CRM Programs

Prior to beginning CRM Programs, firms also should measure their current levels of customer satisfaction, customer retention, revenue per customer and more to create control data that later will be used to measure the effectiveness of CRM Programs. "Not everyone takes advantage of the deployment initially," Loftis says, "so you have a group that you can measure that isn't a part of the CRM Programs, as well as a group that is."

Most importantly, businesses must have the discipline to measure those metrics periodically once CRM is in place. For example, document management companies can hire research firms to call customers anonymously and question them about their printing needs and their satisfaction with various print providers. Approximately one year after firms implement CRM Programs, they can rehire the research firms to call the same customers and record changes.

Businesses also must create one definition of "customer" that meets the needs of each department in the organization, including sales, marketing and customer service. Cecil recommends that businesses hold customer retreats to identify who their customers are, what problems those customers are experiencing, what actions they've taken to show customers they care, how they should be helping customers, and what competitors are doing, how technology can help them and more. The retreats should include senior employees from all departments.

There are many CRM Programs like mySAP Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM), which empowers companies to deliver customer value -- and achieve profitable growth. The solution connects front- and back-office functions into a single, customer-centric operation. And enables collaboration across the value chain by providing access to relevant, personalized information from multiple data sources and business processes.

CRM Programs is the only CRM solution that connects your employees, partners, processes, and technology in a closed-loop customer interaction cycle. So you can convert prospects into first-time buyers. And first-time buyers into long-term customers. This CRM Programs delivers functionality throughout the customer engagement cycle, providing all the capabilities you need to manage marketing, sales, service, analytics, field applications, interaction centers, e-commerce, and channel partners.