In Your Face

I do not consider myself a dog person. Having my face licked by a dog is one of the most repulsive thoughts I can imagine. Having a dog inside a home runs counter to my beliefs yet, our family has a blonde golden retriever named Gretchen roaming the house. Somehow, it has worked out. It is much better to have a big dog than a little dog I keep thinking.

What does our golden retriever have to do with CRM? Gretchen is an in-your-face dog. When I arrive home, she is right there with something in her mouth that she wants to give me. It could be a glove, a shoe, an aerosol can, in short, anything lying nearby. Gretchen knows who is coming to the house through sounds and smell by the time they are in the driveway. She even knows if it is a family member. If it is a family member, she trots quietly to the front door wagging her tail. If it is someone she does not recognize, she barks and runs to the front door. I am not sure how. I read somewhere that dogs know us by the smell of our feet.
Gretchen is always by our side inside, outside, it doesn’t matter to her. When we sit down, she is right next to us wanting to be petted.
If CRM were like Gretchen, we would all be more efficient.
I have been impressed with some in-your-face CRM functionality which seems to anticipate a user’s next move and analyze business critical information. I hope this is an indication of the direction of CRM because I believe it would prove to be a huge benefit to users of CRM no matter their role within their company. Here are some examples.
When a user logs into Siebel CRM On Demand, they may be “greeted” by a homepage displaying their calendar and tasks for the day, their most recently created leads assigned to them, personal and company-wide alerts, and an pie chart pipeline quality for the quarter. Similarly, accounts, opportunities, service requests (tickets), leads, and more have homepages that display entity-specific proactive information. The benefit is clear. Information is dynamically promoted to the user rather than running a report, activating a list, or shuffling through records.
There are many other examples including workflows, analytics, qualification assessments, and dynamic layouts. SageCRM uses workflows in opportunities, leads, and cases to assist users through uniform processes. In opportunities, for example, icons visible to the right of the detail display next steps in the sales process that users simply click to advance the opportunity through the stages, automatically update data, send notifications, and more.
Oracle’s analytics are the most comprehensive and powerful management tool I have seen in CRM. Using historical data, Siebel CRM On Demand can make comparative analysis of sales stages, historical forecast accuracy, historical campaign results, and more. Managers are able to view business-critical information in user-friendly formats which allow them to not only see troubling trends but also enables them to determine underlying drivers.
Some CRM’s also update fields and schedule activities based on values entered in related fields. They will apply standard qualification criteria to leads and even have distinct forms based on values selected within the record.
I like the trend – proactive CRM solutions that help users prioritize their time, anticipate their next move, and update records automatically rather than requiring users to search, query, modify, and interpret for themselves - in-your-face CRM. I hope it is a sign of things to come. Businesses will be the beneficiaries of more efficient and effective people.

Keep the End in Mind

Alice: Oh, no, no. I was just wondering if you could help me find my way.
Cheshire Cat: Well that depends on where you want to get to.
Alice: Oh, it really doesn't matter, as long as...
Cheshire Cat: Then it really doesn't matter which way you go.
- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

