Due to prevalent cut-throat competitiveness, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for many businesses to hold their own against their competitors. With that taken into consideration, it is no wonder that the level of customer retention consistently increases the success of any business. This has become a decisive competitive factor, along with customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Still, the success of customer retention is a challenge in itself. The correct handling of all relevant customer information is essential to the success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

At the same time, it is vital to be familiar with all customer information whilst, over and above that, having the ability to strategically and operatively implement this in the daily routine. Only in this way can current customers be bound and potential customers be intensively and efficiently appealed to. In doing this, a 360° view of the customer is necessary as, due to new technology and software developments , Customer Relationship Management can be put into action with more ease than ever before. Software products support employees in customer consultation, optimizing sales processes and in steering market campaigns. They contain updated information which is, at all times, transparent for every employee – from production, marketing and service – and lend support to several tasks and processes in a successful marketing organization – from first contact through to final sale and including the continued supervision of the newly gained customer.

Thanks to numerous and continued developments, nowadays there is no need for any business to be put off by the implementation of software supported by CRM – not even on financial grounds. With IBM Lotus Notes, businesses have a platform on which the CRM Solution Budget is sparingly attached.

Profiting from Lotus Notes

The Lotus Notes platform is currently one of the best loved groupware and messaging products available on the market. The platform, which comes from IBM, is in operation worldwide with approximately 128 million users. This high level of recognition makes the implementation of CRM systems, based on Lotus Notes, extremely user friendly as IBM, as a basis system, is already being used widely by many business and their employees. Employees are familiar with the handling of Lotus Notes and have no need to attune to a further, independent system with a separate user interface and control philosophy. The simplicity in operation, which is a feature of Lotus Notes, is of course also implemented in the Notes based CRM solution. Employees will merely be confronted with familiar settings which in turn means, the internal know how for both the user and IT are already at hand. Elaborate training or loss of production time due to system adaptations can be avoided.

In addition to that, thanks to the functional range of Lotus Notes – from mail systems through calendars, contacts, appointment making and work flow management – business can cut costs. CRM solutions area adept exactly to these features. Businesses can approach the technical side of CRM implementation with ease. CRM solutions based on Lotus Notes can continue to be used with the current technical infrastructure. This has a distinct effect on the time factor. Compared with the SQL based CRM system, the implementation of the Lotus Notes system is a faster process due to the aforementioned advantages.

All in all, it can be ascertained, that with IBM Lotus Notes, an acknowledged platform for document exchange, groupware functions and allotted assignments is available. Along with these three main focus areas, there are also many CRM projects which contain the requirements of electronic customer files, written offers and calculations as well as the organization of management opportunities and processes in their initial steps. With that, Lotus Notes, in its set up, meets the demands of a process oriented CRM system. This fact promises maximum speed in the implementation of CRM and a massive cost reduction.

Building on Lotus Notes

As previously mentioned, for many businesses the working basis with Lotus Notes allows for a process oriented CRM to be founded. Many Lotus Notes features, such as the Groupware-Function, were generally left unused until the introduction of CRM. CRM solutions which are constructed with Lotus Notes, integrate these functions finally in the business process and use them in winning, binding and supporting customers. A further advantage: Previously installed Notes databases and systems can be quickly and easily integrated into the CRM system and can be continually adapted. The IBM Lotus Notes based CRM is simply installed on the existing platform. Through this, businesses can save a large amount of the ‘Roll-Out-Costs’ in comparison with alternative CRM solutions, as the platform is established company wide.

Thanks to the strong market position of the IBM platform, the further development and improvement of the basic system – Lotus Notes – is warranted. The CRM system itself can be enhanced flexibly and, at the users discretion, with the aid of additional solutions and modules from solution providers – step-by-step. It remains to be said that CR projects don’t run themselves. They must be adjusted to meet the needs and demands of the business in question and then put into operation – process oriented and simple.

Free choice of modules / Add-Ons – The possible up-grades for Notes based CRM

Just as diverse as the tasks for the CRM involved departments of Marketing, Sales and Service, are the CRM up-grades themselves – also known as modules or Add-Ons. They address the specified demands of the respective department. Whilst the main function of the ‘CRM-Basic Structure’ is made up of an information pool containing customer data as well as offers and sales opportunity management, there are a number of additional modules which can aide in making the particular tasks of the respective departments more efficient. Thanks to the advantageous characteristics of Lotus Notes, the extension of CRM systems can be realized on the platform without much complexity. 

The CRM solutions provider GEDYS IntraWare offers a number of such modules for a perfect 360° view of their customers. Included in this is the innovative module ‘Marketing’, which is a process oriented campaign management specialty for IBM Lotus Notes. The module completely supports ‘Sales’ from the planning, through the execution right through to the successful measurement of effective marketing and sales activities. Precise selection tools allow for a market placement of exact focus groups without unnecessary scattering losses. 

A new level of flexibility is offered by GEDYS IntraWare with the example of the Service module, which can represent and support specified business processes such as ‘Incident Management’ from ‘Service Personnel Guidance’ right through to the ‘ITIL Compatibility Helpdesk’. Using freely configurable formulas, further service processes can be projected, such as complaints or suggestion systems. Additionally, an optimized surface aides the ‘Support’ department in a fast and effective eradication of incidents. Its escalation can then optionally be integrated through a contract module, in which contractual agreements and compatible service levels are contained or can be controlled using a freely configurable priorities matrix. Together with a ‘Workflow’ module this can be then directed to the appropriate expert in the company.

This up-grade of a Lotus Notes based CRM is just used as an example and is just one element of the product line GEDYS IntraWare 7, which comprises a complete suite for the maintenance of customer relations from caring for customer addresses through electronic customer files, ‘Workflow’ automation and campaign management all the way to sales guidance with configurable sales methods. Aside from these up-grades, there are many more modules which profit from the advantages of the IBM platform.

Personal contact: connecting all forms of communication to the CRM

The telephone is still one of the most essential forms of communication in everyday business life. Neither e-mails nor ‘Instant Messaging’ have been able to surpass the real time advantages of verbal communication. For many customers, the personal contact to its business partners is of the utmost importance. Even with this challenge in mind, a Lotus Notes based CRM system has found an answer. CTI or ‘Unified Messaging’.

Using, so called, Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) ports, a comprehensive inbound and outbound telephony can be realized from the CRM solution. By incoming calls, the customer data from the caller is automatically displayed on the computer monitor as well as CRM-Workflows such as order processing and complaint receipt are activated. Outbound operations are also made decidedly easier with the use of CTI ports. Using ‘Click-to-Dial’, dialing procedures can be initiated over the CRM entries. Aside from that, there is also the possibility to have calls directly forwarded from the PC and to set up telephone conferences.

CRM can also profit from ‘Unified Messaging’. It combines all forms of communication from fax and voice mails right through to text messages using one platform. The process can then be further optimized thanks to CTI and ‘Unified Messaging’ which both reduce reaction time and costs at the same time. And all that on the basis of IBM Lotus Notes.

In conclusion

IBM Lotus Notes, as it is, delivers the most important basic structures for a process oriented and successful CRM. The erection of CRM on the already present, and employee familiar platform – with all its features – leads to distinct cost savings with the implementation of a CRM scheme. This means that allotted assignments, mail integration as well as ‘Sametime’ can be made operational, with the minimal amount of effort, for a process oriented and modern CRM. The advantages of a CRM system based on an IBM platform speak for themselves.