Technology and CRM Technology Components

There are following types of CRM technology:

(a) Operational CRM

(b) Collaborative CRM

(c) Analytical CRM

Let us discuss the three types of CRM in detail.

Operational CRM

This is an ERP like segment of CRM.

Typical business functions involving customer service, order management, invoice or

billing or sales and marketing automation and management are the parts of operational
CRM.

It 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 when 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
describe the history of their interaction each time. It process customer data for a variety
of purposes such as managing campaigns, Enterprise

Marketing Automation (EMA) and Sales Force Automation (SFA).

Till now, this is the primary use of CRM. One characteristic of operational CRM is the
possibility of integrating with the financial and human resources functions of ERP
applications.

With this integration, end-to-end functionality from lead management to order breaking
can be implemented.

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM is the capture, storage, extraction, processing, interpretation and

recording customer data to the user. Companies such as Micro Strategy have developed
applications that can capture this customer data from multiple resources and then use
hundreds of algorithms to analyze and interpret the data as needed.

The value of the application is not just in algorithm and storage, but also in ability to
individually personalize the response using the data. It generally makes heavy use of data
mining. It analyzes customer data for the following purposes.

i. Design and execution of targeted marketing campaigns to optimize marketing

effectiveness.

ii. Design and execution of specific customer campaigns.

iii. Analysis of customer behaviour to aid product and service decision-making such as
pricing etc.

iv. Aid in taking management decisions such as financial forecasting. v. Provide a tool in
predicting the probability of customer defection.

Collaborative CRM

It is the communication centre, coordination network that provides neural paths to

customer and its suppliers. It could mean a Partner Relationship Management [PRM]
application or a customer interaction centre. It could mean communication channels such
as web or e-mail, voice applications and even channel strategies.In other words, it is any
CRM function that provides a point of interaction between customer and the channel
itself.

CRM Technology Components

The following are the components, which are common to different CRM approaches.

CRM Engine: This could be the customer data repository. The data mart, the data
warehouse is the one where all the data on customer is captured and stored. This could
include basic stuff such as your name, address, telephone number, birth date etc. It could
also include more sophisticated information like how many times you have accessed a
particular web site and what you did on the web pages you accessed. It could also include
the help desk support and the purchase history.
Ultimately, the purpose is a single gathering point for all individual customer information
so that a unified customer view can be created throughout the company departments that
need to know the data stored in this CRM engine house.

Front Office Solutions: These are the unified applications that run on the top of the
customer data warehouse. They could be sales force automations, marketing automation,
or service and support customer interaction applications. In the client server environment
(and now in the internet environment), they provide employees with the information on
the basis of which thedecision of “what is to be done? or “What next is to be done with
the customer is made?” The more specific applications provide an element of self-service
for the customer.

Enterprise Application Integration: They sit between back office and front office. They
also sitbetween the newly installed CRM system and old systems implemented by the
enterprise. Theypermit CRM to CRM communication. They are pieces of codes,
connectors and bridges that as abody are called as EAIs. EAIs provide messaging
services and data mapping services that allowone system to communicate with different
other systems regardless of their formatting.

Definition of e-CRM

CRM is a fundamental facet of an organization, encompassing the philosophy and

mission of organized business that is engaged with a well-knit customer-focused
knowledge base and pervasive communications. It is more than software or process, and
equal to a culture of gaining and keeping value customers, delivering the immitigable
benefits. E-CRM can contribute incontrovertibly to an organizational transformation into
a real time enterprise for customers, while harnessing the power of technology in a
rapidly changing competitive landscape. The major benefits that accrue are new sales and
account opportunities, quicker, smarter decision-making, and better efficiencies leading
to significant improvement in customer service.

Some of the core benefits of e-CRM are given below:

1. Extended customer relationships,

2. Competitive services delivering high value,

3. Improved product and service delivery processes,

4. Better customer knowledge and insight, and

5. Smooth, efficient customer service.

E-CRM is operational by integrating sales, marketing and customer service functions,
allowing for internal collaboration on valuable customer knowledge and empowering to
connect to customers and partners through any process, functional system and
communication medium -telephone, fax, e-mail, internet and mobile.

