Friday, September 14, 2007

Its Raining CRM

CRM has almost become a hygiene factor for almost all the service organizations. Customer relationship management is the default protocol for an orgnaization to survive. CRM now is not only limited to Call centres, BPOs, software companies, gaming companies, banks etc. but it has extended to travel agents, educational institutes, hospitals, movie halls, retail stores, beauty salons.

With CRM penetrating into almost all the arenas, CRM itslef has undergone a major change. CRM products are now more focussed on ease of navigation and avaialbility. CRM product orgnaizations are now competing to dominate the web space with web versions of their product.

Future of any CRM product is in how does it adapts itself to the web world without losing the critical functioanlites.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

What is CRM

From wisegeek.com:A central goal of every business is to serve its customers. For as long as there have been merchants, success or failure has hinged on this simple rule. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a way of using technology to do just that.
There are many pieces of software available that offer customer relationship management features, but in reality, CRM goes beyond software implementation. It's a business strategy that often involves using multiple pieces of software, as well as implementing policies that promote (1) the collection of customer information, and (2) the use of that information by individuals throughout the company in order to maximize customer service and increase sales.

From Wikipedia: 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.

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