Thomas Cutler asked:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems allow businesses to capture, track, and manage vital customer information. The explosive growth of CRM technology has attracted numerous companies; however the industry has been plagued by vendors offering overly complex solutions to solve basic business problems. “This has resulted in a low adoption rate and failed customer expectations†says Larry Caretsky, CEO of Commence Corporation. “The concern of most businesses today is not the lack of technology, but rather how they can leverage technology to improve their internal processes and ultimately their bottom line.â€
For the past ten years the role of maximizing lifetime value of customers has dramatically changed with the implementation and utilization of CRM. Generic CRM solutions have failed, and core issues of leveraging technology to improve internal processes and ultimately the bottom line, are still at the forefront of the CRM efficacy discussion. Larry Caretsky, CEO of Commence Corporation, a leading CRM provider, is the software executive profiled in The Software Professional Journal by manufacturing Journalist TR Cutler. The entire feature can be read at http://www.softwareprofessionalpeople.com/article1.htm.
Caretsky’s company has been providing software solutions to growing businesses for seventeen years and has witnessed all the trends in CRM. With this vast experience, Caretsky discovered long ago that rapidly deployable, cost effective solutions were the only way for customers to quickly and affordably reap the benefits of their investment.
Few CRM firms have taken the unique approach to meeting the key objectives businesses by streamlining internal business processes, improving sales processes, and delighting customers. Caretsky refers to this proven implementation methodology as S.T.E.P., the System Technology Execution Process. S.T.E.P begins with the fundamental knowledge that most customers must first deal with the problem of data capture, data consolidation and data management. Typically, vital customer data is spread throughout the organization in contact managers, back office systems and spreadsheets. Employees spend a significant amount of time trying to determine where or who in the organization has the information they need to address customer inquiries. The inability to gain access to a complete customer profile only serves to rob people of precious time that should be spent selling to or servicing customers. Management is clearly aware of this and they realize that in order to become a more efficient sales and service organization they must get the right information in the hands of the right people at the right time.
“Many companies are entering the CRM market with generic solutions designed under a one-size fits all approach,†says Caretsky. “Their business model is to try and sell the same solution to as many companies as possible regardless of the industry their in. This may have worked ten years ago, but it won’t today. You simply cannot expect to sell your solution to a bank then walk across the street and sell it to an insurance company. You have to respect the complexity of their businesses and be prepared to understand and address their unique business requirements.â€
Commence has taken a unique approach to meeting these objectives beginning with the fundamental knowledge that most small to mid-size manufacturers and distributors must first address the problem of data capture, data consolidation and data sharing. The issue they face is that vital customer information is spread throughout their organization in contact managers, back office systems and excel spreadsheets and is often difficult to attain. Employees spend a significant amount of time trying to determine where or who in the organization has the information they need to address customer inquiries. This robs sales and service people of precious time during their day.
Commence offers lean industrial companies complete “Freedom Of Choice†to select the solutions and platform that best meets the business requirements of manufacturers and distributors. The comprehensive CRM Industrial application suite is available for use on premise or on-demand as a hosted service. Industrial leaders often build departmental lean CRM solutions with the award winning Commence Lean Industrial CRM Framework. These choices are why so many industrial companies choose Commence as the solution for managing customer relationships. All Commence Industrial solutions support mobile or wireless connectivity and integration to back-office accounting and ERP systems.