Are your customers getting the service they want from your Call Center? Do you need to implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) package to improve Call Center service? Use this Microsoft Project plan to assess the fit of a CRM package into your business.
Ever stop to think what the differences are between ITIL Service Level Management and mainstream Customer Relationship Management functions? Are they complementary to each other? Is CRM contained within SLM, or visa versa? The answers are a click away...
Maybe we should consider our internal customers as just that--customers. That doesn't mean that we stop using ITIL and start entering them into our CRM system, but we should provide them with the same standard of service--and expect the same level of commitment.
Examples of branding’s value can be found in a corporation’s Customer Relationship Management operation through its various channels.
A PM succeeds or fails based on their relationships, but how do you actively manage them? Here we look at three key aspects of CRM for project managers.
It's easy to get lost in the Cloud if you are unsure who the major players are out there. This overview will examine several Cloud frameworks and identify the who's who of the big-league Cloud riders.
What do you do to try to mend a strained relationship with a customer? Based on this writer's experience, three actionable responses may make the difference.
The use of supplier relationship management (SRM) can be considered symbiotic in nature, since the mutually beneficial aspects of having such a two-way dependent/supportive partnership can make each party’s success tied to the other’s. Can we relate?
So much for 2011 being the year of recovery. Next year should be much like the last. Some recent developments may impact your success as a CIO. What trends are likely to impact your organization from an IT perspective? What strategies and actions will yield the best outcomes for CIOs and their companies?
With an integrated application lifecycle management solution, Rally Software addresses the challenges of transitioning to enterprise agile software development, with an emphasis on engaging communities of users and stakeholders.
Regardless of your communication style and the means through which you decide to communicate to customers, the important component of any message you send requires that you build a component of trust into every exchange.
Sure, you want to be open, upfront and honest with your clients. But there are three things you should never say to your project customer.
Trust is an important part of any relationship, as project managers are well aware. Trusting your team, your project sponsors, even your own judgment is crucial to getting your job done. Here is a set of checklists to help you evalute how trustworthy you are.
Some things in life are inevitable--unfortuntely, customers are not. You have to build a strategy to get and keep customers, based on who your customers are. Different types of customers require different CRM approaches, but one thing is certain: You can't afford to ignore CRM.
There are certain strategies and actions that the PM may take when managing a virtual team in order to make it more productive. These strategies will also increase the likelihood for a successful project implementation--and hopefully a very satisfied customer post-deployment.
Developing and valuing its project management culture has paid dividends for ADP, forming the foundation for an improved customer relationship by establishing expectations, recognizing when things aren’t going right and taking action to remedy problems.
Use this spreadsheet in conjunction with the The Stakeholder Tool story to help pinpoint the key relationships between project stakeholders--and the ones that need the most work.
What's your business focus? If it's something other than your customers, you may want to rethink it. Your business is nothing without your customers. That's the whole idea behind CRM--knowing your customers, making them happy and keeping them happy.
Unlike many assets, the value of a customer relationship is hard to measure. You might be able to determine how much in terms of dollars and cents their collaborations have benefited you, but estimating the true cash value they represent is tough to determine.
Having an integrated understanding of customer and business needs, a command of technical components, a keen eye for upcoming technology trends, strong communication abilities and a tight grip on the ramifications of change are critical. Here are some steps you can take to help.
The relationship forged with strategic providers can make the difference between success and failure within the organization. Here, the value proposition they represent is often based more on their service and support levels than price. In essence, SPs become de facto stakeholders with the organization--and thus require special consideration in terms of how the relationship is cultivated and managed.
Managers can play an even more valuable role in organizations as teams become self-organizing and take on more responsibility. But if managers want teams to take more self-responsibility, they need to shift their focus from monitoring the day-to-day work of individuals and let teams grow up. Here are three common areas of confusion as managers and teams negotiate their new relationships.
These are the times when, although we may require support ourselves, our customers need nurturing even more.
How many times have you managed a project with so many bumps, there was no way you were going to finish on time or within budget? You likely have a customer on the brink of dissatisfaction--or already there. Here's how to mend wounds and fix relationships.
All strategy identification initiatives should include the process of developing a balanced scorecard. The scorecard should be leveraged for the continuing evaluation and evolution of an e-commerce strategy. As the business strategy changes, the list of metrics should also be considered for revision in order to ensure compliance with strategic direction. Here's a template to get your scorecard in order.
