CRM today Part 2 of 3 The challenges of CRM Software

With the brief overview of CRM software provided in the prior blog post in mind, lets move on with the next series installment,  the challenges of CRM software.  With the broad scope of this article series, the challenges that with will view are equally as broad, but to the same extent common amongst all most all CRM software systems.  

Here are the challenges most common with CRM software, 

1) Cost / Benefit or Return On Investment on the CRM software.   With all software implementations there typically is a evaluation process to determine the Cost  / Benefit and ROI, usually able to utilize solid tangible figures.   With CRM software there is the challenge of quantifying the value of the intangible improvements in customer relationships, customer acquisition, and customer retention prior to the implementation of the software.  Surveying and other tools can be used post implementation to quantify these aspects, unfortunately it's too late to add this to the implementation evaluation. 

2) Current technology infrastructure.   While this is becoming less of an issue, there are still challenges with integrating CRM software into existing software and hardware infrastructure.  Some examples of this are legacy or proprietary systems, such as accounting or inventory management not having the appropriate interface to integrate into a CRM system.   This can result in reduction in the the effectiveness of the CRM software as there is a limited sharing of information between.  CRM Software thrives on having the ability to fulfill all of the customer needs, and access to all customer data is imperative to addressing this.

3) Stakeholder adoption.  This is by far the greatest challenge with CRM Software today.   With even the best planned, supported, and implemented CRM, stakeholder adoption can be a challenge.   Time and time again the best designed and implemented CRM system fails to live up to expectations due to a failure in the stakeholders adopting the habits, tools, and business processes that CRM systems require.  There are many ways to better engender stakeholder adoption, some examples are,

a) Change is hard, accept that it will take longer that you think to get the results that you hope for.  Plan for a supplementary adoption plan.

b) Provide appropriate incentives to aid in adoption.   Building incentives in to the adoption plan are great, but if you fail to forecast the outcomes, even the best planned incentive will result in failing to meeting adoption expectations.

c) You might want to adopt a phased implementation model that allows you to implement the most prepared stakeholders first.   With a successful first step implementation this allow you to leverage this success to other stakeholder groups. 

Do not let these challenges cloud your view of CRM software.  In the next installment of the blog series I will review some of the emerging advantages of CRM software. 

CRM today Part 1 of 3 What is Customer Relationship Management software?

It seems like a simple question, but what is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software?   A strict definition is,

"Software that is used for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support." Wikipedia

Sounds pretty broad, lets put it in perspective.   Here are some examples of CRM software I have implemented.

- A newsletter / mass emailing system that integrates emails capture from the client's website, social media interaction and daily email communications with little or no user intervention.   This saves that client 10 hours a month in administration and now allows them to reach their entire stakeholder base with clear, consistent communications.

- A client website and management back end.  The client has a system that allows membership applications, payment and accounting all automated and all online, a website that has a private members area that is customizable base on a specific members interests, and a built in training and support system that includes videos, FAQ's and trouble ticket management.

- Discount membership website that provides membership management for all stakeholders, payment processing, accounting functionality and the capability to allow member to tailor their discounts and offers on a 24/7 basis. 

CRM software encompasses a broad range of interactions, processes, and customer interaction / relationship tools.  In the next 2 posts we will investigate CRM Software in further depth and discuss further the state of CRM today.

Recycling or selling a old device, make sure that your information is off it

With the ever increasing pace of technological advancement, the question of what to do with old devices is brought up.  Many clients I work with are not aware of the risks of selling or recycling an old device without being 100% sure all personal information is off it.  Cell and smart phones, tablets, laptops, and computers all carry personal information of one sort or another, even deleting this information may not make it inaccessible.   Check out the story below, 

Best case scenario a TV station does a news report on the computer that they purchased from you, worst case might be this, 

Collaboration Lab provides several solutions to address removal and / or destruction of personal information off of your electronic device.  Don't risk the chance of your personal information being used, distributed, and exploited, contact us today.

Check out our new Videos page

For quite a while I have been using video with clients to make complex tasks easier.   Now that I have quite a few of these video completed I have added a new video page to my site, here is a direct link, 

Collaboration Lab Videos

I have some great videos outlining Monthly Maintenance, so be sure to review them and keep your machine in tip top shape.   There are also some very informative videos form Red Team USA.  Let me know if you have any questions, or suggestions for videos that you would like to see made.

Here is a quick video on Windows Update,

Parental Controls can help

If you are a Windows 7 user one of the great tools that you have access to is Parental Controls. Parental Controls is a tool built into Windows 7 that allows you to restrict program use, monitor time online, and limit the type of content that the child can view.

Now even if you do not believe in limitations, or monitoring, one good point to think about is the program access restriction.

Approximately 2 in 5 of all major virus infections that I work on are a result of a child, spouse, or friend downloading a program that hey should not have, thus resulting in a damaged computer. With the restrictions that Parental Controls imposes this stops this issue cold.  So, even if you are weary of keeping a close watch on your child's activities, you may still want to look at restricting program access, and the ability for users other than the Administrator to install programs.

To find out more, here is a link to Microsoft with more detail on Parental Controls, 

Parental Controls

And if you are not inclined to read, here is short video, 

Using Parental Controls