First and foremost in selecting a CRM solution is to determine where you want to go. In my experience, companies want a CRM solution because they do not like their current situation. But, if you were to ask them why they are looking for CRM, they will rattle off symptoms of underlying issues. Here are some examples of symptoms:
“We don’t know what our salespeople are doing all day.”
“We do not have a way to forecast our sales.”
“We don’t know what is going on with our customers.”
“We have no way of knowing our most important support issues.”
“We cannot seem to track and meet our sales objectives.”
A CRM consultant worth their salt will instantly recognize these as symptoms and help you to identify the real issues. The quickest route to the root causes is to determine the consequences of these symptoms. For example, what is the result of not knowing the sales forecast? It may be that it costs the company potential sales because they may not have the appropriate products in stock when it is ordered.
DO NOT let the vendor dictate the purchase process. But, DO take advantage of the expertise of the vendor and the solutions partners. That is a fine balance.
Some vendors will supply a list of features that is intended to lean the decision in their favor. The list will include features that may be unique to the application but not necessarily needed or superior to competing application features. A list of features is just a list of features. Features do not provide the solution. Remember always that the solution should drive the decision. One caveat – features, architecture, and technological direction is important to adapt to changing needs in the future. Be aware of the direction of the application.
Do take advantage of the expertise of vendors. Some vendors and business partners (value-added resellers) have years of experience creating solution for businesses like yours. Tap into their expertise to help determine the consequences of not doing anything and how the solution will effect your business. Most are eager to get to that point to help you justify their solution. In the meantime, you will have valuable input that will, in most cases, cost you nothing. I would avoid vendors that do not want to address your needs and objectives in some detail. They are more interested in selling that solving. It may be true that some solution is better than nothing at all, but it is worth the extra effort to ensure you are providing the best solution that will yield the best results. A CRM application without being a solution is a glorified, and expensive, rolodex.
The simple task of determining the application based on needs and objectives is lost on many implementations even though it seems so intuitive. Be sure to keep the end in mind as Steve Covey says. Otherwise, as the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland instructs, the application will not matter because if you don’t know where you are going, any direction will do.
In the coming weeks, we will discuss ideas on how to select an application and a solutions partner.

CRM Mobility

“Things are only impossible until they're not.“
-Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

“Scotty, beam me up”
-William Shatner, Star Trek IV

Some credit the fictional Star Trek with technological visions that have become reality. Not long ago, I watched a documentary on PBS or the History channel describing the many inventions inspired by Star Trek including cell phones, automatic doors, ultrasound, and much more. We are still pursuing gadgets demonstrated in the Star Trek series.
Palm devices may not have been inspired by Star Trek, but it is certainly a device that would have sounded like science fiction a few short years ago. In the world of CRM, personal digital assistants (PDA) have long been an accessory, but are merging into part of the designed solutions.
Early Devices
When CRM was merely Contact Management or Personal Information Managers (PIMs), PDA’s were monochrome, disconnected devices you could synchronize (with some difficulty) to avoid maintaining multiple lists of contacts and calendar items. Yet, you really were keeping two lists of data. In addition, the PDA’s had such limited functionality that it was little more than a portable rolodex. What’s more, you had to carry a bulky cell phone with the PDA making everyone a juggler of sorts. To emphasize the challenge of trying to juggle multiple devices, one high-profile pants company’s advertising campaign focused on pockets for electronic devices.
Current Technology
Today, PDA’s have evolved into "smart phones - phones, cameras, and MP3 players, and provide portals into on-demand real-time access to CRM applications. On-demand SageCRM is a prime example of this merging technology. SageCRM can be accessed on a PDA with wireless access by connecting to the designated URL and logging in with a username and password. The application is smart enough to recognize that the user is logging in on a smart phone and automatically adjusts the screens, views, and functionality to the smaller screen. Users are able to perform many of the same functions they use with the full client including sending email, adding notes, scheduling appointments, and much more. SalesLogix has a mobility client that takes it one step farther by incorporating push technology in the Blackberry to create up-to-date data on the Blackberry. So, rather than requiring an Internet connection that may be slow, the information is more quickly accessible. In addition, the SalesLogix client respects the controls from the Blackberry to find and select records and even place a call with the push of a button. Finally, it uses advanced easy-to-use customization tools that allow companies to modify the client on the Blackberry to their needs. Some customizations are so extensive that one would not recognize it as a SalesLogix client.
Future Possibilities
But, I don’t believe we are there yet. The client should be so easy to use that little or no information has to be entered manually. UPS and FedEx wireless tracker come to mind. Almost everyone has signed on the screen with the attached stylus, watched the driver press a handful of buttons. The information is instantly uploaded to a tracking site where it is available to the shipper, the recipient, and the handler.
There is no doubt that CRM and smart phones will someday apply technology that will make their use by a traveling salesperson, a sales manager, or executive as easy. Someday, probably sooner than we expect, our smart phone will document our phone call using voice recognition, record a note, and schedule a follow-up meeting based on our conversation - all without using a stylus or using a tiny keyboard. It may even automatically insert a sales order and send a thank you. Most, if not all, the technology necessary currently exists. Once it becomes cost effective and users are willing to adopt the technology, these solutions will begin to appear and, eventually, be widely used.

