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Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION

Customer relationship management (CRM)is a widely-implemented strategy for

managing a companys interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It

involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business

processesprincipally sales activities, but also those formarketing, customer

service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new

clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients

back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customerrelationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including

customer-interface departments as well as other departments.

CRM Definition

CRM softwarestands for Customer Relationship Management software. CRM

provides an integrated approach to identifying, acquiring, retaining and managing

customers. For most organizations, CRM is usually implemented through a

software package - such as a database linked to a web interface - designed to

support these processes.

CRM is about organizing and streamlining of processes and information. CRM

software enables companies to quickly and easily get and provide access to all

aspects of business management and customer interactions, and also allows

customers to quickly and easily find and use information on their own. By

streamlining aspects of vendor-client interactions, CRM software helps

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organizations manage and coordinate their businesses efficiently, as well as

provide excellent customer service.

No longer just for tech companies, industries such as the pharmaceutical,

automotive, construction, and airline industries have been implementing CRM to

manage all aspects of business and customer managment. Hospitals, banks, and

educational institutions are are also using CRM to manage qualitative data - such

as a customer's favorite products and testimonials or a patient's history - making it

easier to respond quickly and easily to individual customer needs without having to

look through files or records.

CRM software makes it easier for businesses large and small to manage the vast

amounts of information that running a business in today's world produces. CRM

software packages are highly customizable and are tailored to each organization's

individual needs for data and resource management. CRM vendors implement

single, easily navigable and user-friendly software systems that paperlessly bring

all kinds of customer and product information to employee fingertips, thereby

reducing overhead costs and saving both the organization and client time and

money.

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Chapter 2. PHASES OF CRM

The three phases in which CRM support the relationship between a business and its

customers are to:

Acquire: CRM can help a business acquire new customers through contact

management, selling, and fulfillment.

Enhance: web-enabled CRM combined with customer service tools offers

customers service from a team of sales and service specialists, which offers

customers the convenience of one-stop shopping.

Retain: CRM software and databases enable a business to identify and

reward its loyal customers and further develop its targeted marketing and

relationship marketing initiatives..

Chapter 3. History of CRM

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The History of CRM

CRM is an abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management, and refers to the

software and special programs used by businesses to identify customers and their

needs. CRM software is used by companies in several different industries, but

many of the businesses use them for sales purposes.

In the 1980s businesses began to utilize databases for the purposes of marketing.

This was the very beginnings of a simplified CRM programs. In the 90s, more

businesses began getting and utilizing CRM software, however, the hurdles of

expense and not knowing how to efficiently use the software became stumblingblocks to growing the CRM field.

In the 2000s the improvements in the technology of CRM software has meant an

increase in usage. The current software is easier to input information, and more

importantly easier to use the output. In early days of CRM, companies needed to

rely on CRM providers to interpret the information, which added to the cost. Now,

when companies use CRM software, they are provided training so that they can do

it themselves.

With the global economy in a difficult position, it is important for companies to

use resources properly. Those companies with CRM software are looking to work

with the software to help identify profit opportunities. Using CRM software has

many benefits for businesses.

Chapter 4. Benefits of CRM

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The use of a CRM system will confer several advantages to a company:

Quality and efficiency

Decreased costs

Decision support

Enterprise agility

Let's take a look at the advantages that a CRM or Customer Relationship

Management system can bring.

Shared or distributed data

As companies realize that customer relationships are happening on many

levels (not just through customer service or a web presence), they start to

understand the need for sharing all available data throughout the

organization. A CRM system is an enabler for making informed decisions

and follow-up, on all the different levels.

Cost reduction

A strong point in Customer Relationship Management is that it is making the

customer a partner in your business, not just a subject. As customers are

doing their own order entry, and are empowered to find the info they need to

come to a buy decision, less order entry and customer support staff isneeded.

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Better Customer Service

All data concerning interactions with customers is centralized. The customer

service department can greatly benefit from this, because they have all the

information they need at their fingertips. No need to guess, no need to ask

the customer for the n-th time. And through the use of push-technology,

customer service reps can lead the customer towards the information they

need. And, most of the time, the customer can do this on their own, as the

CRM system (remember, the 3 P's) is more and more able to anticipate the

need of the customer. The customer experience is greatly enhanced.

Increased Customer Satisfaction

The customer feels that he is more "part of the team" instead of just a subject

for sales and marketing (the proverbial number), customer service is better,

his needs are anticipated. There is no doubt that customer satisfaction will

go up. If the products sold exceed the customers expectation, of course, no

CRM system can help you with shoddy products. In my opinion, the term

statisfaction is a contaminated. Many companies think that if customers are

satisfied that this is a good predictor for repeat business. However, this is

not the case. Only delighted customers have a great level of loyalty.

Better Customer Retention

If a CRM system can help to enchant customers, this will increase customer

loyalty, and they will keep coming back to buy again and again, hence

customer retention.

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More repeat business

The repeat business is coming from the delighted customers, who are turned

from doubting clients into loyal advocates.

More new business

If you are delivering the ultimate customer experience, this will seed the

word-of-mouth buzz, which will spawn more new business.

More Profit!

More business at lower cost equals more profit.

CRM Solutions: Business Benefits

The benefits ofCRM solutions are multi-faceted and range from optimization of

customer service response times and satisfaction to reduction of operational cost.

Employees can manage their own 401(k) plans online, employers can manage

project schedules and organize employees remotely, travelers can get flight times

and transportation updates automatically, and financial transactions are immediate

and seamless. The goal ofCRM solutions is to establish relationships with

customers on an individual basis, and then use that information to treat different

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customers differently. The exchange between a customer and a company then

becomes mutually beneficial.

CRM benefits are multiple - both quantitative and qualitative - and as unique as the

businesses using them. Any organization that suffers from information overload,

whether it's keeping track of clients, transactions, or providing efficient customer

service, will benefit from implementing a CRM Solution. CRM works to organize

all aspects of the vendor-customer relationship into one easily navigable format.

Small businesses suffering from large amounts customer paperwork - due to things

like credit cards and credit accounts - can use Customer Relationship Managementsoftware to keep track of transactions, and link that to their inventory. Call centers

can use CRM to identify a customer before the call is taken, and quickly access

their purchase history as well as any previous customer service transaction notes,

thereby saving time and money. Medium size businesses can integrate CRM

solutions with their accounting records, automate quarterly customer reports and

eliminate third party services. CRM can significantly cut the amount of

outsourcing any business has to do for most aspects of Customer Relationship

Management, and greatly reduce overhead costs.