Scope of e-CRM

The scope of e-CRM encompasses:

1. Sales: Supports key functions such as contact management, opportunity management,

forecasting and 360-degrtee view of all customer accounts and interactions. Automate
and organize sales force activities for focused selling and closing.

2. Marketing: Detailed schedules and tasks, maintaining contact lists and activity logs,

automation association with leads, accounts or contacts, managing product and resource

information, marketing alerts, etc.

3. Channel Management: Supporting key functions as campaign management and

analysis, and customer demographic analysis.

4. Customer Service: Provides an efficient workflow and easy access to information

while synchronizing customer data across all communication channels.

5. Partner Management: Tracks and analyses sales made by partners and track contacts

associated with dealers, distributors And other channel partners.

6. E-Business: Creation and customization of customer centric web pages, enabling

customers to generate and track support requests from the company’s website.

CRM vs. e-CRM

The points stated below differentiate between CRM & e-CRM.

1. E-CRM is not just customer service, self-service web applications, sales force
automation

tools or the analysis of customers’ purchasing behaviours on the internet.

2. E-CRM is all of these initiatives working together to enable an organization to more

Notes
effectively respond to its customers’ needs and to market to them on a one-to-one basis.

3. E-CRM is integration between the traditional CRM and e-Business application. This
small ‘e’ should be a gigantic ‘E’ because this technology, when properly used, can have
a significant impact on industries and the structure of businesses. Essentially, the ‘e’
enables an organization to extend its infrastructure to customers and partners in ways that
offer new opportunities to learn customer needs, add value, gain new economies, reach
new customers, and do all of this in real time.

4. E-CRM is all about strategy and therefore requires the direction and engagement of
senior management to be successful. Senior management must have a broad
understanding of the capabilities of these technologies and then translate them into
specific opportunities that leverage competitive advantage.

5. E-CRM is different from traditional concept of customer service. For example, the
traditional customer service concept works as follows:

(a) Customer has a problem with a product or service late in the evening.

(b) Customer has to wait till company offices open the next day. He is upset because he

cannot resolve the problem immediately.

(c) Next day when he contacts the company, the Customer Service Representative assists

the customer in resolving the complaint. Sometimes resolution of complaint can

take days, as the Customer Service Representative may not have the desired

information or necessary technical skills to resolve the problem. Customer is not

happy.

6. On the other hand, e-CRM is proactive and provides easily accessible data for real time

decision-making. e-CRM would tackle the above situation as follows:

(a) Customer has a problem with a product or service late in the evening.

(b) Customer does not have to wait till morning to have his problem resolved. He

visits company’s website for assistance and checks the Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQs). He is able to resolve his problem. Customer is happy.

(c) In case, he is not able to resolve his problem, the customer clicks the “Help Now”

button and a Customer Support Representative.

(d) The Customer Support Rep accesses the knowledge base and conveys the desired

information to the customer to resolve his problem. Customer is happy.

(e) The details of the interaction are recorded in the customer history, so it is available

to any Customer Service Rep who has any interaction with the customer in future.

(f) Knowledge base is updated with relevant information from this interaction.

Sales Force Automation

Sales force automation refers to automating all the actions related to sales of an
organization or business. This is a coordination of applications that chiefly center on
scheduling and contact management. Sales force automation actions are usually
incorporated with other systems that supply the status of orders, inventory and products
and other related information and can be a part of a bigger program of customer
relationship management. Abbreviated SFA, a technique of using software to automate
the business tasks of sales, including order processing, contact management, information
sharing, inventory monitoring and control, order tracking, customer management, sales
forecast analysis and employee performance evaluation.

Sales force automation helps by making all business actions pertaining to sales,
automatic.

These actions include:

Keeping a track of orders.

Meting out of orders.

Contact management.

Sharing sales information and statistics.

Screening and control of inventory.

Analyzing future sales patterns and behavior.

14.1.2 Benefits of Sales Force Automation Software

1. Personalized Software: You can get sales force automation solutions that are
customized

according to your specific business. These solutions are completely configurable to meet

your individual business and sales automation needs.

2. Complete Sales Solutions for Executives and Employees: Sales force automation
software

can help executives to define and set individual sales goals, share sales and advertising

information, analyze results and reports, and predict future courses.

