A Fast Growing Concept in Corporate World

Concept

Customer Relationship Management

(CRM) is fast emerging as a critical part of an enterprise's competitive strategy. Over the years, CRM has transformed itself from being a mere web-based contact management and information tool, into a customer-oriented solution that enhances customer experience and automates processes.

There has been a rapid change in the CRM industry with the emergence of the mobile phone and the Internet as new tools with which to communicate, share, and use information. Over time, CRM solutions have evolved to become more advanced, thus enabling better information flow between different divisions and leading to increased customer value and satisfaction

The CRM Industry is expected to grow consistently in the coming years with analysts expecting the industry to be worth US$ 43.3 billion by the year 2009. The increase in the complexity of business processes, the increase in product range, the diverse distribution channels, and the increasing worldwide customer base have all contributed to the need for advanced CRM solutions from which organizations can benefit.

In addition to assessing the CRM Industry in terms of its growth and the parameters affecting them, this report focuses on the concept of Mobile CRM. Mobile CRM is an extension of the traditional CRM wherein a mobile remote access or wireless component application has been incorporated into the standard CRM system.

Implementing Mobile CRM

Implementing Mobile CRM offers faster and more accurate information flow to and among the sales force of an organization. Mobile CRM itself offers a competitive advantage to organizations that want to differentiate themselves from their competitors. The emergence of enhanced applications and new service model offerings from vendors along with an increase in the accessibility of high-speed wireless technology and mobile devices is prompting organizations to put mobility in the forefront of their CRM initiatives. This report also covers the benefits that Mobile CRM offers to organizations, the factors contributing to its growth, and some likely challenges to it.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) involves the various aspects of interaction “ sales or service related “ that a company has with its customer. It includes all methodologies, strategies, and software that help an enterprise organize and manage customer relationships. It enables organizations to maximize the value of every customer interaction and leads to superior corporate performance. The increased global competition has made it necessary for companies to differentiate their products from those of competitors. Many companies have therefore moved away from a product-centric view of their business to a customer-centric one. They have realized that building relationships with customers is vital to profitability.

They have also realized that it takes more effort and cost to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one.

The advances in information and communications technology have enabled enterprises to put all their customer information into a single system and provided them with the ability to effectively manage complex information.

Benefits of Mobile CRM

Some of the main benefits of implementing Mobile CRM are:

* It enables faster and prompter response to customer enquiries.

* It increases business efficiency through automation.

* It provides better understanding of customers.

* It helps to identify the most profitable customers.

* It helps in utilizing customer feedback, which results in improved products and services.

As organizations these days have multiple lines of businesses and overlapping customer segments, it is crucial that their customers find it easy to do business with them. CRM focuses on automating processes, gathering and processing information, and self-service.