The CRM Handbook: Ch. 7, Planning Your CRM Program

When launching a visible and wide-ranging program like CRM it's only a matter of time before a high-ranking executive inquires, "So how much money have we spent on this CRM thing, and what have we gotten in return?" The degree to which your CRM program has been deliberately planned and executed is the degree to which you'll have a slam-dunk answer to this question.

There are three possible financial outcomes for any CRM program:

Increased profits
Break-even
Lost revenue
Unfortunately, it's difficult to quantify how much additional profit is generated or money saved via CRM. Unlike more straightforward operational systems that deliver both defined outcomes and quantifiable improvements, CRM often fosters unprecedented business practices that are by their very nature not measurable. Comparing new sales channels like the Web to traditional channels invites apples-to-oranges debates. Furthermore, unlike its more technology-specific counterparts, CRM often delivers ROI that is both hard and soft.

From a soft return standpoint, CRM can deliver significant payback that's nevertheless difficult to quantify. Enhanced employee satisfaction, cultural and workplace improvements, perceived technology leadership and amplified market reputation are examples. Even concepts such as customer loyalty and customer satisfaction, both crucial to business success, are difficult to measure. A March 2000 CRM study conducted by META Group/IMT revealed that ninety percent of the fifty largest CRM user companies admitted being unable to quantify a return on their CRM initiatives.

For some companies, simply knowing that after deploying CRM their sales figures exceeded the industry average is enough. For others, the inevitable executive questions loom large--large enough to mandate tangible benefits.

From a hard ROI perspective, CRM can truly result in revenue or cost savings via the following quantifiable metrics:

A. More efficient customer-focused business processes
B. Decreased customer attrition
C. Increased sales

Open Source CRM Learning Guide

Welcome to the Open Source CRM Learning Guide from SearchCRM.com. Here you'll find resources to help you better understand and leverage open source as it applies to your own CRM strategy. From an introduction by Bernard Golden to definitions for open source-related terms to understanding the innovations in tools and technology, this is your best resource for getting up to speed quickly on the open source trend.

Why CRM Doesn't Work: How to Win by Letting Customers Manage the Relationship

Why CRM Doesn't Work: How to Win by Letting Customers Manage the Relationship

de Frederick Newell - 2003 - 256 páginas

Companies ask for my preferences and I tell them what I want from them. Still,
each offer is more meaningless than the last. Why doesn ‘t your so-called CRM ...

The Crm Project Management Handbook: building realistic expectations and managing risk

The Crm Project Management Handbook: building realistic expectations and managing risk

de Michael Gentle - 2002 - 227 páginas
There are at least books on Customer Relationship Management (CRM), whose basic
message goes something like this (fill in with the theme music from Star ...

Crm in Financial Services: A Practical Guide to Making Customer Relationship Management Work

Crm in Financial Services: A Practical Guide to Making Customer Relationship Management Work

de Bryan. Foss, Merlin Stone - 2002 - 480 páginas

CUSTOMERS This part focuses on issues related to wealth management, one of the
supposedly hot topics of CRM in financial services, but one conspicuous for ...

CRM: Redefining Customer Relationship Management

CRM: Redefining Customer Relationship Management

de Jeffrey Peel - 2002 - 217 páginas
And communication—effective communication across all customer touch-points—is
what, increasingly, customer relationship management (CRM) is all about.

CRM at the Speed of Light

CRM at the Speed of Light - Essential Customer Strategies for the 21st Century - by Paul Greenberg - 2004

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