3. Sales employees can benefit as the solutions make it easy for them to obtain leads,
supervise

their databases, set reminders for schedules and appointments, and save numerous notes,

orders, and applications.

4. Swift Launch and Incorporation: Most sales force automation software can easily be

incorporated into your unique sales programs and can be configured according to your

special needs. As a direct consequence of this, your sales team can be fully functional in

weeks rather than months or even years.

5. Provides Control: By using sales force automation software, managers can find out
how

their sales team is doing at any given time and also take care of any possible problems

before they get out of hand. Sales representatives can quickly be brought up to date by

providing all the necessary sales information in one common place.

6. Safeguards Data: All sales force automation systems have built-in security tools that
help

to safeguard all your data, statistics, and solutions. Advanced technology in security
enables

complete protection of client and company data. Along with this, these systems have data
encryption and user authentication facilities that help to back up the saved data and also

prevent unauthorized use of your sales solutions.

Disadvantages

Detractors claim that sales force management systems are:

difficult to work with

require additional work inputting data

dehumanize a process that should be personal

require continuous maintenance, information updating, and system upgrading

Technology for Customer Relations

No company operates in a vacuum, devoid of contact with customers or the general

public. If you have the need to communicate with others outside of your company (who
doesn’t?), then you are a prime candidate for developing or using a contact centre. Heck,
you may already have a contact centre and not even know it!

This unit introduces you to contact centres—what they are and how they benefit
customers and companies. You’ll even discover some of the traits that distinguish a good
contact centre from a bad one. By the end of the unit you should have a good grasp of
how good management, sound skills, and great technology can help make a good contact
centre into a great one.

How did the evolution of contact centres/call centres happened? The answer lies within
the points and observations stated below.

Customers need the comfort of a central point of contact.

Growth in the industry, because the customer can contact by any means, from any
place, at any time.

The customers can easily obtain information.

Of the Advantages Notes

It is Economical

Of Ease of contact and Time Saving

 Of the Availability of standardized product/customer information

Of the Service availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

6.1 Contact Centre Technology

Sometimes a contact centre is just one or two people sitting beside a phone answering
customer calls. Often it’s a very large room with lots and lots of people neatly organized
into rows, sitting beside their phones, answering customer calls.

But contact centres are more than headset-wearing switchboard operators. The modern
contact centre handles phone calls, e-mail, online communication, and sometimes even
old-fashioned written letters. In short, contact centres deal with any type of contact for a
company (other than in-person) — contact with the general public and customers of all
types: potential, happy, or even disgruntled. Contact — good, bad, or downright ugly—is
the name of the game.

To a customer or client, contact centre personnel are the voice and face of the company.
If you (as a customer) are angry, you often get mad at the person on the other end of the
phone—after all, you’re talking to the company, right?

Inbound/Outbound

Contact centres communicate with customers in a number of ways, but who initiates the
contact defines the type of contact centre. If the outside world initiates contact, then the
contact centre is said to be an inbound contact centre.

Conversely, if the contact centre itself is responsible for initiating contact, then the
contact centre is said to be an outbound contact centre.

Customers contact inbound centres to buy things, such as airline tickets; to get technical
assistance with their personal computer; to get answers to questions about their utility
bill; to get emergency assistance when their car won’t start; or for any number of other
reasons for which they might need to talk to a company representative.

In outbound centres, representatives from the company initiate the call to customers.
Your first reaction might be, “telemarketing, right?” Well, yes, telemarketing is a reason
for a company to contact you, but companies have lots of other good reasons to contact
their customers, as well.

Companies might call because the customer hasn’t paid a bill, when a product the
customer wanted is available, to follow up on a problem the customer was having, or to
find out what the customer and other customers would like to see by way of product or
service enhancements.

Outbound contact centres are, most often, very telephone centric.

Whereas inbound centres can handle many different ways of contact, outbound centres
most often use telephones because of, well, tradition and perception. It is not unusual for
a company’s representatives to call a customer on the phone, but it is more unusual for
them to send an e-mail to a customer. If companies send out e-mail to customers, it is
often done through some mass-mailing effort, not as one-on-one contact. Perception
enters into the picture because people are very quick to categorize unexpected e-mail as
spam, but less likely to be upset by unexpected phone calls.