CRM strategy

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The CRM ecosystem consists of application software vendors, hardware and infrastructure vendors, and CRM service providers. In this module, we will cover the various parties that make up the CRM ecosystem. You will be able to distinguish between the different CRM product and service providers and recognize the most common and popular ones on the market. The idea here is not for you to become an expert in these products and services but rather that you have an idea of what is available in the marketplace. We will also look at the latest CRM technology trends, the various types of applications, including analytical CRM, and their role in facilitating CRM processes. The technology component of CRM is the most overwhelming given the ever-expanding number of offerings and the alternatives available. There are two issues that you must keep in mind as we talk about technology. The first one is dealing with the actual CRM software vendors. The second one is staying on top of the trends which are constantly changing. The frequently changing surroundings of the technology landscape such as web dependencies, changing technology standards, big data, and changing process best practices, have made it challenging for technology vendors to deliver enabling CRM technologies. Regardless, it’s important for technology vendors to determine the return on investment for deploying new CRM solutions and helping companies justify these investments.

The business challenge then is to find a direct correlation between the systems implementation and the business benefits that are realized. There are so many factors that you must consider when you are dealing with a successful CRM project such as people and processes. It’s also hard to figure out how the technology component will help the people and the processes achieve maximum results, maximum profits, and revenues. While CRM software sales will continue to expand, the emphasis is now shifting from capturing customer interactions to providing valuable customer journeys and experiences. This means that companies are looking to integrate multiple systems and channel partners, which we’ve referred to as multi-channel integration.

Another major trend that has been in place for the last couple of years and will continue, is the focus on leveraging analytical software. The idea is to make sure that we’re taking advantage of newfound data and using it intelligently, as we learned with the IDIC framework. Now let’s look into who makes up this CRM market, industry -- the ecosystem -- and who are its players.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

CRM primarily affects sales, marketing and service business processes. However, technology solutions should not be considered until business processes have been clearly designed. Simply plugging in a piece of software isn’t going to solve anything unless you have figured out how it’s going to be used and how you are going to train your employees in their day-to-day operations. What good is a new app on your mobile device if you don’t know how you are going to use with your tasks? Remember: Process design first – then technology.

Sales, marketing, and service functions can vary in companies, based on the types of customers targeted, the products/services sold, the industry, and the overall markets. Some companies are very small; others are conglomerates, global organizations with hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide. The good news is that there are a diverse number of technology and service providers that can help any company in any industry, maximize the effectiveness of their sales, marketing, and service processes. The CRM market or ecosystem has grown considerably over the past decade. Grand View Research valued the total global CRM market at $43.7 billion in 2020 and expects it to reach $47.6 billion this year. It further expects the market to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.6 percent through 2028 (CRM Magazine, 2021).

The CRM market is composed of companies that offer hardware, software, and consulting services. Companies embarking on a CRM journey will most likely turn to one or more of these providers to aid in the implementation of a CRM strategy. This module introduces you to important definitions, terms, and classifications related to the CRM market and the types of solutions provided by various companies. We will use CRM Magazine to study 10 categories of CRM solutions: Enterprise CRM, CRM for Midsize and Small Businesses, Contact Center Infrastructure, Contact Center Analytics, Workforce Optimization (WFO), Contact Center Outsourcing, Business Intelligence Analytics, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), Marketing Automation, and Sales Force Automation. We will review the leading providers in each of these categories.

For objectives four and five, you will have an opportunity to review the impact that this technology has on sales, marketing and service processes. This becomes the foundation for upcoming modules where we will study how processes and technology come together in sales, marketing, and service. For your last learning objective, you will evaluate the use of Salesforce and explain the benefits that it has for companies implementing a CRM strategy.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management

MODULE 8

Let's review the Gartner eight building blocks of CRM and discuss a little bit more about block number six, which is CRM information. We touched on it earlier when we spoke about identifying and differentiating customers and the type of data that we collect when we interact with customers. You will see that blocks 6 and 7 are very interrelated.

In this module, we’re going to be focusing more on block number seven which is CRM technology. This has to do with the infrastructure of technology within an organization, the architecture and the different software applications that are used to be able to collect information, store information about the customer, and then deliver the information to whomever needs to use it to better interact and customize interactions with customers.

This module also connects with the Trailhead Salesforce module that addresses DATA QUALITY.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

Given the current needs and trends in business today, CRM technology plays a key role in enhancing the quality of customer experiences. Some of technology’s key roles are:

• To collect and gather relevant and quality customer data and information from all touch points

• To use this information to build accurate profiles on each customer

• To organize and deploy customer information in a systematic and orderly fashion to those employees and stakeholders that serve the customer.

• To use customer information in an intelligent way and make decisions about CRM-related sales and marketing strategies, such as execute tailored marketing campaigns and actions, unique to each customer.

• Ultimately, the role of technology is to create and maintain a unique customer experience.

