Legacy Customer Relationship Management systems have been found as a hindrance in many businesses as they try to retain customers and increase profits, forcing them to resort to other cost saving initiatives such as decreasing operational spending. A major global survey based on international businesses across the UK, Europe, and the U.S. found that “62% of respondents saw differentiating their value proposition by customer service rather than by product as essential” (1). Furthermore, it was found that 74% of customers were “very likely” to buy more from a company who’s service was excellent and went above and beyond that which was expected.
Call centers were found to be one of the major issues with existing CRM systems held by the companies in the survey. Only slightly more than half of the businesses surveyed have a CRM system that goes beyond the call center, and “only two in five have customer service represented at the board level” (1). Pegasystems Inc. has created a process-driven CRM system that allows a business to “look across the whole organization as a part of a fully joined-up, end-to-end process, in dealing seamlessly with the customer’s issue”(1). A business can achieve this customer relation method either by completely transforming their existing enterprise, or through an extended process of implementing new systems with the old, both of which are cost effective, quick, and provide “customer service benefits”(1).
The Pegasystems’ Customer Process Manager is built on its “SmartBPM platform” which allows businesses to boost operations, transform the customer experience, and reach new markets, which was found to a be another major problem with existing CRM systems in multi-national firms. Alan Trefler, CEO of Pegasystems Inc. believes that “Because of the rising debt levels in the US, businesses will use information technology to boost productivity and fuel growth”(2). They will also need to reach new global markets because of the “tapped-out US consumers” (2) who were previously their main source of growth.
I feel like the CRM by Pegasystems Inc. is a strong solution to the constantly evolving customer. It is “outside-in” (3) focused rather than “inside-out”, meaning it is entirely devoted to meeting the needs of the customer and not selling more goods and services to achieve growth. The new CRM system “eliminates callbacks and reworks” (3) and provides “consistent customer experience across all interaction channels”(3). I have had countless bad experiences with call center customer service in the past with companies such as Verizon and Comcast, and it definitely had a negative impact on those respective companies. Aside from the actual systems and products of Pegasystems Inc., which prove to be superior to most existing systems in assisting other companies grow, it is important to realize the growth of Pegasystems Inc. itself. Knowledge Rules Inc., a “highly specialized consulting organization focusing exclusively on Pegasystems rule-based technologies in workflow, BPM and CRM applications” (4) has earned the 1141 position on the 2009 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. In another article entitled, “TechWeb’s Intelligent Enterprise Announces 2010 Editor’s Choice Winners Showing Exceptional Vision, Innovation and Leadership”, Pegasystems Inc. Was awarded third place for “Companies to Watch”(5). It seems that Pegasystems Inc. is growing as fast as the companies it provides its services to.
References
1.“Traditional CRM Is Not Delivering Desired Customer Experience Transformation,” Wall Street Journal- Market Watch, February 9, 2010, http://www.marketwatch.com/story/traditional-crm-is-not-delivering-desired-customer-experience-transformation-2010-02-09?reflink=MW_news_stmp, (Accessed February 10, 2010)
2. Robert Weisman,“What will business as usual look like?” Boston Globe, March 15, 2009, http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/03/15/what_will_business_as_usual_look_like/, (Accessed February 10, 2010)
3.“Six Competitive Differentiators for Delivering a Better Customer Experience,” Pegasystems Inc., February 1, 2010, http://www.1to1media.com/view.aspx?docid=32162, (Accessed February 10, 2010)
4.“Explosive Growth in Pegasystems BPM Software Fuels Rapidly Emerging Market for Knowledge Rules,” Knowledge Rules Inc., December 18, 2009, http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/stocks/news/press_release.asp?docKey=600-200912171548PR_NEWS_USPR_____PH28200-30RSQRFG1H92MRIS4MPQKEPOC2&provider=PR%20Newswire&docDate=December%2018%2C%202009&press_symbol=227325&scp=3&sq=pegasystems&st=cse, (Accessed February 10, 2010)
5.“TechWeb’s Intelligent Enterprise Announces 2010 Editor’s Choice Winners Showing Exceptional Vision, Innovation and Leadership,” TechWeb, February 11, 2010, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/TechWebs-Intelligent-prnews-2709093336.html?x=0&.v=1, (Accessed February 11, 2010)
I find the whole concept of having an "outside-in" focused CRM system to be very important. CRM systems are meant to focus on the customer and allows companies to find out what the customer wants and how to advertise to the customer. If companies had an "inside-out" focus, the customer would be their second thought. Instead, with an "outside-in" focus, the customer is put first and becomes the priority. Without a strong customer basis, no company would be successful. There is no possibility of having a successful "inside-out" focused CRM system. The customer needs to be targeted and efficiently advertised to as well as treated with utmost care. WIthout customers, there would be no business. The inside of companies need to think of the outside first and understand how the outside, or customer, will affect their company and, ultimately, their sales.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement from the CEO of Pegasystems. He mentions, “Because of the rising debt levels in the United States, businesses will use information technology to boost productivity and fuel growth.” This is completely valid. We are a service industry driven economy. As a result, our growth can only be sustained through fostering valuable customer relationships to grow businesses. I believe that this system will truly make a difference in the information management industry since companies will be allowed to reach new markets in order to generate more revenue.
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