CRM Help For ManufacturersCRM Help For Manufacturers

Blue Martini Software Inc. this week will unveil customer-relationship management software designed for the manufacturing industry.

The suite comes with applications that help businesses conduct online marketing campaigns and commerce, manage channel-partner relationships, and track customer-service calls and assistance. In addition, businesses now have the option to purchase any Blue Martini CRM module as a standalone application. Blue Martini used to sell its CRM software as one suite of applications.

The manufacturing suite combines industry-specific business processes and workflows with all the tools found in Blue Martini's generic suite. It includes templates that let businesses set up product returns, track order management, and manage warranties.

Wilson Sporting Goods Co. is implementing Blue Martini's generic CRM suite but will consider migrating to the new manufacturing software once the first implementation is completed. Wilson signed a deal with Blue Martini this summer and expects to complete its deployment sometime next spring.

Rick Kersack, director of interactive marketing for the Chicago sporting-goods manufacturer, says he considered 20 to 25 content-management software vendors, including BroadVision Inc. and Vignette Corp., before deciding on Blue Martini. "They were focused on marquee companies," says Kersack, who adds that Blue Martini's product and price point won him over.

The combination of the channel-relationship management and commerce applications will let the company communicate more effectively with customers and partners, Kersack says. "We expect the Blue Martini implementation to help build a relationship with our customers," he says. "We can create a relationship with customers on a grassroots level and then send them to one of the retail stores."

Blue Martini's CRM software is typically priced at $250,000 for three or four modules; individual modules are about $70,000. The manufacturing software will ship next quarter.