Now there are challenges that exist in using CRM technology:

• CRM must be flexible enough to stay in touch with a changing audience (the customer). CRM must satisfy the different requirements of different industries. That’s why many software vendors are creating vertical solutions. These are customized to cater to a specific industry.

• CRM must be accessible to external stakeholders and mobile professionals such as salespeople and field technicians. CRM must operate over any communication channel in a reliable and efficient manner.

• CRM must integrate with (or talk to) other systems to provide a single view of, and for, the customer. CRM must be implemented in such a way that appropriate work processes and skills are deployed.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

You can see from the diagram in the slide that the CRM environment has multiple players, including internal departments such as sales, marketing and service, external partners & customers, and others. They all require some level of access to customer data. There are also multiple communication or multi-channel distributions, with the goal being to achieve a single view or 360-degree view of the customer. Any company looking to implement a CRM strategy looks for the following functionalities from its technology:

• Real time data availability for improved customer interactions;

• Organization of information into a single location;

• Ability to work smarter and make quick but effective decisions;

• Solid relevant and quality data; and

• Better efficiency, more productivity – do more with fewer resources.

There are different levels of needs and budgets and consequently, different technology solutions. Some are for front-office use; others for back-office; some look for front and back-office integration; yet others look for call center, sales force automation, or web solutions. Some companies look for a complete customer-based solution, or ERP. Others are small entrepreneurs looking to stay organized.

Depending on the resources available within a company, some may look for in-house solutions meaning that an IT (technology) staff designs, builds and implements the CRM technology solution. Other companies prefer a packaged solution – some very small and some for larger organizations. In order to accomplish CRM goals effectively and efficiently, software applications, hardware and professional services are necessary. The important thing to remember is that you can’t have a CRM system like the one in the diagram without the technology that aligns with your customers’ needs and business goals and with your company’s business processes.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management

MODULE 8

The CRM basic architecture is common to any company that has a CRM system in place. It's the basic framework or the bare-bones that any company that has a CRM system in place needs. This architecture is made up of three components. The first component is a data collection system. The second component is a data warehouse system and the third component is the information delivery system. We are using the word "system" is not just one piece of information or one item. It's a collection of activities (processes), people and technologies. In this diagram we see that the inputs into this data collection system are data and information, and they can come from internal sources, external sources or from those customer touch points that we looked at in the previous slide.

Let's look at an example. Assume that you have a phone and your phone rings and when you look at the caller ID or the screen, you don’t recognize that phone number but answer the call anyway. Your phone is being used as a data collection system and the data that came into that phone is a phone number. You needed hardware (mobile device) in order to be able to process that phone call and the actual phone number information. You needed a software application that enabled the signal coming in and the ring so that you would take action on that call.

Now if you decided to take the phone number and set it up as a new contact, you would need a software application within your phone that would enable you to go ahead and save that phone number and give the contact a first and last name. In addition to that, you could even go further and decide this is somebody that you’re interested in keeping as a contact. You capture the e-mail address or other information you have. As you learn more about the contact, you fill in address, birthday, etc. These other functions require a software application that can be performed in that data collection system.

Once you make that decision to capture the data on this contact, they get saved into the second component of this architecture, which is the data warehouse system. The data goes into storage and that storage or warehouse can be looked at in two different subcomponents which we will talk about later. One is an individual database. Depending on how robust the CRM system is, you can have multiple databases. In the case of our telephone example, you would probably only have one small database. The point to note here is that once you save that information, it gets stored somewhere. Assume three weeks go by and you decide you want to make a phone call to this contact or you want to send them a text message. You extract the information from your phone and you take action on that information. And that's the third piece of this which is the information delivery system. For you to take action, to text that person or call them, you need the software application and the hardware to be able to do that. The information delivery system is that ability to extract the information (the output) out of that storage and to use that information through a process of making a phone call or texting that person.

Keep in mind that you can have the best technology in the world, but if the INPUTS are poor quality, so will the performance of the technology or the OUTPUTS. Each of us uses technology for a purpose: to communicate, to perform certain tasks, etc. If the data in an app is incomplete or incorrect, it can lead to poor outcomes. The flip side is also true. If we don’t have the right hardware, network infrastructure, software applications and it is not all connected properly, the OUTPUT will suffer. If we don’t choose the right hardware and software and service providers for our own processes, then what’s the point?

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

The data collection system (also termed data input, acquisition, capture or data gathering process) is a set of steps (or process) whereby data are collected and converted into some electronic format. Data collection is the process of capturing computer-readable formats acquired from internal sources, from data entry operators, or from multiple touch points from external sources. Data collection is the ongoing process of gathering information about customers - their needs, desires, interests, characteristics, demographics, and behaviors.

Refer to the right hand-side of the diagram. Hardware and software applications enable the capturing of data. There is a growth in the number of communication technologies available today for company employees to collect customer data such as a phone, email, web, wireless devices, laptops, direct mail, salespeople, and more. There is also a growing trend in the number of company touch points in which customer data can come into the company: a branch, contact center, field service, service desk, partners, suppliers, and more. CRM systems must then be able to operate in the office, out of the office, and over the web.

