Newsletter, October 2009 - IDRBT

Fast Forward
October 2009
Line staff should be engaged in CRM project: You
can't force sales people and service agents to use
CRM tools. Companies that properly educate
relevant staff members about the business benefits
of CRM and train them to use it properly are more
likely to achieve success. Figure out how the CRM
system will make life easier for line staff so they can
see how they will derive direct benefits from the
tools.
Companies must also be willing to change their
organizations to take advantage of CRM: For
example, organizations that traditionally place all
pricing authority in a central organization may not
realize all the benefits of CRM technology unless
they are willing to let sales people directly
negotiate pricing with customers, and thereby
close sales more quickly.
Setting measurable goals for the CRM project is
paramount: It's difficult to monitor progress of a
CRM project and its actual payback without first
establishing metrics and evaluating performance.
To establish metrics, most companies need to
make a substantial investment in customer
research
Moreover, one should not expect short-term
financial goals and a quick RoI from CRM
projects. Most of the financial benefits of CRM
accrue from projects that prevent customers from
churning out and encouraging them to spend
more with the company. These benefits will
become tangible after at least a year or two.
Companies that don't aim for long-term
advantages of CRM should probably avoid taking
up CRM projects altogether (CRMguru.com).
Finally, one must realize and appreciate the fact
that a CRM project is essentially a business
initiative and not a routine IT project. This is
despite the fact that implementing a CRM project
does require a heavy dose of IT infrastructure.
The reasons for this assertion is that a CRM
initiative is conceived and started to further the
business goals of a company, viz. increasing
customer base, retaining old and profitable
customers and ramp up the revenues and profits
of the company in the process.
By
V. Ravi,
Assistant Professor,
IDRBT
( In the next issue: CRM in Banking )
Certifying Authority Services
The IDRBT Certifying Authority has issued over
1,20,000 Digital Certificates. Banks and Financial
Institutions are using certificates issued by
IDRBT CA for RTGS, CFMS, Corporate e-mail,
SFMS, CTS, Internet Banking Web Server,
OLTAS and CCIL settlement applications.
Further, there are 133 Registration Authority
Offices covering Public Sector Banks, Private
Sector Banks and Financial Institutions. These
also include 16 Registration Authority Offices
created for State Bank of India.
Forty Five RA offices for all Regional Offices and
Central Office Departments of Reserve Bank of
India are also in operation. IDRBT is also acting
as Registration Authority Office for banks and
financial institutions that do not have an RA set
up.
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