business relationships. Accurate and timely information provided in a professional manner is the key to any business and service operation. Our CRM software application TELEMATION, was developed with this in mind. But the ability to change is just as important in this ever changing business environment. Telemation call center software was designed from the very beginning for this environment. Many call center managers, with unique and changing requirements, have chosen and continue to use our CRM software as their solution of choice. Our contact center CRM solution is ideally suited for call center service bureaus.

by CGI, www.cgi.com

Depending on which survey you read, you will see comments and statistics such as “over 50% of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) projects fail.” On the other hand, you will also see published results that show double-digit percentage growth in revenue, improved productivity, and increased customer satisfaction from new CRM projects. What drives companies to have such different results from the same initiatives?

Before we look at reasons, let’s define the scope of CRM. CRM has been one of the most confusing terms established in eBusiness. In many cases, it has been defined, as what the user of the term is promoting.

In the context of this article, we want to look at CRM as the following. CRM is a strategic approach that combines the business processes, technology, employees, and information across an enterprise to attract and retain profitable customers. CRM projects are launched to realize the plans and achieve the objectives defined in the CRM strategic plan. Let’s look at why many CRM projects fail and many others achieve great success. Here is CGI’s top-ten list of reasons CRM projects fail.

1. CRM initiatives launched without a strategy.

Simply stating “We’re going to do CRM this year” is not a strategy. A CRM strategy needs to clearly define how you will be viewed by and manage all touch points with your customers. It should also define how you plan achieve this result.

2. The CRM strategy is not integral to the business strategy.

CRM cannot be viewed as a project or solution separate from your overall business plan. How you develop and grow customer relationships is the lifeblood of your company. Customers must be a core part of your overall business strategy.

3. The CRM toolset is based on someone else’s success.

There are many CRM tool offerings in the market place. Typically, these started around a particular process and product offering that was very effective. This offering has since been expanded to offer broader functions through acquisition or system development. Be sure to evaluate tools against your business requirements to get the best product for your highest priority needs. Not everyone serves customers the same way, has the same business processes, or has the same priorities as your business.

4. CRM is launched with no regard for enterprise or customer interfaces.

Can you afford to invest in making one part of the customer experience excellent only to destroy it at another step in the lifecycle? Make sure every touch point you have with the customer provides consistent, knowledgeable, and high-quality service.

5. CRM is launched without customer input.

It is so easy to get caught up in the rush to implement CRM solutions that you forget those people on the outside of your business. Talk with your customers. Find out how they want to be serviced. How can you better meet their needs? How can you collaborate for a true win/win initiative? What are other suppliers doing for them that they like?

6. CRM is considered an IT project – not business initiatives leveraging technology.

Customers interact with your company through people, processes, electronic media, transactions and indirect relationships. They typically will not know what language your tools are written in or what platform they run on. The capability, quality, function and reliability of the systems are critical. But design them to support the best customer processes you can provide. The greatest success will come from the coordinated efforts of business users and technologists in the company.

7. CRM is launched without defined metrics and objectives.

An important part of any rollout of new processes is the expectation of improvement. If you don’t expect performance to improve, don’t measure it, or manage it. Consequently, you won’t see improvement. Even if you achieve it. Set expectations. Measure performance improvement. Provide feedback. Reinforce successes. Look for ways to continue the improving trends.

8. CRM is considered a one-time event.

Once your initiative is launched, you’re just getting started. Look at it as an evolutionary development of your organization that will require multiple iterations to implement. You will have some employees who resist the change. There will be bumps in the road. Solicit feedback. Learn from the new data at your disposal. Refine your strategy. Set new goals. Develop plans to achieve these new goals.

9. Assume you have a customer-centric culture because you have customers.

The global economy has broken down consumer barriers, reducing geographic constraints and revealing little difference between the products and prices of one competitor to the next. As a result, quality and service have become driving forces behind brand preference, loyalty and bottom line results.

Be sure to look at your company as your customers do. Consider how they want to do business with you. Develop your strategy, design processes, and make decisions looking from the outside in. Measure, analyze and track customer service performance. Solicit input and feedback from your customers. Benchmark with other organizations. Drive this “customer first” culture throughout the organization. Reinforce it with every employee.

10. No top down leadership and employee buy-in for CRM.

Every employee will be affected by fundamental changes in CRM. Appoint an executive sponsor. Communicate vertically and horizontally through the organization. Get employees on board. Get them excited about doing a better job for your customers and making your company more successful. Create momentum toward a competitive customer focus. Provide training so employees know their role and the rationale for change. OK here are three more at no additional charge.

11. Altering the CRM solution to accommodate current business process and behavior.

Benefits will accrue from the adoption of new processes that leverage the information, speed, integration, lower operating costs and improved service resulting from new CRM tools. Be sure to take advantage of these revenue, service and productivity enhancements.

12. CRM is regarded without urgency.

Your customer’s expectations are increasing. Maybe not from your direct competitors but from other service providers. Will your competitors announce a quantum leap tomorrow? If they do, what will it take to get customers back after you have lost them? How much is it worth to pre-empt your competitors and lock in new customers?

13. Try to implement “everything CRM” at one time.

What about the sense of urgency you ask? It is difficult to change the entire organization overnight and keep it running. Organizations have personalities and need to learn new and adaptive behaviors. Go after your highest leverage, or highest priority areas first. Show successes to bring the rest of the organization along. Move forward in manageable steps. Support from the top of the organization is critical to success of any significant initiative. Decide to succeed with your customers and then lead your company there.

About CGI

Founded 1976, CGI has worked with clients in a wide range of industries to help them leverage the strengths of information technology (IT) to optimize their business performance and produce value-driven results. We also offer a comprehensive array of business process outsourcing (BPO) services, enabling us to help manage and improve our clients’ day-to-day business processes while freeing them up to focus more on strategic decision making. Our consulting, systems integration and outsourcing services provide a total solution package designed to meet our clients’ complete business and technology needs. We approach every engagement with one objective in mind—to help our client win and grow. CGI provides services to clients worldwide from offices in Canada, the United States, Europe, as well as centers of excellence in India and Canada.