CRM Tracking

[NOOB]

Hi All,

I've been assigned the responsibility of identifying / evaluating CRM solutions for tracking customer contacts. I'm looking for a solution that will allow me to track, trend, and categorize customer call information across multiple customers. I'm also looking for for a solution that is functional with CTI technology (being able to populate the employee's screen with the caller's information based on information entered from the switch and IVR.

My budget for the product hasn't been set, as we're actually taking the best approach (looking for the best solution for the money).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

NOOB

[mikael]

Noob,

How big is your contact center going to be? Serving how many customers?

All of the CRM systems that I'm aware of in the market will do the things that you have described as your needs. With the larger ones, you can make any of them do any thing or look like any of the others -- it all is a function of how much money do you want to spend?

I'd recommend that you begin by identifying the pieces of information that you are going to want to have about the customer and the interactions that will enable your analysis efforts. Do the same thing in terms of your case resolution process. What do you need to know in order to produce the result you want?

With that in hand, build a list of the functions that you want the system to be able to do, both in terms of case resolution and report generation / data management. Prioritize that list, from "must have" through to "nice if I can get it."

Pick no more than 6-8 vendors, and send them the RFP you've developed. Select 4 from the responses for your short list, and keep at least 3 of them in the running until you make the final decision. Be aware that their sales teams are going to drive you batty as they compete with the others and try to show off for you.

Time your demo, site-visit and due diligence process so that the final decision and signing of the contract can occur in the last two weeks of a quarter. You'll find the sales teams most cooperative during that time frame -- but do not let them "buy" your business by giving you too much of a discount. That's a recipe for disaster.

That's a nutshell description of the overall process. I typically recommend that you get a consultant to help you with this since it doesn't make a lot of sense for you to spend substantial amounts of time in learning how to do something that you'll only do once or twice in your career. Plus, if you get a good consultant, he/she can keep those eager beaver sales people out of your hair. (smile)

[ctaylor]

Noob,
Mikael has provided lots of great advice that you will want to use as you progress through this process. I would like to add a few other areas of consideration;
1- Visit the reference sites and ask the vendors to provide refernce sites within your industry or that has similar functional requirements to yours. Speak with the stakeholders at these organizations, not just the Call Center Manager, ask to speak with the IT folks and some agents. The perceived ease of installation and/or use will vary between these individuals.
2- Be very specific in terms of 'consulting' or customization required. This is usually the area that delivers the biggest surprize.
3-Make sure you vet your processes and procedures before implementing CRM. Automating a bad process will not fix the problem. I typically recommend a full operational and process audit as a prerequisite for CRM implementation. The costs to correct a bad process is much lower before you implement than after. Remember good technology will not fix a bad process.
4-Ask where the vendors are at in their development cycles. Knowing when the next release will come will help you in assessing the upgrade timetable that will impact you.
5-Fees, Maintanence fees are often a better place to negotiate than the licenses as they represent a recurring cost. Training, ask about what specific training is provided the better trained your staff is the better you can utilize this tool. Many vendors will have more flexibility on training and maintanence costs than on licenses so this may be areas where you can get added value.

I hope that this helps. Please contact me directly if you have any questions regarding this at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com

Colin

[NOOB]

Thanks for the direction Mikael and Ctaylor....

Does anyone have a particular system or vendor(s) that they would recommend starting with?

[NOOB]

Sorry to repeat,

but is anyone willing to share what type of CRM tool they're using and the pro's and con's of the system?

[mikael]

"but is anyone willing to share what type of CRM tool they're using and the pro's and con's of the system?"

Let's approach this from a different angle. Suppose I walk in and say "I need to buy a vehicle. Will you tell me which one I should buy?" People ask: "What do you want the vehicle to do? How big of a load will you want to carry? How many people?" I reply: "Just tell me which one you think I should buy?" I probably wouldn't receive any suggestions for the simple reason that it would be irresponsible for anyone to offer any specific recommendations since no one has any idea of the requirements.

If you visit - www.realmarket.com/suppliers.html - you will find a list of suppliers of CRM systems. There are probably other sources of such lists as well, but that one was the first to come to mind. Pick one from the list, and start researching it via its web site. Then pick another and do the same. When you have found some that you think look good, then come back here and ask:

"Is anyone using XYZ system? If so, how do you like it?"

[NOOB]

Fair enough...

Has anyone used the following:

Netsuite

Frontrange's "Heat"

SalesForce

If so, what are your thoughts?

[VADIR]

We actually used SalesForce (trial program) and it had a lot of nice features, we had a few concerns with ease of functionality and the fact it was a hosted solution was our biggest concern. But it's worth checking out. We also looked at a couple of other smaller, off the shelf, systems that just didn't have the customization / system integration we needed.

Haven't used or seen any of the others you've listed, so I can't add a lot of value there. We're currently using a system we developed in-house, which serves our needs nicely. If you have the resources, I'd highly recommend that option. I've had previous success with SAGE, Magic Help Desk, Remedy, and eGain. Remedy and eGain were (for me) more robust and customizable.

For what it's worth, it's not totally out-of-line to ask for suggestions as you did and it's not "irresponsible" for others to provide suggestions based on said questions. It gets you started based on the experiences of others. You'll quickly discover after a bit of research if something suggested is compatible with your needs. It also serves as a quick reference for others that might be in your position and stumble on this site. That's why this forum is here, checkout the quote from the main page - "The CallCenterOps Forum allows you to seek the advice of other knowledgeable call center professionals. Post your call center related question and contribute your opinion to others seeking advice."

You have to be careful though, there is the potential for "sales persons" to troll here for professional gain rather than to provide you with real assistance. Always consider that when listening to the advice of others.

[ctaylor]

Noob,
For what its worth I have had experience with Seibel, Peoplesoft, Heat, Remedy and SalesForce.

I am completely vendor agnostic and am not affiliated in any way with any vendor. having said this I preffered peoplesoft as it was the most flexible offering and was extremely robust. I have found that you often do get what you pay for and the 'bigger' systems tend to be better.

I was very happy with Seibel and Remedy, but didn't think SalesForce was in the same league.

If I can be of further assistance contact me via email at ctaylor@thetaylorreachgroup.com

Colin

[mikael]

Colin,

Like you, I'm also completely vendor-neutral; as consultants, our task is to make sure that the client asks all of the right questions and does their homework properly before making their selection.

I worked with a couple of clients who selected Salesforce for their support groups, and they did very well with it. For a smaller group that wants to get something up and going relatively quickly, SF works fine both in terms of functionality and price. The company is sound, and very responsive to its customers' needs.

I wouldn't stack SF up against a Peoplesoft, Clarify or Siebel, of course, just as I wouldn't try to race a Mack Truck against a Ferrari, or expect the Ferrari to carry as much as the Mack can handle. As both yours and my initial advisory posts clearly showed, there are some very important steps that need to be taken before one starts kicking the tires... In order to responsibly choose a race car, it helps to have a full knowledge of the curves and straight-aways of the racetrack first.

[kala]

noob - any luck on finding a crm tracking tool. I am tasked with the same. Looks like we may have to develop something in house unfortunately - we already have an order tracking system - now we need a call tracking/e-mail tracking tool to integrate and have call history avail on screen. Please let me know if you have had any luck - internet search really has not been much help.