Basics of
Real time CRM intelligence and Real Time CRM Best Practices
Nethra
Sambamoorthi, Ph.D
President, CRMportals Inc.,
11
Bartram Road, Englishtown, NJ 07726
Key words: Real time CRM
analytics, CRM intelligence, Diverse CRM systems defined by ORACLE, SAS,
INFORMATICA, TERADATA, Principles of real time system, Factors Determining Right
CRM System
Why Real time CRM
analytics?
There are many reasons why real time CRM analytics is
expected to be performing as good as or better than “web service – a real time
but not real person service”. In the world of consumer expectation where real
people interactions are considered as an important differentiator of you and
your competition, it means a lot for the consumer and for you. Even in
instantaneous web service, when the consumers input data in the web, they expect
to get not only instantaneous web service, but also instantaneous intelligent
service; they can not be told that the telephone talk they had few minutes back
with the customer service representative is not part of the service provided by
the web service, because there is a lag in integrating the data or in the
execution of an algorithm. Finally, consumers always want relevant service,
where the relevance means current status, not yesterday’s status.
Some of the best real time analytical system comprising
of telephone, web, historical transaction, pricing, product info, and business
rules applications are wonderfully integrated and implemented to the best
satisfaction of customers in companies like Schwab, American Express, and
classic direct marketing companies such as Lands End. The schema given here is
inspired by their classic customer service platforms. Believe me or not, these
companies have been doing this for quite some time, with full power of real time
CRM analytics, while rest of the companies have started only deliberating as to
what is real time CRM analytics and do we need a real time CRM analytics. This
is understandable if it is a cost issue; however, with new world of “customer
service following the Sun”, even small companies have solutions to follow the
best of breed companies.
Current Vendors – Some business decisions on which CRM
system can deliver at an attractive TOC (Total Cost of Ownership)?
For example, according to
many published (commonly available in the net) refer ORACLE, SAS, INFORMATICA,
and TERADATA as some of the classic companies providing real time analytics and
the typical real time integration of data is achieved by the following
architecture, representing some diverse applications and software. We will
consider these discussions only keeping these as diverse and fore runners of the
real time approach. ORACLE (exceptional database powers), SAS (exceptional
analytical powers), INFORMATICA (concentrating on integration powers), TERADATA
(concentrating as an all rounder with warehousing powers)
Schema for real time analytical system:
Examples:
-
CRM representative has to answer a customer’s question whether the
bill payment has been posted or not and why is that the card is not getting
approvals on a retail store (card transaction approval algorithm, customer
information, retail transaction system, billing system data will have to be
integrated along with all the algorithm inputs that go into these systems and
the actual current status of the customer; now imagine what happens if the bill
was paid over internet with using predetermined checking account relationship
for which the customer has signed off with the company’s site)
-
CRM representative has to answer a customer’s question “when will
I get the new battery for the recalled battery of my cell phone for which I
received the ‘Recall Letter’ yesterday?” Here the customer information, along
with algorithm that qualifies the recall, and the retail information which sold
the cell phone. Imagine the customer filled a web form about this and he wants
to confirm the earliest date by which the battery will be received by the
customer. (fulfillment system, web system, tele-transaction system, real time
algorithm)
Real time analytics is meant for the
following: For CRM application, this is to interact with the consumers (CASE I),
and for the enterprise it is providing intelligence to the management and the
algorithm developers (CASE II). In both cases, the ultimate aim to serve
customers with best, relevant service.
While the first one is using already
developed algorithm but gets modified by certain weights of the decision
influencing variables as we get new data, the other part is purely for
development of new algorithms influenced by both management and the developers.
Often many companies think of real time analytics referring to reports that are
being served, predominantly for serving the management. The reports are the easy
part but the real need is at serving the customers using right algorithms, which
takes us to the real time algorithm developers.
Is it possible to achieve Real time analytics
in a cost effective way?
As we mentioned earlier we have no choice but to provide
real time analytics to the CRM reps and associates. So how do we provide this
capability cost effectively?
The other problem is how do we provide real
time analytics for Web marketing, the marketing that typically refers to the
following six ways of reaching and serving your customers, namely, email, chat,
search engine optimization, newsletters, affiliate marketing, and web viral
marketing. Here it is typically the campaign evaluation and creating new offers
(CASE III).
So people mean different things when they
mean real time analytics. Does any of the classic application provide real time
analytics capabilities to all the three with out any additional work on the part
of the buyer? The answer is a resounding NO. While Informatica and Teradata,
being a service company, it is well positioned to answer a qualified statement;
the rest of them cannot simply do it.
So the answer to the question put on the
title of this section is it depends on your implementation and the vendor who is
doing the work for you.
Small companies can leverage off-shoring for
building and supporting real time CRM systems.
Do I really need a real time CRM system?
To build a real time analytics platform, know
your answers for the first principles that drives the purpose of your real time
system. Second, we have to know how we are going to use this on a daily basis.
Given below is a checklist to determine your needs for a real time analytics
system
Item |
First
Principles |
Yes/No |
1 |
Do you need to integrate web, telephone,
and point of sale systems? |
Yes |
2 |
Do you want to serve the customers with the
latest information about products, offers, and service parameters? |
Yes |
3 |
Do you need to serve the customer based on
the latest verifiable information from the customers and consumers
|
Yes |
4 |
Do you have to make real time decisions at
the time customer/consumer comes in contact with the web/tele/POS systems? |
Yes |
5 |
Are you in need of collecting data in real
time? (this is different from 4) |
Yes |
6 |
Is your competition doing it? |
Yes |
7 |
Does servicing your customers then and
there with the right latest information matters to your business? |
Yes |
8 |
Is authorization on a transaction or
service, or sale of a product to a customer relevant for your business? |
Yes |
9 |
Is service the most important component of
your products? |
Yes |
10 |
Are you using data collected in real time
to devise new products and services? |
Yes |
While many of the questions may look like overlapping,
many companies who do not have to attend to all these questions in trying to
come up with a right application to buy or to source. Even if your company
answers YES to your select questions, you in deed need a real time analytical
CRM system which will provide intelligence in interacting with your customer in
support of best CRM services to your customers and best marketing support system
for your company. You cannot deliver best CRM services, with out real time
analytics. Real time analytics is the real time CRM best practices.
In summary real time CRM intelligence is a
pre-cursor for real time CRM best practices and services and small companies
have a way out with the current trend of off-shoring for best in breed service
and better prices.
|