Wednesday, June 4, 2008

CRM : a Software or a Culture

Author : Mr. Sudheer Bag

Mr. Sudheer has Over 17 years of Experience in Customer Service, Information Technology, Management Consultancy and Corporate Trainings. He specialize in setting up Technical Support & Customer Care Centers, BPO operations (Voice & Non-voice), IT Enabled Services and Offshore Development Centers (ODC) for overseas / domestic clients

LinkedIn Profile : http://www.linkedin.com/in/spbaag


Much is written and discussed about Customer Relationship Management (CRM in short) and its
implications on the business of any organization. CRM has also led to a large number of organizations developing software for the specific needs of their customers who would use their CRM applications to manage and maintain Customer Relationships.

In the age where customer is the “Emperor”, CRM has become inevitable and the use of the same for any corporate cannot be just ignored. However, CRM is not just a software or a tool to be installed and implemented enterprise-wide. CRM is a culture, a culture that needs to be inculcated from top to bottom and within every employee of the organization, either facing the customer or working at back-end.
Indian industry these days is becoming sensitive to its customers. Thanks to global impacts and to some extent government initiatives to protect consumers and customers. In the world where competition in fierce, it has become very important not only to attract new customers but to retain the existing ones.

This has also demanded the use of a good CRM application properly implemented across all major functions within the organization. Major players like Siebel, Microsoft, Talisma, Oracle have already established their presence in the Indian market and are having large installations for big organizations. However, the cost of software, installation, implementation, customization and training becoming a major deterrent factor for many SMEs, an open source application like SugarCRM (I am a big fan of this tool) and vTiger are also worth considering. These open source tools are free to download and are also easy to customize and implement.

Technology has always been at the center of CRM in practice. For some CRM worked very well while for others it didn't. Those for whom CRM did not work, did shout a lot and blamed the technology or even the concept of CRM, or the CRM vendors, or the users, or all of them.
CRM is not something companies buy. CRM is something companies “do”. Any CRM application is meant for companies to “do” CRM. CRM is also not a fad. It is an underlying principle of interacting with exisiting and potential customers and it is something all organizations should “practice”. All the employees of any organization need to understand CRM as a Corporate Strategy and not just another box bought in by the CTO.

Author can be reached at spbaag@yahoo.com

3 comments:

  1. Dear Mr Sudhir,
    Gr8!!!!!!!!!
    Makes sence.
    Appreciable.
    Be In touch,
    Milind Chaudhari
    VP-New Initiative
    S2 Infotech Pvt Ltd.
    www.s2infotech.com
    09371271870

    ReplyDelete
  2. Firstly, they should select their requirement on the basis of whether they are a small scale or big scale company. Secondly, as they are helpful in client relationship management, the business should keep in mind that they have to keep their data at one particular place. CRM Philippines

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education Ajmer Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan isabbreviated as BSER. It is a board of education for school level education in the Rajasthan. BSER is a state agency BSER 10th Old Syllabus 2023 of the Government of Rajasthan. Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan has headquarters in Ajmer. It is responsible for promotion and development of secondary education in Rajasthan. BSER was set up in the year 1957. It was established under the Rajasthan Secondary Education Act 1957.

    ReplyDelete

Please add your comment here