Crm Mash-up Catch-up

A mash-up, sounds yummy, with gravy. But for anyone out there who doesn't know what a mash-up is, or what it has to do with Customer Relationships, it is about technology, and it's great with or without the gravy! Mash-ups are basically web applications that combine content from multiple sources and serves it up as an integrated information piece. For instance, in servicing a customer, you can build a page that has the customer information (your old legacy database), past purchasing activities (your less old legacy database), the store locations (new POS) and details of purchases (inventory system), weather and news clips for their customer's area (weather network, google news), status of customer order (UPS), and payment history (SAP). What customer rep wouldn't want access to that screen. Mmmmm........

Mash-ups are going to change the way everybody does business. Mostly because mash-ups are changing the way people view and use information on the Internet, generally, right now. As a result, customer expectations will translate into very rich and specific service experiences. The push for a customized customer experience will translate into software expectations that can deliver a familiar processing environment that is in the ?comfort zone? and available where and when.
Mash ups are an exciting genre of interactive web applications that draw upon content retrieved from multiple external data sources to create entirely new and innovative services. Salesboom.com delivers on demand CRM software on a web platform utilizing mash-up capacity. This facilitates development of powerful and efficient use of information resources in the improvement of processes in the business line along with incredible improvements in data contextualization and sharing.

Salesboom incorporates standard tools such as AJAX, Javascript and XML and has separated application logic from presentation and reporting pieces to save processing resources and increase transaction times. This in turn allows Salesboom to deliver lightweight tools with rich features previously reserved for expensive, on-site applications.

The greatest benefit is that Salesboom.com can create highly customized tools, and because the technology behind the mash-up is flexible, if the business or a process changes, it is possible to change pieces of code without having to rewrite or acquire a whole new software. There are some steps though in preparing for good mash-up presentation, and it is important for any business considering CRM solutions to consider the following:


1.Salesboom uses AJAX and COMET as programming tools, a move that increases responsiveness and user interaction
2.Salesboom has a Professional Services Team that specializes in cleaning and preparing data for use in mash-ups.
3.Salesboom presents clean, intuitive interfaces in the form of Push Panels, that enable users to interact with the web mash up, be it company data, outside Internet sources, partner sites, etc.
4.Salesboom offers users tools that promote evolution of an informal corporate taxonomy enabling possibilities for organizations to use mash-ups in an incredibly profitable way.
5.The Salesboom platform guarantees access to mash-up functionality because it has adopted the Service Oriented Platform (SOP) and has a public Application Program Interface (API) as part of it's Operating System (OS) for easy incorporation of relevant information sources.
6.Salesboom promotes the formalization of the organizational workflow model.

"At Salesboom.com we offer a CRM solution, with integration options at every business line. This approach supports delivery of a highly customized customer service experience in the form of interactive mash ups. We believe that your customers are our customers ? once removed, and we take pride in delivering solid, flexible tools to you and yours?. Tom Stephano, Marketing Director, Salesboom.com

Robert Dimning is a programmer/analyst who tracks on-demand CRM Services like www.salesboom.com

4 Ways to Automate Tasks in Microsoft CRM Using Workflow

Are you sick of entering data into Microsoft CRM manually? How about dealing with inconsistent data that makes reporting difficult and time-consuming? Whether you are a business user or IT user, you are guaranteed to appreciate the power and flexibility of workflow within Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. Here are four easy ways to use workflow to automate tasks that support sales and customer service. By the end of this article, you will be able to automate your processes using Microsoft CRM and workflow.

1. Assign New Leads to the Appropriate Person or Queue

If you have multiple sales people to whom are assigned leads meeting specific criteria, then this is a handy way to use workflow. For example, let's say that your territories are defined by state, and the Joe is the sales person for all of New York state. Upon the creation of a new lead with a state of New York, the lead can be automatically assigned to Joe so that it appears in his My Leads view. Then an e-mail can be sent, again automatically, to both Joe and his manager notifying them of the new lead.

Do you assign leads by some other criteria, such as industry (e.g., equipment manufacturing) or region (e.g., Northeast)? Not a problem. As long as the data identifying the lead as an equipment manufacturer or as located within the Northeast is entered in CRM, workflow events can be triggered using this data.

2. Assign New Cases to the Appropriate Person or Queue

If you have a customer service or support function, or even an internal support function (e.g., IT department), then workflow works beautifully with the service management functionality within Microsoft CRM. A common use is to assign a new case to a specific person or queue, depending on specific criteria. If the case type is IT, then it would go to the IT queue. If the case type is a Contract, then the case would be assigned to the sales person assigned to that customer.