CRM has also helped to increase access to and reliability of company, market, and

client information. CRM solution enables investment firms to significantly

increase investor activity by providing current and reliable investment information

- including complete customer portfolio information - online. Consumers are moreconfident and comfortable making purchases online because they are able to read

and access product reviews. People get better medical care because health

organizations have accurate and immediate access to drug and health information.

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The benefits of CRM solutions - financially and sevice-wise, are both immediate

and long-term for vendors and their customers.

CRM makes doing business online much faster and easier. Businesses small and

large have found CRM solutions to be beneficial - and essential - to their success,

growth, development, and return on investment (ROI).

More than just customer service, CRM combines all aspects of vendor-client

relationships. CRM combines marketing, customer, and financial information so

that management, salespeople, customer service, and also the customer can access

the same information. CRM enables companies to automatically remind customers

of billing and service requirements, know what other products a customer has

purchased, and keep track of customer feedback in a detailed way. CRM integrates

all these business functions together.

Business benefits of CRM

Implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) solution might involve

considerable time and expense. However, there are many potential benefits.

A major benefit can be the development of better relations with your existing

customers, which can lead to:

increased sales through better timing by anticipating needs based on historic

trends

identifying needs more effectively by understanding specific customer

requirements

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cross-selling of other products by highlighting and suggesting alternatives or

enhancements

identifying which of your customers are profitable and which are not

This can lead to better marketing of your products or services by focusing on:

effective targeted marketing communications aimed specifically at customer

needs

a more personal approach and the development of new or improved products

and services in order to win more business in the future

Ultimately this could lead to:

enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that your good

reputation in the marketplace continues to grow

increased value from your existing customers and reduced costs associated

with supporting and servicing them, increasing your overall efficiency and

reducing total cost of sales

improved profitability by focusing on the most profitable customers and

dealing with the unprofitable in more cost effective ways

Once your business starts to look after its existing customers effectively, efforts

can be concentrated on finding new customers and expanding your market. The

more you know about your customers, the easier it is to identify new prospects andincrease your customer base.

Even with years of accumulated knowledge, there's always room for improvement.

Customer needs change over time, and technology can make it easier to find out

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more about customers and ensure that everyone in an organisation can exploit this

information.

Disadvantages of crm

Disadvantages of CRM are as follows:

difficult to work with

require additional work inputting data

dehumanize a process that should be personal

require continuous maintenance, information updating, and system

upgrading costly

difficult to integrate with other management information systems

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Chapter 5. CRM PROBLEMS

Following are the major disadvantages that stops CRM systems from becoming

a perfect solution for any business:

Customer Dissatisfaction

Although several businesses have implemented CRM systems to focus on

customers, several clients are still dissatisfied with its execution.

They term CRM as "technology that delays" or "stops service". For instance,

lots of them find automated voice systems (or Interactive Voice Response) as a

big headache and look for companies which have eased its use.

As per a recent study conducted by Accenture, receiving poor customer service

remains the number one reason why consumers abandon one service provider

and move on to another, be it a mobile service supplier or a credit card provider.

Other factors weighing heavily in consumer defections include lack of

customised products and senseless corporate bureaucracies.

Authenticity of Remotely Hosted CRM Services

Lots of businesses these days tend to contract out CRM. At times, cost becomes

the driving factor in outsourcing CRM systems and not the vendor reputation.In such scenarios, it's possible that the CRM service provider can disappear

overnight, along with all official records. It is also possible that information

kept with the service provider might get used for other purposes.

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A good CRM service always allows the company to back up/export data so that

the outsourcing company has a control over the information. Also, in some

cases corporate and government laws stops the businesses from keeping all

client information (such as Social Security Number, Home Number, etc.) at an

external location.

Cost and Complexity Involved In Setting Up Locally Hosted CRM Software

Frequent technical expertise required for setups and upgrades of CRM systems,

makes the businesses pay for ongoing support of the application.

Security becomes company's responsibility, which can cause a few headaches -

especially as is the case with many applications, security patches are rolled out

and one needs to install them very quickly.

As the business grows, needs from a CRM package also changes and adding

these extra features can be quite expensive.

Improper Vision For Tomorrow's Needs

Bottom line is that salespeople are only interested in things that help them sell

more now.

A sales representative's only resource is time; their most important goal is

meeting quota or budget for this month, quarter, or year.

Yes, they are concerned about the long run, but if they don't make quota now,

they know that they probably won't be around to worry about the long-term.

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It's not completely fair to say that CRM doesn't benefit a salesperson in meeting

short-range goals because in some respects it does, but most sales

representatives feel that they can be just about as effective in selling in the short

term without it.

In other words, the benefits of CRM don't seem significantly greater than the

investment of time and effort required to use the system each day.

Training Sales Staff

As the CRM is still evolving, businesses are required to devote enough time and

revenue in training sales personnel. The workforce should be able to judge how

to use the stored data in best possible manner.

If they don't use it (or the information they do put in is out of date, inaccurate,

or spotty) then they can be of little value to the company who "rolls up" all this

"junk data". Inept call center employees can further worsen the situation.

Essentially, companies that don't provide service representatives with sufficient

training or information, or forms that make people fight their way through

repetitive, fruitless support systems are going to lose more customers. That's no

big surprise.

Chapter 6. CHALLENGES OF CRM

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Tools and workflows can be complex, especially for large businesses. Previously

these tools were generally limited to contact management: monitoring and

recording interactions and communications. Software solutions then expanded to

embrace deal tracking, territories, opportunities, and at the sales pipeline itself.

Next came the advent of tools for other client-interface business functions, as

described below. These tools have been, and still are, offered as on-premises

software that companies purchase and run on their own IT infrastructure.

Often, implementations are fragmentedisolated initiatives by individual

departments to address their own needs. Systems that start disunited usually stay

that way: siloed thinking and decision processes frequently lead to separate and

incompatible systems, and dysfunctional processes.

