Measures to assess the success of CRM implementation

Implementing a CRM solution might involve considerable time and expenses. However, recently, the Gartner group reports that about 55% of all CRM projects fail, and Bain& company note that these failures lead to damage to long-standing relationships (Adrian Mello., 2002). Then how should we define whether the implementation of a CRM solution is successful or not? I’d like to recommend several measures to assess the success of CRM implementation.

1. Whether CRM implementation leads to greater employee satisfaction. A CRM implementation must provide end users easy access to the data they need--within their normal workflow, no more than one click away. Employees of different departments may have different needs concerning CRM implementation. For example, call center staff have different needs than tellers and member service representatives. (Terry Murphy, 2004) If CRM isn't seamless and relevant, employees won't use it, not to mention any effective implementation. CRM must also deliver real-time data. If it doesn't, the company will devalue the message and turn off members when the offers don't match their up-to-the-minute needs.
2. Whether CRM integrates in the operation of the company. Most companies are achieving technical or system success, but fail to put英语论文网 【http://www.51lunwen.org】 into operation the system and new processes. For example, generally speaking, the more channels a company owns, the more opportunities a customer has to conduct business with the company. However, the more channels a company has, the greater the company needs to manage the interaction with its customer base. If the company fails to operate channels such as direct channels, online sales, and use of agents effectively, situations similar to Orbitz Case will happen. Customers shall lose confidence and faith in this company due to poor operation of the company. The biggest stumbling block remains how to integrate the disparate systems and pockets of data that CRM demands, both internal and third-party sources. Managing data exchange and presentation among these systems has yet to be resolved. But their integration is key to CRM's ultimate success.
3. Whether CRM results in greater customer satisfaction. Successful CRM implementation must lead to enhanced customer satisfaction and retention, ensuring that the good reputation of the company in the marketplace continues to grow. By finding out about customers’ purchasing habits, opinions and preferences, CRM system should be able to help a company provide more personal services to customers. Only by providing seamless and satisfactory services to existing customers can cross-selling and up-selling become possible.
4. Whether CRM results in lower cost of sales and higher profits. Why would companies make efforts to 本文来自：英语论文网 【http://www.51lunwen.org】