Ankündigungen » Yet studies show that more than

Is CRM Technology Living Up To the Hype? Marketing Articles | January 21 Jonah Williams Kids Jersey , 2005
Over the last few years the buzz about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has grown extensively. It seems that every Sales & Marketing executive is talking about it. A study conducted by Jupiter M...


Over the last few years the buzz about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) has grown extensively. It seems that every Sales & Marketing executive is talking about it. A study conducted by Jupiter Media Metrix found that U.S. businesses spent more than $5.2 billion in CRM technology software in 2001, a number that is expected to rise to $8.7 billion by 2006. CRM spending has been growing considerably, especially in financial services, retail, and telecommunications.

Many companies have invested in CRM systems to retain customers who demand more and better services by the day, but why? Due to recent trends Joe Mixon Kids Jersey , consumer behavior has changed dramatically in the last couple of years, and even more with current market conditions. According to a study made by The Center for Customer Strategy, consumers are less concerned with minor price differences, but choose companies based on their value-added services. They want to be able to get what they need, quickly. With tools like the Internet, it?s now a lot easier for both consumers and businesses to compare offers Jessie Bates III Kids Jersey , and switch over if their needs aren?t met. This is especially true of high-value customers that produce the most profit for the business.

Businesses are scrambling for ways to retain these customers, and attract new ones in the process. So how is CRM an answer to keeping up with these trends? CRM is a strategy (no, not software) to transform your business to be customer, not product, focused. The CRM software is just a tool that helps the company carry out this strategy. Depending on its implementation, it can help your business identify who your customers are A.J. Green Kids Jersey , what they need and anticipate what could want. It allows businesses to tailor offers to their current customers, building closer relationships that make them feel valuable. It can help eliminate contact and data overlap between departments and improve consumer service. For example, Leah Holzman, Marketing Manager of TradeCard Inc, explained how the marketing and sales departments in her company had problems tacking each others? progress and customer data. They spent ?hundreds of hours managing disparate data across multiple systems. That is, until they implemented a CRM initiative with the help of Salesforce. Overall Michael Jordan Womens Jersey , CRM can make your company more efficient and customer-friendly to capture greater market share, increase customer loyalty, and attract more customers.

So far, CRM sounds like a dream come true. Yet studies show that more than half of CRM initiatives fail. Despite rising spending in CRM, a survey of 1,200 businesses executives conducted by the Data Warehousing Institute showed that 41% considered their CRM project ?a potential flop.? Only 16% were satisfied with their CRM software implementation. As one senior marketing executive claimed Renell Wren Womens Jersey , ?We turned a manual mess into an automated mess, and as a result we just made the same mistakes faster and more efficiently.?

The problem with these companies is not that CRM automation fails to meet expectations. There are several reasons why these systems don?t always generate the desired results. And most times, it has nothing to do with the software. The biggest mistake that a manager can make is think that once the software is installed, all problems will be solved. To be successful, a CRM initiative must be a company-wide strategic culture change and process design. It entails getting all your employees (not only customer service) to change the way they perform their every day tasks so that the appropriate information is collected and used in a productive way. The software is just a tool that keeps things organized so that a successful CRM is easier to accomplish. As any change in a corporate culture, this project requires complete support from senior management.

One of the most common problems is that data collected isn?t used. Great sums of money are invested in collecting all different kinds of information on clients Ryan Finley Womens Jersey , yet many times this information is never analyzed, never used to