You, as customers, have been involved in giving companies information about you and your computer. Most of the time, the data must be secured from the customer. Some retailers, in an effort to capture marketing information on their customer, have implemented systems at the POS (point of sale) location by which a salesperson can enter into a POS system, subjective data on the customer, such as level of satisfaction, temperament, and optimal approach (i.e., how to approach the customer based on first-hand experience) to a respective customer. The companies are capturing behavioral data. This type of data collection may happen at high-margin retailers where personal selling is a large part of the sales process (Example: Nordstrom). The customer would probably perceive this data collection negatively, so the entering of this information must be secure from the customer. To enter at a later time may not be feasible, as the salesperson may forget, become distracted with another customer, or still be involved with the customer that they are entering information on while the sales process is still in play.

Once collected, the data must be secured. The data captured must not be lost, either in whole or in fragments. The amount of data, by that I mean the number of transactions and data elements within transactions, must be quantified as a control function. If for any reason the software or system being used loses data, there should be a process defined and executable to recover the data.

Finally, as data is being transferred from the point of collection to its next processing step, such as the process of placing data into a common format, it must not be modified, thus maintaining its original content and integrity. This is critical not only for completeness of marketing information, but also for input into the decisions made afterward when referencing the data. Users must have quality data. Please take a few moments to revisit the material from the Data Quality Trailhead badge.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

Data sources, both inside and outside the firm, provide data that describe relationships with customers. The data warehouse system (considered the heart of CRM) prepares the data for storage, stores the data, describes the data so that it might later be retrieved, and performs a management and control function.

A database is an accumulation of computer-based data that is arranged in a format to facilitate retrieval. It is a collection of data stored, controlled, and accessed through a computer, based on the way the data is organized. As noted in our last slide, a company can have many databases. A data warehouse is a large reservoir of detailed and summary data that describes the firm and its activities, organized by the various business units in a way to facilitate easy retrieval of information describing the firm’s activities. A data mart is a subset of the data warehouse that contains data relating to a portion of the company’s transactions. Data mart project costs are lower because the volume of data stored is reduced, and the number of users is capped. Technology requirements are less demanding.

The information delivery system, or third component of our CRM system, allows the contents of the data warehouse to be made available to the information users in the form of electronic or printed information reports and displays. The system therefore transforms data into information. Since CRM system users can be found at all organizational levels, from the president to sales clerks, executives can use the system in formulating corporate strategies involving the organization’s customers (summary data) while sales clerks can use the system in working with their individual customers (detailed data). Software applications are equipped with features that allow companies to create different user profiles and control which screens or data an employee can access or create, depending on their role within the company. You don’t want everybody being able to update or change customer records. Some roles may only be able to view information.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

What kind of technology infrastructure did we need in order to be able to perform those three basic functions: data collection, the data storage or the warehouse, and then the information delivery? That's what CRM technology infrastructure is all about. It's those different pieces of hardware and software that support the flow and the processing of information back and forth. Notice the slide here - we have four different areas. We have hardware, networks, software and databases.

Let’s think of the information as being similar to electricity, being crucial to the functioning of a house, then the IT infrastructure is like the transmission lines or the power plants that run behind the scenes that generate and supply that electricity. In this sense, the IT infrastructure is going to include the transmission media, such as the telephone lines or the fiber-optic cables or the satellites or the routers or computers that are necessary to successfully operate that network. Those would be the hardware components of this infrastructure.

The IT infrastructure also includes software that is necessary to send, receive and manage all of the signals and all of that information that is transmitted on this network. In the case of our telephone example, the software was needed to be able to send that phone information back and forth and then to receive the signals back and forth. The software includes two to three general categories. The first one is the operating system that you need for the network operating system. The second is middleware for legacy databases (older systems) and then the actual software applications. We talked about software applications a little bit already in the semester with the three main software application types being sales force automation, marketing automation, and service support. Another important component of the overall infrastructure are databases. Databases are primarily the accumulation of data which are organized in an efficient manner. We will cover more detail about databases. There are many different types of databases and you can arrange information in different ways based on the different formats of the data that you are storing.

As far as networks, a local area network or LAN is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line and typically share the resources of a single processor or what we call a server within a small geographic area or within an office building. Usually the server has applications and data storage that are shared in common by multiple computer users. A local area network (LAN) may serve as few as two or three users, for example in a home network, or as many as thousands of users in a large corporation. The LANs in a corporation may then be connected to a bigger area network which is called a wide area network, or a WAN. A WAN is much larger than the land geographically and consists of several local area networks that are all connected together. So a WAN may span a corporate campus or even several states. WANs can be privately owned or can even be rented but usually some portion of its structure includes public networks. Most enterprise networks consist of a wide assortment of different communication media and network configurations.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

Cloud computing is internet-based computing in which large groups of remote servers are networked to allow the centralized data storage, and online access to computer services or resources. Clouds can be classified as public, private or hybrid. For a user, the network elements representing the provider-rendered services are invisible, as if obscured by a cloud.

