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Crm technologies in marketing. Do I need marketing automation: breaking it down by industry

CRM marketing is a way of processing information about the customer base. You collect data, segment your audience and build a separate interaction scenario with the company for each segment.

Let's figure out why and for what business CRM marketing is worth attention, and how to apply it.

What is CRM marketing

Synonyms - “omnichannel marketing”, “eCRM”, “relationship marketing”, “1-2-1 marketing”, etc.

The basis of this strategy is unique knowledge about leads and current clients. You collect and process them in a CRM system, then manually segment and create personalized offers to tailor products to the explicit and implicit needs of a specific user.

Scenarios can be implemented manually (a manager who calls clients using a prepared script) or automatically. It will require additional software. The choice depends on which channels you interact with your audience through: email, SMS newsletters or social network messengers.

After synchronization with the CRM system, information from it enters these services, and mailings are carried out automatically. Your task is to set everything up correctly.

The ultimate goal is to motivate specific targeted actions: purchase, increase in order, etc. This role is played by a motivating mechanism - bonus tools in the form of discounts, coupons, bonus points. As an option, you can offer bonuses and discounts through a savings system.

This approach to lead generation and nurturing improves lead quality and increases the client's sales and/or LTV.

Types of CRM Marketing

There are 2 main types - activation and informational CRM activities.

Activation ones are material incentives to perform a target action. For example, discounts and bonuses. They are used in response to new requests from leads to convert them to customer status.

All this involves costs. However, you provide different value than your competitors and thus avoid price competition.

Informational includes upselling and repeat sales (for example, extension of the tariff validity period) to ready customers. To do this you:

Disseminate information about new products;
You receive feedback and close customer objections. This is a chance to improve your attitude towards the product and the company, as well as increase emotional loyalty;
Tell us how to use the product. This is generally useful if you have a SaaS service. Reason: often clients simply do not have time to master the program or all its capabilities and refuse to renew their subscription.

The main auxiliary tools are email and SMS mailings, push notifications, as well as communities on social networks as an additional channel of communication with the audience.

How CRM Marketing Works

CRM marketing is focused on different marketing goals: engagement, sales, information. Which one depends on the behavioral characteristics of a particular client and his value to the company.

Here are the steps to achieve them:

1) Collection of data about users from incoming calls or completed application forms on the website. You need to synchronize them with the CRM system so that all customer data immediately goes there.

2) Segmentation according to specified parameters (data that you collected at the first stage). For example, type of business or client.

At YAGLA we use the following classification of target audience: entrepreneurs, freelancers, full-time marketers.

3) Development of scenarios for segments and different types of actions. Here you manually define the number and content of messages for each segment.

4) Running scripts. To do this, you need synchronization with third-party software - platforms for email, SMS mailings, notifications through social network messengers. There are also special services that allow you to send messages through several channels at once. For example, CarrotQuest.

Examples of communications

#1: How to connect with a client at a time when he is most in the mood for it

The amoCRM service has a store of integrations from partners that expand the functionality of the CRM system. Among them is B2B Family.

B2B Family works like this: the manager receives a notification the moment the client opens a presentation in the mail. This is when it is best to call this client and talk with him about the letter.

No. 2: how to prevent the client from ignoring the request

In the same case, we set up automatic sending of SMS messages with the text:

“Good afternoon, (NAME)! A presentation of the LensVens franchise has been sent to your email (E-MAIL). From the presentation you will learn how to achieve an income of 150,000 rubles/month in just a month.”

This way we managed to avoid low open rates of emails.

No. 3: how to process applications from quiz landing pages

The visitor is asked to answer 5 questions about choosing a kitchen:

When he sends an application with answers, he receives in return 4 suitable offers from manufacturers, compares them by price and conditions and chooses the best.

For you, this automates the processing of applications, and for the user it makes interaction with the site as convenient as possible. After each submission of the form, responses are sent by email in the following form:

This is what a new request entry in the CRM system looks like:

An important advantage of the approach: when a manager calls a client, he does not need to ask a second time for information that the client has already left during previous contacts with the company. She is all in front of his eyes in the system. Therefore, you can go straight to the sales proposal.

Conditions and limitations of CRM marketing

CRM marketing is right for you if:

The number of clients excludes personal interaction with managers. As a rule, this happens in B2C business;
The customer's value (the amount of purchases over a certain period) justifies the costs of communication. This is usually true for expensive products (for example, cars) or with a high share of monthly expenses (FMCG products);
It is possible to collect information. Even if there is no direct contact with customers, you can attract an audience to the social network community. This is especially effective for a young, socially active audience.

Limitations of CRM marketing:

The need to update the customer database;
Costs of maintaining a technical platform, communication and motivation. However, the high price of a lead is justified by its quality;
Difficulty in accurately assessing the effect of communications;
Delayed return. Don’t expect your profits to jump several times in just a week. For correct conclusions whether it worked or not, it takes at least six months. That is, at the very beginning you invest in CRM marketing, but do not receive a guarantee that it will be effective. In this case, a lot depends on how correctly the scripts are created and configured.

Here is a list of industries for which CRM marketing is a win-win option:

FMCG: many consumers, high share of wallet, high communication activity of brands with several points of contact with the target audience, a fairly involved audience;
Automakers: high purchase cost, high involvement in the selection and ownership process, customers share information quite easily;
Retail: there is a unique amount of valuable information - purchase history, high audience involvement and good response to motivational events;
E-commerce: everything is the same, only in a ready-made electronic format + additional data collection capabilities;
Finance, insurance: large audience and data on consumption patterns, allowing for forecasting;
Telecom: the same thing, only the data update rate is much higher, which provides endless possibilities for analytics.

How to Use CRM Marketing for Forecasting

The marketing group "Completo" created a predictive model. This is a calculator that calculates the financial return on marketing investments and helps you decide what is best to invest in, taking into account the specifics of your business. The output is marketing indicators, revenue and the effectiveness of each promotion tool.

All data for this is taken from the CRM system. Using them, experts created a sales funnel with the following stages of interaction:

Incoming requests (leads without division into online and offline);
Contacts (all potential buyers);
Contacts with target interest;
Projects;
Contracts.

Sales funnel according to data from CRM:

It helps to identify bottlenecks through which you can grow.

For example, low conversion into contracts (no more than 15%). We found out that some data was collected incorrectly. Next, we found statistics on hits from search engines by site and keywords. Due to incorrect settings, information was not transmitted to CRM for all keywords.

Instead of a conclusion

So, why do you need CRM marketing? Perhaps Suresh Vittal, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research explains it best:

“Sales people can no longer act simply as hunters; they must become fishermen. They must study where their best "prey" lives; discover which bait attracts her best; and determine what tactics are best to use to hook her.”

NetSuite allows you to attract more clients

Currently, many companies are implementing specialized systems for managing interactions with their customers in order to carry out marketing management. These systems are called "CRM". This abbreviation stands for Customer Relationship Management System. The CRM marketing management information system allows you to create a single repository of information throughout the company. This opportunity allows, thanks to the prompt receipt of up-to-date information, to make the most rational decisions in the process of interaction with clients. In addition, by storing information about previous business contacts with clients, the system allows you to create in advance the most favorable conditions for cooperation for a given client, which greatly facilitates marketing management.
Modern CRM systems imply the use of all available channels of interaction with business partners. The organization of marketing at the enterprise of the first model was based only on personal meetings, telephone conversations and e-mail. Currently, interactive web technologies are being increasingly introduced into marketing management: corporate web chats, conferences, registration forms on websites.
In general, CRM systems are a specific model for each commercial company for interaction with suppliers, customers, as well as the distribution of functional responsibilities between company employees. CRM marketing management in an enterprise is a tool that allows you to effectively implement the company’s customer-oriented strategy.

