| Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one | | | | |
| of those magnificent concepts | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | in the industry: PeopleSoft, Oracle, SAP, |
| | | | Siebel and relative newcomer |
| that swept the business world in the 1990's | | | | |
| with the promise of forever changing | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Telemation, based on Linux and developed by |
| | | | an old standard, Database Solutions, |
| the way businesses small and large interacted | | | | |
| with their customer bases. In the | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Inc. |
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| short term, however, it proved to be an | | | | |
| unwieldy process that was better in | | | | |
| | | | The other half of the market falls to a |
| | | | variety of other players, although |
| | | | |
| theory than in practice for a variety of | | | | |
| reasons. First among these was that it | | | | |
| | | | Microsoft's new emergence in the CRM market |
| | | | may cause a shift soon. Whether |
| | | | |
| was simply so difficult and expensive to | | | | |
| track and keep the high volume of | | | | |
| | | | Microsoft can capture a share of the market |
| | | | remains to be seen. However, their |
| | | | |
| records needed accurately and constantly | | | | |
| update them. | | | | |
| | | | brand-name familiarity may give them an edge |
| | | | with small businesses considering a |
| | | | |
| In the last several years, however, newer | | | | |
| software systems and advanced | | | | |
| | | | first-time CRM package. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| tracking features have vastly improved CRM | | | | |
| capabilities and the real promise of | | | | PeopleSoft was founded in the mid-1980's by |
| | | | Ken Morris and Dave |
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| | | | |
| CRM is becoming a reality. As the price of | | | | |
| newer, more customizable Internet | | | | Duffield as a client-server based human |
| | | | resources application. In 1998, |
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| solutions have hit the marketplace; | | | | |
| competition has driven the prices down so | | | | PeopleSoft had evolved into a purely Internet |
| | | | based system, PeopleSoft 8. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| that even relatively small businesses are | | | | |
| reaping the benefits of some custom | | | | There's no client software to maintain and it |
| | | | supports over 150 applications. |
| | | | |
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| CRM programs. | | | | |
| | | | PeopleSoft 8 is the brainchild of over 2,000 |
| | | | dedicated developers and $500 |
| | | | |
| In the beginning... | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | million in research and development. |
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| The 1980's saw the emergence of database | | | | |
| marketing, which was simply a catch | | | | |
| | | | PeopleSoft branched out from their original |
| | | | human resources platform in the |
| | | | |
| phrase to define the practice of setting up | | | | |
| customer service groups to speak | | | | |
| | | | 1990's and now supports everything from |
| | | | customer service to supply chain |
| | | | |
| individually to all of a company's customers. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | management. Its user-friendly system required |
| | | | minimal training is relatively |
| | | | |
| In the case of larger, key clients it was a | | | | |
| valuable tool for keeping the | | | | |
| | | | inexpensive to deploy. . |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| lines of communication open and tailoring | | | | |
| service to the clients needs. In the | | | | One of PeopleSoft's major contributions to |
| | | | CRM was their detailed analytic |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| case of smaller clients, however, it tended | | | | |
| to provide repetitive, survey-like | | | | program that identifies and ranks the |
| | | | importance of customers based on numerous |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| information that cluttered databases and | | | | |
| didn't provide much insight. As | | | | criteria, including amount of purchase, cost |
| | | | of supplying them, and frequency of |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| companies began tracking database | | | | |
| information, they realized that the bare | | | | service. |
| bones | | | | |
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| | | | |
| | | | Oracle built a solid base of high-end |
| were all that was needed in most cases: what | | | | customers in the late 1980's, |
| they buy regularly, what they | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | then burst into national attention around |
| spend, what they do. | | | | 1990 when, under Tom Siebel, the |
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| | | | |
| Advances in the 1990's | | | | company aggressively marketed a |
| | | | small-to-medium business CRM solution. |
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| | | | |
| In the 1990's companies began to improve on | | | | |
| Customer Relationship Management | | | | Unfortunately they couldn't follow up |
| | | | themselves on the incredible sales they |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| by making it more of a two-way street. | | | | |
| Instead of simply gathering data for | | | | garnered and ran into a few years of real |
| | | | problems. |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| their own use, they began giving back to | | | | |
| their customers not only in terms of | | | | Oracle landed on its feet after a |
| | | | restructuring and their own refocusing on |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| the obvious goal of improved customer | | | | |
| service, but in incentives, gifts and | | | | customer needs and by the mid-1990's the |
| | | | company was once again a leader in CRM |
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| other perks for customer loyalty. | | | | |
| | | | technologies. They continue to be one of the |
| | | | leaders in the enterprise |
| | | | |
| This was the beginning of the now familiar | | | | |
| frequent flyer programs, bonus | | | | |
| | | | marketplace with the Oracle Customer Data |
| | | | Management System. |
| | | | |
| points on credit cards and a host of other | | | | |
| resources that are based on CRM | | | | |
| | | | Telemation's CRM solution is flexible and |
| | | | user-friendly, with a |
| | | | |
| tracking of customer activity and spending | | | | |
| patterns. CRM was now being used as a | | | | |
| | | | toolkit that makes changing features and |
| | | | settings relatively easy. The system |
| | | | |
| way to increase sales passively as well as | | | | |
| through active improvement of | | | | |
| | | | also provides a quick learning environment |
