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CRM Info
Customer relationship management From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broad term that covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer information.
Contents [hide] 1 Aspects of CRM 1.1 Operational CRM 1.2 Collaborative CRM 1.3 Analytical CRM 1.4 Strategy 1.5 Technology Considerations 2 Key Functionalities 2.1 Marketing 2.1.1 Marketing Planning 2.1.2 Campaign Management 2.1.3 Lead Management 2.2 Sales 2.2.1 Opportunity Management 2.2.2 Quotation and Sales Order Management 2.2.3 Activity Management 2.3 Service 3 Channels of communication 4 Successes 5 Privacy and Data Security 6 See also 7 References
Aspects of CRM There are three aspects of CRM which can each be implemented in isolation from each other:
Operational CRM- automation or support of customer processes that include a company’s sales or service representative Collaborative CRM- direct communication with customers that does not include a company’s sales or service representative (“self service”) Analytical CRM- analysis of customer data for a broad range of purposes META Group (acquired by Gartner in April 2005) developed this conceptual architecture in the late-1990s, and dubbed it the “CRM Ecosystem”
Operational CRM Operational CRM provides support to "front office" business processes, including sales, marketing and service. Each interaction with a customer is generally added to a customer's contact history, and staff can retrieve information on customers from the database as necessary.
One of the main benefits of this contact history is that customers can interact with different people or different contact “channels” in a company over time without having to repeat the history of their interaction each time.
Consequently, many call centers use some kind of CRM software to support their call centre agents.
Collaborative CRM Collaborative CRM covers the direct interaction with customers, for a variety of different purposes, including feedback and issue-reporting. Interaction can be through a variety of channels, such as internet, email, automated phone (Automated Voice Response AVR), SMS or through mobile email.
Studies have shown that feedback through SMS or mobile email provides greater efficiency relative to alternative channels. Part of this has to do with the ease of use of particular feedback channels. A study of telephone feedback showed that if consumers cannot get through to customer service centres, 31% hang up and go to a competitor. 24% of consumers give up all together. In addition, in a separate study, it was found that a bad experience with a customer call centre led to 56% of callers to stop doing business with the organisation concerned. (Ian Brooks May 2006) Other studies have shown similar findings; a separate study in the trade journal Quality Progress showed that only 4% of unsatisfied customers complain, whereas 96% of consumers go to competitors. Additionally, 90% of defecting customers do not come back (Scriabina, Fomichov 2005).
Feedback through text has many advantages; not only does it allow the consumer to give feedback at the point of experience (in-situ) but additionally it allows companies to capture insight from a wider consumer base.
The objectives of Collaborative CRM can be broad, including cost reduction and service improvements.
Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM analyses customer data for a variety of purposes including
design and execution of targeted marketing campaigns to optimise marketing effectiveness design and execution of specific customer campaigns, including customer acquisition, cross-selling, up-selling, retention analysis of customer behaviour to aid product and service decision making (e.g. pricing, new product development etc.) management decisions, e.g. financial forecasting and customer profitability analysis prediction of the probability of customer defection (churn). Analytical CRM generally makes heavy use of predictive analytics.
Strategy
Several commercial CRM software packages are available which vary in their approach to CRM. However, CRM is not just a technology, but rather a holistic approach to an organization's philosophy in 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 considers not only technology, but furthermore the broader organizational requirements.
The objectives of a CRM strategy must consider a company’s specific situation and its customers needs and expectations.
Technology Considerations
The technology requirements of a CRM strategy can be complex and far reaching. The basic building blocks include
A database to store customer information. This can be a CRM specific database or an Enterprise Data warehouse. Operational CRM requires customer agent support software.
Collaborative CRM requires customer interaction systems, eg an interactive website, automated phone systems etc. Analytical CRM requires statistical analysis software as well as software that manages any specific marketing campaigns.
Each of these can be implemented in a basic manner or in a high end complex installation.
Key Functionalities
A typical CRM system is subdivided into three basic sub modules:
Marketing Sales Service
Marketing Marketing sub module primarily deals with providing functionalities of Long term planning and Short term execution of Marketing related Activities within an organization.
Marketing Planning Long term Market Plans can be made and Quantitative as well as Qualitative measures (targets) can be set for a defined period and for different product groups, geographies etc. These are then monitored based on the actual performance throughout the defined period.
Campaign Management Short Term execution includes running Marketing campaigns via different communication channels targeting a pre-defined group of potential buyers with a specific message referring to a product or a group of products.
Lead Management One key objective of the Marketing function is to generate sales related leads, which finally get converted into Sales Revenues for the company. Marketing campaigns with the specific objective of generating leads (Prospective customers who may be interested in a product). Lead management deals with processing these Leads, carrying out a sanity check, evaluating the genuineness of the information (Since, there is a lot of information that is gathered during Marketing Campaigns it becomes necessary to screen these leads), and finally converting them to Hot Leads or Cold Leads.
Sales
Sales functionalities are focused on helping the Sales team to execute and manage the presales process better and in an organized manner. Sales team is responsible for regularly capturing key customer interactions, any leads or opportunities they are working on etc, in CRM system. The system helps by processing this data, monitoring against the targets and proactively alerting the sales person with recommended further actions based on company's sales policy.
