Critical Success Factors for CRM Program

Introduction

Customer relationship management (CRM) takes a significant place in the world of business helping companies to establish an effective system ensuring regulation of the relationship between the company and customers. It helps to evaluate customers’ experiences regarding a selected group of goods and services. The main problem in the business world is that not all CRM programs become effective and lead the company to success. There are different factors, which influence the process of the program’s implementation. It is necessary to take into account all of them in order to establish and implement a program, which will emphasize the company’s strengths and turn weaknesses into competitive benefits.

Critical Success Factors

The diversity of factors contributes to the successful implementation of the CRM program. Undoubtedly, every company has a set of factors caused by the surrounding business environment (Al-Khouri 2012). It is possible to discuss the influence of the most common factors, which should be considered important in the implementation of the CRM program. First, it is necessary to establish business goals, which can be measured in different ways including both time and resources needed for goal achievement. Measurable goals help not only to envision success but also to track the processes running in the system aimed at achieving the selected targets. Another critical success factor represents the necessity of combining business and IT communication. It is necessary to establish an effective CRM program, which will include the latest tendencies in the development of the business world (Tekin 2013). Technologies formulate a vast segment of the new era, which takes over old traditions and principles of business activity. It means that technologies should become a mandatory element in the regulation of relationship with customers. Another point in the list of critical success factors is the functionality of the program. It means that it should not limit the company’s performance boundaries. It should extend its normal activity and support functionality of all departments formulating the company’s basement. Business goals included in a CRM program should support functionality from different sides. It should not become a limiting aspect of the company’s growth and development. It should contain goals, which not only reflect the company’s peculiarities but also support an intention to enhance its functionality. Another aspect of the critical success factors is that it should be user friendly (Maleki 2008). This factor can encounter different meanings including the fact that all end users should have an opportunity to take decision in the established program. It is necessary to support this critical success factor with another one stating that investments should increase functionality of the program. For example, it is an appropriate option to make investments into the trainings, which can help all participants of the program boost the decision-making process with increased benefit. Investments should always have different targets, which will help the company build a comprehensive approach towards the improvement and elimination of the aspects influencing its development. Executive support is also another critical success factor, which plays one of the major roles in shaping an effective CRM program (Mendoza, Marius, Perez & Griman 2006). It is important to engage top-management into the regulation of the customer relationship. The role of top management is to penetrate the activity of the company with peculiarities of the CRM program, which will promote further development. Top management is also responsible for the establishment of the schedule allowing all departments to perform with the same intensity in the same direction. Effective scheduling can become a key to the promotion of a CRM program and orientation to specific goals. The final point in the list of critical success factors is a monitoring system. It is necessary to monitor and measure all processes running within a CRM program. As long as the company can track all processes, it can notice mistakes or omissions, which cause problems and can lead to the loss of progress. In addition, monitoring can point at the weaknesses of the program, which create obstacles and difficulties on the way to success.

In general, the company should not establish a program according to a certain set of critical success factors. It is necessary to create a CRM program, which will include the company’s strengths and will turn its weaknesses into competitive advantages transforming the company’s performance. Every company has its business surrounding environment, which defines the list of critical success factors. A CRM program should become an individual set of company’s peculiarities outlining its intention to gain success. Many companies tend to give up as long as they fail to complete a CRM program successfully. However, it is necessary to take into account all critical success factors according to the company’s requirements in order to make a program successful.

Summary

In conclusion, it is necessary to reflect the information given in the paper by summarizing the main points. A CRM program can become a point in the company’s development, which will transform its performance. It depends on the company whether the transformation will benefit the company’s activity or create additional difficulties. The list of critical success factors should support the company’s competitive advantages and help it reach another level of development. Progress should become the main target of any program aimed at helping the company meet requirements of the surrounding business environment. Finally, the company should learn how to transform its failures into success. The company should learn how to predict mistakes and invest enough resources, which can help to avoid problems. All aspects of the CRM program should support the company, but not destroy it.