Another criteria is priority. Most companies treat emergency requests differently than normal or low priority requests. Depending on the priority, different rules can be triggered. For example, an emergency request could be routed to the Emergency Response team. If they don't respond within five minutes, then a follow up task would be triggered to the VP of Customer Service.

3. Notify Customers on Status of Their Case

Not only can cases be assigned automatically, but customers could be kept informed about the status of their cases. Upon creation of a case, an e-mail would go to the customer who opened the case, giving them case number and who to call if they have questions. Once the case has been resolved, another e-mail could be sent to the customer informing them of the resolution and who to call if there are additional problems with the case. Constant customer contact is critical in service/support situations, and workflow can automate much of that contact.

4. Automate Creation of Procedural Tasks

Do you need to follow a procedure? Who doesn't? Let's say that upon creation of a new lead, the sales person is supposed to send a welcome letter introducing them to the lead. At the same time, the marketing department is supposed to mail a standard packet of information. Finally, five days after the packet of information has been sent, the sales person is to call the lead. How does everybody remember to do this stuff?

Workflow, of course.

Upon creation of the lead, a personalized e-mail based off of a specific template can be sent automatically to the lead.

A task would be created and assigned to the appropriate marketing queue, where a person assigned to monitor the queue handles it. Perhaps they even process the requests in bulk at the end of the day or the beginning of the next day. They may even use an external fulfillment center specifically for this purpose. Either way, the task is created automatically.

Finally, the phone call activity for the sales person is created with a due date of five days in the future, with the specific script included in the task. Now they have a reminder to call the lead and they know what they need to say.

Pretty cool, isn't it?

Conclusion

As you have seen, workflow in Microsoft CRM can help anybody using CRM, whether it is the sales manager, sales person, customer service manager, customer service rep, or anybody else. There are many other ways to automate tasks, including using more complicated logic.The only limitation is your imagination. With the ideas in this article and some creativity, you should be able to think of other ways to use workflow in Microsoft CRM for your business.

Michael Cross is a Microsoft Certified CRM Professional with Small Business Systems LLC. Visit http://www.bturnkey.com/crm.html to learn how Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 enables your people to work the way they want to work, while providing you wih the data you need to increase the number of customers, provide the quality of service your customers expect, and increase your revenues.

Crm End-state

Most strategic planning methodologies are built upon a triad of convergent processes that are a variation of a) evaluation and review, b) definition of goals/objectives and c) mapping route(s) to goals. This methodology has enjoyed certain success, but as applications evolve and can incorporate the softer side of automation and processing, strategic planning should also include another triumvirate of activities, d) visualization of the end-state, e) study of current situation and identify gaps to end state and f) identify actions that will close the gap.

Strategic Planning Overview for CRM Projects

Strategic plans typically look five or more years into the future and differ from tactical plans, which look two to four years into the future.

The early triad of activities for strategic planning, mentioned above, were appropriate for fixed solutions, and for expensive development projects that had limitations due to technologies and/or funding. With the advent of online CRM, it is possible and prudent to include triumvirate strategies to expedite deployment of new functionality available with on-demand CRM/ERP solutions.
There are a number of possible ways to identify barriers to success, and also some best practices that help to address these barriers. The following pages provide a good general reference for on-demand CRM deployments from a vendor's perspective.

Incorporate End-State Strategies for Successful CRM

1.Clearly define the objective, or end-state.
Identify major disconnects in technology, embrace and manage changes wholeheartedly.

2.Assessment and analysis.
Pursue change and improvement, challenge old policy/procedures that can be changed or eliminated as part of process automation and improvement. Identify technical and procedural redundancies and clearly identify gaps.

Plan to identify and capture information that supports use of end-state metrics.

3.Honestly evaluate the feasibility of the end-state objective
Identify questions that help clarify the end-state vision. Establish roles and responsibilities for evaluation input. Consider the barriers to change and closing the gaps.

4.Strategy/Tactics.
Eliminate traditional rituals in planning that strangle opportunities to leap forward. Truly address impediments to customer service and increased revenue. Ensure Strategy and Tactics are in line with desired end-state.

5.Closing Gaps

Identify Benefits: What to be expected from implementing a CRM solution?
Plan Actions: What will be done?

