11 Nov 2009

CRM automation helps firms manage the "donkey work"

Customer relationship management (CRM) can be improved through IT infrastructure, it has been claimed.

Rob Widdicombe, managing director of Canonbury Services, said CRM allows the IT infrastructure of a business to do the "donkey work of life".

"Anyone who deals with customers will have a need for CRM, so that means everyone," he commented.

Mr Widdicombe added, however, that automation of practices can go too far, as having full autonomy can lead to an inflexible system which is incapable of meeting business demands during a crisis.

Therefore, a "sensitive and sensibly tried" automation should be undertaken to enhance the CRM experience for both firms and customers alike.

According to a recent Gartner report, 52.6 per cent of companies have not switched CRM software within the past three years.

However, 49.2 per cent of the different companies surveyed used a Microsoft Office application in some way as a part of their total CRM experience.