Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program - Essay Example

CRM Table of Contents Introduction 3 Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program 4 Essential Components of CRM Program 8 Conclusion or Summary 10 References 11 Introduction The term ‘Customer Relationship Management (CRM)’ is a system for discussing strategies, methodologies as well as capabilities of individuals. It helps in organising, managing and monitoring the relationship of customers at different ends of an organisation. The term first emerged during 1990s, when competition in the global context became a significant issue for the organisations, both in the national and overseas markets. During that period the emphasis was evidently upon customer oriented approach rather than product oriented. In relation to product centric view, it can be observed the employees usually have a fragmented view of the customers and possess a very limited interaction. On the other hand, with the customer centric view, it is possible to develop or emphasis on the customers through better communication. Moreover, in order to be efficient, organisations are needed to improve the existing and newly emerged strategies as well as the technologies in order to satisfy customers with better quality products at affordable prices (Sumathi & Sivanandam, 2006). With these considerations, the paper intends to discuss the critical success factors for a CRM program along with essential components of a CRM program. Critical Success Factors for a CRM Program There are apparently ten critical success factors that can be evidently observed and can be considered as significant while initiating a CRM program which includes the establishment of measurable business goals, alignment of the operations of business and information technology. Another factor which can be identified includes receiving support from the executives along with driving the objectives of the business with support from the functional point of view. Another crucial factor is reducing the aspects of customisation by leveraging unnecessary aspects, using trained and experienced employees for CRM, ensuring active involvement in designing and receiving solution by the end users. The other crucial factor which is observed entail investment in training process for empowering employees, usage of phased rolled out schedules and measuring as well as tracking the performances of the employees while conducting a CRM program. The description of the above mentioned factors has been elaborated in the context below: Establishment of Measurable Business Goals It is important to identify and establish specific objectives through which proper implementation of the CRM program can be carried out (Oracle, 2006). Aligning Operations of Business Along With Technology The driving force of CRM can be identified as technology. If the emerging effective advancements of technology are incorporated in the business activity, the business can be operated smoothly with greater productivity along with customer satisfaction. In order to attain customer satisfaction by a considerable extent, it is the responsibility of the organisation to inject technical employees in order to effectively carry out the process of CRM or ascertain the completion of the program (Oracle, 2006). Receiving the Support from the Executives As CRM programs are strategic in nature, active involvement from management of the top level is required. Moreover, without the involvement of the executives, it is not possible to obtain the objectives of the organisation with regard to CRM program. It can be noted that a CRM program is one of the significant aspects in the success of an organisation in the national and global contexts. Driving the Objectives of the Business with Support from the Functional Point of View CRM programs help in driving the objectives of business for every organisation. With the incorporation of better and skilled personnel and employees in the business process, an organisation can enrich the profitability by improving the technical performance with the support of technical employees. These employees are generally skilled enough to complete any task in order to maintain the objectivity of the organisation by providing support through increased performance of the employees by deploying the resources in the process of CRM which would in turn enable to gain greater customer value (Oracle, 2006). Reducing the Aspects of Customisation by Leveraging Unnecessary Aspects Over-customisation can be considered as one of the significant aspects or factors while making the implementation of CRM programs. Excessive customisation at times leads to overrunning which results in budgetary constraints and missing the objectives of the proposed projects as well. The employees emphasise more on the aspect of customisation of the products or customisation in the system which results in faltering of the operations of the business which is actually required for the success of the organisation (Critchley, 2006). It has been observed that most of the experiments are cancelled in the mid-way of implementation. It is done in order to ensure that the application of implementation of systems is an expensive one and cannot be persuaded by most of the organisation. It is only possible through balancing the budgets as well as scheduling for completing such projects or programs. Thus, it is required to eliminate unnecessary customisation and provide an appropriate CRM program that could be beneficial for maintaining organisational effectiveness along