Marketing management through the use of CRM systems

Effective marketing management in an enterprise allows you to obtain more accurate analysis results and carry out careful planning of business processes. Also one of the functions is to establish cost-effective contacts with target customers, maintain and strengthen them. Ultimately, competent organization of marketing at an enterprise allows a commercial organization to achieve its goals in the field of making a profit, increasing sales volumes, and expanding its market share of similar goods and services.
The tasks pursued by the marketing management process are not only measures to find a sufficient number of buyers capable of purchasing the entire available volume of products produced by the company. The tasks should also include research into the current demand in the market. In some cases, the CRM system makes management decisions aimed not at expanding demand and creating new markets, but at reducing production if this will allow the company to achieve the best results in its global tasks. Thus, marketing management is a demand management tool.

NetSuite CRM marketing management system

CRM solutions from the commercial company NetSuite imply that the amount of available information about each of the counterparties is of great importance. Thanks to the use of CRM systems, the process of collecting such information can be significantly simplified and accelerated. Ultimately, this simplifies the search for new markets and consolidation of positions in existing ones. Improving the effectiveness of interaction with potential and existing customers, competing enterprises and business partners using CRM systems also helps to create a positive company image and identify previously untapped sales opportunities.
in this sales sector implies the preliminary collection of the greatest amount of information about a potential client at the stage of preparation for negotiations. CRM systems are much more often implemented in the retail trade of expensive goods: cars, household appliances and electronics, jewelry, etc. In the process of selling such a product, there is quite close communication between the representative of the trading organization and the buyer. This organization of marketing at an enterprise allows the seller to unobtrusively ask the buyer to fill out a developed questionnaire, which is a very informative source of information for the CRM management system about the company’s existing and potential clients.
NetSuite offers to facilitate the implementation of a marketing management strategy with the help of CRM systems, since it is possible to organize management in an enterprise in the mass trade of everyday goods. , for example, can be done using ubiquitous plastic Customer cards in large supermarkets. The introduction of such cards not only stimulates the buyer to make purchases at this particular outlet, but also creates the opportunity to obtain reliable and timely information for CRM management systems. Thanks to this, it becomes possible to analyze the current market situation in real time, promptly influence existing demand and assess the prospects for the development of this market. Organizing marketing at an enterprise to obtain information about the solvency of customers based on an analysis of the purchases they make allows for a timely reorientation of the company's outlets. Namely, to focus on increasing the total volume of products sold in that group of consumer goods that is most accessible to the bulk of potential and existing buyers as part of the marketing strategy.
NetSuite's CRM marketing management system makes it easy to solve a number of problems for any enterprise. It allows you to use existing ones and develop potential opportunities to expand your presence in the market with the greatest efficiency. Due to this, the company becomes the most customer-oriented, which allows us to count on his attention to this company and guarantees stability of sales and the possibility of further increasing sales volumes.

Why do you still need a CRM product?

In order to answer the question: what role does CRM play?
marketing management system of NetSuite, we can list several well-known facts:
1. To attract a new client, you need to spend five times more money than to retain an existing partner.
2. Most Fortune 500 companies lose 50% of their customers every five years.
3. If the client is satisfied, he is able to attract about 5 of his friends. If he’s not happy, he’ll tell you about his dissatisfaction, at least 10. What is completely unacceptable when using SKY
4. Full payback for most customers if done correctly
Organization of marketing at the enterprise occurs throughout the year. In case of earlier “departure” of the client, it is considered unprofitable.
5. Competent marketing management allows a 5% increase in customer retention to increase the company’s income by 50-100%
6. Due to ineffective cooperation with the company, about half of the clients are unprofitable.
7. It is assumed that the company contacts an existing client about four times a year, and about 6 times a year with a potential client.
8. Increasing the profitability of an enterprise by tens of percent and project profitability in the range of 200-800 percent within 2-3 years - these are the promises of suppliers of CRM-class products.
The feasibility of using CRM is also determined by a number of reasons.
The second equally important question in this topic under study is: what is the client’s benefit from the implementation of CRM products by the supplier company?
The subjective benefit lies in the fact that every person, on a subconscious level, is pleased to realize that he is remembered.
Marketing management in an enterprise when using a CRM program works in such a way that the client has the opportunity to receive additional benefits, for example, in the form of discounts or any bonuses. This is despite the fact that previously the client did not have such advantages.
A competent organization of marketing at an enterprise is designed in such a way that clients have at their disposal an effective tool for customizing products specifically to their needs, and the presence of support from the company gives even more confidence in the prospects for further cooperation.

Where can I use this program?

CRM - a marketing management system affects almost all aspects of cooperation between the client and the company. This includes both sales and service, including:
1. Analysis of the product (its sales) is carried out on the basis of marketing databases, which are strictly aimed at a specific area of activity and are little susceptible to external information factors.
2. Systems for timely notification of customers - so-called push systems.
3. Automation of the activities of sales representatives (SFA - Sales Force Automation), which collects and processes information about clients.
4. Analytical tools that allow you to analyze the buyer’s behavior during a continuum purchase, without taking into account his lifestyle.
Based on all of the above aspects, any CRM product must have the appropriate modules. I would still like to note that today the universal
the control system does not yet exist. Certain products of this type have not only their “pros”, but also “cons”. That is why, a company that wants to implement CRM products in its activities should determine the exact direction of its business, over time complementing the marketing management process or changing the focus of the CRM product
To start working with CRM systems, you need to have information about the client and, of course, about the company itself.
The end result of a CRM solution is the sum of the detailed ratios, as well as the knowledge and insights that the system can use.
1. Marketing management requires the CRM program to work with databases in such a way that the information remains fresh and relevant at all times (updated regularly).
2. The implemented CRM system in an enterprise requires the mandatory availability of data processing tools.
3. A competent organization of marketing at an enterprise assumes that any division of the company must have access to all information.
And in this regard, the NetSuite CRM system has a huge advantage over others.

CRM levels

CRM marketing management system can be divided into three types (analytical, operational and collaborative).
1. Operational. This class of systems is characterized by providing prompt access to information during interaction with the client during service operations. This includes: sales and service. In general, the order of operations that is provided for attracting a client, namely the transaction process and the subsequent provision of maintenance services, including all sorts of nuances and aspects of cooperation between the client and the company.

2.Analytical. This class is that the system moves to working with large Databases. Information about the client and the company is analyzed. And based on these data, he draws certain conclusions and gives the necessary recommendations.
To maximize results, CRM NetSuite uses a wide range of methods for mathematical analysis of information, which, in turn, makes the program more convenient and easy to use.

3.Collaborative. This class of systems allows the client to personally participate in the functioning of the company and have a direct influence on the possibility of developing the product itself, its consumption and, in the future, service.

Determination of cost

Currently, many people are concerned about the cost of installing a CRM program. This includes the actual price of the software itself, as well as its service, technical support, etc. We can only give approximate prices, because they largely depend on the requirements of customer companies. Firstly, all costs can be divided into three parts: software, hardware and service (technical support, implementation). The simplest method for calculating the cost of implementing a CRM program looks like this: to begin with, marketing management consists of determining the total number of jobs, of course, based on the size of the enterprise itself.
Implementation of CRM systems program. Questions arise: can you handle it yourself?
I would especially like to point out that a CRM system is not a tool for patching holes in marketing. In order to ensure the profitable functioning of CRM, it is necessary to be aware of this at all levels of the company.
You will have to forget about the result if there is not clear and well-established management, which is the efficiency of sharing data, and most importantly, its analysis. Information accumulates like a snowball, which then no one rake. At the moment, there is a cost for storing all data maintained by the information system. And as a result of this, it can be noted that any operation has a specific, unique transaction value. In order to work without losses, you should calculate it in advance and as specifically as possible.
Everything in order, let’s calculate the available funds. When implementing a CRM program, you should follow the following steps:
1. Determination of the goals and objectives of the installation of this product, linking them with the marketing goals of the organization.
2.Development of a plan for the implementation of key modules and blocks of CRM systems.
3.Creating a communications system that will help ensure the operation of all departments in the CRM program, as well as try to organize access to common databases through the World Wide Web - Internet.
4. Detailed study of the marketing research cycle.
5.Combining information about current and future consumers into a common database, excluding moments of repetition of information.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is NOT a software product or a technology. This is NOT even a set of products. CRM is a concept and business strategy aimed at building a sustainable business, the core of which is a “customer-oriented” approach.