Business reputation has become a growing challenge. The outcome of internal

fragmentation that is observed and commented upon by customers is now visible to

the rest of the world in the era of the social customer, where in the past, only

employees or partners were aware of it. Addressing the fragmentation requires a

shift in philosophy and mindset within an organization so that everyone considers

the impact to the customer of policy, decisions and actions. Human response at all

levels of the organization can affect the customer experience for good or ill. Even

one unhappy customer can deliver a body blow to a business.

Chapter 7. Types/variations

Sales force automation:-

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Sales force automation (SFA) involves using software to streamline all phases of

the sales process, minimizing the time that sales representatives need to spend on

each phase. This allows sales representatives to pursue more clients in a shorter

amount of time than would otherwise be possible. At the heart of SFA is a contact

management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for

each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA

applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts and

workflow automation, quote generation, and product knowledge. Modules for Web

2.0 e-commerce and pricing are new, emerging interests in SFA.

Marketing:-

CRM systems for marketing help the enterprise identify and target potential clients

and generate leads for the sales team. A key marketing capability is tracking and

measuring multichannel campaigns, including email, search, social media,

telephone and direct mail. Metrics monitored include clicks, responses, leads,

deals, and revenue. This has been superseded by marketing automation and

Prospect Relationship Management (PRM) solutions which track customer

behaviour and nurture them from first contact to sale, often cutting out the active

sales process altogether.

Customer service and support:-

Recognizing that service is an important factor in attracting and retaining

customers, organizations are increasingly turning to technology to help them

improve their clients experience while aiming to increase efficiency and minimize

costs. Even so, a 2009 study revealed that only 39% of corporate executives

believe their employees have the right tools and authority to solve client

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problems.. The core for these applications has been and still is comprehensive call

center solutions, including such features as intelligent call routing, computer

telephone integration (CTI), and escalation capabilities.

Analytics:-

Relevant analytics capabilities are often interwoven into applications for sales,

marketing, and service. These features can be complemented and augmented with

links to separate, purpose-built applications for analytics and business intelligence.

Sales analytics let companies monitor and understand client actions and

preferences, through sales forecasting and data quality.

Marketing applications generally come withpredictive analytics to improve

segmentation and targeting, and features for measuring the effectiveness of online,

offline, and search marketing campaign. Web analytics have evolved significantly

from their starting point of merely tracking mouse clicks on Web sites. By

evaluating buy signals, marketers can see which prospects are most likely to

transact and also identify those who are bogged down in a sales process and need

assistance. Marketing and finance personnel also use analytics to assess the value

of multi-faceted programs as a whole.

These types of analytics are increasing in popularity as companies demand greater

visibility into the performance of call centers and other service and support

channels, in order to correct problems before they affect satisfaction levels.

Support-focused applications typically include dashboards similar to those for

sales, plus capabilities to measure and analyze response times, service quality,

agent performance, and the frequency of various issues.

Integrated/Collaborative:-

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Departments within enterprises especially large enterprises tend to function

with little collaboration. More recently, the development and adoption of these

tools and services have fostered greater fluidity and cooperation among sales,

service, and marketing. This finds expression in the concept of collaborative

systems which uses technology to build bridges between departments. For

example, feedback from a technical support center can enlighten marketers about

specific services and product features clients are asking for. Reps, in their turn,

want to be able to pursue these opportunities without the burden of re-entering

records and contact data into a separate SFA system.

Small business:-

Forsmall business, basic client service can be accomplished by a contact manager

system: an integrated solution that lets organizations and individuals efficiently

track and record interactions, including emails, documents, jobs, faxes, scheduling,

and more. These tools usually focus on accounts rather than on individual contacts.

They also generally include opportunity insight for tracking sales pipelines plus

added functionality for marketing and service. As with larger enterprises, small

businesses are finding value in online solutions, especially for mobile and

telecommuting workers.

Social media:-

Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebookare amplifying the voice of

people in the marketplace and are having profound and far-reaching effects on the

ways in which people buy. Customers can now research companies online and then

ask for recommendations through social media channels, making their buying

decision without contacting the company.

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People also use social media to share opinions and experiences on companies,

products and services. As social media is not as widely moderated or censored as

mainstream media, individuals can say anything they want about a company or

brand, positive or negative.

Increasingly, companies are looking to gain access to these conversations and take

part in the dialogue. More than a few systems are now integrating to social

networking sites. Social media promoters cite a number of business advantages,

such as using online communities as a source of high-quality leads and a vehicle

forcrowd sourcing solutions to client-support problems. Companies can also

leverage client stated habits and preferences to "hyper-target" their sales and

marketing communications. Some analysts take the view that business-to-business

marketers should proceed cautiously when weaving social media into their

business processes. These observers recommend careful market research to

determine if and where the phenomenon can provide measurable benefits for client

interactions, sales and support. It is statedthat people feel their interactions are

peer-to-peer between them and their contacts, and resent company involvement,

sometimes responding with negatives about that company.

Non-profit and membership-based:-

Systems for non-profit and membership-based organizations help track

constituents and their involvement in the organization. Capabilities typically

include tracking the following: fund-raising, demographics, membership levels,membership directories, volunteering and communications with individuals.

Many include tools for identifying potential donors based on previous donations

and participation. In light of the growth of social networking tools, there may be

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Chapter 8. STRATEGY OF CRM

For larger-scale enterprises, a complete and detailed plan is required to obtain the

funding, resources, and company-wide support that can make the initiative of

choosing and implementing a system successful. Benefits must be defined, risks

assessed, and cost quantified in three general areas:

Processes: Though these systems have many technological components,

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of doing business, enabled by technology that consolidates and intelligently

distributes pertinent information about clients, sales, marketing

effectiveness, responsiveness, and market trends. Therefore, a company

must analyze its business workflows and processes before choosing a

technology platform; some will likely need re-engineering to better serve the

overall goal of winning and satisfying clients. Moreover, planners need to

determine the types of client information that are most relevant, and how

best to employ them.

People: For an initiative to be effective, an organization must convince its

staff that the new technology and workflows will benefit employees as well

as clients. Senior executives need to be strong and visible advocates who can

clearly state and support the case for change. Collaboration, teamwork, and

two-way communication should be encouraged across hierarchical

boundaries, especially with respect to process improvement.

