Gaining a complete, single view of the customer is very important but rarely achieved among firms, says the Economist Intelligence Unit

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2007-12-05 08:23

Hong Kong--(뉴스와이어)--Global study indicates that executive leadership is needed

to improve CRM success

Eighty-six percent of respondents to Improving Customer Relationships: An integrated approach, a research study from the Economist Intelligence Unit sponsored by SAP, agree that customer relationship management (CRM) is important to their companies. Yet only 5% of respondents claim to have single, all-around view of their customers. The data show that while companies understand the importance of collecting customer data and improving customer service, few have been able to do a good job in these areas.

“Despite the fact that CRM solutions have been around for more than 20 years, not many customers are able to claim their CRM implementations have been successful,” says Debra D’Agostino, senior technology editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “The growing need for CRM, however, makes it more important than ever to get it right.”

Other key findings in the study conclude that more than 40% of respondents admit their firms do not have a formal CRM strategy in place. Of those that do, 44% have seen “acceptable” results from their efforts; while another 22% say CRM has been a disappointment. The survey polled executives of various industries and company sizes from around the globe on their experiences and opinions relating to their CRM strategies.

“CRM continues to be a dynamic and changing market that is entering its next evolution·moving beyond standardization and truly achieving differentiation for companies,” said Bob Stutz, senior vice president and general manager, CRM Global Strategy and Product Development, SAP. “Customer service matters more than ever right now, whether you are a marketing manager, sales executive or call center representative. Firms are always looking for new and effective ways to improve the client experience, which means having a complete view of their customers.”

Much of the problem is that most companies lack an enterprise-wide strategy. Nearly one-quarter of respondents say that CRM is driven by individual departments and only 23% can claim their CRM efforts are led by a C-level executive outside the information technology department. “Without leadership from the top,” says Tracey Altman, senior director for Latimark, a Dallas-based marketing consultancy, “firms won’t see CRM as a strategic tool, but as something they are just supposed to do.”

Additional key findings of the survey include:

· Metrics for CRM success may be misaligned. Companies adopt CRM to increase marketing effectiveness (51%), improve service delivery (48%) or drive new revenue (47%). But companies most often gauge CRM success largely according to overall customer satisfaction (49%) and retention (42%)·wholly different metrics. More than 17% do not measure CRM success at all.

· Increased spending on CRM initiatives could improve results. More than 70% say they will spend more or significantly more money on CRM over the next three years. This presents an opportunity to improve data-sharing between departments, although most companies say that spending increases are likely to go toward sales (56%), customer service/support (51%) and marketing (45%), rather than systems integration.

· CRM needs executive leadership. Nearly 60% of companies that describe their CRM efforts as disappointing cite a lack of executive sponsorship as a major obstacle to CRM success, compared with 9% of those whose efforts have been successful.

Notes for editors

About the survey

The research is based on a global survey of 114 senior executives from various industries and companies with annual revenues ranging from less than $500m to as much as $20bn. The survey was conducted in August 2007.

About the Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit is the world leader in global business intelligence. It is the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist newspaper. The Economist Intelligence Unit provides geopolitical, economist and business analysis on more than 200 countries, as well as strategic intelligence on key industries and management practices. With over 300 full-time professionals in 40 offices around the world, supported by a global network of more than 700 contributing analysts, the Economist Intelligence Unit is widely known for its unparalleled coverage of major and emerging markets. More information about the Economist Intelligence Unit can be found at www.eiu.com.

About SAP

SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 43,400 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP? applications·from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver? technology platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at <http://www.sap.com>;)

웹사이트: http://www.eiu.com