This strategy is based on the use of advanced management and information technologies, with the help of which the company collects information about its customers at all stages of its life cycle (attraction, retention, loyalty), extracts knowledge from it and uses this knowledge in the interests of its business by building mutually beneficial relationships with them.

The result of applying the strategy is to increase the company's competitiveness and increase profits, since properly built relationships based on a personal approach to each client allow you to attract new clients and help retain old ones.

ERP systems appeared when the first place was put product and the business processes that ensure its production, that is, accounting, control and distribution, were considered basic. This was the era of "back office" automation.

CRM systems have become necessary in a highly competitive market, where the focus is client. The main task of CRM systems is to increase the efficiency of business processes concentrated in the “front office”, aimed at attraction And retention clients – in marketing, sales, service and maintenance, regardless of the channel through which contact with the client occurs.

At the technology level, CRM is a set of applications connected by a single business logic and integrated into the company’s corporate information environment (often as an add-on to ERP) based on a single database. Special software allows you to automate relevant business processes in marketing, sales and service. As a result, the company can contact the “right” customer at the “right” point in time, with the most effective offer and through the most convenient channel of interaction for the customer.

In practice, an integrated CRM system ensures the coordination of the activities of various departments, providing them with a common platform for interacting with customers. From this point of view, the purpose of CRM is to correct the situation when the marketing, sales and service departments act independently of each other, and their vision of the customer often does not coincide and their actions are inconsistent.

From a business management point of view, the effect of implementing CRM is that the decision-making process, due to automation, is transferred to a lower level and unified. Due to this, the speed of response to requests increases, the speed of funds turnover increases and costs decrease.

Finally, CRM includes the ideology and technology of creating stories relationship between the client and the company, which allows you to more clearly plan your business and increase its sustainability.

Figures and facts:

The cost of attracting a new customer is on average five times higher than retaining an existing one.
Most Fortune 500 companies lose 50% of their customers every 5 years.
A satisfied customer will tell about a successful purchase to an average of 5 of his friends. Unsatisfied – minimum 10.
Most clients pay off only after a year of working with them (accordingly, if the client “left” before this period, then he incurred losses)
A 5% increase in customer retention increases company profits by 50-100%.
About 50% of the company's existing clients are not profitable due to ineffective interaction with them.

On average, the company contacts 4 times a year with an existing client and 6 times a year with a potential one.

Suppliers of CRM products promise to increase the profitability of enterprises by tens of percent, and the profitability of projects - from 200 to 800 percent in 2-3 years.

Historical roots

The basic concept of CRM (focus not on the product, but on the client + personalization) is rooted in the past.

A classic example: when there were no supermarkets, the bulk of goods were sold through many small shops. The surrounding residents bought everything they needed there, without bothering with trips to the city for groceries. The owner of the store knew all his customers who lived in the neighborhood by sight and name. Knew their needs, habits, tastes, financial status, facts of personal life, etc. He knew who would come, when and why. And everyone knew him. The business was built on the loyalty of these regular customers. Nowadays this would be called personalization.

Then came the era of consumption. Supermarkets have grown. Mass product. Mass buyer. Everything is of high quality. Everything is beautiful. Sold on every corner. But - faceless. We forgot about personalization. After all, you can’t assign a seller to every buyer. But I want to.

In an era of competition, the quality of goods is approximately the same everywhere. The profit margin has fallen. The only way to survive in the competition, to stand out from other sellers of goods and services, is to offer a product to each client personally, taking into account his individual needs and characteristics.

And then it turned out that at the current level of development of computer technology it is possible to “go back to the past” and provide personalization even in mass sales. The owner of the store used to store information about one hundred of his customers in his head. The database can store and process one hundred thousand. And offer everyone exactly what they are used to and what they might want.

The value pyramid in the era of CRM

Thus, the emphasis has now noticeably shifted. If previously the client got an idea of the company based on its product, now he builds his attitude towards the company as a whole - as a partner with whom he interacts through various channels - from a telephone call to the Internet and a personal visit. At the same time, consumer demands have become significantly more differentiated, and forms of interaction have become personalized (see Fig. 2).

In addition, the pyramid of values has changed. A typical manufacturer strategy in an industrial economy was aimed at customer satisfaction and was built on the basis of the following “pyramid” of motives (Fig. 3):

Product availability (The company has what I want)
Value (Price meets my expectations)
Convenience (Product is easy to obtain and use)
Trust (I am confident that the product is reliable and of high quality)

In the era of the electronic, “new” economy, the highest goal is loyalty, and mutual– not only the client is loyal to the company, but the company is also loyal to the client). Based on the achieved level of satisfaction, a new pyramid is built (Fig. 4):

Satisfaction (My needs and requests are met)
Consistency (The company acts based on my interests)
Personalization (The company demonstrates that it knows and meets my personal wishes)
Merger (Relationships are built on my terms and under my control)

Within the “second” pyramid, the task of CRM is to cover ALL channels and points of contact with clients and coordinate them, so that there is a unified methodology and technique of communication. Every contact should work to attract a buyer! The customer wants to be served with the same quality regardless from the interaction channel, and get a quick professional response! Information delivered to the client upon his request must be accurate, complete and consistent. There should not be different answers to the same questions from different company representatives.

Thus, it was understood that customer base – this is the most important assets companies that need to carefully and efficiently manage. “Nurturing” a client is considered a necessary condition for successful work with both current and potential clients. It is interesting to note that price is far from the decisive factor in developing loyalty and making repeat purchases. For example, a study conducted by DELL showed that the motives that led to repeat purchases through their online store were in the following order:

Quality of service.
Delivery of the order on time.
Possibility of delivery to any place
Easy ordering
The company has a wide selection of products
Access to complete information on all products
Convenient site navigation system

Thus, investments in technologies for working with existing customers directly affect their loyalty, and therefore the efficiency and sustainability of the business. In terms of money, loyalty leads to the following results:

The client becomes less sensitive to price, which means a higher price can be set for the product (service) (up-sell) without the risk of loss of turnover.
The cost of selling products and services to existing customers is significantly lower. As a result, profitability can be higher, even if the price is lower than that of a competitor.
The client can be offered a number of additional services (products) (cross-sell), thereby increasing the company’s turnover.

Thus, the concept of CRM is very multifaceted. Although some of its elements have been cultivated before (for example, there has long been an emphasis on ensuring the highest quality of product and service), they are not sufficient on their own. After all, even high-quality service is not necessarily personalized. We still work with the “average hospital temperature.” Albeit tall.

The essence of the CRM concept is that the most desirable and profitable client has the right to priority and exclusive service. In addition, the CRM concept focuses the company on long-term relationships with the client. In particular, a client who, albeit little by little, regularly consumes a product or service over a long period of time, is usually more profitable for the company than a “wandering” customer who made a large, but random order. The first has the right to count on the best service and big discounts.

Finally, the essence of CRM is to learn from your client, have feedback and work the way the client wants. The point is that now it is not enough to tell the client: “We are here.” We must say: “We are here for you, and we work here for you and give you what is valuable to you, anticipating what you want.”

Goals, processes, structure

The functionality of CRM covers marketing, sales and service, which correspond to the stages of attracting a client, the act of completing a transaction (transaction) and after-sales service, that is, all those points of contact where the interaction of the enterprise with the client takes place.

