Not getting the full business benefits from your CRM?

"Many companies invest in CRM systems with great expectations, only to find some time after that the initiative has lost direction, and the promised benefits in competitive advantage, new business acquisition and customer retention remain somewhat elusive"

If this statement rings true, don't worry - help is at hand: For our customers experiencing these problems, DMC has teamed up a leading Strategy and CRM Practice, to get your Customer Relationship Management program back on track?

The simple truth is that a lot of CRM systems were unrealistically expected to be the panacea to sales & marketing problems. The reality, of course, is that CRM is as much about business strategy, sales & marketing plans, business processes and people, as it is about Information Technology. It sounds obvious, but it's important to remember that sales & marketing problems stem from customers, competitors, staff behaviour and inconsistent business processes, not from information technology shortcomings.

Without carefully dovetailing your CRM solution to fit your business strategy and processes, carrying your people along the journey and keeping it all on track long after initial implementation, the benefits derived from CRM will diminish over time.

CRM Revisited Deliverables:

A "Strategic CRM" educational workshop for your team.

Questionnaires and interviews on your business and CRM issues.

Review of sales, marketing and CRM objectives.

Identification of CRM shortcomings, opportunities and misalignments across the business. A CRM Gap Analysis and CRM rectification specification.

CRM Action Plan to bring CRM back on track.

A robust financial cost/benefit analysis.

A feedback workshop and concise PowerPoint report.

Business process mapping and optimisation for CRM (optional).

CRM Revisited - How it's done:

The review covers all or a cross-section of users and influencers across the organisation. From Directors and senior management we gain an understanding of the business objectives, key challenges and reporting requirements. We then further assess the actual practices on the ground at middle management and user level.

We incorporate a CRM education and awareness workshop to achieve a consistent understanding about CRM opportunities, and so that we can answer any questions that need answering.

We look at how Customer Relationship processes, supported by the CRM software, system tools and data, should be delivering sales, marketing and service results in line with your business goals. We go on to compare these CRM needs with the way CRM is actually being carried out by your users. This throws up the critical misalignments between market opportunities, goals, strategy, processes, people and the technology.

We review the spectrum of CRM technologies both within your CRM software family and outside, identifying which could be of the greatest benefit to the required business processes identified, and then define and specify these along with the realistic benefits. This results in a well supported statement of objectives, processes, actions, costs, benefits and ROI, from which the Management Board can decide on their future CRM plans.

Optionally, we can incorporate business process mapping and optimisation into the project.

This enables software usage to incorporate workflow rules for improved productivity, and provides support for user training and ongoing procedures.

You end up with a CRM Improvement Plan that uniquely fits your business, sales & marketing needs, and is "owned" by your management and users. From this the company is able to make clear, confident and actionable decisions on the future of CRM within the organisation.

To learn more about CRM Revisited, contact us at DMC Software Solutions Freephone 0800 652 2423 or email enquiries@dmcsoftware.co.uk or Understanding CRM to download our Free guide to CRM