How Do Your Customers Serve Their Customers?

For the past several years, many organizations have been focused on the internal costs of providing customer service, looking for ways to drive customers to less expensive methods such as the Web or IVR (interactive voice response). However, if you've ever keyed in a string of credit card numbers, said your mother's maiden name, and given your password twice only to be asked to repeat that information to an operator, you understand the potential weakness of this strategy. In an economy where retaining customers is more important than hypergrowth, companies are becoming more concerned about customer experience. However, making sure the CSR (customer service representative) knows a customer has already keyed in an account number or has previously addressed a problem via e-mail requires a well-designed, tightly integrated CRM (customer relationship management) and call center system.

"Consumers today have many ways to interact with a company to supposedly make customer service easier," says Jim Smith, VP of CRM solutions, Avaya Inc. (Basking Ridge, NJ). "In the past, companies were focused on efficiency and internal metrics, not how effective customer service was for the customer. If we're looking at a customer's needs, a system has to be integrated. If a customer calls, a CSR should know about any e-mail or other correspondence related to the situation. Similarly, if an e-mail is sent, a CSR should know if the message refers to a specific phone call."

Integration expertise can open doors for VARs who can help organizations connect various existing applications to get more and better customer information and use it more effectively. In fact, the need for integration may even drive customers to systems integrators. "Certain hardware and software components necessary for an efficient customer service infrastructure are complex enough that working with the integrator channel is vital," comments Marchai Bruchey, VP, partner enablement, KANA Software, Inc. (Menlo Park, CA). Even if a company has a dedicated IT staff, those employees generally don't offer the same experience in writing the interfaces for systems composed of various vendor products. The number of installations VARs have in CRM environments is another asset they bring to end users. Integrators should promote the fact that a CRM integration specialist has "been there, done that" much more often than an IT director who oversees a single system.

Beyond the actual call center and CRM application, customer service applications can be integrated with additional processes. For example, once data is centrally collected, VARs can provide tools for data mining and business intelligence. "There are opportunities for integrators to sell technology that takes interaction data and links it to transactional, operational, and analytical systems," says Tom Hammergren, senior VP, general manager, customer interaction management at divine, inc. (Chicago). These systems can include ERP (enterprise resource planning), field service, and business intelligence applications that drive marketing initiatives. Incremental enhancements like these provide end users with the reduced costs and increased efficiencies the market is currently demanding, empowering an organization's business processes.

Focusing on integration is a wise strategy for VARs in the current economic climate. End users simply aren't comfortable with the prolonged implementation periods and high price tags of many enterprise CRM solutions, many of which have taken years to implement with negligible results. VARs who can optimize existing data stores and applications through integration are winning the game by providing quick deployments with short payback periods while increasing their own services revenue. "What integrators are telling us is they have greater success when they can pitch a solution and get quick wins that result in incremental cost savings or revenue increases for the customer," reports Bruchey. "Customers are willing to buy into solutions that can be installed quickly in stages. They aren't really looking for the whole solution right away."

Supplement Technological Expertise With Process Knowledge
Integrators who want to build a CRM practice may need to provide their customers with advice on more than just technology and integration. They may want to consider building a knowledge base around improving overall operations in a customer service organization. "Implementing a true enterprise solution requires an emphasis on people and processes as well as software," notes Bruchey. "An integrator with expertise in business process reengineering can shorten the payback period of a project, making the project more likely to be deemed a success."

To accomplish this goal, VARs may want to offer consultation on CSR training and evaluation. "The biggest gap in the technology is bringing in human learning," asserts Smith. "We're seeing investments in quality assurance and e-learning associated with CRM." Smith says the CRM industry is in the early stages of exploring technologies such as word spotting and emotion reading. Based on this innovation, software may eventually be available that will pinpoint when a customer is getting annoyed or is most open to a sales pitch based on subtleties in what they say and how they say it. "Some CRM customers have drifted away from real-time interactions except at the moment of truth," says Smith. "They really need to know how to apply the human touch at the right point in time."

Knowing more about the requirements of CSRs allows VARs to implement technology that addresses another challenge faced by call centers - employee retention. "Retaining talent is easier with the right call center tools because people don't get as burnt out," says Hammergren. "In one telephony center we worked with, the turnover rate was about 30%. Using technologies that reduced complexity and improved productivity, that rate dropped to 2%."

Carl Zaldivar, president and CEO of BizAutomation.com (Redondo Beach, CA), agrees that CRM functionality doesn't always take into account the best interests of the individual user. "When most companies develop software, the decisions are often driven by engineers," says Zaldivar. "But what about the person in marketing who has to use the software? The user interface really drives the success of a solution." Demonstrating an understanding of employee needs and what will make them more productive is another layer of expertise VARs can use to sell themselves as expert consultants.

Use Vertical Expertise To Generate CRM Sales
In addition to consulting about generic call center processes, VARs can also profit from vertical expertise. "As giants like Microsoft and Oracle move into the CRM market, integrators need to strategically move into vertical markets to survive," says Zaldivar. "Because of the investment, it makes sense to attack horizontal opportunities at first. As the CRM market matures, integrators should move to vertical specialties and establish a niche."

Integrators can also use existing vertical expertise to launch a CRM initiative. This would allow them to get the most out of investments made in acquiring the contacts and knowledge in that market. "VARs can build specific assets, such as a pre-configured solution, based on their vertical expertise," says Bruchey. "Right now, we're seeing that healthcare, financial services, and communications have the greatest need. They have large customer bases trying to get at a vast store of data, and those industries are becoming more customer-centric."

According to a survey from Jupiter Media Metrix, 74% of businesses plan to invest in CRM technology in 2003. Because of their integration expertise and focus on services, integrators may be in the ideal position to benefit from this trend. "The core thing to focus on is that VARs have developed relationships with customers for years and won their trust," says Zaldivar. "CRM is growing, and customers are looking to VARs to help them pick a solution. The trust factor is going to be at the core of their success."