Technology: In evaluating technology, key factors include alignment with

the companys business process strategy and goals, including the ability todeliver the right data to the right employees and sufficient ease of adoption

and use. Platform selection is best undertaken by a carefully chosen group of

executives who understand the business processes to be automated as well as

the software issues. Depending upon the size of the company and the breadth

of data, choosing an application can take anywhere from a few weeks to a

year or more.

What Is Open Source CRM?

Open source CRM is a group of software products that provides business users

with the tools required to manage their customers. Customer relationship

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management (CRM) software has experienced a huge increase in demand as more

companies begin to understand the increased efficiency available with this tool.

Open source software is developed through a collaborative effort. The difference

between open source and commercial software is the ability to access the source

code.

How to manage a Customer Relationship?

Managing a relationship with customers is extremely important today or they may

turn to your competition. Maintaining a good customer relationship doesn't, and

shouldn't, mean that you almost have to give your products away to keep business.

Rather, an effective customer relationship means respecting him or her. Customers

who feel respected by being recognized by name and having any complaints

handled fairly are likely to remain loyal.

Customer loyalty cards, such as memberships with discount prices, are a good start

in building good relationships with consumers. These types of offers can show

customers that the business does care about their concerns for reasonable pricing.

Treating customers as members makes them feel welcome and like they belong to

a business and are not just entering a store to purchase something. Friendly service

with a genuine smile only adds to the great shopping experience.

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Chapter 9. The Importance of CRM Customer RelationshipManagement

CRM Customer Relationship Management is one of the newest innovations in

customer service today. CRM stands for customer relationship management and

helps the management and customer service staffs cope with customer concerns

and issues. CRM involves gathering a lot of data about the customer. The data is

then used to facilitate customer service transactions by making the information

needed to resolve the issue or concern readily available to those dealing with the

customers. This results in more satisfied customers, a more profitable business and

more resources available to the support staff. Furthermore, CRM Customer

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Relationship Management systems are a great help to the management in deciding

on the future course of the company.

As mentioned, there is much data needed for the CRM system to work. These

fields include the customer name, address, date of transactions, pending and

finished transactions, issues and complaints, status of order, shipping and

fulfillment dates, account information, demographic data and many more. This

information is important in providing the customer the answer that he or she needs

to resolve the issue without having to wait for a long time and without going to

several departments. With just a few mouse clicks, a customer support

representative for example can track the location of the customer's package or

order. This is infinitely better than the cumbersome process of tracking shipments

previously. Furthermore, the customer service representative will also be able to

see the previous concerns of the customer. This is a great help especially if the

customer is calling about the same issue since he or she will not have to repeat the

story all over again. This results in less time in resolving the issue, thus, higher

productivity of the support staff.

CRM Customer Relationship Management systems are also important to the top

management because it provides crucial data like customer satisfaction and

efficiency of service by the frontline crews. A piece of customer relationship

management software will also be able to generate the needed reports for product

development or new concepts. Furthermore, this system will also be a great help

for the top management in deciding the company's future course of action, whether

it involves phasing out one of the products on the shelves or making adjustments to

one of the products sold.

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Chapter 10. CRM RESOURCES

There are several publications and websites dedicated to CRM news, systemreviews, resources, guides, and customer reviews available online. The following

is a brief list of resources that are useful when researching CRM solutions and for

keeping up to date with the most recent CRM technology.

The Customer Management Community by insightexec

www.insightexec.com

o The customer management community, Europe's leading CRM

service, provides a highly valuable set of tools, techniques, advice,

specialist events and best practice case studies to help members make

the most of customer management activities, achieve core business

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objectives and help improve the return on investment (ROI) of your

CRM programs.

o [news, forum, articles, events, whitepapers]

CRM Guru

www.crmguru.com

o CRMGuru is an online community focused on Customer Relationship

Management.

o [articles, forum, news, events, newsletters]

CRM Daily Newsfactor

crm-daily.newsfactor.com

o NewsFactor Network features an outstanding team of journalists who

produce daily news and industry analysis. Through syndication

agreements, the Network also features editors' picks of other top tech

stories from around the Web.

o [news, articles, whitepapers, newsletters]

IT Toolbox CRM Knowledge Base

crm.ittoolbox.com

o ITtoolbox is an interactive website that enables users to evaluate

vendor solutions, solve technical problems, research industry trends,

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stay current on specific segments of technology, exchange

information with other users, manage their careers, and even start their

own IT-oriented blog.

o [blogs, forum, case studies, news, white papers, articles]

CRMCommunity

www.crmcommunity.com

o CRMCommunity is a community-oriented Web source for

comprehensive, targeted information on evaluating, purchasing and

implementing customer relationship management technology and

solutions.

o [news portal, articles, events, webcasts]

destinationCRM

www.destinationcrm.com

o From the editors of CRM Magazine, destinationCRM is designed to

serve leaders engaged in the development of customer-centric

business initiatives and ventures. destinationCRM.com's internet

gateway is ideal for companies that have identified customer

relationship management as a key strategy for creating enhanced

customer value across many industries including technology,

communications, finance, retail, advertising, and healthcare. Includes

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o [news, articles, events, webcasts, whitepapers]

Implementation

Implementation issues

Increases in revenue, higher rates of client satisfaction, and significant savings in

operating costs are some of the benefits to an enterprise. Proponents emphasize

that technology should be implemented only in the context of careful strategic and

operational planning. Implementations almost invariably fall short when one or

more facets of this prescription are ignored:

Poor planning: Initiatives can easily fail when efforts are limited to choosing

and deploying software, without an accompanying rationale, context, and

support for the workforce. In other instances, enterprises simply automate

flawed client-facing processes rather than redesign them according to best

practices.

Poor integration: For many companies, integrations are piecemeal initiatives

that address a glaring need: improving a particular client-facing process or

two or automating a favored sales or client support channel. Such point

solutions offer little or no integration or alignment with a companys

overall strategy. They offer a less than complete client view and often lead

to unsatisfactory user experiences.

Toward a solution: overcoming siloed thinking. Experts advise organizations

to recognize the immense value of integrating their client-facing operations.

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In this view, internally-focused, department-centric views should be

discarded in favor of reorienting processes toward information-sharing

across marketing, sales, and service. For example, sales representatives need

to know about current issues and relevant marketing promotions before

attempting to cross-sell to a specific client. Marketing staff should be able to

leverage client information from sales and service to better target campaigns

and offers. And support agents require quick and complete access to a

clients sales and service history.