Cloud computing is the result of evolution and adoption of existing technologies and paradigms. The goal of cloud computing is to allow users to take benefit from these technologies, without the need for deep knowledge about or expertise with each one of them. The cloud aims to cut costs, and help the users focus on their core business instead of being impeded by IT obstacles. The “cloud" also focuses on maximizing the effectiveness of the shared resources. Cloud resources are usually not only shared by multiple users but are also dynamically reallocated per demand. This can work for allocating resources to users. For example, a cloud computer facility that serves European users during European business hours with a specific application (e.g., email) may reallocate the same resources to serve North American users during North America's business hours with a different application (e.g., a web server). This approach should maximize the use of computing power thus reducing environmental damage as well since less power, air conditioning, etc. are required for a variety of functions. With cloud computing, multiple users can access a single server to retrieve and update their data without purchasing licenses for different applications.

The term "moving to cloud" also refers to an organization moving away from a traditional model (buy the dedicated hardware and depreciate it over a period of time) to the cloud model (use a shared cloud infrastructure and pay as one uses it). Proponents claim that cloud computing allows companies to avoid upfront infrastructure costs and focus on projects that differentiate their businesses instead of on infrastructure. Proponents also claim that cloud computing allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and enables IT to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand. Cloud providers typically use a "pay as you go" model. This can lead to unexpectedly high charges if administrators do not adapt to the cloud pricing model. The present availability of high-capacity networks, low-cost computers and storage devices as well as the widespread adoption of hardware virtualization (mobile devices), service-oriented architecture, and self-managing computing have led to a growth in cloud computing. Cloud vendors have experienced growth rates of 50% per year.

The main enabling technology for cloud computing is virtualization. Virtualization software separates a physical computing device into one or more "virtual" devices, each of which can be easily used and managed to perform computing tasks. These devices include laptops, tablets, cell phones, desktops, etc.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

The best-known participants in the CRM market are software vendors. These CRM vendors compete to provide robust, user-friendly applications in the areas of operational sales, marketing, and service, as well as CRM analytics. We will be looking at the most popular categories of software vendors and their products in this module.

Under the area of hardware and infrastructure, there are companies specializing in hardware such as monitors, network hardware, security systems, wireless devices, mobile devices, cables, servers, etc. Infrastructure mainly consists of telecommunications such as call center equipment, messaging, paging services, telephone networks, and wireless systems. There are companies that help with data quality and management and provide software that helps companies keep their data integrity and quality at 100% levels.

Professional service providers (including consultancies) can consist of any of these:

• Application service providers • Call center services & help desk support (to outsource to) • Consultants specializing in different areas of CRM • Training/education consultants • Process reengineering consultants • Software design • Network management • System integration

It’s important to keep in mind that not every company that embarks on a CRM strategy is going to use all of these different service providers, or players in the marketplace. Every company is going to pick and choose those that are required in order to implement their unique CRM strategy. It all depends on the company’s objectives, the business processes and the kinds of resources that the company has within their company. Some companies have a very robust technology department and may be able to handle all of the hardware and systems integration or network management but there may be smaller companies that don’t have those types of resources so they would go to a consultant that specializes in one of these areas to help them implement their strategy.

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MODULE 8

Let’s review some important definitions and terms related to the CRM market and the types of solutions provided by various companies. These are according to CRM Magazine.

Analytics covers the process of extrapolating true business intelligence from disparate customer data sources in order to segment, analyze, and serve the customer in the most efficient manner possible. Additionally, analytics also means getting predictive data to empower businesses to identify how a customer is likely to respond to different sales and marketing campaigns.

Big Data CRM encompasses strategies and technologies that capture, track, and manage valuable data from multiple unstructured communication channels. Unlike structured data that resides in fixed fields within records or databases, big data (or unstructured data) is more difficult to find and manage, as it is often high in volume, velocity, and variety. Examples of where big data can be found include recorded phone conversations, email exchanges, chat sessions, and social media interactions.

CRM Cloud solutions include any CRM applications or services that are available on demand via the Internet from a cloud provider. Services are called SaaS (software as a service). As noted earlier, through the use of this delivery model, users gain access to CRM software on the cloud providers’ servers, eliminating the need for client companies to build and maintain a CRM system on premises. The benefits of CRM cloud solutions include low upfront costs, predictable ongoing expenses, no additional IT staff needed for maintenance, and instant access to upgrades. The risks are lack of data control on the part of the company; however, security controls are adequate.

Enterprise CRM software solutions cover strategies, products & services primarily targeted at global organizations with over $1 billion in revenue such as the Global 3,500.

SMB (Small Business)/Mid-market solutions covers strategies, products & services targeted at businesses or a division within a corporation with $1 billion in revenue or less.