Identify/Delegate Responsibilities : Who will be the corporate sponsor and who will be in charge of the project?

Scheduling: When will the project start? When will it be completed?

Resourcing: Identify what is needed: people, money, information, other resources?

Establish Metrics & Set Rewards: How will progress be measured and reported?

Contingency Planning: What will be done if results fall short?

Strategic Planning Pitfalls

There are several activities that come into play when deploying new processes/solutions. They typically fall into the categories of strategy and tactics. In general, strategic plans can fail for several reasons: inappropriate strategy, conflicting tactics and poor implementation. The strategy is the high level plan and the tactics are basically the actions that happen to support and deploy elements of the strategic plan. Do good work on the triad and triumvirate planning components and have good contingencies in place to work around problems.

- Strategic Difficulties

- Failure to define the desired end states correctly

- Analysis irrelevant to the desired end state(s)

- Lack of creativity in identifying possible strategies

- Poor gap analysis

Conflicting Tactical Activities

In preparing and delivering components of the strategic plan, it is important to ensure tactics used do not undermine strategy. It often happens innocuously, often in an effort to maintain the status quo, or from a lack of information, but these tactics can gain purchase, and pull the strategic plan apart.

- Actions taken/not taken because of perceived threats to established processes
- Missed opportunities or compromises because of resistance/misunderstanding
- Too many ad-hoc activities/actions by too many people from within the organization
- Actions taken/not taken no longer support the strategic plan

End State Disappointments

Difficulties delivering because of lack of resources/abilities due to over estimation of resources and or time and/or loss of senior management support.

- Inaccurate forecasting of financial requirements
- Failure to manage expectations and coordinate tactical
strategies
- Ineffective change management strategies

Use Professional CRM Services ? Before and After Deployment

There are many components to delivering a CRM solution that is often the most appropriate, and best, business solution to improve cash flow and position for future markets. Taking the time to consult with your CRM solution provider is critical to a successful deployment because you want them to understand and be participants in delivering the desired end-state.

Have a set of measurable improvements in mind that can be used as both deliverables and to determine the success of the deployment in business terms, not just technical.

Post Deployment Metrics

Some possible metrics that can be used to track the success of a CRM deployment might include the following:

- Track qualified leads generated at the same/lower cost
- Track ability/ease of converting prospects to customers
- Track the customer share growth
- Track customer loyalty and retention rates
- Track cost of selling/servicing customers
- Track employee efficiency/improvements/feedback, etc.

SalesboomTM is a world leader in delivery of on-demand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. Salesboom has over 28,000 subscribers from the SMB sector, with 3,400 customers in over 154 countries around the world. Salesboom.com web services solutions drive innovation, enable business realignment, and enriches customer relations across the enterprise.
Katie Campbell, consultant and writer. Has worked in IT sector in government, private and non-profit sectors with focus on technology and knowledge management. Tracking new technologies in CRM like http://www.salesboom.com

How BPM Improves CRM

How BPM improves, CRM can be understood with the fact that it is difficult for a company to achieve the target of customer profitability in the absence of a business performance management or BPM system. Different CRM software provides different facilities. Some of the CRM packages help with the transactional customer data only. On the other hand, some other packages are capable of making very wide customer analysis. However, no matter how much advantage financial experts of the company may seek, they have to relate this information with the important factors that affect the overall performance of a company. They need to balance the customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and operational quality control.

Comparatively, not so interesting people in the filed of finance when talk about how BPM improves CRM, put forth an interesting analogy. They compare the situation of analyzing data from the CRM tool for leveraging BPM by a company with the person who has poor vision first time puts on spectacles. Confusions surrounding the customer profitability metrics are no more. Similarly, misrepresent perceptions, regarding the behavior of customer when we use very different data sources, have also become irrelevant.

Figuring Out Most Profitable Products; The views of many financial executives are changing regarding how BPM improves CRM. They now see customers in a very different way. Customers are now a consolidated and comprehensive lot rather than a fragmented one. This has resulted in better understanding and improved relations with the every single customer they serve. Moreover, now companies can easily find out what are the products that are generating most profits. This has helped the companies to set the future targets more realistically.

Linking Data With Strategies; Another point that proves how BPM improve CRM is that companies were unable to connect the data and their business strategies when using data from enterprise resource planning or ERP system and CRM system. On the contrary, linking the data with the strategies is easy while using BPM system. Moreover, the distribution of important data becomes more efficient by using the combination of CRM and BPM capabilities. It also helps in locating and concentrating the geographical areas where maximum profitability is expected. According to financial experts, it is not the tool that affects your company?s performance, but it is the way you move the information. What is the point in having so many systems if the information is not reaching to the right person at the right time?

