CRM Shines On In A Cloudy EconomyCRM Shines On In A Cloudy Economy

Increasing sales to customers and retaining their loyalty has never been more important than in today's economy. That's why despite IT budget cuts, most businesses continue to step up their CRM initiatives.

Among 100 business-technology professionals interviewed by information Research in late October, 98% say CRM is a strategic program at their company. Sixty-one percent say they've already deployed CRM software, while 39% are in the planning phase.

But planning a CRM rollout isn't easy. Determining what portions of the system need to be customized and then performing the customization can take three to nine months, according to Barton Goldenberg, president and founder of ISM, a CRM consulting firm. This not only prolongs deployment, but also delays return on investment.

Most businesses that responded to the survey have yet to reap the rewards of their hard work. Only one in four survey participants claims to have met preset justifications of their CRM projects.

One CRM deployment practice that promises high ROI entails integration with different legacy systems. More than two-thirds of survey respondents either have integrated or plan to integrate CRM software with enterprise resource planning suites. Nearly three in four include fulfillment-tracking systems in their list of integrated apps.

Beyond technical deployments, employees have to change the way in which they work, whether it's the manner in which they collect data from customers, the quality of data collected, or the number of products and services they customize for consumers. And yet process changes associated with CRM deployments can contribute to a delay in ROI for some companies.

Is your company using CRM to concentrate on existing customers and maximize revenue? Let us know at the address below.

Jennifer MaselliSenior Editor [email protected]

Supply-Chain Sharing

Collaborative business is becoming more prevalent. Information-Week Research's Information Sharing And Collaboration: A Matter

Of Trust report found that companies that share information within their supply chain boost customer satisfaction, decrease costs, and increase profit margins. So it's surprising that more companies haven't integrated their CRM program with their supply-chain management systems.

Of the 100 companies polled, only 48% say alignment has been achieved. Instead, businesses appear to prefer linking their CRM programs to sales and marketing and strategic-planning systems: 77% of sites polled report having integrated with strategic planning solutions, while 89% say they've integrated with sales and marketing systems.