Customer Relationship Management Technologies: A Comprehensive Report

This report examines Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies and their significance in modern business. It begins by highlighting the need for technology in establishing customer relationships and emphasizes the importance of CRM in enhancing organizational profitability and customer value. The report then delves into the processes, frameworks, and tools used in CRM, including operational, analytical, and collaborative technologies. It also explores various CRM applications, recent trends, and potential disadvantages. The report underscores the role of technology in improving customer communication, operational efficiency, and data security, ultimately aiding in customer acquisition, retention, and profitability. Key tools discussed include intelligent email, collaborative chat, self-help options, and telephony. The report concludes by emphasizing the integration of CRM technologies for long-term, mutually valuable customer relationships.

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Customer Relationship Management Technologies
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Need of technologies in establishing customer relationship............................................................2
Importance of CRM on organization...............................................................................................3
Process Framework of CRM...........................................................................................................4
Tools used in CRM..........................................................................................................................6
CRM Applications and Recent Trends............................................................................................8
Disadvantages of CRM..................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
CRM is considered as management approach that helps in creating, developing, as well
as enhancing the relationship with the associated customers. CRM helps to increase the customer
value along with corporate profitability and the value of stakeholders (Ryan, 2019). With the
advanced emerging technology, CRM plays an important role that helps to enhance the
organization’s power to reduce their internal costs, helps in better relationship resulting in
economic profit of the organization.
CRM in organization includes different methodologies, processes, technologies as well as
strategies that creates a new paradigm to establish relationship. Two different trends have
influence on CRM, one includes the area of transaction marketing and includes relationship
marketing. The other area includes management of customer knowledge (Zerbino et al., 2018).
The need of technology and the use of CRM has increased the use of technologies for
establishing relationship and developing loyalty. This also helps in customer retention. The most
important use of CRM is that it can assist the relationship between the organizations and
provides profit to the organization.
CRM includes organizational approach that helps to understand as well as influences the
customer behavior via meaningful communications to that customer acquisition can be achieved
along with loyalty, profitability and customer retention (Anshari et al., 2018). The technology
that is included in CRM includes process to store as well as analyze wide amount of data related
to customer behavior. This helps the organization to treat the customers in a different way based
on their behavior (Amuna et al., 2017). CRM includes certain goals such as retention of the
existing customer, improving the lifetime value of the customer, improvement of customer

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satisfaction and includes customer loyalty and customer share. Customer satisfaction also
includes attitude of customer towards organization, towards its products or services. This report
details the technology of CRM in an organization and the advantages and disadvantages it have
on the organizations.
Need of technologies in establishing customer relationship
IT helps to enable business applications and to choose the right technology is the most
important aspect in an organization (Payne & Frow, 2017). The organizations has to find all the
initiatives that are needed for improvements with the technology and all those initiatives are to
be identified by the manager the organizations. With CRM, there should be initiatives that are to
be improved as well as includes applicability from IT.
For targeting the profitable customers, the organizations needs to introduce propensity
modeling, that is systems that are based on rules are to be improved for capturing the variables of
customers. Organization to improve their ability to deal with follow up contacts can be improved
by creating a campaign library that includes all the histories of offers made for the targeted
customers. The data that are collected are on line and from call centers agents (Elena, 2016).
Technologies have always played a vital role in all aspect of business and communication
between the organizations and the customers. Through technology, the communication has
become faster as well as easier. Companies needs to build a proper relationship with customers
and the needs of the customers to be known by the customers.
Technology has affected the operations that are carried out in businesses. Implementing
technology in a business does not depends on the size of the enterprise. Technologies plays
tangible as well as intangible benefits that would help to make profit in the organization and

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provides services that customers need from the company (Orenga-Roglá & Chalmeta, 2016).
Technological infrastructure in an organization affects the efficiency, culture as well as
relationship of the customer with the business. Technology also helps to secure the confidential
relationships in a business and helps to keep the data safe that are included in the organization.
There are certain reasons for which technologies are needed for establishing a customer based
organization. Technologies are used for establishing better communication with the customers,
helps in operation efficiency, includes business culture and helps to establish class relations,
provides better security and also helps the company to conduct better research work.
Importance of CRM on organization
Technologies as well as CRM are considered to be as partners that would result in
providing successful as well as productive result in business. Technologies in CRM also helps to
update their customer data and helps to improve their services in competitive market. The
integration of technologies have affected the improvement process of CRM (Soltani et al., 2018).
CRM is not possible without technology and databases are considered to be the soul of CRM.
CRM provides online services to the customers and the services that are provided by the
organizations are always available to the customers. CRM have low cost of implementation and
low cost of maintenance which helps the organization to adapt the CRM technology in wide
number.
The main focus that CRM has on organization is enabling the organization for creating as
well as retaining the profitable customers in the organization (Dewnarain, Ramkissoon &
Mavondo, 2019). Most of the strategies of CRM includes three aspects, customer retention,
customer acquisition as well as customer profitability. Retaining old customers includes in