Finally, we can say that BPM system, if used with a right approach, can help the company in taking maximum advantage from the CRM software asset.

Alexander Gordon is a writer for http://www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business.

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Sugar CRM a new Roadmap to Commercial Open Source Technology

Sugar CRM is commercial Open Source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for companies of all sizes, based on LAMP stack (Linux-OS; Apache-Web Server; MySQL-Database Server; PHP-Programming Language). Its rich functionality and intuitive user interface provides a gateway to all CRM applications thereby enabling corporates to migrate to SugarCRM to expand their customer base.

Sugar CRM takes your business to a new level by integrating the enterprise server software sales model with that of a software-as-a-service model. It is available in both free and commercial editions.

Free edition of SugarCRM is available and is best suited for small industries. These industries can download SugarCRM under the Mozilla Public License. This open source product offers all the basic customer-centric functionalities.

The commercial edition of SugarCRM is available in two versions, Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise, for medium and large scale industries respectively. They provide more flexible deployment options (On-demand to host you own information; Cube to plug-n-play CRM appliance; On-site to manage CRM on your own server) and advanced features like add-ons, software patches, proprietary code, technical support, etc.

Professional edition is flexible and includes features such as sales, marketing, customer support, reporting and collaboration, migration, integrity and security. It also includes integration with Microsoft Outlook, sales forecasting, document management, access control, multiple deployment options to suit customers' security and integrity needs.

Enterprise edition is a fully customizable for the most demanding businesses. It includes features like SQL reporting, offline client synchronization, support for Oracle 9i and 10g etc, and is ideal for organizations having a large number of users. Apart from all the basic functionalities and features of Professional, it provides Oracle database support and offline client synchronization.

SugarCRM has also launched a server appliance called Sugar Cube, for companies which don't want to devolve their customer's details to third parties.

Sugar Cube if attuned with Professional edition gives an extra edge to overcome implementation and technical support problem and also bringing down costs of CRM deployments. Sugar Cube conglomeration with Enterprise edition provides complete hardware and software solutions with minimal resource utilization at lesser expense. "Software is bought, not sold," says John Roberts, co-founder and CEO of SugarCRM and this is the strategy that must be followed. The Sugar CRM product has created a strong gravitational pull for the customers trying the open source version and making there investment a success by paying a premium for our Enterprise Edition. This great CRM product provides complete CRM functionality ranging from opportunity tracking, lead management and customer tracking to task management, marketing campaign, trend analysis, advanced reporting and team selling and many IT enabled services.

There are lots of online communities and many more are emerging all around the web where you can share your innovative ideas with CRM developers. These communities provide customer feedback, range of informational services and support for CRM players. A wide array of forums and discussion boards are available enabling users to learn about the best practices and upcoming functionalities of Sugar CRM.

With the release of Sugar4.5, Sugar CRM continues to move ahead with the following features:

* Personalized home page by drag-drop of relevant items for fast access to view important information.

* Improved sales forecasting with better planning and forecasting worksheet.

* Improved information sharing on any topic, with the integration of different Sugar modules with discussion forums.

* With saved and global search and inline adds and edits user interface has improved.

* Enhanced installation and upgrade process offline client synchronization has also improved.

* Administration is simplified with improved Sugar Studio for code-free customizations, back-up and recovery.

* Multi-lingual support and internationalization.

Look for you're A-Z SugarCRM solutions at http://www.icreon.com.

A consultant of Sugar CRM - a new Roadmap to Commercial Open Source Technology.

CRM-Turn Customers to Clients

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the process of bringing the customer and the company closer together. Estimates show that just 20 percent of customers account for nearly 80 percent of total revenues in some businesses. While getting more customers is critical for the sustenance of any enterprise, optimizing returns by furthering relationships with the existing clients is a key business practice. Barry Stamos, in "Best Customers: More Profitable Relationships" points out, "Why spend resources attracting new customers until optimizing the profitability of your client relationships?"

"Successful CRM is about competing in the relationship dimension" explains Bob Thompson, CEO, CustomerThink Corporation, "Not as an alternative to having a competitive product or reasonable price- but as a differentiator. If your competitors are doing the same thing you are (as they generally are), product and price won't give you a long- term, sustainable competitive advantage. But if you can get an edge based on how customers feel about your company, it's a much stickier--sustainable--relationship over the long haul."