Executives need projects so they can deliver on commitments, and projects need executives, who control the resources and networks essential to success. This co-dependent relationship is itself a project that can be cultivated within a PMO for an organization's strategic long-term benefit.
Oh, no! Just when we got a handle on CRM and PRM, here we go again: XRM. Do we really need another acronymn?
Does your PPM solution help you understand the cost of IT operations or just your projects and portfolios? Technology Business Management is an emerging category of software solutions designed to help CIOs and IT executives manage and communicate the cost, quality and value of IT Services.
The sheer quantity and advancement of hardware and software solutions may tempt you to approach CRM from a technological point of view. Remember: Customer relationship is about people and planning. Get your organization in order first.
Avoid the frustration of a badly managed relationship with a team lead or stakeholder by taking the communication initiative. This guide will help you start a constructive conversation before mistakes or omissions are made.
We pay a steep toll when it becomes more important to be right than to exercise tact. But when it comes to working relationships, harmony, not righteousness, is the higher purpose. Perhaps no area of project management is more contentious than scope change. Documentation is a good friend.
Stakeholders are essential for the well-being of a project, and PMs should know who they are--and their relation to the project. This article provides and describes a tool for an exact quantification of this crucial network.
Given the “lean and mean” mantra companies have preached the last few years, most workers have picked up duties from “eliminated” jobs, making sustaining relationships harder than ever. It takes time and effort to stay in touch and build up the goodwill that can be tapped for help during a job search. Here are 10 easy tips to help you find some new contacts and strengthen existing ones.
When you’re turning in documents and project deliverables to your customer, you need to consider what they’re seeing and what message you’re sending them with the quality of your output. One slip-up can send a very sloppy message that can hinder the rest of the project--and your relationship.
As the project manager, you need to help the customer understand why agile could be a suitable approach for them. Here's some help in preparing them for a wild ride.
Success in convincing executive leadership to spend money on project management is difficult, unless a sophisticated "sales relationship" is developed. The steps in this template are designed to show project managers how to develop and cultivate such a sales relationship to upper management.
What's with these wireless technology trends? With apparent doom and gloom at one end and happy upsurges at the other, this Jeckyl and Hyde is now making its mark in Customer Relationship Management, a powerful business strategy that companies are using to achieve higher profits and build competitive advantages.
As our look at Stanford University's Advanced Project Management program continues, our expert takes a closer look at a valuable course on leveraging the customer relationship.
Particularly in the field of customer relationship management, the best practice organizations are already aspiring to become real-time enterprises (RTE). Learn more about the benefits of RTE for good CRM.
When you're faced with a new assignment, do you just accept the scope as it's handed to you, or do you take the time to think about what's right? Sometimes you have to take the lead and claim the scope as your own. In the end, that's the right thing to do.
Learn more about this must-read book for anyone interested in customer relationship management.
Part of serving your customers is communicating a consistent corporate culture. Often that is easier said than done. Learn from these examples of diverse companies who have managed to develop winning CRM cultures.
As social networking sites become hubs of information with attribute and interaction data, they become ripe for analyzing behaviors and demographics. This Web 2.0 intelligence can provide businesses invaluable opportunities to harness the power of communities.
For any and all projects you lead, a constant mantra should be “keep the stakeholders involved.” It will help you to get ahead of potential risks and changes to scope as your project moves towards completion, and it will be critical to its ultimate success. When in doubt, overcommunicate.
You're trying to ensure two things at the end of the project: the customer has what they want and you have what you want. Here we look at five crucial steps to closing down the project.
Why do so many companies believe that having a machine greet their customers is more desirable than having a real person answer the telephone? Depending on what business you are in, an automated call director (ACD) could be costing you more than you might imagine.
So, who is the right person or group to decide requirements during systems development? Sounds like an easy question, but to get to the real answer, you need to look at your overall business strategy and the IT/Business relationship. The bottom line: This isn't for amateurs, and for goodness' sake, don't try this at home.
Discussion on quality management has not evolved much since the mid-1990s. Within executive circles, the discussions are not about the importance of quality, but rather on what quality is, how it is achieved and how it can be measured. The issues surrounding quality seem focused on definition and approach rather than on need. What is quality? What does senior management expect from the quality process, and how do these expectations apply to IT? Read on...
Establishing productive working relationships with your project team is as critical as building the plan, managing risk or reporting to stakeholders. It requires accessibility, adaptability and authenticity. Here are seven principles that can help you help your team members maximize their individual and collective value.
How can you ensure your technology choices are delivering maximum business impact? Meet the Business Technology Matrix.
