MOBILIZING CRM: ROUTES TO SUCCESS

Customer Inter@ction Solutions, Oct 2004 by Burnett, Aaron

Over the past 15 years, the evolution of CRM has paralleled changing business philosophy - from the early days when what passed for CRM was really only a contact database that assisted the sales process, to the current, customer-centric environment in which highly complex and expensive CRM systems enable customer insights that result in the tremendous sophistication and responsiveness at the heart of virtually every world-class enterprise.

Most recently, this need to become ever closer to customers (and customer information) can be seen in many organizations' efforts to provide remote access to CRM applications for workers in the field, often using wireless networks.

The Case For Real-Time Remote Access

The business drivers for real-time, remote access to CRM are clear: making customer information available anywhere and anytime translates into dramatic increases in efficiency, responsiveness and, ultimately, customer loyalty. Consider the following:

Faster turnaround. Real-time order submission results in improved customer service and clear operational efficiencies. As soon as a customer agrees to a purchase, the field salesperson places the order, confirms adequate inventory and verifies order receipt at the warehouse. Orders placed at noon go immediately to the warehouse for overnight delivery the next day.

Instant access to customer intelligence, A sales representative retrieves customer information, including previous orders, equipment installed or when the last sales call was made. This is invaluable for discovering unmet needs, spurring sales and serving the y customer more effectively.

More "face time" with more customers. Always-on access to CRM means less time spent by mobile workers on end-of-day data entry. This gives more time for the core mission, which is meeting with customers, serving them and closing sales.

More reliable service inventory. For field service applications, immediate transmission of a work order helps to track parts used during service calls. This prevents possible shortages and verifies adequate stock on-hand for the next day's work. And when a part is not in field inventory, the crew can check the warehouse, reserve the part and reschedule the follow-up service visit. Ultimately, this improved inventory control reduces the number of unnecessary truck rolls.

More efficient crew scheduling. By knowing immediately when a service visit has been completed or is falling behind schedule, dispatchers can send crews to new service calls or alert customers to delayed visits.

Less duplicate entry. In a real-time system, CRM data entry becomes an integral part of completing a work order. This spares mobile workers from duplicate tasks of creating the paperwork for customers only to have to re-enter the same information in the CRM system later.

Improved compliance. Sales people are oriented toward spending their time meeting with customers and doing work that immediately leads to closing sales. Service personnel focus on making repairs and completing meriting them. Real-time access moves data entry to the point of service and makes it an integral part of doing the job. As a result, it is much more likely that those data will be entered, and the information will be complete and accurate.

Available Infrastructure

Advances in three key areas are aiding enterprises in the pursuit of effective remote access to CRM:

Wireless networks. Wide-area wireless data services from major wireless carriers, such as AT&T Wireless, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, are now readily available and affordable. Additionally, recent upgrades to wireless networks have resulted in transmission speeds that now approach the level of data throughput that is needed to support remote access to CRM applications. When augmented by effective network compression, wide-area wireless data speeds can consistently reach the 100-200 Kbps range.

Additionally, the increasing prevalence of Wi-Fi (both private access points and public hotspots) now offers a viable, high-speed network option for mobile workers.

Mobile computing devices. As for devices, handheld PCs and laptops are more portable and they both have longer battery life, greater storage capacity and more memory than ever before. Most important, laptops and tablets for mobile workers are now available for only slightly more than the cost of a desktop PC.

Enterprise infrastructure. Virtually every enterprise has made some accommodation for traveler and telecommuter remote access, typically via dial-up combined with a robust authentication scheme. As a result, remote access via wireless networks does not necessitate re-architecture of enterprise infrastructure.

Mobility Challenges

Even given the advances above, finding the best solution for effective remote access to CRM can seem a daunting undertaking for the following reasons:

* Most CRM applications were written for a high-speed wired environment, requiring both sufficient network speed and connection stability to function reliably. As a result, many IT managers assume that "CRM mobility" using wireless networks automatically means "expensive and time-consuming upgrades." (Some CRM vendors have reinforced this notion by offering "mobile versions" of their applications that require both extensive changes to IT infrastructure and considerable investment in professional services to deploy.)