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DSC Tech Library
Customer Relationship Management
This section of our technical library presents information and documentation relating to CRM Vendors and Customer relationship management software and products. Providing customer service is vital to maintaining successful business relationships. Accurate and timely information provided in a professional manner is the key to any business and service operation.
Telemation, our CRM software application, was built on this foundation. But the flexibility to change is just as important in this dynamic business environment.
Telemation call center software was designed with this concept from the very beginning.
That is why so many call center managers, with unique and changing requirements, have chosen and continue to use Telemation CRM software as their solution.
Our Telemation CRM solution is ideally suited for call center service bureaus.
The following is an article relating to the CRM industry.
ROI and Training: A Leadership Issue
By: Glen S. Petersen, GSP & Associates, Inc.
It is common for CRM projects to exceed their budgets for training. Sometimes, it is a forgotten
line item but more often, it is a matter of under budgeting. According to consultants that
specialize in this area, the budget can be underestimated by a factor of three to five. The source
of these budgeting errors typically pertain to not including basic training to bring skill levels to a
common plain, follow-up training, and the need to train new employees.
Too often training is approached as a necessary expense that must be constrained or otherwise
minimized. It is true that when training is not tightly coupled with achieving organizational
objectives that it can take on the aura of high priced entertainment. However, for CRM projects,
training tends to be the lynchpin activity that ties change management and learning together in a
way that fosters behaviors and attitudes consistent with the purposes of the initiative. Lacking
proper funding for these activities results in resistance and knowledge to embrace the new
system.
From a superficial perspective, ROI might seem to be diluted by budgeting large sums for
training; however, the ultimate project ROI will be negative (not zero) unless employees
leverage the system for the purposes it was intended to achieve. Training is very much a payme-
now or pay-me-later decision. If funds are properly estimated up-front, they are very visible
and therefore subject to scrutiny and criticism; whereas, if training is short cut, the budget looks
better while the effects of the inadequate training gets muddled in low productivity and finger
pointing that surely occurs later in the process.
A number of years ago, a large manufacturing company deployed a CRM system and did an
excellent job except when it came time for the rollout, they discovered that their budget would
not cover the anticipated training costs. The project team decided to complete the project on
budget and short cut training. The result was predictable, users were confused – the help desk
was overwhelmed and senior management was very unhappy. It turned out that $2 million was
available through the corporate training budget that could have been used to supplement the
project budget.
Successful deployment of major initiatives ultimately revolves around leadership issues. The
project team in this situation wanted to be viewed as good managers but they lost sight of the
ultimate goal, a system that people use in a productive manner that adds value to customers and
the company. Leadership is about doing the right thing for the right reason – it cannot be defined
by best practices.
About GSP & Associates
GSP & Associates, Inc. is a consultancy that is dedicated to helping user organizations to
leverage their investment in CRM related tools. The company provides expertise in the strategic
and operational application of CRM tools, sales tools, sales process modeling, and business case
development and ROI analysis.
About The Author
Glen S. Petersen is an internationally recognized speaker, writer,
practitioner, and thought leader in the Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) and e-Business industries. Mr. Petersen has
held senior level management positions with systems integration and
end user organizations. As a visionary and early adopter of Sales
Force Automation (SFA), in 1986 Mr. Petersen led one of the first
successful national implementations of SFA in the United States.
Realizing the tremendous future of this new technology,
Mr. Petersen joined a SFA software start-up company in 1988 and had the pleasure of working
with many of the pioneering organizations that deployed sales force automation at a time when
most organizations were unaware of its existence. In 1991, Mr. Petersen left the vendor
community to do consulting. This experience combined with his background in operational and
strategic planning places Mr. Petersen in a unique position to advise and assist clients in this
challenging area of change management and technology integration. During this period, Mr.
Petersen has developed a number of proprietary facilitation techniques, which help organizations
to better understand the potential of these technologies, and how to rally the organization around
a single threaded, phased implementation approach. Prior to founding GSP & Associates, Mr.
Petersen was Senior Vice President at ONE, Inc. and Ameridata, a $1.3B provider of hardware,
software, and services. In these positions, Mr. Petersen sold and directed operational strategy
engagements and helped major corporations articulate and justify their CRM and e-Business
initiatives.
Mr. Petersen is the author of six books:
- High-Impact Sales Force Automation: A Strategic Perspective
- CRMS: ROI & Results Measurement
- CRM Leadership and Alignment in a Customer Centric World
- ROI: Building the CRM Business Case
- CRM Best Practices: Self Assessment
- Making CRM An Operational Reality
Mr. Petersen can be reached at 505-771-1956 or gpetersen@competitiveperformance.com
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