CMC - InsightExec 06-Sep-2006
Losing Customers with CRM - A response
A response from Guy Tweedale, Northern European Managing Director, Saratoga CRM to Greg Gianforte's article Losing Customers with CRM
In his recent article on The CMC , Greg Gianforte suggested that on-demand CRM solutions are different from traditional CRM solutions in the way that businesses can use them to develop both loyalty and long-term relationships with their customers.
His assertion that "traditional CRM software" is designed purely to strip-mine customers (and therefore bound to end in poor relationships and loss of customers) is flawed in one key respect: how you handle the relationship with the customer is less to do with the software and more about business process. Good CRM is an ongoing business process. It starts with an understanding of how the business needs to interact with (and respond to) the customer, not what the software can do. Good customer-facing business processes deliver good customer relationships, and that is what should be supported by the tools available in CRM software.
Greg has a point when he says that "traditional CRM software" from companies like SAP and Oracle (not to mention a large number of other vendors) has often been inflexible and driven by industry templates that are designed to strip-mine customers. However, the most successful CRM solutions on the market today are delivered by vendors whose solutions are flexible and adaptable, and capable of delivering support to good business process.
This new way of thinking means that the software is configured to meet the business processes, not the other way around. Furthermore, as Greg points out, customer needs are ever-changing, and companies can take their business elsewhere with almost no effort. As a result, business processes must be continually evolved to keep pace with the changing market dynamics, and CRM software must be continually updated to maintain support. The optimum solution to meet these needs from a software perspective is a solution that can be easily configured (not customised) to match business process, and where the tools and knowledge to maintain that configuration rest with the customer.
A recent Gartner report "Management Update: CRM on Demand Holds Promise, but Proceed With Caution", cites that on-demand solutions are good if your requirements are quite straightforward and uncomplicated, and that they can also help businesses learn more about their own process needs. However, once that is done, the report goes on to say that it may be better to seek a more robust and proven on-premise solution. The implication is clear: the traditional approach can – and often does – provide a more flexible and adaptable fit that delivers real value, as long as good business process is the driver of good customer relationships.
By Guy Tweedale, Northern European Managing Director, Saratoga Systems
About the author
Guy is the Northern European Managing Director for Saratoga CRM, one of the original pioneers of the CRM movement. Today, Saratoga is a world leader in CRM solutions that enable large, global enterprises to manage interactions with their customers at every stage effectively, from marketing and initial contact through the complex sales, service and support relationships that develop between successful companies and their happy customers. Cited by Gartner as the only CRM vendor in a survey to deliver ROI to 100% of its customers, Saratoga's fast and flexible architecture ensures its software solutions deliver real and flexible support to its customers' business processes.
www.saratoga.co.uk/ |
