opinionsatelLite CRM
AN INNOVATIVEapproach to protecting your existing CRM investment and to getting everybody on board.
Is your CRM system suffering from lack of buy-in?
In our time we've seen many organisations implement large-scale CRM projects using one of the enterprise-class CRM systems. In many cases though these projects have not always been 100% successful.
Whilst these organisations still run the core CRM platform we've often found that there can be pockets of users (or even whole departments or branches) who are unhappy with the system and find it unsuited to their needs.
In some cases, these users simply find the CRM software difficult to use. Typically these users prefer to use Microsoft Outlook to maintain their contact information. Quite often these users have no need for the full functionality of a CRM system and would prefer a less complex solution.
Do You have Branch offices or REMOTE users?
Are there parts of your organisation which might not need all the features of a core CRM solution? Or are there groups of users dealing with particular processes which don't need the power of an expensive CRM system?
Other scenarios such as mergers and acquisitions can lead to mixed usage of the core CRM platform. The cost of upgrading a newly acquired team to an enterprise-class CRM application can often be prohibitively expensive.
A Satellite CRM solution may provide an answer
When an organisation has made a substantial investment in a large-scale CRM system it obviously needs to ensure it gets a suitable return-on-investment (ROI). However it can often be counter-productive trying to force unwilling users to accept a system that they don't like or need.
Kynetix believe there may be an alternative strategy to protecting the original investment and we have coined a phrase for this concept: "Satellite CRM".
The idea behind Satellite CRM is that, for selected groups of users, you can implement another more suitable, and less costly, CRM solution.
Key to this thinking is the understanding that it is more important to get these groups of users capturing and accessing customer information in a corporate database than to have them storing the information in personal tools such as Outlook.
If you can get these groups of users contributing to your CRM strategy then maybe it is a price worth paying to set them up with a satellite CRM solution.
How does Satellite CRM fit into Your CRM Strategy?
In some cases it may be valid to keep the satellite CRM data isolated from the core system. This will often apply when the satellite CRM system is being used by a separate part of the business.
In a more integrated environment you may need to implement a synchronisation process that keeps the data current in both the satellite and core systems.
"Current" may mean overnight data or it may mean real-time or near real-time.
Using the power of technologies such as Microsoft BizTalk & SQL Server you can synchronise data between systems in a way that fits the needs of your business.
Microsoft CRM Can Be an Ideal Satellite CRM solution
Ease-of-use is one of the key factors in winning over business users to use a new system. And when these users are familiar with the Microsoft Outlook interface then winning them over to Microsoft CRM becomes a much easier task.
The ease of use of Microsoft CRM makes it an attractive option as a satellite CRM system as well as a core system. And its lower cost also makes it attractive as an alternative to purchasing additional licences for most enterprise-class CRM systems.