09/ 11/ 2002
by Michael J. Martinez
One of the most popular tools for mining information in business databases is called customer relationship management (CRM) software. The idea here is to meld your various databases--customers, transactions, inventory, etc.--into a coherent whole, using CRM software to connect them all.
If you ask 50 companies what their CRM offerings are, however, you'll get 50 different sets of products and rationales for using them. CRM is, in many ways, simply a buzzword to describe a suite of business software products. What that suite consists of is up to the company marketing it. Nevertheless, there are a few things that every suite of CRM software should have.
Sales management. All CRM suites should have a strong customer component; that is, they should be able to match the information you have on your customers to their transactions, providing a meaningful analysis for your sales force to use in retaining those customers in the future. With a simple click, you should be able to see the entire history of your transactions with a given customer.
Fulfillment. Good CRM software suites should also quickly update your inventory or project databases so that each customer's latest orders can be fulfilled and shipped (if applicable) quickly and easily. After making a sale, your sales professional should be able, through CRM software, to place an order and have those products in the works within seconds.
Customer service. Good CRM software will be able to record service calls, customer comments and other service notes. That way you can quickly respond to a customer who calls with a problem.
Miscellaneous add-ons. Software companies also provide a number of "add-on" services and features to their CRM suites. For example, in the legal or accounting fields, some CRM software suites include confidentiality features so that only those persons with appropriate passwords and access can see specific information about a client's case or finances. Other CRM suites tie into your accounting software, providing billing and payment services for the customer as soon as the sale is made.
How do you decide which CRM suite is right for you? The choice can be difficult, given the number of options that often accompany this software. The current leaders in this area are:
- Siebel Systems (www.siebel.com), which is mostly for midsize to larger businesses,
- Pivotal (www.pivotal.com),
- Oracle (www.oraclesmallbusiness.com), and
- Onyx Software (www.onyx.com).
Microsoft, through its Great Plains small business software company, is expected to introduce CRM software in the last quarter of 2002.
Each of these companies offers, or will offer, a basic suite of software functions that includes all of the aforementioned features--sales, fulfillment and support. Anything else is extra, and no matter who's selling, make sure you look closely at what you're buying, and get the advice of your IT professional or consultant as needed.
CRM software, unfortunately, doesn't come cheap. Most CRM makers assume you're already using not only a number of databases, but also a contact-management and e-mail system on the desktop, such as Microsoft Outlook. Once these pieces are installed, the CRM software sits on top of all of the other software on each workstation that requires it in your business. Without all the other pieces of software, you can expect to pay, at minimum, $200 per workstation for good CRM software. In addition, software vendors may charge up to $1,000 a day for training on these systems, depending on the number of people who are to be trained. In some cases, it'll pay to simply read the manuals instead, or to include training as part of your consultant's duties, for a lower fee.
Michael J. Martinez is an associate editor for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, covering technology issues and reviews. Previously, Martinez was a business and technology writer for The Associated Press and ABCNews.com in Seattle, covering such high-tech luminaries as Microsoft and Amazon.com. Practical Tech for Your Business is available in bookstores for $17.95.