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reducing cost instead of getting new customers for the organizations. Some of the reasons for
implementing CRM in an organization are stated below.
1. Customer Profitability: This helps to track financial performance for the customer
that are related with cost for each transaction (Rahimi & Gunlu, 2016). Profit describes the
lifetime value of each customer in an organization and those help to take in to account the total
income and total expense of the customers. Tracking of profit for the customers is accurate with
the use of technology.
2. Customer Acquisition: There are many resources that mainly focuses on customer
retention. Attracting new customers is always high and this costs up to 5 times more than
customer retention. Customer acquisition is needed in an organization without being focused on
the relationship result with customer.
3. Customer Retention: Customer retention specifies that the customers are to remain
loyal to organization and as a result both the parties should get substantial benefits. With
customer retention, the organizations can increase their profit percentage (Thakur & Workman,
2016). Customers who get excellent service from the company are to remain loyal and can
provide free advertising so that they can take about products as well as services that are offered.
The main focus of the organization should focus mainly on customer retention.
Process Framework of CRM
The technological advancements that have been implemented in the organization in
recent times have helped the business organizations to have an automatic process. CRM
framework has enabled in greater profits with cost reduction in cycle time and in workforce. The
technologies that are included CRM helps an organization to get single point contact for the

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customers. The team of CRM consists includes different strategies, technologies and different
processes working together so that they can know the customer in a better way (Tseng, 2016). To
establish a healthy relationship with customers, it is important to monitor the behavior of
customers and also have to view their transaction history so that customers can be provided with
all such services that they want.
The framework of CRM helps to analyze different solution for a single problem that
persists in an organization. There are three main components that are included in CRM
framework; operational technology or process management technology, analytical technology
and performance management technology, and collaborative technology. All three frameworks
are explained below:
Operational Technology: The solutions that are provided by CRM includes integration
of all business processes that are associated with the customer touch points (Santouridis &
Veraki, 2017). All the technologies are included as part of the organization which includes
moments of truth. The technologies direct contact with all employees associated with the
companies. There are also some particular types of CRM technological solutions that actually fits
in the customer sales category and includes marketing automation, field services, and sales force
automation.
Analytical Technology: The CRM helps to analyze the data that are created on operation
side of CRM effort so that the business performance can be managed properly and can be
improved. There should be prediction of customer’s behavior, identifying customer segments,
and all such potential customers of the company can be identified.

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Collaborative Technology: This technology includes facilitation of all collaborative
services so that the interactions between the customers and the employees can be facilitated
(Soltani & Navimipour, 2016). The collaborative effort produces high amount of data that is
needed in analytical CRM technologies. Mainly data mining, and other such technologies are
included in collaborative technology.
CRM technology helps to strengthen the operations from front end and helps in building
mutually valuable relationships that are long term with customers.
Figure 1: CRM technologies interaction
(Source: Soltani & Navimipour, 2016)
Tools used in CRM
The main component that is included in CRM strategy is that it helps to communication
process in two way. CRM includes two way interaction communication between the company
and with each customer. This enables the organization in adjusting the strategy, includes product
design, includes customer service, as well as includes channel preferences. The tools that
includes interactive communication within the customers are explained below:
Intelligent email: Email is considered as an important method that helps to get contact
with the customers and it is recorded that more than 70% of the business conducting online