Adoption issues

Historically, the landscape is littered with instances of low adoption rates. In 2003,

a Gartner report estimated that more than $1 billion had been spent on software

that was not being used. More recent research indicates that the problem, while

perhaps less severe, is a long way from being solved. According to CSO Insights,

less than 40 percent of 1,275 participating companies had end-user adoption rates

above 90 percent.

In a 2007 survey from the U.K., four-fifths of senior executives reported that their

biggest challenge is getting their staff to use the systems they had installed.

Further, 43 percent of respondents said they use less than half the functionality of

their existing system; 72 percent indicated they would trade functionality for ease

of use; 51 percent cited data synchronization as a major issue; and 67 percent said

that finding time to evaluate systems was a major problem. With expendituresexpected to exceed $11 billion in 2010, enterprises need to address and overcome

persistent adoption challenges. Specialists offer these recommendations for

boosting adoptions rates and coaxing users to blend these tools into their daily

workflow:

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Choose a system that is easy to use: not all solutions are created equal; some

vendors offer applications that are more user-friendly a factor that should

be as important to the decision as is functionality.

Choose appropriate capabilities: employees need to know that the time they

invest in learning and in using the new system will not be wasted, indeed

that it will yieldpersonaladvantages; otherwise, they will ignore or

circumvent the system.

Provide training: changing the way people work is no small task; to be

successful, some familiarization training and help-desk support are usuallyrequired, even with todays more usable systems.

Lead by example: upper management must use the new application

themselves, thereby showing employees that the top leaders fully support the

application or else it will skew the ultimate course of the initiative toward

failure, by risking a greatly reduced rate of adoption by employees.

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Chapter 11. Role of CRM in Insurance

Role of CRM in Insurance

CustomerRelationship Management, or CRM, is a catalyst in insurance industry

growth. Replacing the traditional in person encounter of door-to-door sales, the

CRM system engages solid business relationships to meet customer demands for

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Collaboration between organizational team members to ensure a quality

customer service experience and follow up

Front and back end integration (supply chain)

Workflow and assignment processes

CRM Solution Success Stories

How are companies using CRM solutions? The range of organizations using CRM

systems today varies widely. While CRM was developed largely for service

providers such as banks, hospitals, and universities, businesses small and largehave found CRM to be beneficial to their bottom lines, regardless of size. Small

businesses are finding CRM solutions save them time and money by organzing

their client information, making it easier to provide quick and easy customer

service without all the paperwork and staffing. Larger companies are using CRM

to not only manage their clients, but also identify and retain new customers.

Below are a few customer stories about their experiences using CRM in different

industries worldwide.

Alta Resources

Alta Resources is an outsourcer of customized sales and service applications such

as call center management and customer data analysis applications. To keep up

with increasing internet and global demands, Alta needed a CRM solution that

integrates its clients' business processes with its own applications to create mutual

customized call center solutions for its clients. Alta Resources turned to PeopleSoft

to help them create a unified, seamless CRM solution that resulted in their ability

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to expand their business, enter new markets, take on more clients, and increase

revenue significantly within a relatively short period of time.

IBM

As a longstanding technology organization, IBM suffered from too many

departments running on different platforms and applications that were no longer

compatible, as some upgraded while others didn't and new systems were

introduced. IBM was already using Sieble's CRM solution for it's call centers and

technical support, so when IBM needed help with it's sales and marketing, they

turned to Siebelonce again to create a single integrated, company-wide CRM

solution platform that supports IBM sales and marketing worldwide by providing a

single source for customer and marketplace data, in several different languages and

currencies.

Bedfordshire County Council

It's not surprising that the public sector has turned to higher-tech CRM solutions in

the past few years. Government and public agencies are responsible for interfacing

with and servicing everyone from private citizens to public corporations and

military agencies, and even small organizations can be overwhelmed with

management issues. Bedforshire City Council in the U.K. was experiencing

significant growth and a rapidly changing economy. SAP worked with the Council

to create a CRM solution that makes the Council more efficient and enhances

communications within its own department, with private companies, and with the

general public. Bedfordshire County, and other communities worldwide, hasrealized that CRM has huge potential benefits to the efficiency of our government

agencies, and can change the way government interacts with the public.

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America OnLine

America Online, the world's largest Internet Service Provider, turned to

SalesForce.com to help it manage its extensive customer base and, on the IT end,

their customer - server interactions. AOL also had an increasingly complex sales

and marketing process that involved multiple external partners, and managing

information across multiple groups and contracts. SalesForce.com provided AOL

with a CRM solution that directs customers and employees through the fastest and

most efficient channels when seeking information or solutions, increasing

productivity for the entire organization.

Three Rivers Pharmeceuticals (3RP)

3RP is an example of a start-up company that implemented a CRM solution from

the beginning in order to maximize its profits and efficiency during this most

important growth period. 3RP had planned to do its CRM in-house, but after

researching the amount of staff and financial resources it would take to do so,

especially considering the FDA requirements they would be subject to, 3RP opted

to outsource their software services to Oracle. Oracle quickly implemented an e-business solution that allows 3RP to focus on it's research and business

development while the Oracle solutions work to manage its contracts, business

transactions, and helps to automate reports.

Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield worked with Pegasystems to organize and implement a

CRM system to provide accurate information via one application that could doseveral functions, as opposed to several, disconnected information centers. BCBS

saw the time it took to train new employees diminish significantly because of less

time spent teaching system navigation - only having to teach them to navigate one

or two screens instead of six or eight - and more time focusing on quality

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Chapter 12. Case study:-1

Insurance and Securities Agency Streamlines Processes and Data Integration Using

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Software

By: Mike Hauck of Valmark Securities

For 45 years, Akron, Ohio-based ValMark Securities, a leading insurance

brokerage agency and securities broker dealer, has provided sales, underwriting

and administrative support to its network of over 300 wealth managers and

insurance agents. ValMark maintains a targeted member broker and agent network

that relies on ValMarks expertise in preparing investment and insurance packages

for high-net worth individuals. These insurance packages are typically valued at

three times the national average for insurance sales. In the spring of 2007, ValMark

identified the need to update its business processes and began the search for

software solutions that could address its demands to track workflows and manage

complex business relationships with multiple insurance companies, financial

institutions and investment firms.Managing complex interactions between partners

and its member sales network was one of the core business issues for ValMark

Securities. On the insurance side of the business for example, member insurance

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agents may submit sales opportunities to ValMark for customized

recommendations on financial products from a partner database of 35 insurance

carriers. Each sales opportunity for these clients is unique. High-net worth clients

typically purchase multiple securities and insurance products through the member

agent. Product recommendations are based on many client criteria using data

obtained during the underwriting process. ValMark adopt ACORD XML standards

for insurance-related data in order to facilitate electronic data interfaces. These

feeds include insurance case status, requirements ordering and status, policy

information and commission feeds. The new system would need to support these

data standards and requirements in order for ValMark to operate efficiently.