CRM as a Portal to Other Databases

Changing Needs
There are many things in today’s culture that are necessities that were unknown not long ago. Some “necessities” include personal computers, air conditioning, MP3 players, color printers, cordless phones, Google, flat screen televisions, automatic sprinkler systems, microwave ovens, Home Depot, Amazon.com, , Costco, Wal-Mart, online banking, and more. We all have different experiences, but once we have experienced some, or all, of these, we wonder what we did without them. Front and Back-Office integration will become the “necessity” for SMB companies in the coming years. But, currently, there are few attractive options. That will also change in the near future as CRM vendors recognize its importance to their strategy.
One of the most intriguing trends I have seen is the request to have CRM be the portal into other databases. This notion has potentially huge benefits – one easy-to-use desktop environment for customer-facing employees providing them with all critical business information. For instance, graphical displays of period-to-date sales by product and salesperson may be derived from back-office systems but displayed in a CRM screen. The ability to log into one application and remain in it, without having to access other reporting tools or data warehouses, is a huge gain for the productivity of customer-facing employees. It reduces company exposure to risk, improves employee efficiency, and reduces necessary training requirements.
The most obvious need for integration is between “Front Office” and “Back Office” systems. Having salespeople access sales-related accounting information while placing orders in the CRM solution, and sharing customer information, and eliminating accounting-side sales order entries is a huge gain for all involved. Nevertheless, this has been more difficult in the SMB market space because of the increased risk of selecting one provider, and the lack of many viable options.
Microsoft
After Microsoft purchased Great Plains, Navision, and Solomon over the years, one would think that integration with MS CRM would soon follow. Yet, Microsoft is not known for their integration of Front and Back Office software. In fact, any integration has been created by third-party consultants or made available using third-party tools such as Scribe.
Sage
Sage does have integration with its MAS accounting applications, SalesLogix, and ACT! However, SageCRM integration is handled by a third-party company. Sage’s accounting integration is limited. It requires synchronization of data in batches in most instances. Although Sage’s solution provides impressive information for most salespeople, there are limitations with flexibility if one wants to venture beyond its designed functions. Sage has received enough feedback to persuade them to completely redesign the integration in house which should be released later this year.
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com claims to be able to integrate its hosted CRM solution with on-premise accounting applications. I do not have any experience with this, but it seems to be less than ideal. I would not want to rely on full-time access to an on-demand solution for integration with my accounting system.
Netsuite
I think that Netsuite has an attractive option because it is a one-database solution for both Front and Back-Office. There is no question of integration between two disparate applications and consequences for customizing fields or processes. Netsuite does have some limitations with customizations. Yet, Netsuite eliminates the problem of integration. The challenge I think Netsuite has is the requirement for organizations to dump both existing CRM and accounting solutions. That is a huge commitment for an organization and a significant risk for the one making the decision. In a small organization, that risk is amplified. Risk tends to be more spread out in a larger organization. In addition, there are relatively few options for large enterprises if they want a true ERP system. In my consultative experience, Netsuite has struggled with performance and customer service issues. From my limited vantage point, if I were in charge of Netsuite, I would reduce, or eliminate, perceived risks by decision makers, and improve Netsuite’s visibility and image. I would also allow on-premise installation. There are still a significant number of companies that simply will not entertain the idea of hosting their most critical data. That aside, Netsuite does have a great story to tell. It is the only major on-demand CRM and Back-Office solution in the SMB market.
Many companies in the SMB market are not aware of the capability and benefits of Front and Back-office integration. It may be a chicken and the egg dilemma – if companies do not demand that integration, CRM vendors will continue to provide half-way solutions. Yet, companies will not view its importance until there are viable options for integrated solutions from CRM vendors.
Conclusion
Even though there are few proven Front and Back-Office solutions available, I believe the benefits are significant and worth pursuing. I believe that as ERP systems push down into the SMB arena, CRM vendors will be forced to upgrade their integration offerings or face serious competitive disadvantages. The SMB market has benefited from ERP technology in the past and this area should follow that trend. Companies in the SMB market will begin to recognize the benefits and it will become a necessary part of their initiatives.