Customers come first in business. Managing relationships with them is very vital. Through cross-selling and up- selling techniques, you can continue to add more leverage to your business. High value referrals from them can also procure endless opportunities. Cutting down time and marketing costs through client network selling, you increase the profitability of your organization. Usually, a 'sale' converts a 'client' to a 'customer'. More and more sale transactions with him make him a client. By then, he has developed a liking for your service and has taken you in his confidence. The first transaction was just not a one-time event; it perpetuated continuing business through credible relationship building with the customer.

CRM has clearly defined roles:

? Focus on the customer and develop sustainable relationship with him.

? Manage the post-sale period well.

? Provide flexibility to your solutions in meeting customer requirements.

? Get qualified referrals for more business expansion within the network.

? Always keep in touch and have an explaining mindset.

Customers bring business. The more healthy relationships you have with them, the more is the value addition to your business. Continuous introspection about the level of service being offered and providing innovative solutions can help you to stay in the front. To quote former New York City mayor, Ed Koch, simply asking clients, "How am I doing?" is a great way to know where you stand. CRM provides you with tools and techniques to help you in nurturing healthy and dynamic client relationships and turning more customers to clients.

T Chakrabarti and his global colleagues write for KPO2INDIA (http://www.kpo2india.net), a premier Writing and Content Development Farm.

Crm - Eliminate Layers Of Complexity

Traditional approaches to system development include design of both the application and platform strategies. With on-demand CRM services it is possible to avoid the burden of complex application development and integration because they deliver multi-option,tightly integrated portal platforms for workplace collaboration.

When developing a proprietary architecture, it is necessary to go through a process of creating and developing models, that are worked and reworked, discarded and/or refined until they satisfy the desired result. A list of some typical models are listed below and they constitute the 'layers of complexity' in application development.

Concept Models

Requirements

Behavior (operational scenarios)
Structure: system hierarchy, interconnection, interfaces
Properties
Analysis
Detailed engineering models
List of deliverables

The process of bridging these layers together is complex and very difficult in trying to guarantee the exchange of underlaying data. Building these various layers, begets volumes of documentation, requires teams of programmers, architects, administrative support, and so forth. It is a process that becomes progressively time consuming and expensive.

Additional 'layers of complexity' in application development include integration of collaboration tools and partner portals while trying to maintain a consistent look and feel. Application development can address organizational needs, but it adds so many layers of complexity to integrations that it becomes less profitable as an option except in very specific situations. Using on-demand CRM solutions are a strategic and cost efficient alternative for most organizations to application development initiatives.

On-demand deployments offer easier integrations, have many standard collaboration tools and processes for sales and marketing activities already integrated, and are more cost efficient in terms of actual adding of content. With on-demand CRM it is also possible to incrementally deploy only the necessary parts of the application in strategic deployments for further cost efficiencies. On-demand CRM is the most evolutionary state of the portal market, it is a platform approach that brings together all the necessary content and applications from across the enterprise.

Salesboom.com delivers robust CRM services without the layers of complexity you would expect in a typical application deployment, instead you receive an integrated web platform and that includes standard tools for collaborative workplace success.

Benefits of Salesboom On-Demand CRM

Reduce complexity and cost ? Access standard tools for point integration and enable services for access to legacy data and current transactions. Modify and tailor user screens through local administrators.

Excellent process visibility and control ? Access mainframe data so it is transparently available to applications that require it. Use standard tools for management, audit and trace functions, browse and display so that specific processes spanning both distributed and mainframe environments can be easily and intuitively updated, contextualized and shared.

Fast deployment of new business processes ? create new processes or refine existing ones using workflow. Make customizations and updates easily through your local administrator.

SOA deployment ? Enjoy bi-directional integration between applications via Web services. Salesboom uses AJAX and COMET programming to enable fast processing. Salesboom CRM makes it possible to make mainframe and distributed systems peers within a standards-based SOA infrastructure.

Real-time results ? Access real-time information for business events, wherever they originate on the platform. View business processes in real time and participate in complex event processing from the dashboard within Salesboom.com.

Template-based configuration and tailoring of Salesboom.com. - Use templates to customize and tailor screens for many activities, eliminating the cost of custom modifications.

Katie Campbell, information/business analyst, particular interest in CRM, http://www.salesboom.com