White Paper

What is
eCRM?

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com

 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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What is
eCRM?
C onsider the following
progression for a moment,
and let's see where eCRM can
So what is eCRM? Is it old CRM
with some Internet access
lead: bolted on? Or is it more
1. eCRM provides Access fundamental than that? To
2. Access creates properly understand eCRM it is
Information useful to look at the evolution
3. Information enables of CRM and to review its
Measurement original objectives.
4. Measurement is an
imperative for Process As can be seen in Figure 1,
Improvement CRM evolved out of the SFA
5. Process Improvement (Sales Force Automation)
leads to Growth in systems from the early 90s.
Revenues & Profit Prior to this, companies were
not treating Sales & Marketing
Therefore, eCRM, well as priorities for IT investment.
implemented, leads to Growth Areas such as Accounting,
in Revenues & Profits, a bold Office Automation and ERP
assertion? This paper offers a were the money-spinners and it
definition of eCRM and explains was difficult to find a seriously
why this progression is a valid. funded project for Sales &
Marketing system. Today it is
Everywhere you look these very different, CRM is
days you see ‘everybody.com’ considered as very important
and ‘e-everything’. CRM in most organisations and for
(Customer Relationship
Management) has been
undergoing evolution towards
the Web for some years but
only relatively recently have
CRM
we seen the term eCRM.
Cost Reduction Stra
©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 2
 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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many it has become a major
element of their ongoing IT
investment.

Of course, investment in any IT

system has to ultimately databases, customer service
contribute to increasing systems into an integrated
profitability. There is a close system serving all front
correlation between growth in office/customer facing
revenues & profits and the functions across the enterprise
benefits gained from well- (see Figure 2).
implemented CRM, these
benefits are: Figure 3 - Enterprise CRM
• Retaining existing
customers Supporting the Front Office
• Selling more to existing Many organisations today see
customers CRM as the accepted tool to
• Finding and winning new support these disciplines. Just
customers as an organisation would not
consider running their finances
Figure 1 - CRM Evolution without an accounting system,
many now would not consider
CRM is now well understood as running sales marketing and
today’s technology solution to customer service without a
improving these 3 areas of CRM system.
business by:
• Increasing efficiency For example in marketing, CRM
enables you to know your
• Improving marketing and
customers better, understand
sales decision making
their value (LTV) and use the
• Enabling process
information to make better
measurement – leading to
marketing, sales and service
process improvement
decisions. Trying to make
marketing decisions today
without a system is a bit like
navigating at sea using the
Figure 2 - Integrated
stars. Internal to the
Database
organisation managers can
monitor activity, measure
Over the past 10 or so years
performance and improve
CRM has evolved out of
processes to reduce waste and
ostensibly separate sales
increase effectiveness. Today’s
automation, marketing
enterprise CRM
system will look
similar to Figure 3.

Prospects and
customers will
communicate with

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 3

 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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the enterprise via a mix of internal staff. Staff will access
channels, which may vary a central relational (SQL)
depending upon where they database sitting on a LAN using
are in the buying cycle. For specially configured CRM
example, when responding to applications on PCs running
direct marketing, contact may Windows. Users may be office
be by bingo-card or telephone. based, or field based. Field
When making a purchase people may have laptops
decision it may be field sales or typically using dial-up or email
a telephone-ordering centre. remote database
Post-sales contact may be via a synchronisation. There is
support help-desk. All front- however a major limitation in
office functions (customer the conventional system – one
touch points) will share a of limited access. Let’s look at
central CRM database. this issue specifically.
Integration between the CRM
database and the so-called When embarking on any
back-office systems e.g. project there are always
accounts, manufacturing, budget constraints. As with any
distribution, ERP etc may be investment, CRM systems
real time or batch interface should be deployed to meet
depending upon need. priority items first. For
example, a typical roll out may
The benefits of multiple be managed in phases. Phase 1
contact channels are obvious – may include most of the sales
customers have choice - they team plus a bit of marketing;
will use whichever contact phase 2 may bring on board
channel in most convenient to the rest of marketing and
them. The information customer service; phase 3 may
captured during all customer include remote field sales users
contact and transactions is who were not part of phase 1,
held on a database in a plus an interface to accounts;
structure and easily accessible phase 4…. I'm sure you get the
way. What’s more, it can be picture.
made available to anyone in
the organisation. Core data Key issues dictate the
need only be keyed in once – rollout
front office and back office A number of issues of course
systems share the same core will dictate the rate of a rollout
records, although each will and who is or is not included.
have additional information For example, a key issue is
specific to their processes. change-management, i.e. not
wanting to do too much, to too
Conventional CRM many, too quickly.
What is being described here is
what we will call conventional Another common issue of
CRM. In conventional CRM the course is cost. How are we
prospect or customer contact going to afford the new kit and
will be with a member of your the licences for all these extra