Opportunity Management
Opportunities help the Sales team by organizing all the relevant data regarding a prospective deal into one place. It is characterized by the details such as Prospective customer, expected budget, total spending, products interested in, expected closing date, Key players in the deal and there key characteristics, important dates and milestones etc. The Opportunity has several phases, e.g. initiation, identification, qualification, RFP received, quotation sent, final stage, won or lost. Of course these phases can be defined based on individual company needs. A CRM system helps in each phase by "Guiding" the Sales representative to carry out certain suggested activities as defined by the company's sales policy. It creates reminders and planned activities within the system. e.g. if the Opportunity has reached "RFP received" stage, and the deal size is more than (say) 50,000 USD, the system can prompt the representative to hold a review discussion with a senior manager. This is often referred as "Guided Sales Methodology". Opportunities can be directly converted into Quotations or Sales Orders.
Quotation and Sales Order Management
Opportunities if reaches a Quotation phase can be converted to a quotation, and, if won gets converted to a Sales order. Standard features of creating a "linked" Quotation or Sales Order from opportunities are provided. These Sales orders then flow to the Back-End (ERP) system for further execution and Delivery.
Activity Management
Activities represent various Sales or Service related interactions with the customer (meetings, discussions, telephone calls, emails). Activity Management provides a platform to consolidate all the interactions with customer into a single platform, helping to build a 360 degree view of customer. Activities can be synchronized to MS Outlook/Lotus Notes Calendar items (Meetings and Tasks)
Service
Service related functionalities are focused on effectively managing the customer service (Planned or Unplanned), avoid "leakage" of Warranty based services, avoid "Penalties" arising due to Non conformity of SLA (Service Level Agreements), and provide first and Second Level support to Customers. Several functionalities are mentioned below:
Service Order Management Service Contract Management Planned Services management Warranty Management Installed Base (Equipment) Management SLA Management Resource Planning and Scheduling Knowledge Management (FAQs, How to guides) Call Center Support Resource Planning and Workforce Management
Channels of communication It is also important to mention here that a CRM system is capable of executing all the three sub modules via multiple communication Channels. These channels can be:
Direct Online (Internet) Call Center (via Phone/FAX/Email etc) All the three CRM Sub Modules (Marketing, Sales and Service) can be executed across these Communication channels. Based on thesee criteria, CRM offerings can be further sub divided into following:
Communication Channel / CRM Module Direct Internet Call Center Marketing Online Marketing Web Marketing Tele Marketing Sales Web Shop Tele Sales Service Online Service Customer Self Service Portal Tele Service
Successes
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.
In contrast there are a growing number of successes. One example is the National Australia Bank (NAB) which has pursued a CRM strategy for over ten years and has won numerous awards for its efforts.
Privacy and Data Security
The data gathered as part of CRM must consider customer privacy and data security. Customers want the assurance that their data is not shared with third parties without their consent and not accessed illegally by third parties.
Customers also want their data used by companies to provide a benefit for them. For instance, an increase in unsolicited telemarketing calls is generally resented by customers while a small number of relevant offers is generally appreciated by customers.
See also Business intelligence Customer experience management Customer Intelligence Database marketing Predictive analytics Sales force management system Customer Service Customer
End of Wikipedia content
CRM in Pictures
Chart of CRM Benefits – in terms of their importance and criticality - from Telegenix CRM & Information Technology – customer touchpoints, applications, data sources - from Marketing Teacher Customer touch points & CRM integration points – from LSU Gartner Magic Quadrant for CRM – ability to execute & completeness of vision – from Army.mil CRM & Digital Integration – Market Lab web site An illustration of a company’s corporate CRM core strategy - Sibeh Eight Building Blocks of CRM - Gartner CRM & Culture Change – from Strategic Management Resources, UK CRM SMB Market by Annual User Cost – Rave CRM Screenshot of SugarCRM – 3 Tera
More CRM Categories
CRM Industry Reference & Resources
Customer Relationship Management Advice from Insight Exec
Customer Service Industry Directory & Resources
Customer Service Benchmarking Association Customer Database Management Benchmarking Association Customer Satisfaction Measurement Association
Sales & Marketing Directory & Resources
Marketing Power – American Marketing Association
Marketing & Advertising IAB Interactive Marketing Standards & Guidelines Association for Interactive Marketing Institute of Public Relations, UK The Institute of Direct Marketing Direct Marketing Association, UK Federation of European Direct Marketing Media Post – advertising & media directory
Metrics & Statistics IAB – International Marketing Standards & Guidelines The Advertising Media Internet Centre
Associations American Association of Advertising Agencies The Direct Marketing Association CMOR – Promoting & Advocating Survey Research American Association for Public Opinion Research
Research Advertising Research Foundation Council of American Survey Research Organisations
Sales & Marketing The Institute of Direct Marketing
Associations
Business Marketing Association National Association for Retail Marketing Services American Advertising Foundation Association for Interactive Marketing Public Relations Society of America Advertising Educational Foundation
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Reference
Some interesting questions from the Billion Dollar Site
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