In the early 90s, when CRM had not yet taken shape as a single concept, nevertheless, there was already a set of building blocks, the development of which led to what we see today, namely:

Various systems for collecting information about clients, partially including the beginnings of SFA (Sales Force Automation) - Automation of the activities of sales representatives.
A number of marketing databases that provide analysis at the product (its sales) level, but are poorly integrated with sources of other information.
Systems for delivering information to the client (direct mail, etc.).
Basic analytical tools used to analyze consumer behavior during discrete purchases, but without considering the purchase life cycle.

It was only in the 90s that all of these systems were integrated into one within the framework of the CRM concept. For example, when conducting marketing campaigns, it is necessary to ensure that the information used by the marketing department and the sales department are exchanged in order for the process to be efficient and optimal. In this case, automatic distribution of a list of potential clients between sales agents, or automatic assignment of tasks to sales staff can be used.

Therefore, almost any CRM software has corresponding modules (marketing, sales, support and service). However, there is no absolutely universal solution. Each software product has its own strengths and weaknesses and has the best functionality and efficiency usually in one of these areas. Therefore, a company implementing CRM must identify priority areas of automation and start with them, gradually building out the entire system.

Accordingly, CRM should provide a means of entering information into a single database (both by company employees and by the client himself, for example, through a WEB website during registration or purchase), and the data should be centrally updated with each new contact.

The next level is data processing tools (ranking, clustering, aggregation, visualization, etc.). Finally, a means of access to all information – both input and output by all departments of the company. At the same time, a sales agent may need, for example, a client’s purchase history and a forecast of his preferences - what can be offered to him next time, while the marketing department, for example, needs an analysis of target groups. That is, CRM allows for different forms of information presentation for different purposes and different departments.

In Fig. Figure 5 shows a simplified structure of information processes within CRM.

It is important to note that with increasing detail of information and its value from the point of view of analysis, its cost, complexity, formalizability and variability increase. For example, geo- and demographic characteristics are relatively stable, but have long been studied. While the history of personal transactions, including financial ones, the history of contacts, preferences, which make it possible to build a client profile and predict his behavior, are obtained with difficulty, usually interactively, require time to accumulate and are in constant dynamics.

So, we can distinguish 3 main purposes for using CRM systems:

Operational

Analytical

Collaborative

At the same time, the results of the analytical use of CRM go beyond the scope of CRM itself. For example, analysis of time and costs for the sales cycle, at different stages and phases of sales, allows for optimization of cost reduction. Identifying priority customers based on different criteria (income/costs) allows you to increase the profitability of your sales channels. Identifying typical problems/requests and developing a typical response to them allows you to minimize the employee’s reaction time (and therefore, again, reduce costs - after all, the company pays for the phone!). Analysis of sales channels allows you to identify problem departments and business processes, understand which channels you need to focus your efforts on, how to restructure the problem area (department), etc.

The table below systematizes the opinions of surveyed experts on priority industries in terms of demand for CRM.

Table 6.4. Which industries have the greatest demand for CRM solutions?

Priority sectors

Banks and insurance companies, telecommunications companies, retail companies

Finance, insurance, telecommunications, trade, distribution

In the banking sector, insurance companies, telecommunications, high technology industry (production and sale of computers and software, system integration), trading and distribution companies, large multinational corporations.

Sergey Chernov, expert analyst at the Analytical Center of the Parus Corporation

For trade enterprises, service centers for household appliances or automobiles, companies providing communication services, tourism, transportation, producing and supplying various types of automation systems

Banking sector, telecommunications, high-tech and pharmaceutical companies; potential users include almost all companies selling mass-produced products.

In wholesale/retail trade, telecommunications, banking and financial sectors

Anatoly Levikov, Head of CRM Practice, Corporate Management Systems Department, IBS

Finance (banks and insurance organizations), as well as telecommunications. Around the world, there is also great demand for CRM systems from car dealers, manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and computer equipment

Marina Anshina, Head of Development and System Support Group, TopS

Telecommunications

Boris Kharas, Senior Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Telecommunications, financial services, trade and distribution

Telecommunications companies, banks, investment companies

Alexander Skorokhodov, executive director of the Banking Production Center.

Finance (banks and insurance organizations), telecommunications.

Insurance companies and banks

Review of CRM solutions in Russia

If in the Western market the number of CRM systems is measured in the hundreds, then in Russia there is a rather narrow range of solutions, mainly from large suppliers that have been offering their ERP systems for a long time. At the same time, the number of domestic CRM developers is increasing almost every month. Thus, the Russian buyer already faces the problem of choosing from two dozen systems. True, the solutions are radically different from each other, since they are aimed at different segments.

According to experts, SAP and Oracle have good chances in the field of complex integrated solutions that include CRM as one of the blocks - both of them have declared CRM one of the main priorities for this year in business development. In addition, both companies have strong positions in the market. Serious activity in the field of CRM has been launched by hardware suppliers - Cisco, Avaya, focusing primarily on call-centers.

Solutions from Siebel, a global leader in CRM, have come to
Russia thanks to the efforts of Russian companies, but he himself
Siebel is not interested in Russia as a potential market. A fully localized version is expected to hit the market within a few years. So far, the introduction of this product, which is already available in Russia, is associated with major language problems for staff.

The solutions presented in Russia have very significant differences in methodology. Thus, Russian developers insist that their applications better take into account the differences in the local market, although they have less experience working with a large number of clients.

At the moment, specialized CRM packages of an industry nature are almost not represented in Russia - pharmaceuticals, banking and insurance sectors, tourism, etc. Although in the West such solutions are very popular, since if you buy a universal development, it still needs to be significantly modified, leading to specialized needs. And this is associated with unnecessary costs for implementation and staff training, which is not desirable. And in any case, it leads to a loss of time, this is especially important for companies that operate in industries where seasonal fluctuations are strongly affected (tourism, realtors, etc.).

How the data for this study was collected. From open sources - the press, the Internet, personal conversations with experts - a list of all CRM suppliers, both Russian and foreign, was compiled. Only those who have a partner or representative office in Russia were selected. Along with domestic developers, about 20 companies were included in the list. Later the list was refined.

Everyone was sent an email containing the questionnaire and a deadline for completion. After that, the answers were clarified over the phone and additional material was collected on this decision - based on customer reviews, information on the website, the press, and expert opinions. The information received was carefully analyzed and structured.

Let us note that the research below cannot be considered complete; new solutions appear every day and more and more companies declare to provide a range of services for the implementation and maintenance of CRM solutions. During the research process, we met with dozens of companies, many of which are planning to actively enter this market.

Now we invite you to take a more complete look at the table and study it carefully (see at the end of the article). I responsibly declare that this is the most complete comparison of CRM systems presented in Russia.

