E-Commerce Blog

Once a small business decides to invest in a CRM solution to replace the patchwork assortment of tools it has been using to manage its information, the selection process can be daunting. A plethora of CRM vendors offering an assortment of features have appeared on the scene in recent years, said Brent Leary, cofounder and partner of management consulting and advisory firm CRM Essentials. The small business must first understand its own requirements. Is it a new business trying to build a customer base? Is it experiencing high growth or trying to leverage its Web base?

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Small Business CRM, Part 2: Choosing the Right CRM Tool

What U.S. business wouldn’t want a customer base of 37.5 million prospects? In 2008, hospitals in the U.S. registered that many admissions — a number that equals 12 percent of the U.S. population. Yet the hospitals in the U.S. have largely underutilized the customer relationship management tools that could exploit the data in that customer base to create significant increases in business volume and more profitable operations. In a sluggish economy, hospitals could use a shot in the arm to attract more clients.

Rx for Hospitals: A Big Dose of CRM

Let’s say you’re a CRM vendor. Your constant mission is to provide users with what they need, and your biggest fear is that your competitors will be better at that than you are. How do you stay in front? If you come from a traditional software background, your default answer is likely to be “new features.” The addition of new features and functionality has been a staple of software sales, especially for established technologies; it’s a way of evolving the product, bringing in new capabilities and allowing you to coax more money from your existing customers.

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Feature Shock: How New CRM Functionality Can Thwart Adoption

Companies considering CRM systems often view them as a way to improve customer satisfaction and retention, boost sales and accelerate employee productivity. However, as with many technology-enabled business process, success is a complicated and interdependent proposition. When companies are winning — demonstrating growth and gaining market share — the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality can breed complacency. Conversely, when sales are sluggish and customer churn is high, CRM solutions are often the first thing in management’s sights.

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Who to Blame When CRM Fails

The health insurance industry, especially in the U.S., has a long way to go before it achieves a high level of performance in the use of customer relationship management tools. However, pressure is coming from market forces — including new government healthcare reform policies — that will compel improvements in health insurance CRM, whether insurance companies want it or not. A new wrinkle in health insurance that is just now emerging as a major factor — and one that will be more important in the future — is Consumer Directed Healthcare.

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Health Insurance CRM, Part 1: Shifting Into Catch-Up Mode