Software as a Service

The future ain't what it used to be.
- Yogi Berra

Forgive me for using Yogi Berra two weeks in a row, but his nonsensical phrases seem to capture the unpredictability of technology. I don’t know anyone who knows where technology will take us. How many of us rushed out to purchase Bill Gates’ The Road Ahead a few years ago hoping to take in a vision of the future? It was obsolete when it reached the stores’ shelves and a tremendous disappointment – for me, if not for others. I will not dare to predict the future. I will simply provide some observations of current trends in CRM technology that, if sustained, will have an effect on the future. Today, we will address software as a service, or SaaS.
Technology Cycle
I don’t know anything in the software industry that has changed the future more than on-demand software. It seemed that we were in a never-ending cycle of software enhancements that required beefier hardware that enabled new operating systems that enabled more software features that required more memory, storage, and faster chips. (When was the last time you bought a new computer so you could take advantage of a new operating system? Vista just has not created the huge shift in technology as prior operating system releases.) Then, along came Mark Benioff and Salesforce.com. At first, it was a novel idea, but just one of seemingly hundreds of non-consequential entrants into the CRM market. I quickly learned that Salesforce.com was a great product or the people at Salesforce.com were great salespeople. Salesforce.com was an admirable competitor to the products I offered. More impressively, it changed the way we sold software.
New Sales Process
Selling CRM is a “you bet your job” decision in most companies. The sales process is complex. The consultant must invest a significant time understanding the business issues driving the interest in CRM then make concrete recommendations and present software demonstrations of the solution. Within the prospect, decisions are made by formal or informal committees affected by budgets, politics, and changing economics. Salesforce.com changed the sales process. No need to demonstrate anything or define requirements, just sign them up for a complimentary trial, help them import some data, get them using it, and make it hard for them to leave. As a competitor to Salesforce.com, if you did not talk with the prospect every day, you lost, because Salesforce.com was talking to them daily.
Needs Addressed
I bring up the sales process for Salesforce.com because it not only changed the buying process, but it also reflected the needs of many small and medium-sized businesses (SMB’s). SMB’s typically do not want to invest in hardware, software, and someone to administer both. In addition, many SMB’s did not have a CRM solution so they could afford to try a novel solution. That trend continues. What is most noticeable now is the trend of large companies to adopt SaaS.
Accounting Standards Driving Change
Large companies stayed away from SaaS because they had invested heavily in software such as Oracle, SAP.

Now that is changing, partly because of an accounting quirk. Companies are starting to get rid of their old software at a time when capital-expenditure budgets are tight. Traditional software and the hardware to run it are considered a capital expenditure. But web-based services are typically sold as a subscription, which means corporate buyers can account for them as a maintenance expense, which falls into a different bucket. (Web-Based Software Services Take Hold by Vauhini Vara, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2007, page B3.)