When the company realized it would be difficult to find a system to meet their

needs from existing agency management software, they explored the idea of

building the software themselves. However, expertise and resources were needed

to do so. A few years ago, ValMark Securities contracted with Customer Effective,

a value-added reseller and Microsoft Gold needed a system to track each insurance

case from the preliminary stages until the final decision or sale is closed.Data

integration was another important requirement for ValMark Securities in designing

a new customer management system. Many insurance products require intensive

data gathering during the underwriting process, which can be repetitive and time

consuming if data is not easily accessible. ValMark wanted assistance in migrating

and sharing client-related data. In addition,the insurance brokerage community

recommends that agencies Certified Partner, to replace their initial contact

management system with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 1.2. Over time, ValMark

realized the need for more customized applications to improve data integration and

track activities of its increasingly complex relationships between independent sales

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ValMark contacted Customer Effective and together they worked to build a

customized agency management system within the Microsoft Dynamics CRM

platform. ValMark adopted the solution from Customer Effective known today as

Capital Effective, a relationship management solution based on the Microsoft

Dynamics CRM platform, designed exclusively for the financial services market.

ValMark chose to call their version of Capital Effective VBOSS or ValMark

Back Office Support System to emphasize that their solution is not off the shelf

but uniquely capable of supporting their business model. Employees benefit from

the solutions native integration with the Microsoft Office Outlook, which provides

a familiar, easy-to-use interface to access critical information. To further speed

adoption of the CRM solution among ValMarks employees, Customer

Effective used a unique approach to its implementation for the financial industry,

branded a User First Design FormulaTM. This approach begins with a definition

phase using input directly from the end users, designing corresponding workflows,

and modeling all potential customer interactions. Following the design phase,

Customer Effective created a strategic deployment plan to test and train employees

at every stage, integrating CRM use as part of their daily routine.

Results: CRM System Expedites Business Procedures

Since implementing the Capital Effective CRM solution, ValMark has improved

its client interaction activities and expedited the time involved in integrating data

to complete the insurance underwriting process. Accessing the system within the

Outlook environment made it easier and more intuitive for employees to use. As a

result, the CRM implementation did not entail an extensive training process, and

the learning curve was much shorter in comparison to ValMarks previous agency

management system. Additionally, Capital Effective can be changed quickly based

on user needs and ValMarks everchanging business requirements (such as quickly

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rollout of the new system, ValMarks users requested that the system be

reconfigured to reduce the number of keystrokes necessary to track case

information in the system. Within a week, the system was altered to require fewer

keystrokes, allowing employees to conduct business through a more convenient

process. ValMark needed a unique solution to solve unique business requirements.

For this agency, the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform provided the perfect

environment to address user needs for data sharing and management needs to

speed business process and sales reporting. Additionally, selecting the right

implementation partner, Customer Effective, who took the time to evaluate needs

from every level in the company, was a key part of their success in finding the

right solution.

Mike Hauckcurrently serves on the management team for ValMark Securities, a

leading insurance brokerage agency and securities broker dealer in the wealth

management and insurance industries.

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Chapter 13. Case study:-2

The Challenge:

The company needed to replace their existing CRM application that had been

supporting the Call Center activity for the past year. The existing CRM package (a

leading product in the market) had the following limitations:

Lack of performance in handling the growing number of incoming calls;

High cost to extend activities to backoffice departments the new application

needed to support communication between departments to fulfill requests initiated

at the Call Center;

Lack of flexibility and ability to change - as a package the application was not

easily customizable to address the evolving, specific needs of the insurance

business;

Integration with existing systems (claims processing and policy management) was

extremely difficult to do - users distrusted the data that was presented to them

wince it was constantly outdated. A trusted, single view of customer data didn't

exist;

The web interface was not tailored to the specific needs of insurance call agents - it

was missing concrete processes and form handling, and it was too complex in other

areas;

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Deficient analytical data - operational data was encoded in the specific metadata

format of the CRM package and too complex for 3rd party reporting systems to

use.

The Solution:

The company developed a custom Call Center and Fulfillment system with the

OutSystems Agile Platform, in just 6 weeks. The application was targeted at 100

call center agents and 150 employees from different departments that support the

backoffice follow-up process of more complex customer requests. To support the

complete caller contact/response process, the system included the following

features:

Automatic inbound handling - When a phone call is received the application

automatically pops-up so the operators can start registering the customer

interaction. The application is integrated with the companys Cisco ACD system;

Contact identification and definition- simple to use form where the contact

center agent classifies the contact (inbound or outbound call), its origin (e-mail,

phone, fax, mobile, or other) and identifies the number where the call is coming

from. The operator must also identify the calling entity: first its type (Customer,

Supplier, Agent, Employee, Third Party, etc) and then a specific person from the

database, creating a typified contact record. Depending on the contact nature, more

data can be entered, like a claim ID, a policy number or even a supplier key;

Contact automatic prioritization SLAs are defined (in the back office)

according to contacts type and reason, and the application automatically decides

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whether a call should be immediately answered, transferred or even if a task should

be opened. It also fills the deadline date for resolution automatically;

Intelligent customer routing Based on the defined SLAs, calls are

automatically transferred to the right person without any intervention from the

operator. Likewise, notifications of new tasks are automatically sent to the

responsible department. The operator no longer needs to look up a phone number

or write an email to send a notification. The whole process just became faster and

easier;

Contact Management and Analytics 84 types of contacts are catalogued and

associated to a specific workflow and SLA. From new product simulations to

claims or policy information, billing information or even agent related information

and campaigns, the call center agent is able to efficiently address and answer all

customer and partner agents calls;

Profile Management profiles and groups are managed through the backoffice

allowing the tasks to be viewed and owned by a group of people. When a specific

task is forwarded to a team, anyone belonging to the team can open the task and

become its owner. At any time the task owner can forward it to another team

member;

Contact and Task monitoring users can search on a list of all contacts and their

related details (general data, comments, tasks and history). A progress bar is shown

for all open data as well as the time remaining for closing a particular task;

Portal Integration - data collected by the contact center is available to all

applications under a portal, allowing any employee to check, for example, the

entire contacts history for a specific insurance policy;

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Real time Integration with existing claims and policy systems;

True analytics and flexible reporting capacity.

