7
Jul
2009
Customer Relationship Management – not just fancy software
by Nitin JainCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) is a very wide domain in itself. I always like to see Customer Relationship as a concept (of which Software is one part) rather than the Software Solution itself.
I am sure I have better relationships with my local Grocer than the fancy stores and supermarkets all over the place. Refer to the KMart, Coles, Fanklin’s, Reliance Fresh, or the Birla Group’s more.. supermarkets, none of them knows me better than my local guy who has been selling me spices, flour, paddy, and my other daily needs for so many years now.
He refers to me by my name whenever I visit, knows all about my family, my background, how much time I have been in that area, and what all have I actively participated in during the time.
He would be eager to inform me of new product launches in the past week, freebies, special promotionary schemes, and what not to help me out. I am not surprised when he passes on the benefits of some special scheme that the shopkeepers are entitled for. He has been doing it for years now, and I have begun to think of it as right of my way.
I doubt if any of the bigwigs will ever come close to that. The best I can even expect, if it ever comes true, is to receive personalized emails or letters with my name and address, informing me of some special scheme they are running in their store, or if some special loyalty offer comes my way.
As they say, “you can only compare comparables!!”. From my point of view, the two are absolutely no match. The point I am trying to make is that there is still a long way to go for the Customer Relationship Management softwares to go. Lots to learn from the simple everyday practices of bartering, buying and selling, that we have been watching since so long.
However, I must add that CRM Sofwares have come a long way from where they started off long back. I shudder at the thought, when I think of the first CRM softwares, when Customer Relationship was introduced as a concept initially. CRM systems then, were more of Sales Force Automation softwares than the ones intended to build a Customer Relationship. We have definitely come a loong way, with an extra ‘o’!
Most prominent among these is Siebel CRM, the undisputed market leader at the moment, owing to many of its qualities, and capabilities. Here, at GeeksBlogging@dotCOM, we will be introducing it to you, and also the many of its advanced capabilities which translate it into such a success. We would definitely like to complement the series with the other successful, and not so successful CRM solutions available, for all of us to compare and provide our Architecting perspective on the same.
Hey, it’s my perspective, I ain’t passing judgements on what’s right, and what’s not!
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