Concerns about security seem to have diminished. Big software makers such as Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP have announced on-demand initiatives. Even Google has introduced on-demand software. What’s more, on-demand software is much more than just CRM any more.
SaaS Not Perfect
Still, there are some downsides to on-demand software. SaaS is not as customizable as traditional software, and unless CRM, accounting, and other applications are hosted by the same vendor, integration is a significant challenge. Netsuite, SAP, and others are trying to be all things in the SMB space. Even so, consultants and company system administrators used to modifying applications to their liking have less flexibility than with traditional software. Companies are required to adapt their processes to the application rather than customize the application to their processes. Yet, many companies are willing to make that adjustment.
SaaS is great solution for some companies and, with the widespread use and maturation of the applications available, the solutions will only become more useful.

CRM Trends

You can observe a lot just by watching.

- Yogi Berra

Some significant trends in the small- and medium-sized business CRM market include on-demand CRM, browser-based on-premise CRM, CRM as a portal to other applications, mobility applications, and big players moving into the SMB space. This week, I will provide a brief description. In the coming weeks, we will explore them in more detail.
On-Demand
While on-demand (or hosted) CRM is not new, it continues to gain momentum. And, unless you have lived under a rock, you or someone you know, is using Salesforce.com. It has become the “safe” choice for companies because it is so widely used and accepted. Other hosted solutions include SageCRM.com, Entellium, Netsuite, and RightNow Technologies. As we speak, Microsoft is preparing to deliver an on-demand solution – code named “Titan”, in the Fall of 2007. The point is that hosted solutions are here to stay after a shaky start a few years ago. The market seems to have weeded out the pretenders leaving well-designed and stable applications.
One of the most attractive benefits of the hosted solution is the lack of installed software. Users have real-time access to their data from any machine anywhere they are able to access the Internet. I am fond of hosted applications because it allows me to build customizations and access customer systems very easily. I don’t have to use Terminal Services or use Webex. In addition, I don’t have to plan rollouts with complicated software installations.
On-Premise On-Demand CRM
On-premise on-demand CRM differs from on-demand hosted CRM because the application is installed, and hosted, by the customer on a web-accessible server. Many companies prefer this arrangement because it does not require a never-ending payout, is more amenable to back-office integration, provides more control over their data, and does not require installation on users’ machines. Increasingly, on-demand SaaS companies are offering this option. Oracle, and Sage to name two.
CRM as a Portal to Other Databases
Because CRM can have a flexible architecture and is the most logical choice for customer-facing employees, many companies are pushing data from back-end and web solutions to the CRM solution. The ideal is to provide each user with one primary application to perform their duties. Providing them accounting information about a customer, or giving them real-time sales results in graphical format – all in their CRM application without requiring them to open up an accounting application – is a tremendous benefit. IT also likes to idea of locking down unnecessary user access to the accounting application.
Mobility
One exciting development is the improvement of CRM available on Windows Mobile, and Blackberry phones. SageCRM.com and SageCRM ships ready to access on web-accessible PDA’s using views adapted to the smaller screen size. SalesLogix has a mobile client that exploits Blackberry “push” technology to facilitate the dialing of phone calls and documenting the results. New solutions have replaced the out-dated, clugey solutions of even a few months ago.
New Players
SAP, Siebel (Oracle), and Microsoft seem to be gaining momentum in the SMB market. Salesforce.com, the 500-pound gorilla in the SMB market, was recently down-graded on Wall Street, which expects fierce competition from new on-demand offerings by SAP and Oracle. What’s more is that Salesforce.com lacks the diversity of offerings that SAP and Oracle possess.
Future
We are sure to see significant changes in the near future. In the coming weeks, we will focus on these trends and speculate where the market is headed.

The New Competitive Advantage

“Companies used to focus on making new, better, or cheaper products and services….Now the game is to create wonderful and emotional experiences for consumers around whatever is being sold. It’s the experience that counts, not the product.” (Business Week, December 19, 2005)

“Managers might not want competition in their industry to become more Schumpeterian*, but they don’t have a choice. Companies are using IT to increase the speed of process innovation and replication. These companies drive the competitive dynamics of their industries, rather than reacting to them, leaving their rivals with a stark choice: Adopt the Schumpeterian ethos of creative destruction, or watch from the sidelines as others increasingly gain market share and value.” (“Dog Eat Dog”, by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2007.)