Company name	The product's name	Release date (product)	Number of copies sold, clients	ASP capability	Scalability (minimum, maximum number of users)	PDA support
Oracle Corporation	Oracle E-Business Suite (incl. ERP, CRM and B2B)	May 2000	>1,000 clients in the world (including previous versions of CRM), version 11i - about 400	Yes (100% Internet architecture)	5-7000 (real implementation in Oracle), plans to implement up to 20,000 users	Yes, Palm Pilot
	InvensysCRM	Since 1990, current version (4 2) released in December 2000	Worldwide - more than 700 installations in Russia no installations yet ABB Components, ABB Robotics, Bang & Olufsen, EDS, GSX (GE Information Systems), Lanier, RMC, UNU, Barco and Venzon	Yes		Yes
Sputnik Labs	SalesLogix, manufacturer - Interact Commerce Corp, www.saleslogix. com	First version -1997, Current version -SalesLogix net (SalesLogix version 5 0) - January 2001	More than 3,500 clients in 67 countries, the number of licenses sold is measured in hundreds of thousands, among clients are British Airways, Deutsche Bank Dow Jones, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard. In Russia, there is a completed project (Comstar CJSC) - the SalesLogix Sales module has been in productive operation since February 2000, SalesLogix Support module is being implemented	Yes, through partners (Delinea Corporation, ScionASP)	There are no technical restrictions (there are configurations from 1 to 1000 users), license supply - from 10 users	Yes, Palm Pilot
000 "IBS"	Siebel System eBusiness 2000 MME	2000 g		Yes	Minimum - 1, maximum - unlimited	Yes, Palm Pilot Organizer
Electronic Automation roved systems and communications	Intelligent CRM Suite (manufactured by Computer Associates www.ca.com)	October 2000		Yes	From 1 to 13500	Any devices with Internet access, including WAP
	Clientele		More than 3000, including British American Tobacco Industries Nestle SA, American Express Times Mirror Magazines, Walt Disney Among the companies operating in Russia are Mary Key, Karl Storz, etc.	-	The number of concurrent users can reach 500	-
IT	UCI (Unified Customer Interaction) - produced by Altitude Software	Latest version 6 1 June 2001	300 system installations in Europe (ABN AMRO Bank - Netherlands Mobitai Communications - Taiwan, NSB Railway Norway - Norway)	No	3 - 200 (possibly more)	Yes
Actis Systems	SalesLogix.NET	Latest release - March 2001	More than 3500 clients worldwide	Yes	Minimum - 1, maximum - unlimited. To date, installations for several thousand users are known.	Yes, Palm OS and Windows CE compatible devices
	Customer support systems Customer contact management	2000-2001	MTU Intel (10 licenses), MKS (18 licenses), TopS (10 licenses)	Yes	3 - 20000	Yes - Palm Pilot
LANIT	Navision Financial System Contact Manager module	1996		No	1 - 300	-
Parus Corporation	Business process management / SAIL-Client	October 1999	5 implementations, including LUKoil	Yes	5 - 100	No
Pro-Invest-IT	Sales Expert	It went on sale in the spring of 2000, version 1 4 was released in May 2001	More than 200 LUKoil, Hewlett-Packard JSC, Promo ru, Rainbow Technologies, Economic Newspaper Publishing House (AKDI Economy and Life), Garant-Park1	No	Not limited	No
ConSi	ConSi- MARKETING ConSi- PRICE MONITORING	First version 1992 Latest - autumn 2000	More than 50, including the Kazan Helicopter Plant, the Perm Printing Factory of Goznak, Irkutskkabel, Kostromakabel, etc.	No	Within the capabilities of MS-Access	-
Internet company Bmicro	Client-Communicator	December 1999	50	No	3 - 300	No

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Group of companies "Alfa Integrator - BAAN Eurasia"

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Sputnik Labs

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000 "IBS"

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"EpicRus" (until November 2000 - Platinum Software)

Yes

Actis Systems

Yes

Dia

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TopS LTD CRM solutions based on Remedy Inc. products.

Yes

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Company name	Strengths (according to the companies themselves)	Support, paid/free (documentation in Russian, technical support by phone, e-mail, additional training, books, etc.)	Interface language; support for other languages	Other
Oracle Corporation	Full support for CRM functionality (see above) subject to modularity, consistent channels of interaction with customers, Internet architecture (= low cost of ownership), integrated CRM+ERP solution (full view of customers and no huge integration costs), powerful business tools -analysis.	Free - documentation in electronic form, paid - technical support by phone, e-mail, access to a website with technical information, training, implementation services	28 languages, Russian - in the process of translation	Financial stability of the supplier, presence of an office in Moscow, huge investments in the product (1,300 CRM system developers), a wide network of partners in Russia
Group of companies "Alfa Integrator - BAAN Eurasia"	Time-tested solution (more than 11 years on the market). Modular architecture, fast implementation cycle (3 months). Integration with BAAN IV/V ERP systems. Integration with e-commerce systems (BAAN E-Enterprise). Maintaining client data starting from the moment he was attracted (marketing campaigns). Availability of a web user interface. Used within the software manufacturing company itself. Focus on Microsoft technologies.	Free - documentation in Russian paid - technical support (telephone, e-mail, Web) training, consulting services	English, German, French, Dutch, Russian	Contains standard templates for answering customer questions, supports dynamic preference lists Developed reporting system (internal and external) Tools for customizing existing applications and developing new ones.
Sputnik Labs	Sales leader in the Mid-Market segment, the best price/quality ratio for the Russian market, the most complete functionality among similar systems, coverage of all stages of the client’s life cycle, interaction with partners, the ability to fully work using the web, including interaction with partners. Quick implementation (1-3 months), openness (ease of integration with other information systems, ability to make custom settings, change the interface, add functionality on your own)	Standard - 24/7 online support, hotline by phone, fax, e-mail, free update of releases within the current version, supply of service packs Price - 20% of the software cost Additional - extended service programs, multi-level training	Standard software supplies - with an interface in English and a number of European languages Support for Russian, the ability to create screen forms in Russian	A unique toolkit of automatic processes with an intuitive graphical interface.
000 "IBS"	A single application for the work of all company employees (sales people, support, marketing), scalability (possibility of upgrading to Enterprise, availability of industry solutions, support for Service Agreements (SLAs), project management Workflow Management, intelligent routing system for applications, potential deals, etc., visual representation client's organizational structures TAS (Target Accounting Selling), Strategic Selling, easy modification for a specific customer Access control to the level of individual records User-friendly interface.	Paid - technical support by phone, e-mail, training	English, Russian, Spanish, French, German	Standard templates for documents (Word, Excel, etc.) Large number of pre-configured reports Thin client Possibility of remote synchronization and work within the holding structure
Electronic Automated Systems and Communications	A highly scalable solution with extensive integration and automation capabilities Convenient, self-configuring access to the information you need for both clients and staff Patented “artificial intelligence” system for automatic proactive responses to technical or business problems Consists of individual products, allowing you to choose only what is suitable to the buyer based on functionality and price.	The first year is free (included in the price), paid - additional training	English. Others - built-in localization capability
"EpicRus" (until November 2000 - Platinum Software)			Russian English
IT	The solution is implemented on the “thin client” principle Transfer of voice messages and sessions between agents Reliable operation even under peak loads Open architecture with the ability to support various hardware platforms Possibility of flexible configuration to specific customer requirements.	Technical documentation is free, other support is paid	Today - English, in the near future IT Co. plans to begin localizing the system for domestic users	It is possible to obtain a large number of business reports on interaction with the client, his requests and business activity. Integration mechanisms with billing systems, e-commerce systems and financial applications are offered, allowing you to get a clear picture of work with the customer at the level of the entire company.
Actis Systems	Possibility of flexible individual configuration for each client, being an integrated package, the system is capable of solving a very wide range of tasks, easily integrates with various applications, has a low cost of ownership, a large number of installations around the world guarantees high quality and reliability of this system allows multi-level access to information - LAN , Web or Wireless aims to provide a quick payback (return on investment)	Warranty - 6 months - free Technical support - 10% of the cost of licenses.	The main language of the product is English. Quick localization of the product into almost any language is possible.
TopS LTD CRM solutions based on Remedy Inc. products.	Flexibility, scalability, reliability, multi-platform, great integration capabilities, openness, compliance with standards, speed of implementation (several months)	Documentation in Russian, annual support included in the price of the system, training	English, Russian, French, German, any languages can be supported
LANIT	Easy to learn and use for the user	Free - documentation in Russian Paid - technical support by phone, e-mail, training	Russian English
Parus Corporation	Decision support mechanisms The complex is successfully operated on the basis of the Parus corporation, including the regional network (according to the results of the international competition "Business-Soft", the "hotline" of the Parus1 corporation was recognized as one of the best in the country) Mechanisms that allow you to expand and quickly adapt the software to specific enterprise needs Built-in WorkFlow and DocFlow mechanism Seamless integration with ERP Full-featured WEB interface	Free - documentation in Russian Paid - technical support by phone, e-mail, Internet, training	Russian	Built-in message/notification delivery mechanism (mail, GSM, paging) Possibility of expanding functionality using the enterprise's own IT specialists
Pro-Invest-IT	Easy to use and install Low price Constant development of the program High speed of operation High efficiency of use for solving organizational problems and managing sales and marketing	Free - all documentation, technical support	Russian Others - no.	A proven standard solution for companies that use direct sales when working with clients. The best CRM system according to Business Software 2001
ConSi	Proven solution (many installations), low price, fast implementation speed (less than 3 months), collects all information about the client and his operations, intended for both internal users (organizing targeted marketing) and external users (receiving a report on the account balance, personalized financial information) There are real clients who have been working for many years	Computer training system, multimedia, animated help, books with techniques	Russian	Fully targeted at users proficient in MS Office
Internet company Bmicro	Full adaptation to any type of activity - an arbitrary number of data types (lists and directories) + up to 150 attributes per record, several built-in report generators	Free - documentation in Russian Paid - implementation + configuration	Russian	There is a special implementation form. We can prepare a ready-made, configured database for a remote client and send it by e-mail

I will comment on each point.

