Antonio Specchia - Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Medium and Small Enterprises: How to Find the Right Solution for Effectively Connecting with Your Customers

Thanks to many people this book is going to be real. I think they all know who they arecolleagues, friends, clients, experts, even those I only met once (or never)with whom I shared ideas, and who inspired me.

I can mention CRM world gurus, to whom I had the opportunity to speak, and mentors who enabled me along the way.

The books in the Bibliography are there because I used them, I learnt from them and their authors. They all gave me something invaluable: knowledge.

I would like to mention people who helped me in this journey, like Liis Kupits and Elisa Turri, who both shared in the day-by-day effort during the book preparation. If there is ever a time that our paths go in different directions, I would say thank you for having been here with me for a while.

DOI: 10.4324/9781003148388-1

First of all I would like to make it clear that CRM is a marketing challenge and not at all an IT matter. This concept will be developed through the book, aiming to eliminate the confusion that we are just talking about software. While this is an introductory chapter, it is expected to provide an overview of the Reason Why and some background of the CRM.

For this reason the topics covered in this chapter are as follows:

• Introduction to the book
• About CRM
• Why so many people are not fully aware of what CRM is
• Introducing the concept of CRM
• The Reason Why of CRM
• Why CRMs tools are not all the same
• Our Idea of CRM
• How CRM became popular: a bit of storytelling
• The tool for Relationship Management
• Summary

Choosing the appropriate software application to run Customer Relationship Management should be the outcome of an explicit organisational strategy, mainly about its purposes and how it should be deployed. The know-how to implement a CRM tool according to organisational strategy becomes critical to support the organisations goals and achieve its objectives. A well-implemented tool will help in executing the strategy for the best. Hence the capability to operate a decision about which tool, among the many available, should fit the organisations needs while the way to implement it to support the organisational goals should also be part of the management know-how. For this reason, this book is not only about the process and techniques for setting up a tool, but it also presents various implications of the CRM and specifically its strong tie with an organisations business strategy and the way it runs its marketing. Later in the book, we will see how to select software solutions and how they can be useful. In this chapter, we will start by analysing the logic of CRM and its connection with the business strategy.

As Paul Greenberg said, I do not use a CRM for myself, but as long as your business grows, you can reach a point where you cant even run your business without it.

As you may already know, a CRM tool is just an application over databases. For that reason almost anyone can create a CRM, starting from scratch using any database (Db). The question is: ...would the resulting CRM be any useful? Hence, we may ask what exactly makes a solution usable for CRM purposes? Any Db is just a data container. Dbs differentiate themselves regarding Data Definition Languages, Speed, and Security. But what makes it usable for any specific purpose is the piece of software that lies between the human interaction and the Db, more than just the Db itself. Probably tech developers would have a slightly different opinion on this, but no one will deny the importance of the User Interface to boost the human interaction with the machine as an important element of the value of any digital solutions.

Thus, if you would like to develop a CRM over a simple Db you can surely do it, then youd better be able to define functions and features in advance and set up the development of a proper software to manage the interface for users. This is why just using a spreadsheet as a CRM is not efficient, as we all now know.

What really makes a CRM (tool) useful is the ability to track each interaction, task and communication with the contact persons bearing a clear and strong relationship to Opportunities and Companies related to that person. The CRM should capture every interaction easily, but on the other hand, users should be enabled to find out information within the whole track of the relationship with a person/organisation even more easily.

Again, the CRM tool should rely upon the concept of empowering our organisation to easily collect data around and about the people who interact with us as well as any interaction or opportunity that arises at any time with those people. And just the data that are truly useful for business purposes, not just any available or collectible data, should be uploaded in the tool. Collecting adequate data on a persons interests and needs enables the organisation that owns the CRM to use that data to shape information that can be useful to that person, to inform them about what matters to them and (ultimately) offer what he or she expects; doing this we create value to the organisation by pursuing its purposes. Finally, data can be truly powerful and useful when aggregated; the organisation then becomes capable of shaping information across market trends and business forecasts.

What remains unclear to many is what exactly a CRM is. Notwithstanding the growing importance of the tool and its rising popularity, if you ask for a definition of CRM and what it is useful for, rarely you will get a proper answer from managers or entrepreneurs.

Some random definitions of CRM you can come across could be:

CRM ... refers to software that helps companies track interactions with their future and current customers.

A Beginners Guide to CRM

CRM is a way to identify, acquire, and retain customers, a business greatest asset. Research has shown that companies that create satisfied, loyal customers have more repeat business, lower customer-acquisition costs, and stronger brand value, all of which translates into better financial performance.

Siebel Systems

CRM is the process of managing interactions with existing as well as past and potential customers.

Insights Success

CRM is the business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and personalize the needs of an organisations current and potential customers

PWC Consulting

CRM is a strategy that companies use to manage interactions with customers and potential customers. CRM helps organisations streamline processes, build customer relationships, increase sales, improve customer service, and increase profitability.

When people talk about CRM, they are usually referring to a CRM system, a tool that is used for contact management, sales management, productivity, and more. The goal of a CRM system is simple: Improve business relationships.

Salesforce

CRM means a combination of business strategies, software and processes that help build long-lasting relationships between companies and their customers

Creatio

CRM (is) an enterprisewide business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by organising the enterprise around customer segments, fostering customer-satisfying behaviors and linking processes from customers through suppliers