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 4

 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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users, particularly those who
don’t need to use it everyday, What eCRM’s all about
the occasional users - it would Put simply, eCRM means CRM-
be nice to have them included. database access via the Web.
It means Intranet access for
What about our business internal users, extranet access
partners? We would like to for business partners and
include our external customers and of course,
telemarketing company – it Internet access for the market
would be great if we could at large.
send them list to call and have
them enter results and set As well as this wider
follow-up actions for our sales accessibility, eCRM enables
team, using the same CRM new marketing opportunities.
system. Web marketing, Web self
service, automated response to
What about the reseller email requests, remote data
channel; the dealers – why warehouse access, integrated
can’t they use the same marketing channels, etc – lets
system? We could really keep look at some of the
track of all those leads we send advantages… For example, the
them and get feedback without Web offers an additional
the continual chasing. marketing channel. For
marketers the Web is quite
Let’s not forget our customers different to other channels in
– we could give them partial an important way – everything
access to the CRM system – can be captured and tracked,
they could look up product because by definition every
details, request information, request, response, contact,
log support calls, check transaction is carried out on
delivery progress etc. This the system – potentially
would be more convenient for nothing is lost.
them and lower cost for us.
Another important difference is
After all, the idea of tracking that Web marketing can be
every contact and transaction focused more on the needs of
with prospects and customers the buyer. You can build a Web
was the original idea behind environment based on the way
Database Marketing - the pre- the customers prefer to do
cursor to, and philosophy business – indeed if you don’t
behind CRM. Unfortunately due they will pass you by! A further
to limited access by the wider example is the ability to offer
population this level of contract self-service. Prospects and
tracking could never be customers can access product
achieved – until now… Enter details, prices, delivery, they
eCRM. can place an order; they can
book onto a seminar or training
course. They can request
information, access a bulletin

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 5

 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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board, log a support call, This vision has never really
access a self-support database, been realised because much of
and check progress of an the information in more
action previously logged. traditional direct marketing
campaigns is lost along the
Plan to do eCRM right process.
The Web is offering the
customer an additional way of Studying a campaign for
contacting the enterprise and guidance
doing business. Customers will Contrast the following extract
choose which contact channel from a Web campaign with a
is most effective for them - traditional direct mail event.
eCRM means greater
efficiency, you don’t waste First, we advertise our Web site
their time and they don’t waste through focused media and
yours. But, and it’s a big but, direct mail. Every web-hit is
the system is capturing far captured and is attributed to
more information about the the advertising event.
customer than ever before. Do
it right and you can become Multiple choices are offered to
the easiest company to do the respondent e.g. request
business with – which brings us information; book onto an
back to the original objectives event; self qualify; contact a
of CRM - customer acquisition, salesman; purchase product
customer retention, customer etc – all is captured and
development. tracked by the database. More
than that – we can respond
From a marketing- from the system and
measurement point of view, all automatically acknowledge the
this is very exciting indeed. response, we can fulfil very
Consider some of the leading rapidly – most probably directly
Database Marketing literature from the system.
of the late 1980s (e.g. Rapp
and Collins; Shaw and Stone; We can route the enquiry to
Moriarty and Schwartz). Their where ever and who ever is
premise was that marketing best to deal with it based on
Campaign Management was all self qualification data captured
about capturing every point of – at each subsequent stage
dialogue with the market, down the process each player
prospects and customers to in enterprise will have access
enable accurate measurement to the complete picture so far.
of marketing effectiveness and We have captured everything;
to use this to plan future therefore we can measure the
campaigns and events, process. eCRM is limited only
continuously improving their by the creativity of the
effectiveness – doing more of marketer.
what worked and avoiding
what didn’t.