Sales Automation software streamlines the sales process and helps salespeople and their supervisors manage both customers and the sales cycle through such applications as contact managers, opportunity or pipeline managers, configurators, and order entry.

Marketing Automation software is a set of applications that help marketers manage and simplify the marketing process. Applications include campaign management, email marketing, database marketing and data marts, and marketing encyclopedias. Business intelligence and analytics are important aspects of marketing automation.

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MODULE 8

Customer Service/Call Centers are the primary conduits between consumers and corporations. Customer service is the primary business process for creating customer loyalty, promoting customer retention, and ultimately increasing customer value while reducing cost of sales.

Channel Management is the process of extending an enterprise's internal knowledge, resources and business processes to its suppliers and partners outside the company's intranet. Most typically, channel management is used to describe the way a company interacts with its sales channel but its definition can also be extended to other partner relationships beyond the sales process. Applications and solutions are designed for streamlining and automating the back end/supply chain processes.

Integration involves tying together CRM applications with other IT systems inside either a mid-market company or an enterprise environment. This can include integrating with current ERP systems, databases, Internet and intranet applications, human resources and employee management software and partner and supply chain systems.

Mobile CRM covers strategies and technologies that enable remote CRM professionals to connect to and update customer records from their mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). These solutions can leverage the talk, touch, and type interfaces available on mobile devices to facilitate usage. Enabling professionals to easily view and update customer records remotely encourages more accurate and timely delivery of information to customers and the company.

Social CRM is increasingly becoming part of organizations’ overall CRM initiatives. These solutions enable organizations to listen and respond to customers in public and private social media channels. Social CRM solutions can consist of social media community platforms, social media monitoring applications, or enterprise social collaboration tools. By leveraging social CRM solutions, organizations can combine attitudinal (sentiment) data with customer behavior to get a better understanding of their customers.

Open-source CRM is the phrase to describe an open CRM solution, where the source code is available to the public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge (i.e., open). Open CRM gives organizations control over the CRM solution and can further develop the open source CRM software to best meet its own business goals. Open source code is typically created as a collaborative effort in which programmers improve upon the code and share the changes within the community. Open source sprouted in the technological community as a response to proprietary software owned by corporations.

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MODULE 8

CRM is involved mainly with the sales, sales management, marketing and service functions of a company. Software focused on these functions are called sales automation, marketing automation, and service automation. These are operational CRM. Analytical CRM is the process through which organizations transform customer-related data into actionable insight for either strategic or tactical purposes. The process that makes up analytical CRM includes data acquicition, data enhancement, data preparation, data analytics and data delivery. With artificial intelligence (AI) and marketing automation, the line between analysis and action is blurring and, increasingly, analytical CRM is algorithmically driven such that the whole process of data gathering-analysis-action occurs in real time without manual intervention.

Integration is a requirement if a company is looking for an optimum CRM strategy. For example, it must integrate all phases of the sale in order to create that optimal customer experience so we can't just worry about one functional area and not be concerned with the others because they are all interconnected cross functional in nature. Often the service and support functions of an internal operational organization don't receive the same investment or attention as some of the other areas of the business such as a development area or operations or sales and marketing. On the other hand, many companies differentiate themselves from the competition through the excellence of their customer service and this is a big area right now.

For example, the service center for a washing machine manufacturer can sell a washing machine to a customer who calls in frequently for washing machine repairs. So, there you see the connection between a service activity and the upsell or cross sell opportunities. The support service records can be analyzed and sales efforts can be taken from those records such as warranty upgrades or new machine sales or it can be employed by the support area generating more warranty and sales revenue for the company. All functions are not isolated areas and that we need to look at them as part of an integrated effort and process.

MAR 4860 – Customer Relationship Management MODULE 8

There are thousands of sources available on the Internet regarding CRM technology, too many to mention. In order to provide you with a general background on the types of software and solution providers, we will be working with CRM Magazine. This slide shows the 10 categories of CRM providers used by CRM Magazine. Be sure to access the link for more information. These categories are: Enterprise CRM, CRM for Midsize and Small Businesses, Contact Center Infrastructure, Contact Center Analytics, Workforce Optimization (WFO), Contact Center Outsourcing, Business Intelligence Analytics, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), Marketing Automation, and Sales Force Automation. The solutions and companies noted here represent CRM Magazine’s research. Each year, the organization conducts a thorough analysis of the CRM market and publishes the Market Leader Awards each August. The next few slides reflect the latest winners, announced in August 2021. The overall ratings are based on a composite score of CRM revenues and analyst ratings for customer satisfaction, depth of functionality, company direction, and cost. Unlike software companies, the consultancies are rated according to customer satisfaction, company direction, services offered, ability to execute, and cost. There are different strokes for different folks and not one size CRM fits all! It is important to understand that the CRM market is vast. There are different solutions for different needs. Many smaller-scale CRM offerings are somewhat limited in scope, addressing the needs of sales reps with little more than simple contact management and calendaring/scheduling functionality. While this may work well for companies with small sales teams, it isn’t suited for sales operations that span multiple territories or product lines, or those that rely on numerous channels to bring their products and services to market. Other customer relationship management applications are designed to be used primarily by sales and marketing organizations, to enhance the way campaigns, promotions, and other lead-generation activities are coordinated and executed, and to track viable opportunities as they advance throughout the various phases of the sales cycle. This approach, however, will be largely ineffective for those organizations that have other departments that interact regularly with existing and potential clients, or companies who maintain multiple sales and marketing teams across separate business units. Without enterprise CRM in place, these customer relationship management environments will fail to make vital and timely client information available to all key stakeholders, and will be unable record, consolidate, and centralize the data associated with all actions taken on behalf of customers across the entire business.