The first points are standard: the name of the company - the solution provider or its representative in Russia, the full name of the product and the release date. Also pay attention to the release date. Some systems have been on the market for a long time, others, despite their youth, also have several hundred and sometimes thousands of installations.

The number of copies sold by all companies is large, with Western manufacturers counting in the thousands, and Russian manufacturers in the hundreds. It is worth distinguishing between the number of clients and the number of licenses (copies) sold, since one client can buy several thousand titles at once.

We can say that all solutions have already proven their capabilities. Another thing is that not all of them have a Russian version and experience of implementation in Russia. Most foreign solutions have never been delivered to our country.

If you are faced with the question of choosing such a system, we advise you to clarify the company’s experience in general and with CRM systems in particular.

No matter what they say about the advantages of this or that system, the price was, is, and will continue to be the main selection criterion for a long time. The most often quoted price is per user seat (license). But to the final price you still need to add the price for a server license, consulting, training, and subtract volume discounts. Some companies are just introducing their products to the market and do not yet have a clear pricing strategy. Plus the difficulty of calculating the final cost without having real experience in implementing systems of this class. The cost of a solution at one level may differ by a significant amount. In this article we do not list the price level, but it can be ordered separately (see at the end of the article).

In Europe and the USA, CRM solutions based on ASP are now becoming widespread, which means that it is possible to maintain the system on the side. This allows you to reduce costs, reduce the size of investments and, of course, relieve the headache of solving almost all technical problems (security, reliability, electricity, 24/7 availability, etc.).

As far as we know, in Russia, none of the supplying companies currently offers such an opportunity. Although many systems are already ready to offer such services. As in many other areas, there is a question of financing and launching such a project, and most importantly, trust in ASP. After all, no one wants to lose the company’s most valuable asset—its customers—and people in Russia are not used to trusting each other. So we can hardly expect this service to appear in the near future.

A special point is the technical requirements. This expense item can cost no less than the CRM system itself. Since the requirements for technology are the highest - powerful servers, a large amount of disk space, a good local network and Internet channel.

It is important what additional software the selected system requires - you will have to pay separately for licenses for the database and some operating systems, and a lot, given the large number of copies, because ideally every employee should have a CRM system. It’s just that access to other people’s segments will be limited. It also matters that if you install a new operating system or other software, then you will have to look for new additional personnel. And it’s hard to find it now. It is almost impossible to find good programmers and system administrators in the regions; those who exist have already been taken apart. And in Moscow, the demand for these professions is constantly growing.

As a rule, CRM is installed by those companies that have already used ERP systems, and therefore there is a certain database, software, and all this must be saved and transferred to the new system. It's more difficult here. Not all CRM solutions are interfaced with ERP, which can negate all its advantages - both functional and price.

If a company has agreed to invest considerable funds in CRM, then it hopes not only to survive in the market, but also to develop successfully. And therefore, sooner or later it will need more users. It is possible that there is no immediate money to provide all jobs with access to the system, but over time the need for this will arise and investments will appear.

Modern systems most often allow you to start work even from one workplace and increase it to several thousand, or even tens of thousands. All companies mentioned this. The difference is that some systems already have real experience of implementation and operation on a similar scale, others note only the theoretical possibility of such scaling.

When a company employee is on a business trip or simply not at work, he may still need information from the system. If you spent money on implementation and installation, then you need to use all the benefits of CRM at a distance. Moreover, it is not so difficult; you can access it through a standard web browser on the Internet or using any mobile device (PDA). Its cost is an order of magnitude less than, for example, a laptop.

Let's say you go to a meeting with clients or partners in another city (country), and even on the go in a car or airport you can get all the necessary data via PDA. And when using the Internet in a hotel, problems may arise with the keyboard and encoding (there is no Cyrillic alphabet).

This point is worth studying especially. All features of the system are presented here. The classification used is Western, therefore the names of the modules are left in English (explained below). At the same time, functions within the system may be distributed differently and even named differently. CRM is a young area, and the terminology has not yet fully formed.

All modules are very closely interconnected, and you can easily move from one to another, often without even noticing the transition (roughly speaking, like hyperlinks on the Internet or like switching functions in a text editor). The classification was made more to systematize the capabilities of CRM systems.

To illustrate the possibilities, here is the opinion of one of the users of the EpikRus CRM system, Sergei Kanev, head of the Moscow representative office of BSS (system integration): “Every company that works with a client must have a tool for structuring this work, since any client base is an intangible asset , Clientele offers an algorithm for working with the client.

In addition, it helps to accumulate information on the history of customer relationships, which is a strong support for sales. For example, if there is a successful sale to a client in St. Petersburg, then there is a possibility of a sale to a branch of the same client in Krasnodar. Since BCC managers work in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Krasnodar, now any manager can look at the sales history of a client in other cities and obtain more complete information.

The BCC company uses Clientele in two directions: sales and service. In general, we can say that a CRM system is, first of all, an algorithm for working with a client and a tool for summarizing information.

Previously, each manager had information only about his region, with its regional specifics. Now he provides this information to other managers and, in turn, receives information for other regions. Many situations that previously required additional meetings are now resolved automatically."

It is usually useful to know the strengths and weaknesses, especially since the choice of a CRM system can radically change the work of the company: either work successfully, or waste time and hastily earn back the money spent.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to assess the weaknesses of these systems. To do this, you need to at least try each of them and see how the already implemented systems work at several enterprises, especially considering that all foreign programs need to be localized, that is, translated, adjusted to Russian reporting, etc. This will take a lot of time and money. And time does not wait. In this regard, Russian developers have some advantages.

Talking about strengths is difficult for the same reasons. Therefore, we trusted the companies themselves to talk about the advantages, and, for obvious reasons, did not ask about the weak ones.

Judging by the responses of Western experts, the implementation of a full-fledged CRM system takes a long period, depending on the system and what the company used from several months to several years. In any case, the buyer will need technical and consulting support for a long time, plus staff training and detailed documentation.

As you can see from the tables, most often all support is paid and probably makes up a significant part of the sellers’ income. At the same time, documentation (it is unknown whether it is in Russian?) is included in the cost of the system. It is noteworthy that some note the availability of 24-hour online support. For example, this service is offered by Sputnik Labs; this can be especially important for regional clients, where the time difference can reach 5-9 hours. The client receives an access password to the support site, where he can find the answer to his question in the intelligent knowledge base.

Not only highly qualified personnel will have to work with the system, but also ordinary “soldiers” of the company: from the secretary (by the way, it is very important how this service is organized and its relationship with CRM) to warehouse managers. Therefore, it is necessary that the system is simple and in the native language of the staff. Sadly, Russian versions are often the latest to appear, although our market is also very interesting and promising.

We included this item so that each company could add anything else that it deems necessary.

In the summary table we have collected all the providers of CRM solutions that are actively present in the domestic market. Although the solutions are very different and it is not always correct to put them on the same page. For example, domestic developers often position themselves as solution providers more for the sales department than for each employee of the company (although this is possible). This is how “ConSi” works, for example. There is no need to buy hundreds of copies - a few jobs in the sales department are enough for now.

