In a discussion today with a major PC systems integrator, I was told that the company worked quite happily with Microsoft Excel and Word for CRM purposes and had no plans to make any changes. This was bad news for someone offering CRM consultancy, so I followed up with some questions.
The sales and marketing organizations are producing good results. Sales activities are largely not documented, but a well organized ERP application provides reliable information on goods and services purchased. A simple ticketing system provides a record of service activities. The company has a stable customer base. Sales processes are simple and are supported by the ERP-System.
In this particular situation, there really would be little gained by introducing a CRM system. There is no need for sales persons to produce offers or take orders while on the road. News letters and customer correspondence can be produced and sent with Microsoft Office products. A Sharepoint depository holds all customer records.
The situation would change however, if the owner/manager were not coordinating and guiding operation himself, thus ensuring a high quality of customer service. If further management levels were introduces this would also change the scenario as would a period of rapid growth. In this case the strategy of the company is to maintain and protects its customer base and to grow only through the sale of more services to a slowly growing number of customers.
So what am I trying to say? Basically that CRM sales persons should be aware that CRM systems are not per se essential for a successful operation. This will depend on the size and processes of the organization. Particularly in the case of an owner managed company, the owner will (normally) be the first to notice when the operation is not running efficiently.
Tags: crm, Excel, Sharepoint, Word
Looking back to the beginnings of software for sales and marketing, we have seen “Computer Aided Selling”, “Sales Force Automation”, “1to1Marketing” and now “Customer Relationship Management”. Although suppliers and experts speak about the need to communicate with customers and offer 360 degree customer views, the majority of the RFPs I see tend to center arount the improvement of sales efficiency.
This can probably be explained by the increasing cost of sales and decreasing sales margins but does ignore the advantages which could be gained by looking at sales processes from the cutomers point of view. Aiming at decreasing costs usually involves simplifying current processes and not on reviewing the processes in total. It also has the side effect that products promising simple and quick implementation tend to be preferred.
Increasing efficiency and reducing costs are certainly valid aims when introducint a new CRM system, but the real advantages of a new system should include processes which would not be possible without the use of software. Sales, Marketing and Service functions can be integrated to improve the total service level to the customer not only be reducing administrative loads, but also by offering new services.
In most cases, in Germany at least, customers are categorized as A, B or C customers based on the volume of business. At first, this appears logical but at a closer look more factors should be regarded:
- business volume in relation to the customers total budget
- the customers growth plan
- marketing prestige
Just looking at achieved business volume is a very one sided view of a customer. More important is the size of the customers budget, assuming that there is no reason why you should not expand your share. Some customers will clearly grow rapidly and these need to be handled with particular care since this is a chance to establish contacts and loyalties which will keep competitors out when the company grows and more people are involved in purchase and development decisions. Some companies have a lighthouse function in their industry which makes them a generator for new business if they can be referenced.
Basically, there is nothing wrong with an ABC analysis, but the process for the classification needs to be well and clearly defined and classifications should be reviewed at least annually.
The main argument against the ABC classification, is that C customers tend to be ignored. This would lead to problems, since the rule that 20% of customers create 80% of revenue will always apply. Cutting away the C customers will only reduce revenue – it will not change the 20:80 relation!
Tags: B2B, Customer Value
Even the best viral marketing ideas will not create the desired effect if they are not seeded successfully. For those with a limited budget, try the following:
- Digg, Reddit, Delicious & Co: People using these sites are numerous and are often “communicators” and active in several networks.
- Twitter: Twitter is a must, but is not enough on its own unless you manage to get mentioned by a well read participant. Not all twitterers with a large number of followers have real visibility.
- Blogs: Influential bloggers can spread your message, but will only do this if your campaign is relevant to the blog topic.
- Social Networks (LinkedIn etc.): if you have connections with social media power users, leverage them to help seed campaigns.
These are just a few of the possibilities. Ensure that any responses are captured by your CRM system and followed up!
Tags: Virl Marketing
In the planning stage of most CRM Projects activity management does not play a central role. After roll out it suddenly becomes a major issue. Why? There are a number of reasons. From the personal point of view, not all activities originate from the CRM system, so how can conflicts be avoided? What happens when the CRM priorities clash with personal priorities?
These are the issues:
- Groupware vs. CRM
- Tasks with no specific completion dates
- Workflow management
- Daily work planning
- Cold calls and campaigns
These will be the topics of the following posts. Watch this site!
Tags: Activity Management
At last most CIOs have recognized that CRM is not just names, addresses and opportunities but a set of business processes involving customer interaction. At first glance, it should be possible to integrate social networks in existing processes, but a second look shows the need for a re-think. While business processes are designed to proceed step by step to an aim, the users of social networks are used to short exchanges which may or may not lead anywhere. Reading Tweets or entries in XING or LinkedIn for example, users comment on almost anything and may or may not come back to look at replies. Certainly the users do not wish to receive any form of advertsing as a result of an entry but are looking for communication. Any ideas?
Tags: Business
The best sales persons are able to identify prospects with the highest potential out of a list of leads and are expert at concentrating their efforts on these. CRM Systems attempt to suport the process and allow some kind of customer/prospect valuation, but in most cases offer little more than an estimate of potential turnover or an A/B/C-rating.
Surprisingly, one smaller german CRM supplier has approached this problem and integrated an methodology developed by Walter Zimmermann and has included a field “Potential”. This misses two essential factors. Firstly, the fact that a customer has the means to buy my product does not in any mean that I have real potential – an iPhone fan is most unlikely to buy a Blackberry. Secondly, the valuation is only true for a limited period. Things change, and who is going to keep the CRM-Date up to date? Here is some scope for improvement.
Tags: Customer Value
Although the term CRM has come to stay, in most CRM projects the term is effectively a misnomer. In a relationship, one would expect both parties to play an active role. In the large number of projects I have been involved in since 1994, companies have wanted to know about customer related activities of their employees, about opportunities and incidents and turnover, but have not been genuinely interested in a full scale relationship. The acronym CIS (Customer Information System) would describe most applications more accurately.
New technologies, Web 2.0 and Social Networks should cause changes, but this does not seem to be happening, companies using Twitter, XING, Facebook or LinkedIn are typically only broadcasting their sales pitches. An effective customer portal, integrated with social networking sites could be of considerable benefit – both B2B and B2C customers are surprisingly helpful when it comes to giving feedback, supplying references or suggesting product improvements – if they have open communication channels, bidirectional communication channels!
Tags: Social CRM, Web 2.0
CRM Auswahl
12./13.10.2010