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 6

 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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Do we move to eCRM now? developed CRM database
You may be asking yourself at structure? Is the entire CRM
this point “Should I be process functionality integrated
replacing my current end to end? What if you want
‘conventional’ CRM system to change data-structure,
with eCRM?” or if you are screens, navigation and user-
considering CRM for the first processes to match your
time, you may be thinking, business? With most of these
“Should I not bother with CRM Web-architected products you
but jump straight to eCRM?” probably won’t be able to
Wait! Let’s look at the pros and without getting into serious
cons of both before answering customisation!
these questions.
Putting the ‘access’ issue to Which approach to adopt?
one side for a moment, A total Web solution may not
conventional CRM systems be the best solution for many
offer very powerful capability organisations, the optimum
particularly to your intensive solution is likely to be a mix of
users. These people, who are conventional and Web
largely office-based, will need capability - the best of both
the power of Windows and worlds. The most effective
direct database access on the approach to Customer
LAN – Browser access would Management relies on more
not be the environment of than one technology.
choice for these users. As an
existing CRM user, your Look for pedigree
company will have invested in Leading CRM solutions such as
a client server infrastructure – CRMsoft from Chapelfield
there is no business reason to Systems offer both Client-
re-equip and re-train these Server CRM and Web-CRM
people. integrated in a single system.
CRMsoft system has evolved
If you are a first time CRM from over 12 years of CRM
purchaser you need to tread pedigree. The system is
carefully when considering the steeped in sales, marketing
so-called new ‘Web- and customer service
architected’ products – these functionality. Indeed, over
are in their infancy and many 1000 standard business
of the new entrant companies processes are available and
have little core competence in this library expands
CRM. continuously.

You may be
shown an
attractive
front-end but
what’s
behind it? Is
there a well-

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 -------------------- White Paper – What is eCRM?
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The system offers one of the CSL calls the approach
most powerful CRM ‘configure once – deploy
functionality sets on the anywhere’.
market today as well as
ultimate configurability – the Figure 4 describes the
system is so open, an integrated CRMsoft client-
authorised-user can change server and eCRM architecture.
the data structure, screens and
processes without touching the Conclusion
source-code. In conclusion, eCRM takes
conventional CRM to new
This is all very well for a heights. Combining the
conventional CRM system, but technologies of conventional
what about eCRM? and Web CRM opens Customer
Figure 4 - CRMsoft Architecture Relationship Management to all
participants in the process,
Chapelfield Systems has inside and outside the
developed a Web-publisher, enterprise.
which can deploy all existing Users can access the CRM
client-server configurations to system via PCs or Laptops
run in Web pages accessible by using Windows or via the Web
any Web Browser. There is no using a Browser.
special Web development
needed; this means the use of As we move towards WAP
common processes between all (Wireless Application Protocol)
user communities whether they devices, cost-effective access
are Windows Client-Server will increase still further. eCRM
users or Web-browser users. takes us one step further
Security and access-rights for towards harnessing the true
different user communities is database marketing
controlled by a sophisticated philosophy.
rights-management system.

©2003 Chapelfield Systems Ltd www.chapelfieldsystems.com 8