Customer Management Technologies: Which one delivers the Most?

Dears,

Locking in customer loyalty through deeper engagement and differentiated experiences will continue to be critical priorities for organizations in all sectors in the decade ahead, but navigating the complex customer relationship management (CRM) technology landscape remains challenging — particularly in light of the rapid rise of Social Computing, the increasing adoption of software-as-a service (SaaS) solutions, and the need to provide mobile capabilities for front-line personnel. But by selecting the right solutions to invest in, CRM professionals can take the proper steps without taking unnecessary risk. evaluation of the extended CRM applications ecosystem shows, community platforms, customer forums, and enterprise feedback management solutions — all of which enable new ways to connect more closely with customers — have entered the CRM stage. However, selling, order-taking, and customer service remain the engines that power the income locomotive at most companies. Customer data management and business intelligence solutions are becoming much more robust, supporting deeper customer insights and better decision-making.To make the savvy CRM investment decisions, your senior management professionals need to know which customer management technologies have the strongest track record for delivering results. The article is based on the Forrester research on different application tracks of CRM solution to understand which one of these solutions delivers the most.

Here’s a sneak peek of the Forrester findings:
Sales, order management, and service are the keys to your revenue engine. The business and IT executives feel that “core” business processes like selling, order taking, and customer service are the most critical to their success. For, example over half report that order management, customer service & support, and contract center infrastructure applications are critical solutions. Forty-eight percent say that salesforce automation is a critical app, and 42% say this is the case for ecommerce solutions.

Customer data management and intelligence are keystones for success. The Holy Grail for CRM professionals has long been to achieve a “360-degree” view of customers. Consequently, 44% of the companies report that customer business intelligence and customer data management are critical solutions for their businesses.

Marketing solutions are viewed as moderately important. Despite the importance placed on growing sales and orders for the companies only about one-third felt that enterprise marketing management solutions were critical for success. This was true for both B2C and B2C companies.

Social computing solutions are not yet viewed as critical. The rapid adoption by consumers of social and Web 2.0 technologies has upended traditional thinking about how to define and to “manage” relationships with customers. However a present, the solutions associated with Social Computing are not yet viewed as critical to success compared to other “core” solutions. A low percentage of respondents evaluate market feedback management, customer forums, and customer communities as critical for success (18%, 10%, and 6%, respectively). Interest in social computing solutions is strong, however. For example, 16% are piloting customer communities, and 26% have interest in learning more and trying out these types of solutions. Mainstream companies are watching early-adopters for evidence of success.

Have a great and Peaceful Weekend

Your Partner and Companion

DC*