Customer Relationship Management > CRM Best Practices

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.

While it has been projected that the outsourcing market for CRM practices will continue to grow throughout the world for the next few years, it has also been found that the desire to employ these resources will be driven more by the need to enhance service offerings and further growth than the need to reduce overhead.

CRM tools are becoming much more common. Can they assist a project manager as well?

For too long, the IT department has been shouldering the financial burdens of other department projects within organizations. It's time for CIOs to stand up and speak out and reclaim their budgets in 2011.

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.

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.

We know that there are huge benefits to an established CRM program--as long as the system users are prepared correctly.

A new guide addresses unique aspects of project management within the pharmaceutical industry, including regulatory context, integrated validation and risk management.

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.

Examples of branding’s value can be found in a corporation’s Customer Relationship Management operation through its various channels.

Despite this global recession, the competitive landscape keeps becoming more urgent and faster paced. You will be expected to keep managing new projects to keep your organization competitive--but will do so with less (and exhausted) resources, tight budgets and more scrutiny for success. How does one meet such challenges and succeed? One of the agile practices tailor made for such an environment is the Lean method.

Driving from point A to point B might require a map, but driving customers to your business requires much more. Creating and sustaining successful CRM solutions requires commitment from your entire organization and a single, clearly defined implementation roadmap.

RFPs are a double-edged sword for many vendors. In the first article, we looked at the challenges with layout and content. In this second installment, we look at the challenges vendors experience in the process from the point they are made aware of the RFP to the submission of the bid.

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.

Annual conference for nonprofit organizations hopes to inspire 'accidental' project managers, bridge knowledge gap and share best practices.

These are the times when, although we may require support ourselves, our customers need nurturing even more.

Comprehensively drawing in associates into a customer-oriented vision and methodologies on how to interact with clients is necessary if an organization is to profit--not just psychologically from a better CRM experience, but monetarily as well.

2010 saw Cloud Computing advance in popularity and in controversy. While the allure of reduced investments in infrastructure grows, so do the issues related to security and control over information. So what does the future of Cloud Computing look like?

If CRM were as simple as installing software, no one would be talking about it. A successful CRM inititative goes much deeper, to the very heart of your organization. Here's a perspective on what exactly CRM is and how you can get it going.

There’s no patented formula for creating the right PM practice. But here are five steps that your organization can take to improve on what it has (or had) and hopefully rise from the ashes with something that will work better than the last iteration.

What does the future hold for project management? What trends and concepts will shape project management tools, methods and practices in 2012 and beyond? For one writer, the answer seems clear. Here, we look at the environment that will influence projects, and the three takeaways we should be aware of heading into the new year.

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.

Adult children. Jumbo shrimp. Seriously funny. I’m sure you recognize these expressions as oxymorons — self-contradictory phrases, often with an ironic meaning. Should we add “agile requirements” to the list? Does agile development fit in with traditional requirements practices? And if so, how?

Agile team dynamics are crucial, but most people don't have the time they want or need to read about and practice these topics. Luckily, this list of the Top 10 Team Practices will remind you of some of the basic points.

In his latest course, an experienced project management trainer makes the case for a durable but resilient schedule model that accounts for requirements, dependencies and uncertainties as fully as possible.

Learn more about this must-read book for anyone interested in customer relationship management.

Let’s assume that we’re all new PMs or new to project management. What do we do with this thing that has been dropped in our lap? It’s all about exuding confidence and following best practices.

Why do PMOs have such a high failure rate? It's time to take a look at the top 10 PMO worst practices--and advice on how to avoid them.

Part 1 of this two-part series introduces the agile engineering principles and practices that, when implemented, enable some teams and their respective organizations to build high-quality software very quickly that will please customers. Organizations embracing these practices--when used in conjunction with agile and lean management practices--can gain delivery advantages on their competitors while managing lower maintenance and support costs in the long term.

Unchecked and forgotten, minor difficulties are left alone until they bubble up and become real irritations. Having a systematic process in your customer service and support area--one that allows you to act proactively with clients to correct these issues--can set you apart from competitors and give your own project teams peace of mind.

What can you do to make sure your projects fail--and fail in a big way? History and experience have shown this writer that it's an art form unto itself. Here are some ideas to consider to help make your next project a colossal misfire.

While you get caught up in technical and academic aspects of your project, your end users are often lost and confused, leaving a gap just big enough for failure. Here's how to close that gap and make your CRM projects more successful.

It’s time that we face up to a fundamental reality: organizations grapple with making project management work successfully on a consistent basis. Yes, there are exceptions--and some notable ones--but on the whole they simply prove the rule. It's time for a different approach.

Organizations and teams must come to understand why they need agile before choosing a methodology or tool to implement it. A mandate alone will not work. It is the overarching goals, values and principles of Agile that must ultimately guide teams in the adoption and adaptation of its practices.

Project management is becoming recognized on an international scale. In support of this, there are a number of efforts underway to promote a global view of how we think about, discuss and practice project management. But to what extent is project management a universal language? To what extent can it be? Or are we all simply sowing confusion as we use the same words to mean very different things?

With an unprecedented 96 percent project success rate, Dell Services’ Healthcare and Life Sciences team wins the 2011 Project Management Office of the Year award.

Agile methods are powerful approaches that bring many benefits to how we undertake project work. However, they are not immune to misuse or failure. The following list of five common pitfalls is often seen in organizations switching to agile.

As we enter 2011, it's time for a refresher--it's the perfect time to explore the cross section of views and perspectives about PMOs. It's the perfect time to see what others are thinking regarding the state of PMOs, and this article will focus on starting a PMO, avoiding PMO failure, trends and the future of the PMO.