Results:

Accurate and complete collection of relevant contact data the company has

accurate contact data regarding reasons of contact, number of contacts, times of

resolution meshed with the relevant insurance business data;

No more on-the-side" tactical applications or spreadsheets. Critical, unforeseendemands from the Call Center are deployed, in some cases, in as little as 2 days;

High user satisfaction and adoption. The use of agile methodologies assured that

users were deeply involved during the whole development process, and that the

final system addressed their specific needs;

Integration with existing legacy systems was simplified and ensured that multiple

customer's related data was accurate in all systems.

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INSURANCE

Salesboom CRM software offers services in support of personal and commercial

insurance operations.

The table below addresses standard sales and support activities supported by

Salesboom CRM Software Solutions.

BUSINESS ACTIVITY SALESBOOM - INSURANCE SECTOR

Sale of financial

products such as

life insurance,

property

insurance,etc.

Marketing, sales, product

specification, pricing,

targeting activities.

Salesboom CRM lets you create highly

personalized marketing campaigns and

execute them across multiple channels.

With need analysis and product

recommendation capabilities, Salesboom

CRM helps agents close the sale by

providing the right product choices.

Salesboom CRM Referral management Automatically create leads for every

referral captured

Easily view the most valued source

of referrals

Targeted sales Maximize cross-selling

opportunities

Streamline account origination for

multiple product sales

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Call list management Accurate, complete and timely call

lists triggered by events, meetings,

predefined conditions

track, assign, escalate call activities

appropriately

deliver personalized investment

advice to clients in timely basis

Household management View data on familial and ad hoc

households

Roll up of portfolios, leads,

activities, notes, opportunities

Identify client values Consistent view of client portfolios

across multiple platforms

Accurately assess client value and

profitability

Segment clients for appropriate

marketing initiatives

Retain high value clients with

exceptional customer service

Self serve Universal sign up

Cross-channel application

processing

Targeted cross-selling

Multi-channel distribution of

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Product

Description

Comprehensive and up to

date product descriptions

for sharing

Create, update and disseminate product

information that is consistent for all users.

Pricing and

Quotations

Produce and track quotes

for customers based on

pricing and

packaging/incentive

programs

Maintain history of quotations from

common pricing tables, document

incentives and successes on file.

Risk Assessment Proceed to underwriting

with solid client profile

and history in evidence.

Improves risk assessment as agents have

access to comprehensive of customer

specific underwriting from all business lines

Document

Management

Generate policy documents

such as quote packages,

declarations, certificates of

insurance, and payment

receipts

Can be generated automatically and can be

sent directly from the system to customer by

email, fax, mail.

Salesboom CRM services has capacity to integrate and support the following

business lines on-demand and as-needed to deliver successfully in your

financial enterprise:

BUSINESS

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITIES

Marketing Develop marketing strategies and maintain campaign history in a

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Analysis company repository available as a working file, a reference repository for

lessons learned, a resources for decision making, training purposes, etc.

Sales Track sales activities, strengthen sales strategies, incorporate sales

protocols, study sales successes/failures to finesse future sales strategies,

provide instant overview for team overview and action. As a result it is

easier to develop better targeted sales offers, up-sell and cross-sell

opportunities.

Customer Service Deliver exemplary customer service with instant access to product

marketing collateral and partner product information.

Customer and

Partner

Manage information and activities for customer and partner relationships

from within one system to ensure good information exchange in support

of sales, supply management, customer and product support.Management

Call Center Manage call center services with on-line software that links the service

team in real-time to sales information, product information, pricing and

billing options and self service options.

Policy

Enforcement

CRM implementation enables consistent enforcement of organizational

policy. This capacity enhances areas where policy is important in terms

of revenue generation, legal responsibility, regulatory compliance,

Occupational Health and Safety, demonstration of fiscal due diligence.

Work-flow Embed business processes into Salesboom CRM to promote consistency

and reduce costly training activities.

BUYING IN ACTIVITIES

Customization Consider customization in the context of business lines, and updates as

changes occur. Salesboom offers a wide range of customization options

from within the system. This introduces the possibility for our customers

to manage as little or as much customization as desired from the desktop.

Once customization requirements are identified, implementation can be

accomplished with consultation with Professional Services to determine

what level of integration may be required to achieve your desired results.

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Events Driven

Advice

With access to 'up to the minute' information in organizational context, it

is possible to provide accurate advice where timely information is critical

to decision making.

Integration of

business

processes

If the customization required is complex or fairly sophisticated in terms

of true application, then the Professional Services team will review the

requirements and identify integration points and implementation options.

This includes identifying information holdings you wish to bring forward

for service support in your new system.

Technical

integration of

Web Services

Platform

Because of the flexibility built into the Salesboom CRM system, it is

possible to use the API packages to integrate existing systems for a rich

customer service environment. Additionally, Salesboom has back-end

functionality that can bring a full service on-demand system into

operation where retention and integration of existing back-end

information holdings is desirable. The Professional Services team will

work with you to identify and suggest trategic integration options.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Q1) What Is CRM?

CRM is a data tracking system used for customer, marketing, productivity and

organizational solutions. Beginning in the 1980s, CRM was focused on marketing,

but by the 1990s, with significant advances in technology, began providing

solutions to other industries. CRM has become an important part of operations in

the insurance industry.

Customers

Success in the insurance sector originates from positive customer relations. Using

CRM for your insurance book of business allows you to track leads, maintain

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customer profiles, provide more personalized service to meet specific needs and

build customer loyalty. Tools for communication, such as email, enable lead, client

and contact management.