Expensive Western CRM systems not only automate standard processes of working with clients, but also allow you to better customize the system to the needs of a specific client. Therefore, they require implementation and modification, which significantly affects the price. But the “boxed” product Sales Expert (“Pro-Invest-IT”), which you can configure yourself, costs only $1,570 for an unlimited number of installations (this is comparable to the price for two places in Western systems, most often their price fluctuates in around 500-800 dollars per workplace). Sales Expert is a tough but ready-made CRM solution that sets clear rules for working with clients. Perhaps the given functions will be quite enough for you.

Of the complex Russian solutions at the moment, only the product of the Parus company can be named. As the commercial director of Parus, Alexey Kazarezov, noted, this product was “tested” within the corporation for about a year, in work with regional partners (dealers, business partners, regional branches, etc.) - for Parus they are also a kind of clients ( consumers of his developments). For example, with the help of the new module, messages of three types were quickly collected (by e-mail): “error”, “wish”, “question (consultation)”. Then they were processed by the appropriate managers, who evaluated them and transferred them to production (messages like “error” and “feedback”) or answered the question.

Each request was analyzed and processed according to the appropriate regulations; Overall, this resulted in a 30% increase in processing and error correction speed.

In addition, the module was tested in the area of specific work with clients: collecting information about a potential customer starting from the first contact; Absolutely all available information about him was entered into the client database - visits to the demo room, questions over the phone, manager visits and much more. As a result, a serious data bank was accumulated, containing a complete history of relationships with a given client (both organizational and financial). Of course, replenishing information and collecting requests contained in the module database is possible not only using the keyboard (for example, during telephone or personal contacts), but also through e-mail and the Internet (as in the example with regional partners). In this case, the client can monitor all stages of his request (depending on access rights or using special notifications by e-mail, pager, etc. - in accordance with customizable regulations).

In the future, the client database can provide a lot of useful information. For example, if a company that sells household appliances has in its data bank information about what equipment the client has already purchased, then with the next purchase it can not only give an appropriate discount, but also select a model that is optimally combined with the existing set. In this case, there will be no need to question the client, in addition, it does not matter which sales manager led him previously.

These functions are also available in Western systems, but there is still very little experience in implementing such CRM solutions, so we are not yet able to fully reveal the capabilities hidden in foreign developments. There is often confusion about what was supplied to the client - ERP or CRM? It is beneficial for the buyer and seller to say that it is CRM, but there are only a few real examples. By the way, interesting examples of CRM implementation in the West can be found in Bill Gates’s latest book, “Business at the Speed of Thought.”

When reading summary tables, please note the following:

Contact Management – maintaining an extended record for each contact, a separate profile for each client, maintaining contact histories, organizational charts and the ability to collect clients into various groups, etc.

Account Management – maintaining information on counterparties (including clients, partners, agents, competitors). All information, including relationship history, planned/implemented transactions, contracts, financial/accounting data, etc.

Sales Management - maximum information and opportunities directly related to sales - cycles, statistics, territorial reference, report generation, sales history, etc. Looking at sales as a process, dividing it into stages and steps, allows you to forecast and effectively manage sales.

Time Management is a module that helps coordinate the work of all departments in time - a calendar, a list of tasks, as well as various modules for connecting to fax, e-mail and other means of communication.

Customer Service – interactive customer support (Internet, virtual private networks, etc.), the ability for customers to obtain the necessary information themselves, planning work with customers, statistics of requests, generating reports, accounting for the time spent by specialists, the ability to estimate the cost of support, etc.

Field Force Automation - opportunities for group work with clients divided by regional, industry and other criteria, collaboration between geographically remote departments.

Telemarketing/telesales – integration with call-center, maintaining statistics, recording standard questions and answers and full use of many other capabilities of means of communication with clients via e-mail, IP telephony, etc.

Marketing – statistics module, planning and maintaining various marketing campaigns, monitoring returns and calculating efficiency, modeling, auxiliary (educational) material, consumer segmentation and more.

Lead Management – Managing relationships with potential clients: collecting initial information, distributing contacts between employees of sales departments, tracking the effectiveness of sources of primary contacts.

Partnership Relations Management (PRM) – management of relationships with partners.

Knowledge Management – knowledge management, collection of all necessary reference information (maps, industry information, analytical materials, statistics) for the company’s work, creation of separate news sections (for example, for managers who manage the fuel and energy complex, processing industry), integration with Internet sources, powerful search tools.

e-Business is a module responsible for the CRM web part, which may include a company website, an online store or B2B site, interaction with customers via the Internet, etc.

Business Intelligence – the presence of automatic capabilities for monitoring and escalating problems, taking proactive actions, generating individual reports and reports using templates (as a rule, there are many ready-made forms), planning, modeling. – education, employment, contacts, everything related to people in the field of CRM.

Altitude Software (“IT”) - UCI

Navision (IBS and Lanit) – Navision Financials Contact Manager Module

Oracle – Oracle e-Business Suite

Parus – “Business Process Management. Parus-Client.”

“Pro-Invest” – Sales Expert

Remedy Inc. (“TopS”, IBS and “Open Technologies”) - Remedy

Interact Commerce Corp. (“Sputnik Labs” and Actis) - SalesLogic

SAP - mySAP CRM

TerraLink – Terra CRM

Frontstep - Frontstep Channel Center

Epicrus - Clientele

ComputerAge – Relavis eBusinessStreams

Pivotal (Columbus IT Partner Russia) - Pivotal eRelationship 2000

“Bmicro” – “Client-Communicator”

Navision (Columbus IT Partner Russia) - AXAPTA

Goals, methodology and sources of research

This study is an initiative work of the Cominfo Consulting company, conducted jointly with the Business Online magazine.

The purpose of the study is to analyze concepts CRM from the point of view of its demand in Russia, analysis of structure and prospects demand in Russia for products and solutions positioned as CRM (including motivation, implementation features, trends), as well as market analysis offers CRM solutions presented in Russia, including the collection and systematization of information about relevant products and their suppliers.

Thus, the main consumer of this study are companies interested in implementing CRM solutions and in need of systematized information on products and suppliers. In addition, the study is of interest to software developers and suppliers, system integrators and consulting companies that are involved in the implementation of CRM.

Sources of information and research methodology

The collection of information during the study was carried out on the basis of:

Analysis of publications from more than 100 open and closed sources, including professional publications, reports of foreign research and consulting companies, Web sites and other sources (a partial list of Internet resources is given in Appendix 2).
Personal interviews with experts from consulting companies, system integrators and CRM solution providers (list below).
Questioning of representatives of enterprises - potential customers of CRM solutions.
Questioning of representatives of companies - manufacturers and suppliers of CRM solutions represented in Russia.

The number of respondents included about 200 enterprises in Moscow, the Moscow region and the Central region, as well as Moscow offices of large holding structures with a branched territorial structure throughout Russia. A separate survey was conducted of 70 companies in the telecommunications industry - traditional and alternative fixed-line operators, mobile operators and private networks.

List of invited experts

Sanal Ushanov, manager of the Moscow office of Accenture
Pavel Cherkashin, President of Sputnik Labs
Roman Samokhvalov, Oracle Business Development Manager
Sergey Chernov, expert analyst at the Analytical Center of the Parus Corporation
Sergey Aslanyan, director of the consulting department of Actis Systems
Alexander Yakunin, CEO of Navision CIS
Anatoly Levikov, Head of CRM Practice, Corporate Management Systems Department, IBS
Marina Anshina, head of the development and system support group at TopS
Boris Kharas, senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers
Maxim Filamofitsky, technical director of RosBusinessConsulting
Alexander Skorokhodov, executive director of the Banking Production Center
Maxim Solovyov, sales manager at Avaya Communications.

Time frame for the study

The study was conducted in May–July 2001. Since the authors began to receive additional information from suppliers and clients after the publication of excerpts from the study in the July issue of Business Online magazine, it was decided to update the study once a month.

