The way is the goal - also with CRM

For Energie Wasser Bern (ewb), a municipal company under public law, the CRM project covers 40 percent of employees and business processes, and only 20 percent of IT.For global players in mass markets, the introduction of a CRM system may not be any easier, but they can spend more money on it. Not only do they have a wide range of standard solutions to choose from, they can also add CRM modules to their business intelligence or enterprise resource planning systems or have their own solution tailored to their needs - and simply buy in the expertise for defining goals and strategies as well as change management and implementation from outside.The appetite comes with the foodFor SMEs such as Dinotronic AG, Horgen, on the other hand, preparing, introducing and implementing a CRM project poses completely different challenges - even if they are at home in IT: "We wanted to have a tool that would give us more transparency from the customer's point of view," says Dino Fiori, founder and CEO of Dinotronic, describing the goal, "it should help us to support marketing and sales. "Address maintenance was not the main focus at Dinotronic, but an overview of what its B2B customers were using, what they had bought from it and what they had not. "About four years ago, we got the licenses for Microsoft Dynamics CRM," Fiori explains, "and when we realized that this solution could do a lot more than what we were missing with our CRM, the appetite came."Advantages found in the cloudAs an IT infrastructure and security provider, it was not difficult for the Dinotronic team to introduce the system step by step - even without external support. Initially, they tried on-premise, i.e., installing and operating servers, but quickly realized that Microsoft Dynamics CRM was better suited for larger customers. Since we started using Microsoft in the Cloud, our CRM has really taken off," says Dino Fiori. This solution is also a very good tool for SMEs with around 50 users or more, according to the Dinotronic boss, but he admits that their sales and marketing departments should already be well-developed and experienced employees should be available.The advantages of the online version are obvious: In the cloud, the complex system functions without great effort, saves regular updates and is always up to date in terms of versions and functions.Although Dinotronic is not yet using all the CRM modules offered by the Microsoft system, the first successes are already evident: "One highlight is that we now have a weighted sales pipeline," says Fiori happily, "thanks to CRM, there are leads and sales opportunities and a sales forecast. In addition, he says, they sent out a direct marketing campaign via CRM for the first time earlier this year. "Here we can see exactly which customers are dealt with via which communication channel and how, and when the response came." However, the system is far from exhausted with this, he says. Fiori: "We still have a lot of ideas and wishes."More of an HR issue than an IT issueWith the CRM project, Energie Wasser Bern (ewb) is moving into a different market: "Our goal is also to bind customers in the mass market to us and to give them a good feeling," explains Urs Schaffner, Product Manager Electricity, thinking of switching barriers in the latter case.It is important to the public-law company of the city of Bern to view the area of tension between the company, employees and customers as a whole and not just to evaluate the actual CRM tool: "CRM should be understood as a corporate philosophy and culture," emphasizes Schaffner, explaining that 40 percent is made up of the employees, 40 percent belongs to the corporate processes and only just 20 percent stands for the actual CRM IT solution.Start small, think bigInvolving employees with direct customer contact in the project team is a critical success factor: "Ultimately, they are the ones who work with the CRM solution on a daily basis and contribute to project acceptance," says the executive MBA, and recommends including sufficient time in the initialization phase from the outset, launching the project accordingly, using the supplier's experience, minimizing risk, and proceeding step by step - true to the motto "start small, but think big.Schaffner sees the greatest challenges in the initialization phase, in which project boundaries are defined and the scope of the project is determined in order to finally formulate the project order. Another element is the execution of the entire project planning (concept, realization, implementation) as well as the project kick-off. Deliverables here could be contracts, agreements, project manual with defined requirements and the project or activity plan.The start, at which many fail, is exemplary at ewb; now the sense of achievement is still to come: "As far as the CRM system is concerned, we are currently in the evaluation phase," says Schaffner, and points to the next critical factor: "It is important for us here to take into account the entire existing IT environment and, if possible, to define the decision in such a way that further development or expansion of the CRM system does not have a negative impact on our process model and our IT infrastructure." So the journey is the destination. If it is straightened out as it was for both companies, nothing stands in the way of project success.More CRM articlesIn the current issue 5, several articles deal with Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The cover story on Amag's comprehensive CRM project shows the benefits that can arise for a large company and the hurdles that have to be overcome in the process.Potentials and challenges with Big Data in customer relationship management are highlighted in the same issue as part of a survey. Another article provides insights into the latest Swiss CRM study. An expert from Swisscom reveals how free, open data can be used for new applications.Finally, Stephan Isenschmid, Managing Director of the Swiss CRM Forum, provides information on what visitors to this specialist event can expect. In the 14th year of its existence, Swiss CRM will present itself on June 11 in the Maag Event Hall in Zurich. Details at www.swisscrmforum.comAuthor: Doris Gottstein