Secrets of Successful CRM – sharing best practices from the field
The banking industry is really focused on organic growth this year and this is reflected in an enormous interest in customer relationship management systems - CRM. But while there are many examples of satisfied CRM customers, there are also some CRM implementations that haven't met expectations.
On the face of it implementing a CRM system should be simple enough, so why are there disappointments? While there are a number of CRM systems to choose from, as with any technology, picking the right system and vendor requires a structured approach. It's not just a question of comparing features and functionality.
Firstly, what is the goal of the CRM system? Is it just to have a contact management system with a single record of truth or is there a broader objective such as building a closer relationship between clients and the bank instead of just with individual lines of business (LOBs). If the latter, then having an enterprise-wide CRM approach is preferable to separate CRM systems within each LOB.
What are the criteria for success? Is it a better customer experience, a deeper share of wallet, penetrating a new market or just increased revenue? It is important to set the goals in advance so that expectations about ROI are clear from the start and early metrics can be put in place to measure performance.
It may be important for the CRM system to be integrated with other applications, such as communications, analytics, fulfillment and compliance capabilities.
If social networking is important, having the ability to incorporate tweets and facebook chatter may also help.
There are other critical success factors like data management, senior leadership support and sales culture integration to name but a few. Selecting the wrong CRM system can be more painful than having no system at all.
There are many factors to consider so doing your research is really important. To that end BAI, Microsoft and Fiserv are sponsoring a webinar on the 1st March, 2011 from 1.00-2.00 pm CST that will share the secrets of successful CRM implementations.
It's a great chance to listen to some veteran practitioners discuss the secret sauce of a successful CRM experience and ask questions afterwards.
To register, just click on the link below: