Adapting Marketing to the New Economy
Companies in 21st century have to adapt to ever changing environment. At present, companies represent a curious mix of old as well as the new economy. A great deal of research has already been done with respect to the old economy, but for the new economy, companies are learning it rather hard way. Companies have […]
Efficient Consumer Response Initiatives in 1990s
When one refers to International Retail business, the comparison is mainly referring to the European and US markets. ECR or Efficient Consumer Response initiatives in the 1990s changed the face of the International Retailing business in Europe as well as US. The studies covering the entire supply chain from suppliers to the end consumer were […]
Sales Operation
Sales Operation refers to various activities which help in the timely achievement of sales targets for the successful functioning of an organization. Sales Operation includes various strategies and techniques employed by an individual to achieve sales goals within the stipulated time frame. Why Sales Operation? Sales Operation activities help the sales professionals to meet the […]
Steps in Preparing Personal SWOT Analysis
What to do when listing Strengths and Weaknesses A personal SWOT Analysis is needed to understand where one stands with respect to one’s career and life path. A personal SWOT Analysis is usually the first step towards recognizing one’s position in attempting to deal with life’s challenges and career prospects. First, one should never overestimate […]
Integrated Marketing Communication Tools
Integrated Marketing Communication tools refer to integrating various marketing tools such as advertising, online marketing, public relation activities, direct marketing, sales campaigns to promote brands so that similar message reaches a wider audience. Products and services are promoted by effectively integrating various brand communication tools. To implement integrated marketing communication, it is essential for the […]
Irrespective of whether you are in the commercial sector or the not-for-profit sector you need to effectively manage your customers or constituents. In the matter of automation of this function there is hardly anything to match the dominance of Salesforce. The company, operating online through its website salesforce.com is pretty much the industry leader due to its simplicity of use and the configuration tools that are really simple.
Realizing the huge potential savings in time and effort of CRM implementation, more and more organizations are opting to implement Salesforce at the earliest. However, in the rush to save time through quick implementation there is a tendency to commit strategic mistakes that can hinder the successful implementation of the CRM package.
Since Salesforce has acquired close to legendary status for its simplicity of use, there are many organizations that try to just log into the website and try implementing it without paying attention to the need of planning the many elements that are required for successful implementation. Any business intending to implement a CRM package should first decide what information should reside in the system and how should it be structured besides addressing the question of who should have permission to access the information. Unless these basic issues are thought about intensively and decided it is likely that the CRM implementation may go haywire.
It is important for businesses intending to implement Salesforce to compile a document that basically describes what is needed and how the entire information fits the business requirement. The mapping process of Salesforce continuous integration should be done so that the business is able to chalk out its future growth path.
A mistake that businesses often make is to sweep all the data they encounter into the Salesforce package even if they cannot quite figure out whether they have any requirement for it. Unplanned data acquisition only bloats the package making it difficult for managers to make it more consistent and reliable. The reporting requirement should in fact be the building block for all data input. What it really means that if a report is to be generated then the package should contain all the data that is pertinent.
A good way for planning is to figure out what sort of reports the management would want and then work backwards to make sure that these reports can be generated with the data provided. Keeping this in mind is a good way of streamlining the CRM architecture and also to train end-users. Businesses also need to keep in mind the nature of the data required to ensure that they are in a position to nurture and grow relationships with customers.
Many organizations make the mistake of designing the package architecture with only the inputs of the top management and then instructing the end-users on how to use it. Many glitches are revealed at this juncture that could entail an expensive and time-consuming system redesign. To prevent this from happening businesses should take them into confidence at an early stage and ask them for the inputs on making an effective organization. Not only will businesses be able to operate more effectively but will also have inculcated a spirit of cooperation and teamwork into its employees.
Make sure that the message goes out that the CRM package is being implemented to make the lives of the end-users easier and more productive and not to feed the unseen top-management fancy reports and numbers nobody really cares about. The creation of a win-win situation for all participants will also ensure that the CRM package has the necessary support of all.
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