What Is CRM NOW?

The very definition of the term “customer relationship management” is evolving and expanding, embracing elements of SFA (sales force automation), marketing automation, ERP (enterprise resource planning) and other critical business functions. This dynamic has significant implications for every type of organization, from small business to large enterprise. Fortunately, Focus Experts and other Focus online community contributors bring relevant experience and insights to bear on this important, often confusing dynamic.

The continuing evolution of the IT-empowered solutions that support CRM, ERP, SFA and numerous other functions has produced both significant business benefits and significant confusion among some business and technology decision-makers. Sales director and Focus community member Charlie Ellis perhaps said it best in a question he posted in the Focus Sales Group on Oct. 26. “What is the difference between CRM vs. SFA? It seems like CRM is so broadly used that I don’t truly understand if SFA is a component of CRM or if it’s a standalone solution,” Mr. Ellis wrote.

Other Focus community contributors offered equally cogent responses to Mr. Ellis’ question. “CRM, broadly speaking, covers all front office functions – sales, service and marketing – across business strategy, architecture, and technology,” wrote contributor Sean Leo Ryan. “Many people specialize in one aspect or another, strategy or technology [for example], and others generalize across the spectrum with [a] focus [on specific] industries or other specializations. CRM specializations are differently applied for each industry sector as each client has different customer management processes, technical complexities, and business issues to solve.”

Mr. Ryan added that “CRM as a discipline requires a deep understanding of the client's customer business processes, business needs, and internal/external market drivers. Hence the necessary, required cross-over between business and technology.

Unlike traditional back-office systems, to be successful, CRM practitioners require this understanding and skills to be effective for their clients. Looking at it solely as a technology is the historical recipe for failure. In these cases, sales teams often went back to a ‘Rolodex’ and corporate HQ were always held to the fire on lack of field usage.”

So, as sales director and Focus community contributor Tim Weaver asked the Focus Sales Group on Oct. 20, “Is a CRM solution more than just the software?” And as Focus Expert and consultant Simon Gantley sagaciously replied, “The answer is all the above and more. CRM is such a loose term that it can mean many things and some deployments have almost nothing in common. The key to success is to figure out the most critical things that you [and your business] want [and need] in advance, write up a detailed spec and make sure you choose a system that can not only meets [those wants and needs], but can easily be tailored based on experience and future needs.”

In fact, this expanded view of CRM is increasingly overlapping with views, strategies and solutions historically focused on another critical business area, ERP. This prompted Mr. Ellis to ask yet another relevant question of the Focus Sales Group. “CRM, ERP – what’s the difference? If I buy an ERP system, do I have to purchase a separate CRM system? [Or is CRM] a module that can be included in an ERP system?”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer is, “It depends.” Or as Focus Expert Mr. Gantley replied, “These terms are becoming blurred so the answer depends upon which ERP or CRM system you buy. There are a lot of CRM systems that include a lot of ERP functionality,” Mr. Gantley said. He cited as examples offerings from NetSuite, EnterpriseWizard and Siebel, now part of Oracle. There are also ERP systems with CRM modules, such as those offered by SAP, Mr. Gantley added.

Whether yours is a small business or a large enterprise, Focus believes that it is critical to realize that the most useful definition of “CRM” has evolved far beyond any particular technology or combination of functions. It’s in fact the goal of every savvy business decision-maker, at every type and size of business. The goal is to manage each and every customer (and partner and prospect) relationship in ways that delight that person – and translate into higher sales and revenues and more referrals. These should be the drivers behind every IT and business initiative at your company, whether that initiative is focused upon CRM, ERP, SFA or some other specific function or solution.

Or, as Focus community contributor Mike Driver put it, “Let’s not get bogged down with 3-letter acronyms. CRM and SFA can mean all sorts of things to all sorts of people. We ‘in the know’ can have interesting intellectual discussions about it, but most directors are only interested in using the right application to drive their business to meet their particular objectives. Our job is to establish what they are trying to do and then enable them to do it! This [IT] industry has had so many failures because companies buy acronyms rather than the correct piece of kit and relevant business consultancy to make it work.”

Other Relevant Focus Research:

• Community Research: How to Pick the Right CRM, Helpdesk or BPM Vendor (by Focus Expert and consultant Simon Gantley)
• Top 10 Steps to a Successful CRM Implementation
• Checklist: 10 Signs You Need an SFA Solution 
• Checklist: 10 CRM Features to Help Build Customer Loyalty