| | | | that newcomers will appreciate. Its |
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| customer service. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | uniqueness lies in that, although compatible |
| | | | with Windows, it was developed as a |
| True CRM comes of age | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Linux program. Will Linux be the wave of the |
| Real Customer Relationship Management as it's | | | | future? We don't know, but if it |
| thought of today really began | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | is, Telemation's ahead of the game. |
| in earnest in the early years of this | | | | |
| century. As software companies began | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | The last few years... |
| | | | |
| releasing newer, more advanced solutions that | | | | |
| were customizable across | | | | |
| | | | In 2002, Oracle released their Global CRM in |
| | | | 90 Days package that promised |
| | | | |
| industries, it became feasible to really use | | | | |
| the information in a dynamic way. | | | | |
| | | | quick implementation of CRM throughout |
| | | | company offices. Offered with the package |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | was a set fee service for set-up and training |
| | | | for core business needs. . |
| Instead of feeding information into a static | | | | |
| database for future reference, | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Also in 2002 (a stellar year for CRM), SAP |
| | | | America's mySAP began using a |
| CRM became a way to continuously update | | | | |
| understanding of customer needs and | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | "middleware" hub that was capable of |
| | | | connecting SAP systems to externals and |
| behavior. Branching of information, | | | | |
| sub-folders, and custom tailored features | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | front and back office systems for a unified |
| | | | operation that links partners, |
| enabled companies to break down information | | | | |
| into smaller subsets so that they | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | employees, process and technologies in a |
| | | | closed-loop function. |
| could evaluate not only concrete statistics, | | | | |
| but information on the motivation | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Siebel |
| | | | |
| and reactions of customers. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | consistently based its business primarily on |
| | | | enterprise size businesses willing |
| The Internet provided a huge boon to the | | | | |
| development of these huge databases | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | to invest millions in CRM systems, which |
| | | | worked for them to the tune of $2.1 |
| by enabling offsite information storage. | | | | |
| Where before companies had difficulty | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | billion in 2001. However, in 2002 and 2003 |
| | | | revenues slipped as several smaller |
| supporting the enormous amounts of | | | | |
| information, the Internet provided new | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | CRM firms joined the fray as ASP's |
| | | | (Application Service Providers). These |
| possibilities and CRM took off as providers | | | | |
| began moving toward Internet | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | companies, including UpShot, NetSuite and |
| | | | SalesNet, offered businesses CRM-style |
| solutions. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | tracking and data management without the high |
| With the increased fluidity of these programs | | | | cost of traditional CRM start-up. |
| came a less rigid relationship | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | In October of 2003, Siebel launched CRM |
| between sales, customer service and | | | | OnDemand in collaboration with IBM. |
| marketing. CRM enabled the development of | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Their entry into the hosted, monthly CRM |
| new strategies for more cooperative work | | | | solution niche hit the marketplace with |
| between these different divisions | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | gale force. To some of the monthly ASP's it |
| through shared information and understanding, | | | | was a call to arms, to others it was |
| leading to increased customer | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | a sign of Siebel's increasing confusion over |
| satisfaction from order to end product. | | | | brand identity and increasing loss |
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| Today, CRM is still utilized most frequently | | | | of market share. In a stroke of genius, |
| by companies that rely heavily | | | | Siebel acquired UpShot a few months |
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| on two distinct features: customer service or | | | | later to get them started and smooth their |
| technology. The three sectors of | | | | transition into the ASP market. It |
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| business that rely most heavily on CRM -- and | | | | was a successful move. |
| use it to great advantage -- are | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | With Microsoft now in the game, it's too soon |
| financial services, a variety of high tech | | | | to tell |
| corporations and the | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | what the results will be, but it seems likely |
| telecommunications industry. | | | | that they may get some share of |
| | | | |
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| The financial services industry in particular | | | | small businesses that tend to buy based on |
| tracks the level of client | | | | familiarity and usability. ASP's will |
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| satisfaction and what customers are looking | | | | continue to grow in popularity as well, |
| for in terms of changes and | | | | especially with mid-sized businesses, so |
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| personalized features. They also track | | | | companies like NetSuite, SalesNet and |
| changes in investment habits and spending | | | | Siebel's OnDemand will thrive. CRM on the |
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| patterns as the economy shifts. Software | | | | web has come of age! |
| specific to the industry can give | | | | |
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| | | | |
| | | | This article on the "The History of CRM" |
| financial service providers truly impressive | | | | reprinted with |
| feedback in these areas. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | permission. |
| Who's in the CRM game? | | | | |
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| | | | Copyright © 2004-2005 Evaluseek |
| About 50% of the CRM market is currently | | | | Publishing. |
| divided between five major players | | | | |