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service uses email for their conversation (Auliana, Alexandri, & Arifianti, 2019). The response
number for the email that are sent by the customers are 32%. The response time for the emails is
minimum 40 minutes to 4 days. The research includes artificial intelligence including simple as
well as FAQs that are to be known by the customers. The most effective process for the
customers queries are done through intelligent emails that are done by the organizations. This
cost less and helps organization to include more efficient solution for the problems that are faced
by the customers.
Collaborative chat: Customers have different questions related with a product or with
shipping details they want from an organization. Most of the companies provides a live chat
option to the customers to get their problem solved immediately (Phelps, 2019). This
collaboration live chat function helps them in having better customer service that pop ups in the
chat box. If a customer have logged in to a particular website using their user name, the customer
care representative will address the customer with that user name and will be able to get the
history of the customer and will be able to help the customer in more effective way.
Self-help: This tool of CRM includes helps own with all the FAQs that are available
online. There is also intelligent FAQs where there are experts to answer the question of the
customers. Answering the questions and making proper suggestions helps in maintaining proper
customer relationship with the company (Greve & Schlüschen, 2018). The self-help features
helps in increasing the customer satisfaction by having answer to the questions quickly and
efficiently. Self-help feature also helps the organization to have customer information that would
be used in future and the customer information will also be linked with the CRM database enable
better customer satisfaction.

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Telephony: Customer are always free to call on the customer care number provided in
websites of the organizations. The telephony are incorporated with the web pages and also has a
call back facility equipped with the clicking buttons. When the click back button is clicked by
the customer, the customer is redirected to another page to provide the phone number and the
customers receives call from the customer service representative to solve their problems.
Telephone also helps to increase customer acquisition and increases the probability of sales for
the organization.
VoIP: This is a technology where LAN and WAN are used for transferring data as well
as voice. The tool states that organization does not need phone lines to connect with the
customers. VoIP enables the representatives to have a call directly with the customers and they
can even use the web pages of the company to show their new products to the customers and
they can have a conversation directly with the customers regarding their specifications (Ascarza
et al., 2017). VoIP also increases customer acquisition and increases customer retention and also
increases the website effectiveness.
CRM Applications and Recent Trends
There are functional as well as technical requirements that are included in CRM solution.
Those are explained below:
1. Business Intelligence as well as analytical capabilities: The applications of CRM
includes large number of data and all the informations are to be stored in the system securely.
This is done with robust business intelligence as well as with analytical intelligence. These
applications are mainly used for marketing applications.

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2. Specific channels for customer satisfaction: Specific channels includes functional
components for the CRM solutions and also includes integrative the components that comes
across different channels so that there is customer interaction which is efficient as well as
consistent.
3. Providing Functionality support: The applications are provided with web based
functionality that is essential for the applications (Amuna et al., 2017). Web is considered to be
as the critical channel for the e-businesses and this is important from the infrastructure
perspective. The users associated with CRM applications requires accessing the applications that
are mainly supported by web browsers. There are also business logics and data that are accessed
centrally.
4. Centralized repository: The solutions that are provided by CRM mainly works from
centralized repository (Bhat & Darzi, 2016). This provides proper customer information that are
available real time to all the employees who are customer facing.
5. Integrated Workflow: The process of CRM includes a workflow engine that ensures
cross functional tasks. All these tasks are to be accomplished dynamically.
6. ERP applications: ERP integration mainly includes data that are low level
synchronized and also includes integration of business process to maintain the integrity of the
business and properly passes the workflow between all systems in the organization. Integration
of ERP from CRM helps in ensuring organizations performing business intelligence over all the
system sin the organization.
The recent trends that are included in CRM are:

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1. Analytical CRM: The analytical teams of the organizations mainly encourages to work
together and to stay close with the customers so that they can implement a better way of growth
an increase their profitability (Rahimi & Kozak, 2017). Analytical analysis the customer highest
satisfaction and helps to grow the trend faster.
2. Mobile networking and social networking: The CRM technology has recently involved
with a new trend of having mobile connection and that has enabled the users to be easily
accessible from anywhere and at any time. The mobile trend and the social networking trend is
increasing day by day and is gaining popularity because of its easy accessible feature.
3. Outsourcing CRM: This is a new trend and sales force are mostly involved in this
outsourcing CRM. The outsourcing CRM is a low cost and helps the organization to becomes
more profitable.
4. Cloud computing with CRM: The cloud computing in CRM includes scalability, and
virtualized resources of computing that are available online (Nyadzayo & Khajehzadeh, 2016).
This cloud computing with CRM is an increased demand and includes more vendors that helps in
satisfying the customer’s demands. With cloud computing. CRM have become more elastic, the
utility of CRM has increased and ubiquity of the technology have also increased. The users get
interfaces that can be accessed from outside the workstations.
Disadvantages of CRM
Implementation of CRM technology is the best way to increase profitability in an
organization, but there are certain problems that are included while implementing a CRM. The
drawbacks of CRM technologies are: