Wednesday, May 09, 2012
When properly implemented, customer relationship management (CRM) can prove to be one of the most powerful tools available to a company. It can improve an organization's marketing abilities, quality of customer support and more. CIOs, understanding the technology's potential, are placing greater emphasis on CRM within their organizations. In a recent Gartner survey of more than 2,000 CIOs from 37 different industries, CRM was ranked as the 8th most important technological priority. The year before, it was ranked 18th.
However, simply understanding the importance of CRM is not enough to guarantee results. Proper implementation is critical, and achieving successful implementation requires that companies adopt the proper mindset.
This point was recently highlighted by M Muneer of Financial Chronicle. According to Muneer, many businesses in the past have invested in CRM without truly understanding what the technology is or how to use it, and subsequently failed to see significant returns.
Additionally, Muneer argues that understanding must not be limited to high-ranking executives. To be truly effective, CRM needs to be incorporated throughout an organization, and this can only be achieved if employees at all levels realize how they can gain benefits by using CRM solutions.
