CRM Selection - Implementing SAP CRM - page 133

Chapter 4

CRM Selection

4.1 SAP CRM for Small and Medium enterprises (SMe)
The majority of companies that will be implementing customer relationship management (CRM)
systems in the millennium will be small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are usually
defined as companies that have revenues ranging from $250 million up to $1 billion. These com-
panies have modest IT/IS resources and budgets and are expected to benefit the most from imple-
menting off-the-shelf application products like CRMs. This is because they do not have the depth
of experience and a constant availability of adequate expertise to be able to handle the in-house
development of an enterprise-wide system.
Like the large enterprises within their markets, SMEs are impacted by the rapidly changing
marketplace and their own ability to respond to these changes. CRMs provide the platform for
SMEs to address the competitive demands of the rapidly changing marketplace and be successful
in terms of the following:

◾ Improve customer responses and experience.

− Increase customer satisfaction.
− Improve communications.

◾ Improve customer relations and management.

− Consolidate critical information about each customer.
− Target the most profitable customers and develop programs to increase their loyalty to
your company.
− Virtually eliminate the possibility of prospects or customers falling through the cracks of
an obsolete or overloaded system.
− Yield faster and more accurate follow-up on sales leads, referrals, and customer inquiries.
− Personalize the service and product offerings to each customer.
− Boost the revenue-per-salesperson and territory performance while reducing both cost-
per-lead and cost-of-closed-business expenses.
− Give top managers a detailed and accurate picture of all sales and marketing activities.
− Instantly react to changing market conditions.

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