Customer Relationship Management and Integration of Technology - Case Study Example

Integration of Technology in CRM Systems Name Course tittle Instructor’s name Date Introduction The use of technology in attraction and maintenance of the customers is essential to the competitiveness of many organizations. Through technology, distance barriers are eliminated and money transfers made easier. Technologies are therefore used to shape many dimensions of businesses and deliver a liberation and enchantment that did not exist in previous business practice. Through technology organizations can rightly expect organizational changes that they desire both for their operations and their relations with customers. Managers indulge in the implementation of technological advancement before consideration of the side effects of these actions.1 The use of technology does not necessarily guarantee success of the business; not all that the organization will post to the customer through technology will be bought. Many managers have a recurring failure to remember or total lack of learning from past failure that causes the repetitive erroneous application of technology that does not yield positively to the organization2. Considering this from a systems development perspective, the organizations fail to research on previous application of technology and how to modify the technology to suit their particular needs. Customer Relations Management (CRM) systems are some of the latest cases of failure of technological application to organizations. Information on CRM software is scanty and many managers only rely on vendor rhetoric and managerial practitioner reports. Few reports on CRM technology emerge and allow for learning that is required in application of technology such as the researches on financial services industry and IBM which are exceptions to this draught of information. This research report is a contribution to the neglected area as it analyzes the use of technology in CRM. Through this research, the contextual application and consequences of CRM implementation are highlighted. It is imperative to consider the importance of CRM systems in the value they offer to organizations. This paper elaborates on the problems that are encountered in the application of CRM and will eventually enlighten managers such that they enter into projects in full awareness of what is involved. This is impetus to the improvement of project implementation as it will improve the selection, implementation and usage of CRM systems. Customer relations management is a king pin dimension to many organizations, three perspective of the concept of CRM are offered by Ody3. Firstly is the accurate marketing which involves precisely delivering products that suit the customer’s requirement. Secondly is the perception that the customers can be viewed in a coherent manner as is usually applied in many call centers. The third focuses on the customer information databases as CRM has driven investments into data warehouses. The implementation of CRM is aimed at knowing about and looking after the customers. Research methodology This study is aimed at investigating the implementation and application of CRM computer systems by businesses. The research method adopted was descriptive as the data collected was used to describe the events in the specified context for elaboration of the area understudy. Organizations that had been involved in CRM system implementation were selected and the result implication of the implementation to their organizational goals determined. To aid data collection, an internalized framework from previous researches along the same line was adopted inform of research questions. The statistics gathering was done through official interviews with directly involved users and managers. The interviews were made twice in a period of two months. Cases under study The first company, A TO Z LTD, was a global consumer goods company which implemented its CRM software in the European and American call centers. The company used the software to hasten retrieval of information on customers. The Implementation was useful and the company adopted a resolution database which greatly added value to the software application. This company however had difficulties obtaining information about customers as most of the products were sold through retailers and therefore there was no direct link to the end users, the software was used to deal with responses that were received from company adverts. Other avenues that linked the company to its consumers were the registration of products. The information system did not allocate for acquisition of customer information from the retailers. HURTON ENG deals with supply of engineering equipment. This company had implemented CRM to advance its competence and efficacy. There was disorientation from the key business of the company to management of documents as the company had only been using paper based systems and also had little interrelations with other companies which would allow for sharing of information. The CRM had to solve the problem of incorporating the high level of intellectual in the employees to the company control and influence. The CRM was therefore more than a pitfall management tool and would be used in more than sales enforcement. Next edge CO is a national services company which deals with clients who get services through secondary distributors. The company implemented CRM software which was inefficient in the overall performance as they intended the software for analysis of customers and the services they were buying but incapable of tracking the