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Was it good for you: Choosing your CRM system

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18th Mar 2008
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CDMatt Henkes examines how to approach the deployment of your own CRM application.

Every business can benefit from managing its relationship with clients more effectively. But before you dive into the complex world of applications, it’s important to consider what you’re trying to achieve.

Customer relationship management (CRM) can offer your firm all sorts of bells and whistles, from sales and marketing automation to client care and support. But how much of this do you really need and how easily will it integrate with your existing business model?

"A lot of the time businesses sign up to CRM applications without really thinking through where they’re going with it.

Sudhir Joshi, Intuit

Daryn Mason, sales consulting director of Oracle’s Application Products Group, believes this initial investigation is crucial. "First do a thorough analysis of your own requirements," he warns. "Otherwise, you’re searching for a solution before correctly identifying the real problems or opportunities you face."

Is it worth it?

When you get down to the bare bones, Most small businesses really want a list of clients with some additional information to enable sales, client service and marketing to work more efficiently. It sounds - simple but which software is right for your business.

You don’t necessarily have to buy an expensive, off-the-shelf solution. Standard software such as Microsoft Office can aid CRM and keep the costs down. But don’t just buy for the sake of buying. "A lot of the time, businesses sign up to CRM applications without really thinking through where they’re going with it," says Sudhir Joshi, head of product management at software firm Intuit and a former head of CRM product development at Sage.

"For smaller businesses, the main thrust of what they need to do is to accumulate disparate sources of information into one place and then share those so they can collaborate. The sorts of things you would potentially look to do are to manage your sales pipeline or send marketing communications to your contacts. You don’t need a full blown CRM system to do that."

A true CRM application is more than just an intelligent contact sheet. In essence, what you are trying to do with an all-singing, all-dancing integrated application, whether you call it CRM or not, is to capture and control the end-to-end client process easily and efficiently.

Good luck with that

Vivek Thomas, managing director of CRM provider Maximizer, says it’s possible to manage this process using basic Microsoft programs, but questions whether a spreadsheet is a great way to do it. The problem is when it gets passed back and forth with new updates. "Before you know where you are, you’ve got 15 versions," says Thomas.

Of course it is still possible to retain control, but think how much more efficient it would be if a member of your team could just go to one location and see who has accessed the record, when they viewed it, what the last communications was, what action they took and so on. "It’s fairly simple to use a spreadsheet if it’s just one point of contact with a client," adds Thomas. "But if you’re talking to more than one point of contact, well, good luck with that."

"It’s fairly simple to use a spreadsheet if it’s just one point of contact with a client. But if you’re talking to more than one point of contact, well, good luck with that."

Viveck Thomas, Maximiser

If you’ve decided to deploy one of one of these systems, the software isn’t going to be the only expense. A lot of business owners make the mistake of thinking that because they are intelligent people who know how to run the business, they should be able to figure out how to implement the system on their own – a big mistake unless you’re a CRM expert. "The software is complicated. It is meant to do a lot of sophisticated things, so go out and get professional help," Thomas warns.

"It’s like reaching out to an accountant to help me with my accounting. I could probably try and work it out on my own but there are certain processes and procedures for which I’d need an expert."

Man Vs machine

However, CRM isn’t a back office application; it requires interaction with people. Updating a communication record or saving an email next to a client record are human actions that need to occur if your new system is going to be able to do what it’s supposed to.

People need to be educated on the proper use of your system. There are a couple of ways to go about this. Firstly, you can open the system up to all users immediately, although it is advisable to phase in the level of functionality they can access. For instance, you can initially allow them to update and create contacts so they become familiar with it, then you can add the creation of sales opportunities or following up on prospects, then creation and editing marketing lists.

Alternatively, you can open the new system to a limited number of users, with high levels of functionality. Thomas believes this is perhaps more effective in a small business where it’s likely that one or possibly two people will have an overall holistic view of the full process. "My recommendation would be to ensure the owner or his trusted deputy, understands what’s going on and then gradually expand it to the other people in the organisation," he advises.

If you want to measure the success of your CRM system, the proof is in the pudding – quite simply, is it delivering the aims and objectives you had initially identified and is it making life for the client much easier? For example, you could look at how long staff now spend searching for information, compared to before, or how often client issues are resolved in one call.

There are many ways in which CRM can smooth business processes but you also want a system that is easy to use and, ultimately, can add to the bottom line. The key word in CRM is customer - or if you are in practice, "client". If you rush in too quickly without doing your homework and get it wrong, there won’t even be a client relationship to manage.

What to consider

  • Quick wins: What will make most difference to your business in the shortest time?
  • User adoption: This is the secret of CRM success. Start with a manageable amount of functionality over many users (rather than deep functionality for just a few users). You can then roll out more functions in future phases.
  • ROI: What will create the best return for your initial investment? This will help off-set any initial capital costs and get the project into a financially positive situation quickly.
  • Source: Oracle

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    By TaylorRoss
    05th Apr 2011 08:44

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    CRM systems are essential and valuable business tools in any business, large or small. Besides optimizing customer relationships, CRM solutions affect all departmental functions and help make organizations more customer-focused through the use of technology. Get matched with UK providers of CRM software and compare quotes to choose the CRM system and supplier that will really work for you!

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