One step at a time

There are many ways of approaching a customer relationship management (CRM) programme. Broadly, the steps required to achieve an integrated and working customer management plan can be defined as scoping, research, business rationale, architecture, implementation and support.

An implementation plan must be agreed, and responsibilities and milestones defined for each component of the solution.

The approach may differ depending on the CRM supplier, but the essential steps remain the same. The following phases in a CRM methodology represent the approach of one CRM vendor.

Before implementing a CM programme, it is necessary to identify, quantify and prioritise the customer management (CM) objectives. Objectives can include increasing customer retention, identifying profitable customers, improving operating efficiencies or building customer knowledge. It is vital to identify how CM will deliver sustainable business value.

The views of staff and customers should be included in a CM strategy. The customer`s perspective is an essential part of CM to ensure that the programme meets their current and future needs. This phase is the one most often missing from CM programmes. If customer needs are not understood, it is likely that the programme will not achieve the stated objectives.

Market analysis provides a comprehensive market map including industry and competitor activity. The purpose is to understand what other people are doing, what has worked, and failed, and why.

It`s vital to analyse the information that already exists within the organisation, to gather as complete a picture as possible on the customer base. The ideal is to be able to look at individual customers and know their history and profitability. As this is often not viable, sampling techniques to produce customer segments is often an effective route. The key factor at this stage is the quality and coverage of customer data and the ability to bring information from different sources together for analysis.

Customer research, market research and data analysis are brought together to provide the CM rationale. All existing objectives can now be validated or amended based on a comprehensive analysis of the internal and external environment. Measurable CM objectives are understood and agreed once the business case is completed. The business case highlights the investment and projected returns based on the agreed objectives and activities.

The next phase is to define the business requirements - including all parts of the organisation that will be involved. The business requirements will include functionality required by different members of staff, management information requirements, interfaces within the organisation and skills required to fulfil the stated functionality.

The required systems architecture needs to be generated by mapping existing technologies and integration onto a proven CM architecture. Gaps in the existing architecture can then be identified and recommendations made regarding the products and skills required to provide an integrated and robust architecture.

CM solutions consist of process, technology and people. Change management is necessary to ensure that enhanced processes, culture and training are included in the overall solution. Without change management there is a risk that new systems will be implemented which don`t match the processes and will not be accepted and used by staff.

An implementation plan must be agreed, and responsibilities and milestones defined for each component of the solution. Implementation is often phased, based on prioritised requirements and the accepted rate of change within the organisation. Implementation consists of a number of strands including a review of the objectives and business case, process, integration, people, software, hardware and testing.

It`s common to have priorities within the implementation plan. Priorities may be based on urgent needs within the business, the need to demonstrate business value or the ability of the programme team to implement. Quick wins can also be used to demonstrate benefit to staff and customers as part of the change management process. Quick wins need to be defined and easily measurable to create momentum.

CM solutions require multiple technologies and skills. It`s essential that the solution can be supported on an ongoing basis. The support requirements need to be identified and a support solution put in place to ensure that the required service levels can be met. Prior to selecting technical components, it`s important to have discussed and agreed how the components will be supported on an ongoing basis.

CM is a rapidly changing environment influenced by customer expectations, competitor activity and technical advancements. Based on these factors it is essential that the CM solution is continually developed to maximise the business benefits. The key is to identify improvements and calculate the associated commercial benefits.

The implementation of a CRM solution requires comprehensive programme management. The objective is to ensure that the various components of the overall solution are provided as part of an integrated solution that delivers commercial benefit to the client.

While this methodology represents one approach to CRM, the phases detailed here are all vital to the establishment of a successful and commercially beneficial customer management programme.