level of progress of the customers. They therefore knew who was buying from them but could not determine the effect of their services on the customers or overall customer experience. The organizational structure involved the use of agents in distribution of services and therefore the customers were not in direct contact with the company itself. This issue complicated the problem of the CRM even further as it failed to incorporate the extranet and intranet systems that were used by the company and its external partners. JEFFERY'S CO. is a manufacturing company which exports its products globally. They use agents for sales and distribution but are disadvantaged by the lack of support for data entry. Their CRM system would not accommodate the entry of sales orders data to maximize the access to customers. The CRM failed to monitor agents so as to ensure satisfaction of customers and it also had weaknesses in its reporting functionality. Discussion Standard CRM software has problems with flexibility in functionality and costs and competitiveness when implemented. The major limitation for most of the CRM software researched is that they assume that customer relation management is similar for all organizations4. The four companies researched did not directly sell their products or services to consumers and all had difficulties in aligning the software with their organization structure. A TO Z LTD could not find out more details about their customers while NEXT EDGE CO could not get information on customer experience with the sold services. JEFFERY'S CO shared problems with A TO Z LTD of not being able to determine the characteristics of customers and also failed to get customer services levels just as NEXT EDGE CO experienced. The companies used the same CRM software and therefore had the same problems of their CRM system not being able to hold data about the volume of sales per customer. The CRM software was built based on ideas of relationship marketing but the capabilities of the software were not complimentary to the concept5. The companies’ implemented CRM software in their sales and marketing call centers but still needed IT support for their relationship management activities. ERP software was used to manage transactions and provided a link between the business and its customers. HURTON ENG enhanced its operational efficiency and effectiveness by implementing CRM software in its sale department, the company soon realized a deficiency in its acquisition of information about customers and customer experience reports. As for JEFFERY'S CO, the organization’s management took extravagant time to come to a realization that the CRM software implemented was not effective for the other departments. Conclusion and Recommendations The organizations studied relied heavily on the IT applications for the success of their sales and marketing departments. The problems experienced with these companies however indicate the level of confusion of IT assisted CRM. The system must be taken as a contribution to the marketing strategy and not a sole operational object of marketing6. It is important to consider that CRM software is more than the integration of IT in the organization. The system incorporation competencies have to be considered for an all-inclusive association of the marketing strategy. The findings of this research are reflective of the inadequacy of information on the implementation of IT in CRM. The supremacy of inappropriate management perspectives of CRM projects shows low levels of maturity in IT applications7. The implementation of CRM in a localized system provides little returns for organizations that are competing for operational effectiveness. Industrial analysts have focused on the need for a holistic system as far as the prioritizing of customers in the implementation of CRM software is concerned. They indicate the need for provision of back office integration as well as the availability of links through various channels such as phones, or via web connectivity8. It is recommended that further researches be done on areas of success and failure of CRM systems with case studies of companies which have successfully implemented CRM software with a more holistic perspective of the customers with consideration of the impact the system has on organizational microcosms. Other areas that need further research are the implementation of other IT related applications in businesses with more compliant managers, how the level of maturity of managers impact on selection, implementation and use of these applications. How will the implementation impact on the organizational IT selection and usage capability? Bibliography Books Berry, L.L. Shostack, G.L. and Upah, G.D. (eds.) Perspectives on Services Marketing, (4th Ed American Marketing Association, Chicago 2006) 84 Payne, A. Christopher, M. Clark, M. and Peck, H. Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage, (2nd Ed Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford 1999) Journals Clemons, E. ‘Gathering the Nectar, Understanding CRM, Financial Times Publication’ [2000], Spring, 22 Dowling G and Uncles M, ‘Do Customer Loyalty Programs Really Work?’ [1997]: SMR 82. Lucas, H.C., Jr, Walton, E.J. and Ginzberg, M.J. ‘Implementing Packaged Software’, [1988] MISQ 536 Ody P, ‘Selling a New Strategy, Financial Times Supplement’, [2000] spring 6 Van Bennekom, F.C. and Blaisdell, M. ‘How Broad, How Deep: Lessons from a CRM Implementation’ [2000] CIT 16 Other sources Ovum (1999) CRM Strategies: Technology Choices for the Customer-focused Business, Ovum. (Extract from report available at Ovum.com) Read More