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MODULE 8

Enterprise CRM Suite - Many leading CRM vendors offer “enterprise” editions of their software solutions. Enterprise CRM is actually quite different from other types of customer relationship management solutions. For many larger organizations, customer-facing processes are much more complex and multi-faceted.

Departments and staff members across the entire business are responsible for interacting with and servicing both existing and potential clients. This means that the CRM system must automate and support all the tasks performed by these employees, track activity histories from end to end, and make that information readily available to other customer-facing personnel across the business. That’s exactly what an enterprise CRM solution does. It coordinates all the cross-functional processes that impact sales and service of customers, and facilitates collaboration and information sharing among all those employees that work directly with prospects and clients – not just sales and marketing staff, but help desk teams, accounting personnel, call center representatives, and others. Additionally, with enterprise CRM, that type of communication and coordination extends beyond company walls, allowing third-party sales channel partners and other external customer-facing constituents to leverage all the benefits that the CRM system has to offer.

But, perhaps most importantly, enterprise CRM centralizes accurate, real-time customer information. This allows everyone in a customer-facing role to gain insight into client behaviors and understand their needs and interests. As a result, interactions will be more informed and intelligent, and the customer experience will be improved, regardless of the touch point.

Industry estimates suggest that about 91 percent of all organizations with more than 10 employees currently use some CRM systems, but larger enterprises made up the bulk of current users. In fact, larger enterprises accounted for more than 56 percent of the total market in 2020, according to Grand View Market Research. Together with Marqual IT Solutions, both firms reported that growth is being fueled by an industry shift from single point solutions to full CRM suites and from on-premises solutions to the software-as-a-service model. In fact, Grand View’s data showed that cloud deployments accounted for roughly 60 percent of the total market. But among larger enterprises, there still seems to be a preference for on-premises, particularly as companies tackle immense data security challenges.

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MODULE 8

Mid-size and Small Businesses - Demand is growing fast from small and midsize businesses, analyst firms have noticed. In fact, the SMB sector accounted for about 44 percent of the total worldwide CRM market, which has been valued at $47.6 billion this year by Grand View Research. Industry estimates also suggest that around 91 percent of all organizations with more than 10 employees currently use at least some very basic CRM systems, creating a huge opportunity for industry expansion. Unlike larger enterprises, which have the resources and bandwidth to house their CRM systems on premises, SMBs are looking for CRM solutions through the software-as-a-service model. SMBs are also pushing the industry to offer more scalable, customizable solution sets that can more readily address their quickly evolving requirements and growth plans. Contact Center Infrastructure - Research firm MarketsandMarkets projects the global contact center software market, which includes automatic call distribution, call recording, computer-telephony integration, customer collaboration, dialers, interactive voice response, reporting and analytics, and more, to grow from $24.1 billion in 2020 to $75.5 billion in 2026, expanding at a compound annual rate of 20.9 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic had the most dramatic impact on the market, particularly as a shift to cloud contact center solutions allowed organizations to embrace remote working models and continue business operations despite the lock downs. Analysts are seeing a growing use of contact center software by small businesses, which had traditionally relied on manual processes in the past. Contact Center Analytics - Verified Market Research valued the worldwide contact center analytics market at $970 million in 2019 and expects it to reach $2.96 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual rate of 16.2 percent. The market in just the past few years has moved toward increasing demand for predictive analytics and real-time monitoring capabilities, but also high on the list of priorities for contact center operators is the ability to integrate data from multiple customer channels and enterprise systems. As has been the case for a long time, system costs are a major inhibitor of market growth, but as with most software, the cloud deployment option is making contact center analytics more affordable for companies of all sizes. Workforce Optimization (WFO) - DMG Consulting valued revenue for the global contact center workforce optimization market at $2.1 billion in 2020, up only slightly from 2019’s total. The primary drivers of the market during the past year were digital transformation and migration of contact center solutions to the cloud. Cloud/hosted/software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue increased by 64.6 percent, from $492.2 million in 2019 to $810.0 million in 2020, far outpacing on-premises revenue. The market is also narrowing for stand-alone WFO providers, according to DMG’s research, which notes that in the past five years companies have begun looking to their cloud-based infrastructure vendors as general contractors capable of providing fully integrated WFO suites. This is driving cloud-based contact center vendors to either acquire WFO solution providers or to build their own capabilities. CRM vendors are also expanding their offerings to include WFO capabilities.