Introduction

Goals, methodology and sources of research
1. Basic concepts of CRM.
1.1. Historical roots
1.2. Client-oriented approach
1.3. Customer life cycle.
1.4. Pyramid of values in the era of CRM.
1.5. How to move from concepts to technologies?

2. Functionality of CRM systems.
2.1. Goals, processes, structure.
2.2. Main functional blocks.
2.2.1. MA – Marketing Automation.
2.2.2. SFA Sales Force Automation (Automation of the activities of sales representatives).
2.2.3. CSS - Customer Service & Support (Automation of customer support and service).

3. Implementation of CRM: process, features, effect.
3.1. Implementation stages: CRM step by step.
3.2. Foreign implementation experience.
3.3. Features of national CRM.
3.4. Integral effect of application implementation.

4. Call centers and Contact centers as a key channel of interaction within CRM
4.1. Basic concept.
4.2. Call center and contact center functionality.
4.3. Call center applications related to sales and marketing
4.4. Call center applications related to service (user support)
4.5. Advantages of Call and Contact centers within the framework of the CRM concept.

5. Market of CRM solutions abroad.
5.1. Review of main solutions.
5.2. Functionality of CRM solutions. Summary table for 67 companies.
5.3. Trends and prospects.
5.4. Solutions for Contact centers. Summary table for 60 companies.

6. Market of CRM solutions in Russia.
6.1. Main factors influencing market development.
6.2. Demand.
6.2.1. Market awareness about CRM
6.2.2. Structure and characteristics of demand
6.2.3. Motivation of enterprises when implementing CRM.
6.3. Offer.
6.3.1. Criteria for choosing a solution.
6.3.2. Consolidated catalog and analysis of 20 products, manufacturers and suppliers represented in Russia.

Conclusion and conclusions.

Appendix 1. Glossary of terms.
Appendix 2. Additional information resources on CRM on the Internet.
Manufacturers and suppliers.
Information portals.
Research and consulting companies.
Professional organizations, publications, conferences.
Call center resources.

Implementing a CRM system is a blessing! This is the opinion of companies that are at the stage of its implementation and are puzzled by the need to structure the sales management process. There are, however, those who have a positive attitude towards any innovations and test on their managers everything that is advertised and, according to the developers, serves to increase sales and structure processes. Both the first and second are disappointed in 90% of cases as a result of the implementation of CRM in their companies. What are the reasons? What should a marketer and sales manager not expect from CRM implementation?

What they say about CRM in marketing circles

So, there are several typical misconceptions that sellers of CRM systems are in no hurry to dispel for the client.

They say that a CRM system should standardize the sales process.

Fear God! Processes are standardized only by standards, the development of which is a large-scale matter and lies before and beyond the task of implementing a CRM system.
The standards are very well written on this site. Look - this needs to be implemented before implementing CRM. Yes, of course, modern CRM systems include generally accepted standards in their structure, but they will differ from your practice, from your sales model and, naturally, this will require an “upgrade” of the CRM system. But how will you do this if the company has not developed its own standards?

They say that CRM makes it possible for a manager to evaluate their performance and also influence them.

Here, as in the previous case, the manager’s performance indicators lie far beyond the scope of CRM. Dear gentlemen, managers, the indicators of a manager’s effective work should be known to him, and the criteria for assessing the quality of his work should be clear to the manager in any case: these indicators are written down on a piece of paper, in an Excel file or in a CRM - it doesn’t matter (flies and cutlets, a horse and cart).

As for the influence on the manager’s performance, he can influence the indicators only by carrying out what is planned and showing initiative, within the framework of initiatives allowed to him by the standards of sales initiatives. Reflecting the manager’s rash actions in CRM, as well as his failure to implement work plans, will in no way help the manager, identify the reason or teach.

They say that CRM allows a manager to see the whole picture at any given time, whereas without this system he observes only very short sections of the process.

Do you know what we're talking about? For example, CRM will show how many clients are at the stage of protecting a commercial proposal. Question: why does the manager need this? For a sales manager, each transaction is significant and individual. And even though they are all at different stages and have different prospects, the manager monitors each one. Assessing the potential of clients under development en masse is like “the average temperature in a hospital” and this is a managerial manipulation at the level of a sales manager.

They say that CRM allows you to identify the most promising customers and understand how to act correctly to fulfill the plan.

A simple example: suppose a company’s transaction cycle lasts six months to a year. And all these six months, the manager feeds his manager breakfast, and everyone does the same for all clients. CRM will allow you to see the fact that this manager’s “breakfasts” are typical.

If you DO NOT develop a system for assessing the client’s potential, then whether CRM is implemented or not, there will still be “breakfasts”. Read about the BANT technique. This is a system and it’s very good if you implement it in your CRM, but first, develop and implement it in practice.

And of course, they say that the CRM system allows you to compare different employees with each other, organizing competition and identifying the best. It allows you to evaluate marketing performance.

With the same success, having key indicators of a manager’s performance, you can compare a couple of numbers without CRM. Or do you have “one hundred to five hundred” sales managers and Excel can’t compare so many numbers?

The main thing about CRM for a marketer

To begin with, before the implementation process, it is worth understanding a few simple things:

1. CRM is a customer relationship management system. The CRM function is not at all analytical or strategic. Yes, of course, if you attach an advanced analytics system to it, you can use it for marketing purposes. But initially, CRM is intended to structure the work of management working in the segment of complex and long-term sales, to ensure a huge number of contacts with customers at different levels of the sales funnel.

If you are implementing CRM only to make your boss “feel good” or your marketer comfortable, this is the first of your mistakes. If, as a result of implementing CRM, your managers will still keep track of contacts in a notepad or Excel, occasionally reluctantly (for the boss) entering something into CRM, then isn’t this a failure of the idea itself - to simplify communication with the client!?

2. A CRM system is not a sales management system, but only an infrastructure. This is not sales itself - it is a tool “so as not to forget” to take actions defined by sales standards at a certain stage of interaction with the client. Implementing CRM alone, without sales standards, will not increase revenue.

3. A sales management system (standards, methods, evaluation criteria, indicators) should be installed in the company before the implementation of the CRM system and before the customer relationship management system. Such a sales management system begins with the development of company policies, then - standards, and even further - sales rules and sales management.

4. CRM and computer CRM system- these are different things. A customer relationship management system and a software product are two different things. I know examples of a well-functioning customer relationship management system built on plans, meetings, reports and a system for recording management actions in Excel. At the same time, I know companies with implemented CRM, in which managers “under pressure” even fill out customer cards. Sound familiar?

Why do you need CRM?

Try to answer the questions: Why won’t you be able to manage sales without a CRM system on your computer?

Perhaps your managers are forced to simultaneously contact countless clients, spontaneously “dumping” on their heads from the millions you invested in advertising?
Perhaps the length of the transaction in your segment is up to a year?
Perhaps, not only sales people are involved in the relationship with your clients, but also marketers, technical specialists, developers who design products to meet different client requirements each time and, in this case, the CRM system is a working tool for the project team?
Perhaps the number of direct sales managers in your company is such that it is simply not possible to analyze their work without a CRM system?
Perhaps your company has a large flow of online clients coming from several online stores and automating work with them using such an online system is a salvation?
Perhaps your company is so innovative and progressive that you have not yet introduced such a “toy”?
Perhaps the head of the sales structure prefers to manage numbers rather than processes and people?
A sales management system implemented using a computer program is a burden that requires constant fine-tuning, fine-tuning, changing the structure of decision-making, reports, etc., since new directions and new sectors require new types of clients and different relationships with them. So, how systematic is your business to implement a system when sales processes are not fully structured?

Friends, marketing is full of patterns, including patterns of thinking, behavior, reporting patterns, and patterns of tools and methods used. Please, think!

p.s. By the way, why do you think it makes no sense to implement a CRM system in a retail store, with a possibly existing customer relationship management system?

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