A wise man once said that experience is the best teacher-but most people refuse to learn from it. Below are case studies that address common hurdles in implementing a CRM system.
Not a Magic Bullet – Strategies for Acceptance Sealing Devices, a manufacturer of precision industrial seals and lubricants, found that weaning departments off of their old and inefficient data reporting software was nearly impossible and sales were suffering as a result. Vital information on customers was sometimes wrong and leads were getting lost in the shuffle. The IT manager at Sealing Devices devised some CRM adoption strategies that made the introduction of a modern Customer Relationship Management system a success.
Integration Woes – Unifying Many Systems This white paper eventually recommends a proprietary solution to the problem of systems integration-before the sales pitch though, the integration issues that can plague a good Customer Relationship Management system are brought to light. The paper explains how a successful CRM solution is made up of many smaller systems working together at the same time, and why introducing one small module at a time may seem like a good idea at first but often causes more trouble in the long run.
Integration Woes – When Everyone is Not on the Same Page Though not strictly on CRM, this case study gives insight into some of the integration strategies that have worked for the 7-11 stores, and touches on the importance, and shortcomings, of EDI-Electronic Data Interchange. 7-11 used a web-based integration platform to communicate with all of the smaller companies it deals with to keep stores stocked and customers happy.
Web-based or Not? – Networking Around the World Optical products giant Bausch & Lomb has a global presence but wants to seem local to each region they do business in. The company went with a hosted solution from PeopleSoft so that its affiliates around the globe could easily access the system. As Mike Riding, vice president of Bausch & Lomb IT says, "The fact that PeopleSoft has no code on the client makes it much easier from an IT perspective. Deployment and maintenance costs are much more cost-effective."
Web-based or Not? – Some Things are Better Left In-house Compass Bank used a business analytics application that would have been impractical as a hosted solution. By interfacing with a number of sensitive databases on the company's mainframe computers, the bank reduced loan write-offs by 7 percent by using the Siebel Business Analytics solution. Proving the standard 6-8 month implementation timeframe wrong, the bank and the CRM provider had the program running in only six weeks.
Learn More
Training and Support – Pilot Programs Spark Interest Thorough training has been found to be the biggest predictor of end-user adoption for a Customer Relationship Management suite. In this interesting case study, Barclays Bank integrates information about home buyers' pre-approved mortgage limits with an IVR (Interactive Voice Recognition) system-sales people out in the field with hopeful home buyers could get real-time pre-approved mortgage limits over the phone. This allowed the sales people to make firm offers to home buyers and resulted in increased mortgage sales. A small number of sales people were allowed to try the prototype-they insisted they be able to use the system after the test period was over and this undoubtedly helped with a quick company-wide adoption.
