CRM and e-CRM tools

[gajarvis]

Is there anyone online with an insight into the latest trends of the above? I am writing a chapter of the IDM's Marketing Guide on this subject, and would appreciate some input from the forum's members. The most detailed research I conducted on CRM was in 2002, regarding the financial sector. It would be interesting to find out how things have changed since then.

[Cornish Steve]

Forgive me for asking this, but what does CRM stand for? I know of Course Related Materials and Customer Relationship Management. Is either of these correct?

[gajarvis]

It is the latter.


Forgive me for asking this, but what does CRM stand for? I know of Course Related Materials and Customer Relationship Management. Is either of these correct?

[Richard Conyard]

I don't see the relevancy of the question to CRM?

Through lightweight CRM packages the uptake and market for CRM has broadened considerably. Packages such as Business Contact Manager from Microsoft (free with Office Professional), offer an inexpensive and not unduly taxing route for CRM use even for small companies.

In-house we do not actively use CRM for marketing which seems to be the given perception, rather we use it for as it says on the tin - Client Relationship Management. Each phone call, e-mail and task is logged with minimal overhead allowing us to see each and every stage of our relationship with the client so we can manage our time and resources more effectively. Within a week common trends started to show themselves in the analysis of the CRM logs and I would say our admin team probably have managed to gain an extra hour per day per head through changed working habits and pin pointing "problem" clients.

[gajarvis]

The relevance of the poll question is due to most companies focusing on existing customers to cross-sell and up-sell to, and this is quite often at the expense of generating new business opportunities. There are limits to one's ability sell products to an existing customer-base. My view is that CRM is more about relationships than technology, and the customer still wants to be King. CRM turns the usual norms of marketing upside down: i.e. we are tying to manage them, but they don't want to be managed.


I don't see the relevancy of the question to CRM?

Through lightweight CRM packages the uptake and market for CRM has broadened considerably. Packages such as Business Contact Manager from Microsoft (free with Office Professional), offer an inexpensive and not unduly taxing route for CRM use even for small companies.

In-house we do not actively use CRM for marketing which seems to be the given perception, rather we use it for as it says on the tin - Client Relationship Management. Each phone call, e-mail and task is logged with minimal overhead allowing us to see each and every stage of our relationship with the client so we can manage our time and resources more effectively. Within a week common trends started to show themselves in the analysis of the CRM logs and I would say our admin team probably have managed to gain an extra hour per day per head through changed working habits and pin pointing "problem" clients.