CRM newsletter

We are pleased to announce that the second phase of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) will be launched next week, with new and improved functionality. CRM already acts as an extended address book, keeping note of information such as companies, contacts and our network of business associates. The next phase will offer greater support to the commercial process, helping us convert opportunities into projects.

New functions in CRM

In recent months, the CRM Marketing team has been working with divisional representatives in order to identify how CRM can support the business within the sales lifecycle.

Excel sheets are mainly used for this process at the moment. To replace these, we have collaborated with users to develop the Sales module of CRM. This has been modified and improved, and is due to be rolled out this week.

The most important elements are Opportunities, Activities and Reports. In Opportunities, we can store data about the project that we are looking to win, such as customer, size and timing. With Activities, we can link e-mails, agreements and tasks to the opportunity. This will provide an overview, directly from the opportunity, of what has been done and – above all – what remains to be done. Reports offer a complete overview of opportunities. These reports can be created in three ways: by customer, by market and by business/Advisory Group.

Locally maintained leads (such as in an Excel sheet) will therefore soon be replaced by the report from CRM. This offers more possibilities for the entire organisation and makes it much easier to share information with one another. Everyone who has been involved in the project is extremely enthusiastic about it. It also means a different way of working, which no doubt will take time become familiar with, but it does provide us with huge advantages.

In these times of tough competition, CRM provides an overview of contact with customers, our relationship with them and current opportunities. Because everyone is processing this data in CRM, we can better co-ordinate activities for the customer, record actions or allocate to colleagues. Together we are stronger. It increases the effectiveness of our commercial activities, including when it comes to cross-selling. Through better co-ordination, we can also manage our budget and hours more efficiently.

Training

Divisional Directors have allocated licences to commercial facing staff and secretaries. Secretaries have already received training for phase one functionality and phase two training will be rolled out over November and December. In addition, we will provide a condensed training course for those secretaries that require more knowledge on reporting.

A schedule of training courses for commercial facing staff will be arranged via the Divisional Directors. In a short space of time (approx. 2.5 hours), we will familiarise you with CRM, demonstrating how the system can help you manage client relationships and manage sales and opportunities.

We are investigating the provision of online training in 2010, as a refresher course or for new staff.

Implementation

Alongside these training courses, Marketing & Communications will provide additional support to three divisions in order to successfully implement the new functions in their business and/or Advisory Groups. We will commence with the Environment, Industrial Installations and Coastal & Rivers divisions. A month later, we will start on the next three divisions.

Do you want to request an MS CRM licence?

At the start of this year, all secretaries received a licence for MS CRM. To coincide with the start of the new Opportunities function, we are going to give more users access to MS CRM. You can request an MS CRM licence using the normal Level-B process on Bridge. Click here to request the software.

The cost of a licence is €300 per year, and from 1 January 2010, this will be charged to the user. Within individual divisions, various arrangements have been made regarding who will obtain an MS CRM licence; we recommend you check for any arrangements with your divisional director.

 

And finally...

In MS CRM we have a good tool, from which we can really benefit if we make good use of it. The system has been tested by colleagues, but we realise that you may nonetheless come across technical problems. If so, please contact the Siemens helpdesk. If you have any questions about the working of MS CRM, or suggestions or comments, please send them to the CRM info mailbox.