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Extending the reach and value of CRM

CRM is widely recognized as a strategic matter. Retaining and developing customers has long been a critical success factor for businesses. Although the history of CRM is littered with publicity for failed projects and massive expense, experience has taught the industry and its customers about the characteristics of successful projects and how to achieve on-budget delivery.

So the market is maturing and its customers are better informed. They’re realizing for themselves the extent to which CRM can be a business driver in its own right. They’re realizing that the more a CRM implementation transcends the physical boundaries of their own enterprise, the more able they are to instill brand loyalty in their customers.

What is CTI?

CTI (Computer Telephony Integration) coordinates telephone and computer technology. Although the technology is at least 20 years old, it has been widely adopted in just a small number of environments. Typically, only large call centers, where call volumes easily justified the investment in the technology, have developed CTI systems. As these systems became simpler and more cost effective, adoption spread. In short, CTI allows the IT and telephony infrastructures to work together. It manages in and out bound calls more efficiently, enhancing performance and improving customer care and management.

How does CTI enhance a CRM strategy?

CTI plays a key role in the delivery of a customer care strategy. When using the telephone as a point of contact, it’s the customer's primary point of reference for the company contacting them. For the company, it’s a primary point of impression. Using CTI transforms this contact by enabling the portrayal of whichever image the company wishes to communicate. When an outbound call is made, it is made with that customer’s details displayed in front of the caller so they can greet the customer personally and talk knowledgeably about their case history. When a call is received from a customer, the CTI system identifies the customer to the call handler and, as the call is answered, enables the retrieval of relevant case or opportunity information at the click of a mouse button.

Equally, CTI enhances campaigns. By using a Direct Dial Inbound (DDI) number – for example “call this number for a free information pack” –- CTI can distinguish between those campaigns to which a caller may be responding. The system can route the call to the relevant part of the business and register the lead. This acceleration of the marketing and sales process helps qualification and productivity.

Integrating CTI into your business environment

When a company makes the decision to implement a CTI system, the first step is to identify the business objectives. The following are typical:

• Improve customer care
• Achieve competitive advantage
• Use a new service as a unique selling point
• Increase efficiency
• Increase cross selling opportunities

What should CTI provide?

QGate’s intelli-CTi for SageCRM delivers:

• Scalability and telephone switch independence – irrespective of the switch provider, you should be able to integrate your phone and CRM systems.
• Seamless integration – SageCRM can automatically detect QGate’s intelli-CTi on a given workstation so you can begin using your CTI system straight away.
• Softphone – applications that mimic the physical handset functions so you can operate your phone from your desktop.
• Incoming call handling – a pop-up screen provides the caller’s details so the call handler can preempt the caller’s requirement.

Conclusion

There are many factors to consider in the delivery of effective customer care but one of the most important is the feeling of being personally looked after, a primary objective of any organization. With customer acquisition costs so much higher than customer retention costs, investments in service yield high dividends. Lifetime customer value starts and finishes with retention. Extending the reach and value of your CRM system so that it embraces the customer gives you a greater ability to deliver world class service. You can make the phone on your customer’s desk an extension of your own investment in their care.

Luke Richardson is the Alliances Manager for QGate Software Limited, which was awarded Sage Developer of the Year for 2006.  QGate develops products for CTI and data management.  For more information, please visit http://www.qgate.co.uk

Sage Software and the Sage Software product names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. and/or its affiliated entities.