According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, the internet is a computer system that allows millions of computer users around the world to exchange information. When talking about the internet, it is a process that allows someone sitting in the corner of his room or office to send out messages or transact business with millions of users who were connected around the world.
In our own part of the world, it has been observed that many of the business that we have in the country have not embraced the use of information communication Technology in the running of their business, that is why large percentage of them remain stagnant.
| OBJECTIVES OF THIS ARTICLE
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to: · Discuss the relationship between CRM and Internet. · The Internet and Globalization · The major CRM packages that we have in the e-business environment. |
The use of the internet in the conduct of your business will help your business to grow. It will remove the boarder that you have built against your business. One thing that could prevent customers from transacting business with you is your location. Most at times, it also determines the kind of customers that you attract to your business. But with the advent of the internet, it is possible for you to transact business with individuals outside your country or continent without having your physical presence there.
Worthy of mention is what some IT organisations are doing now which many of us have been partakers of, without knowing that it is CRM in action. You can actually pick some items on line and pay online or you pay on delivery. It is one of the ways that internet add value to CRM.
Another way is that, CRM allows customers to be served across multiple channels. If you are a true customer-centric enterprise, you will not force all your customers and prospects to come to your offices before they can enjoy the wide range of products and service that you have to offer.
In serving the customers through the internet, communicate with the organisation enjoy the same quality of service. This will make them to stick to your organisation for life.
In human nature as we know, we always like to enjoy our freedom. Nobody likes to be controlled by others. That is why people like to move to organisations that give them freedom to do whatever they want to do.
Take for example, a manager in the convenience of his office, with internet banking, could send and receive money from anywhere around the world. He could also by items form organisations that have their presence online. This is one of the arrays of ways that the internet has contributed to the growth of CRM.
CRM AND GLOBALIZATION
Without mincing words, we will say that globalization is the process of turning the whole world into a global village. This astronomical change was made possible through the use of the internet. In a global village, there is nothing like boarders or sovereignty. Without going through the process of obtaining visa or other travel documents, you can now sell and receive goods from across the globe.
Looking at what has been discussed so far about customer relationship which has much to do with serving your customers across multiple channels, meeting their needs and putting technologies in place in order to ensure that wherever your customer are, they are able to enjoy the same quality products and services that they used to enjoy when they walk-in into any of your branch offices.
CRM in collaboration with its associated technologies, most especially with the use of the internet will place your organisation at the centre of the global village; you will be able to meet with different prospects and customers from across the world. The main thing in CRM is that, you should be able to predict your customers’ next move and meet them at the right place with the right products and services.
When you are doing business in globalize village, the customers are less concerned about where you are operating form as far as you are meeting their needs.
If your failed to meet their needs, the next organisation is just a mouse click away. That is why they don’t bother about your business location.
That is also the main reason why if you want to establish your presence in the globalize environment using the internet, you must be ready to constantly meet the need of your customers so that you don’t lose them as they are moving round your Life Cycle. As far as you continue to meet their needs, they will continue to be loyal to your organisation.
Major CRM packages
Team Support: This is a user friendly help desk that helps businesses deliver the best possible experience to their customers by building teamwork, solving in-house communicating breakdowns and answering customer inquiries.
Plan Plus Online: Plan Plus Online provides collaboration and CRM for business. This web-based package helps increase productivity with features including sale automation, email marketing and project management.
Mhelp Desk: This is a web based CRM solution that is we-based solution that more than 6,000 companies uses in improving look order visibility. Their user friendly interface help businesses management support tickets, computer services and invoice and billing.
Act-on: This is an intuitive marketing automation solution, ideal for companies with minimal IT involvement. Deployed as a web based system, the solution will automatically update so that you can focus on your business, not your software.
Saleforce.com: This is the innovator behind cloud-based CRM systems. They played a hug part in popularizing the model by offering a contact management system that is assessable anywhere with the aid of an internet connection.
Oracle Eloqua: Oracle Eloqua is a leader in Business to Business marketing automation. It is a web-based system. It offers strong capabilities in demand generalization, lead management and revenue performance management.
Tracker RMS CRM: It offers a cloud based relationship management systems for sales, support, project management and recruiting. The tool easily integrates with Microsoft outlook and it is easily assessable from any internet – capable mobile device.
Leadmaster Lead Management: This is an online CRM solution that offers a full set of features including online tracking, sales force automation and real time data mining. It can be customized for specific industries, including insurance and real estate firms.
Markerto Lead Management: It was founded in 2006. The software was developed for the Business to Business (B2B) marketer and is the most rapidly growing solution on the market for lead management.
Nextiva Hosted Call Centre: Nextiva provides telephony packages for small business that can be easily managed from an online dashboard. Their hosted call centre solution are also tools for managing queues, routing and automatic call distribution online.
SUMMARY
At the end of this lesson, we have been able to discover that:
- The internet helps to put business on the world map.
- It helps you to serve your customers across multiple centre.
- It allows you to give your customers freedom that they crave for.
- We have some CRM packages that organisations can use such as: team support, plan Plus online, Mhelp desk, Act-on, Salecom. Oracle Eloqua among others.
BRAINSTORMING SESSION
- If you are the new CRM Manager for sterling Bank Plc, you have been asked to prepare a blueprint for the migration of the Bank to a “one customer bank” how will you go about this?
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