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Contact Center Outsourcing - Market research firm Technavio has predicted that the call center outsourcing market is poised to grow by $14.1 billion through 2025, progressing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 3 percent during that time. Organizations continue to find it more cost-effective to locate their call centers in areas with a lower cost of living. Also impacting the industry segment’s growth is the rise of emerging countries as call center destinations. The services available primarily from outsourcers include phone, email, and chat support. Though voice has long accounted for most of the revenue, chat is expected to witness some of the largest exponential growth, according to experts. Also expect outsourcers to increase their use of automation, including chatbots and virtual agents powered by advanced artificial intelligence and natural language processing. When it comes to industries, financial services firms are among the largest users of outsourced contact center services. The contact center outsourcing market is competitive with mild fragmentation and multiple vendors with region-specific operations. Many companies are increasing their market presence by investing in new or improved solutions or by entering into strategic mergers and acquisitions. Business Intelligence & Analytics - Valuates Reports estimated the global business intelligence market at $18.7 billion in 2019 and expects it to reach $27.9 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual rate of 5.4 percent. That growth, it said, can be attributed to the fact that unstructured data is growing rapidly due to the increase in machine-generated data from internet-connected devices, smart cities, sensors, cameras, etc. The industry is also seeing rising demand for data visualization and analytical tools that bring into focus the measurements that are important for business decisions. Furthermore, the increased adoption of data-driven business models by small, medium, and large enterprises, as well as widespread e- commerce, is also expected to fuel market growth, as is the increasing adoption of cloud-based tools, which usually come with quicker implementation time frames and lower costs. Though the financial services industry has traditionally been the largest user of business intelligence tools, Valuates sees the healthcare and life sciences industries as huge market opportunities as companies in those segments deal with the mountains of unstructured clinical data that is being generated. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) - Customer data platforms (CDPs) have been around since about 2016, but the technology is still relatively new and widely misunderstood. The main goal of CDPs is to yield one persistent, unified customer record that is accessible to other systems. Data is pulled from multiple structured and unstructured sources, cleaned, and combined to create a single customer profile. Research firm MarketsandMarkets valued the worldwide customer data platforms market at $2.4 billion in 2020 and expects it to reach $10.3 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual rate of 34 percent. Costs for many CDPs are still a little high, making it difficult for small and midsize businesses to update their data platforms, but growing demand for analyses of consumer behavior across industries and the proliferation of customer channels are likely to play a role in the sector’s growth.

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Marketing Automation Software - Marketing automation’s roots trace back to the early 1990s, but it’s only in the past few years that it has become an essential business tool for millions of companies worldwide. In fact, 51 percent of all companies on the planet are currently using some sort of marketing automation to positively impact employee productivity, revenue, and costs.

Grand View Research expects the global marketing automation market to reach $8.4 billion by 2027, growing at a compound annual rate of 9.8 percent. The landscape is becoming more diverse and crowded every year, and that is prompting an expansion from technology that previously focused on email marketing to tools that include more digital channels, like chatbots, SMS, and social media. And with 63 percent of marketers planning to increase their marketing automation budgets this year, according to Invespcro, the market opportunity is huge, as long as the industry can overcome some long-standing objections, which include the cost, data management challenges, and ease of use.

Sales Force Automation Software & Solutions - Sales force automation (SFA) isn’t meant to replace sales reps but to make them more efficient with automated workflows to streamline leads management, sales forecasting, and team performance management, addressing the roughly two-thirds of sales teams’ time spent on non-revenue-generating tasks. SFA solutions became more vital than usual in the past year as the COVID-19 pandemic moved sales teams to work from home and to operate on more digital channels. Leading vendors have been forced to create mobile versions of their products as a result.

Industry analysts have varying views of market growth, with projections between 8 percent and 15 percent through 2026 and beyond. Some firms have predicted that the market’s value will reach $9 billion by 2023. SFA, analysts agree, is gaining immense popularity worldwide, and that will only continue as leading players invest in advanced solutions, such as artificial intelligence for predicting outcomes, forecasting, and crafting next-best-action recommendations.

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Consultancies are consulting companies that offer different CRM services, from strategy development to process design to technology advice. Another term for consultancies is professional service providers. Most CRM deployments today will require some level of customization, ranging from something as simple as using postal abbreviations instead of the full names of states to something as complex as the addition of unstructured social media content into contact center workflows. More often than not, it's this need for customization that drives companies to CRM consultants' doors. Across the industry, many consulting firms have aligned themselves with specific vendors or have even further become experts in specific products. Companies around the world have come to view qualified consultants as valuable assets for new CRM implementations or upgrades to existing systems. And it’s with good reason: CRM consultants bring objectivity, analytic thinking, strategic planning, and technical mastery to the table when it comes to recommending business process enhancements, facilitating change management, lessening the strain of integrations, reducing risk, accelerating time to value, and ensuring system utilization.