with accomplishing the objectives of the entity (Oracle, 2006). Usage of Trained and Experienced Employees for Conduction of a CRM Program For the successful initiation of the CRM program, it is required to hire and administer skilled and experienced employees for the completion of the CRM program within the specified budgets along with stipulated time limit. The trained and experienced employees are capable of deploying the available resources through which the objectives of the organisation can be attained. Moreover, in terms of an essential component, it is observed that with the active involvement of end users is necessary together with the CRM application of the business for finding the desired solutions (Oracle, 2006). Investment in Training Process for Empowering Employees Adequate and appropriate training to the employees as well as the end users is important for the success of the CRM projects. Training not only enables to provide the required demonstrations for using the features of the software, but it teaches the employees how to execute the operations within the business premises as well (Critchley, 2006). Moreover, the employees are also required to act accordingly if there are any alterations made in the business process and understand the emerging processes in order to provide better services to customers (Oracle, 2006). Usage of Phased Rolled Out Schedule It has been observed that most of the CRM projects which are successfully handled are followed through phased deployment schedule where each of the phases is emphasised through a particular CRM objective. The successful phases are to be leveraged in providing effective results at a stipulated time period (Oracle, 2006). Another crucial essential component of a CRM program is monitoring and tracking. It is the responsibility of the management of the organisation to monitor and to track the performances of the employees towards making an effective implementation of the system. It is also the responsibility of the organisation to conduct periodic surveys for determining the preferences of the customers regarding the usage of the CRM program and its beneficial aspects. If there are drawbacks in the implementation, it is needed to be reported to the management to take necessary actions (Oracle, 2006). Essential Components of CRM Program There are various essential components of CRM programs which include people management, lead management, customer service, marketing and business reporting among others. People Management People management is an important determinant of a CRM program which enables the use of right people at the right time at the right place. It is very much significant to identify appropriate measures for ensuring flexibilities in terms of skills of individuals along with job requirements. According to people management perspective, it is necessary firstly to adopt the strategy and then to make the analysis of skills and development that are required to be taken into consideration and at last the necessary changes required are implemented in the development of the process (Exitallergy, 2011). Lead Management Lead Management engages in the activities of distribution of sales and tracking the performance of the employees in the organisation. These activities are performed by an organisation through a comprehensive survey carried out by the organisation which involves observing the purchasing patterns of customers as well as recognising the potential sales in the market (Exitallergy, 2011). Customer Service Customer service is very important in CRM, as with the process the organisations are able to receive relative information regarding the identification of the purchasing patterns of the customers, their preferences along with their requirements (Critchley, 2006). The gathered information helps every department to act according to the customer preferences and to provide greater stability along with customer satisfaction as well as ensure sustainability of the organisation as a whole (Exitallergy, 2011). Marketing CRM facilitates in the varied functions of marketing which enhances the effectiveness of customers through targeting them in potential markets (Exitallergy, 2011). Business Reporting It is an important component of a CRM program. An organisation needs to provide appropriate information and reporting which would be beneficial for the business. Appropriate reports are needed to be ensured along with estimating the data required for the successful implementation of the system (Exitallergy, 2011). Conclusion or Summary From the above observation, it can be comprehended that CRM is an important tool which emphasises more on the preferences of the customers and their requirements. In order to maintain the efficiency of a CRM program, imperative consideration is required towards the critical success factors along with time management and quality management of the products to satisfy customers in the global market. Proper reporting along with greater customer service can enhance the stability of the organisations along with providing effective profitability. References Critchley, R. K., 2006. CRM. Wrightbooks. Exitallergy, 2011. Customer Relationship Management. Components of CRM. [Online] Available at: http://www.crminfoline.com/crm-articles/crm-components.htm [Accessed March 19, 2013]. Oracle, 2006. Ten Critical Success Factors for CRM: Lessons Learned from Successful Implementations. An Oracle White Paper, pp. 1-12. Sumathi, S. & Sivanandam, S. N., 2006. Introduction to Data Mining and Its Applications. Springer. Read More