External Forces
Today’s business environment is extremely competitive. In my last posting, we discussed symptoms of a company that needs CRM from inside the organization. This posting addresses some of the external pressures to use CRM caused by the competitive business environment. CRM is not a “nice to have”. CRM has become a competitive advantage. And, if your competitor has a CRM solution, and you lag behind, you are at a competitive disadvantage. Also, customers expect more from you.
I become acquainted with companies on a daily basis that are doing nothing to improve. They claim that what they are doing has worked for years. Why should they change now? Simple. It costs them a significant amount of money, and if the cost is high enough, it may cost them their business. Most of these costs are difficult to detect without the trained eye.
Dark Ages
Not long ago, I visited with a trophy company with a storage problem. The problem was not in the storing of trophies but in the storage of paper forms. Throughout the back rooms and offices, dozens of file cabinets covered every available wall. Every order required a paper to be filed. And, since many of their orders are repeat orders, they have to maintain all order forms. To further complicate the matter, they have multiple stores. If the customer request is not found at one location, they have to call another location to have that branch look through their filing cabinets. The consequence - they had to hire one person full time at each branch location just to manage the file cabinets when a CRM, or even a digital document system would save them the cost of additional personnel, free up valuable space, and improve customer response. The owner’s response to digitizing their records and maintaining a database of customers was met with a stubborn “if it has anything to do with computers, we are not interested”. They will find it increasingly difficult to provide their customers’ increasing demand for better service with yesteryear’s methods.
Processes as the New Competitive Advantage
Andrew McAfee, of the Harvard Business School, and Erik Brynjolfsson, of the MIT Sloan School of Management, have conducted studies that show that one of the fastest ways to gain a competitive advantage is by innovating processes and leveraging technology to replicate it.
What we have observed in industry after industry is the emergence of widespread process innovation and replication that is analogous to the product innovation and replication that takes place in high tech. Just as Google, Inc. can take an improved search algorithm and make it immediately available via the Web, or Apple Inc. can quickly distribute an updated version of iTunes, companies in other industries can invent a new way of doing business, embed it in internal software, and deploy it as widely as necessary across locations, divisions and departments to gain an advantage. (“Dog Eat Dog”, by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson, Wall Street Journal, April 28, 2007.)
Workflows in CRM
Workflows are an exciting function within some CRM solutions that standardize essential processes and can provide a means for those processes. A workflow can prompt a telemarketer through the lead qualification process, assign the lead to the appropriate salesperson, and schedule an appointment or phone call for the sales call – all with as few as three mouse clicks. The following is an example of a Lead workflow from SageCRM.

Workflows also automate many actions as well. With a simple mouse click, a workflow can perform one or more of the following actions:

• Send an email

• Update a field

• Schedule a task

• Create an Opportunity

• Create a Case

• Create a Solution

• Create an Outbound Call List

• Export a Group to a File

• Show a Notification on the Screen

Workflows within CRM are one important way companies can create and replicate processes to obtain that elusive competitive advantage. McAfee and Brynjolfsson explain that “…two technologies gave [companies] the potential to rapidly deploy changes in the way they perform tasks. First, the widespread adoption of Internet-based technologies made IT-enabled tasks accessible from any desktop inside or outside an organization. Second, and perhaps more important, the advent of enterprise-software applications sold by companies such as SAP AG and Oracle Corp. allowed companies to electronically unite diverse departments, such as manufacturing and accounting.”
I think we can include middle market CRM with and without back-office integration meeting these descriptions. Clearly, CRM applied properly can improve your competitive position.

*Note: Schumpeterian is the philosophy that competition is constant, fierce and characterized only by temporary advantage. The philosophy originates from Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter in 1942.