Strategy or marketing consultants provide consulting support for the formulation of a customer strategy, contact strategy, social media and digital marketing strategy, channel strategy, and overall CRM strategy. Their goal is to provide a clear direction for the more detailed parts of CRM. Examples include McKinsey & Company and Peppers and Rogers.

Business consultants provide services relating to a more specific area of CRM, such as process mapping and analysis, process improvement, customer experience management, organizational change, job performance, and best practices for CRM. They focus on getting the company ready for technology. Examples include Accenture, Bearing Point, CAPGemini, and Touchpoint Metrics.

Application software consultants focus on the design and development of application software packages and modifications, project management of software package implementation and training of technology. Examples include CRM software vendors, Accenture, Capgemini, Bearing Point, and IBM.

Technical consultants specialize in the design and implementation of CRM architecture and technical infrastructure, and integration of this infrastructure with the existing business processes and applications. Examples are Unisys, IBM, and Logica.

Outsource service providers are technology outsourcers and business process outsourcers. They handle the day-to-day activities for the company. Examples are EDS, IBM, CSC, and Acxiom.

Consultants are hired because they have a thorough knowledge, extensive experience and very high level of expertise in a particular area. Typically, you don’t become a consultant until you’ve had many years of experience working in a particular field. It is project work so this requires exposure to multiple companies and implementations. A consultant provides ‘best practices’ based on the lessons learned throughout many years of experience. This is the value they create.

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One of the current trends in CRM technology is the fact that customer relationships vary by industry. The customer types, partners, and nature of the relationship are different for each industry. Transactions, power balance, commercial terms are all different; therefore, CRM must be different.

Adoption stages are also different; in the U.S. for example, the financial services industry is in a maturity stage of CRM technology usage. The automotive industry is moving from early adoption to maturity; Consumer goods is in its early adoption. Public sector is in an innovator stage.

What is universal across all of these, though, is that the relationship is based on a mutual exchange of value. Without this, the relationship will not last. So a universal definition of CRM focuses on value. The challenge for each industry, then, is to learn what this means to them and their customers.

Many CRM software providers are specializing in specific industries. They take a basic or standard CRM software package and customize it with the terms and functionalities of a specific industry. This makes the ‘standard’ package much more tailored to that industry. These vertical solutions provide customer applications with the features, functionality, and business processes required by the respective industry.

Be sure to visit the different vendors websites for the vertical solutions each offers.

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Within CRM software, many customer-related processes are predefined and automated using business rules. Business rules are not the same as business processes. Business rules are constraints that are placed on a business that might trigger processes. They usually reflect a policy or practice that is institutionalized. Here are a couple of examples of business rules: A proposal must be approved by the marketing department before it is presented to the prospect. OR when revenues reach $1 million, a customer is triggered as a ‘gold’ customer.

The important thing to remember is that you can’t figure out these business rules if you don’t have your business processes clearly defined. With technology, business rules that are critical to the success of sales, marketing and service no longer need to be manually managed.

Workflow technologies can be programmed to monitor predefined conditions and processes, ensuring that all employees follow them. Technologies can prompt people to take certain steps. This is great for standardizing certain processes. It’s also easy to train employees in the use of software because these steps are already automated.

The end result is that customers receive a consistent, predictable experience.

This slide shows an example of an automated sales workflow or process within the software application. Based on the data entered, the system will follow a pre-defined path.

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Most operational CRM software applications provide the functionality of automating workflows. Workflow automation can perform six functions. They are based on business rules developed by the company.

1. Process automation - An example would be when an email comes in from a customer in the southern sales region. The software would automatically respond with a predetermined message.

2. Escalation – In this case, situations are placed in levels of priority, based on the action needed to resolve them. Let’s say you had a service call that was 20 hours old, of high severity, and from a high value customer, and the status is not resolved. In this case, the case would be escalated automatically to a service manager. The manager would be paged or called, in addition to receiving an alert on the computer.

3. Assignment – Let’s say a lead comes in from the web site. A sales manager can look at the product being offered, the territory, and the current workloads of the salespeople, and assign the lead to the best person.

4. Integration – Let’s assume that a customer submits a confirmed order. Integration allows this transaction to be automatically posted to the fulfilment system for verification and dispatch.

5. Dialogue scripting – Assume that a customer calls in. The service representative is, prompted with a standard welcome script. The software would register the customer’s response, then determine the best course of action, and offer the rep a script accordingly. The software would continue this process to increase the chance of up-selling the customer.

6. Process navigation – For example, if the customer does not offer their password, the software can automatically navigate the user to the customer identification screen. Based on their user profile, the customer can be guided through a pre-defined process.

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