Customer Relationship Management software, which is better known these days simply as CRM  , can be beneficial to many parts of an enterprise , particularly by helping sales reps and service personnel track information about customers and prospects. But it's putting the pieces together, extending beyond the basic functionality and establishing connections from end-to-end throughout the enterprise that can really make for more powerful processes.
When it comes to CRM, many companies tend to focus on the front aspects of business, says Mark Woollen, vice president of CRM product strategy at Oracle. They invest in CRM for sales or customer support but don't tie the systems together with areas like fulfillment, product development, or vendor selection.
"Enterprises haven't wedded together the different aspects of CRM and found points to leverage the expertise in one department with that in another," says Woollen. However, more and more companies are seeing the light, Woollen notes. "People are beginning to look for that kind of integration , and stitch things together. They're understanding the value of end-to-end processes."
Staying a Step Ahead
An end-to-end strategy does more than bring together customer and product information, says Angela Bandlow, vice president of CRM solution marketing at SAP. That kind of strategy can also give companies a glimpse at the efficiency of their processes.
For example, if an order is placed, the CRM system can not only make sure the right product is in inventory, but also create a shipping record that can be given to the customer and also tied in to the supplier. A spike in demand might cause a supplier to change shipping schedules or notice buying trends based on industry or geography.
"There's a lot to think about, and a great deal that can be brought together," Bandlow says. "There are a breadth of processes that can be integrated."
Keeping Your Eye on the Prize
The big goal at most companies is to make it easy for customers to do business with them, says AMR Research analyst Rob Bois. With that as an overriding mission, a CRM system should be examined with customer satisfaction in mind. For example, if customers are happier knowing details related to the supply chain, such as inventory availability and estimated delivery times, then those details can be brought into the customer communication, Bois suggests. (continued...)
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