Marketing

CRM offers a model for effective product management. Combining CRM solutions

with industry legacy systems immediately channels product enhancements while

tracking new product releases. This advancement allows insurers to meet the needs

of policy holders within a shorter product development cycle.

Productivity

Productivity and sales performance can be monitored with CRM tools. Results can

show which objectives are being met as well as areas needing improvement. After

implementing a CRM system, a leading insurance brokerage and risk management

consulting firm was able to meet set goals on performance metrics for 7,000 global

employees, according to Salesforce.com. Contact center solutions improve claims

procedures, providing first rate customer service while meeting business

requirements.

Organization

The processes of underwriting, claims processing and support are well structured

using industry software to produce positive results. Claims solutions have provided

built-in analytics, enabling an insurance carrier to save $4 million annually and

achieve 1 percent reduction in loss ratio, according to Oracle's website. This type

of efficiency strengthens relationships and keeps work processes at a high standard

Industry Growth

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The insurance industry has experienced broad strides within its corporate structure

in addition to the field division. Alleviating risk, meeting diversity needs,

improving financial challenges and employee operations are some of the successes

that customer relationship management has brought to the insurance industry.

More insurance companies are using advanced CRM technologies to meet the

needs of an increasing customer base for better retention rates and profitability.

Software developers have recognized this growth and are adapting technologies by

offering solutions specific to the insurance industry's needs.

Q2) Why is CRM important?

CRM is important for business enterprises because of three reasons.

1. Helps in acquiring new customers

Prospective customers are needed in order for companies to move forward.

Insurance CRM must have a way to gather leads or prospective clients. Cultivate

these cold leads until they turn hot with marketing or advertising. Eventually, in

theory, these leads turn into customers.

2. Helps in retaining current customers

Customer retention can be achieved with loyalty programs. Insurance CRM should

then definitely have updated information about all their customers. Centralization

of information can help in that aspect. It makes it easier to determine the customers

who are eligible for perks after some time.

3. Enhances their customers experience

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Enhancing the customers experience in dealing with the company can be achieved

in many ways. Even simple things like having all important information found

online can help.

Making sure that all clients have a way of getting customer service in a timely

manner is already of great benefit. Insurance CRM software providers can make

these things much easier. Insurance CRM can lessen the burden of the companys

Information Technology (IT) departments.

These main goals of CRM enable businesses to keep on running and continue to

grow. Without customers, what happens to businesses?

Keeping that in mind, customers are indeed an integral part of any business. None

would profit or even exist without them.

Q3) Why is CRM used in insurance?

Insurance companies do have customers. Thus, CRM plays a vital role in keeping

them. CRM also facilitates automation of many business processes. This alone

saves any company precious resources because automation does decrease operation

expenses.

Excellent customer service is also important. That includes providing information

regarding insurance plans. Providing information is crucial. Terms of agreement in

insurance should be well-understood by clients.

CRM also allows the collaboration of different departments within a company.Even insurance CRM deals with sales, customer service and marketing. In effect,

the business works seamlessly using insurance CRM.

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Q4)Why is insurance important?

Insurance, nowadays, is a requirement for various things. It is a form of risk

management. To insure something or someone means that in the event something

bad happens, people get money back for their loss.

There are different types of insurance policies. Therefore, there are also numerous

insurance companies. Insurance has many types. Here are some of the most

common types:

Vehicle

Home

Health

Accident, sickness and unemployment

Casualty

Life

Property

Liability

Credit

There are other numerous types of insurance nowadays for almost anything. Even

businesses can be insured, kidnap and ransom, legal expense, livestock and a lot

more.

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Q5)Why is CRM important?

CRM is important for business enterprises because of three reasons.

1. Helps in acquiring new customers

Prospective customers are needed in order for companies to move forward.

Insurance CRM must have a way to gather leads or prospective clients. Cultivate

these cold leads until they turn hot with marketing or advertising. Eventually, in

theory, these leads turn into customers.

2. Helps in retaining current customers

Customer retention can be achieved with loyalty programs. Insurance CRM should

then definitely have updated information about all their customers. Centralization

of information can help in that aspect. It makes it easier to determine the customers

who are eligible for perks after some time.

3. Enhances their customers experience

Enhancing the customers experience in dealing with the company can be achieved

in many ways. Even simple things like having all important information found

online can help.

Making sure that all clients have a way of getting customer service in a timely

manner is already of great benefit. Insurance CRM software providers can makethese things much easier. Insurance CRM can lessen the burden of the companys

Information Technology (IT) departments.

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These main goals of CRM enable businesses to keep on running and continue to

grow. Without customers, what happens to businesses?

Keeping that in mind, customers are indeed an integral part of any business. None

would profit or even exist without them.

Q6) Why is CRM used in insurance?

Insurance companies do have customers. Thus, CRM plays a vital role in keeping

them. CRM also facilitates automation of many business processes. This alone

saves any company precious resources because automation does decrease operation

expenses.

Excellent customer service is also important. That includes providing information

regarding insurance plans. Providing information is crucial. Terms of agreement in

insurance should be well-understood by clients.

CRM also allows the collaboration of different departments within a company.

Even insurance CRM deals with sales, customer service and marketing. In effect,

the business works seamlessly using insurance CRM.

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CONCLUSION

Insurance organizations recognize the need to identify, attract, and retain profitable

clients, but often lack a full or holistic view of their customers. In addition,

consumer demand for flexible, customized services and products that can be

accessed through multiple channels has leveled the competitive playing field.

Insurers are looking for solutions that will empower agents to make smarter

decisions at the point of contact, provide them with a complete customer view that

fuels greater customer intimacy, and supports their ability to up-sell and cross-sell

a full range of financial products and services. Though decision makers understand

the value of this comprehensive approach, they are hesitant to take the plunge.59


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websiteso www.crm2day.com

o www.salesforce.com

o www.managementparadise.com

o www.google.co.in

o www.yahoo.com

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http://www.salesforce.com/http://www.managementparadise.com/http://www.google.co.in/http://www.salesforce.com/http://www.managementparadise.com/http://www.google.co.in/


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Reference Books

o CRM: Redefining Customer Relationship

Management

o Why CRM Doesnt Work?

o CRM: Getting It Right

custumer relationship management

Documents