To CRM or eCRM?
GAITHERSBURG, MD–Intellor Group, Inc. has announced the completion of a research summary titled, “A Comparison of CRM Versus E-CRM Adoption,” which analyzes how organizations are approaching their customer-centric initiatives with respect to traditional business and e-business environments.
As an independent knowledge exchange company focused on promoting the success of the e-Business Intelligence and Integration (eBII) marketplace through the rapid and comprehensive exchange of information, Intellor Group is well-suited for researching CRM initiatives. The results included in the summary represent a current snapshot of where companies are with their level of adoption, understanding, implementation, priority and staffing with respect to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and electronic Customer Relationship Management (eCRM).
“It is likely that companies are realizing that the customer experience is critical to their Web business, and they need to focus more attention on the ‘e' customer experience. With this reality setting in and e-competition growing, it will become critical that organizations have strong eCRM strategies to attract and retain Web customers,” said Richard Rist, President and CEO, Intellor Group, Inc.
Key findings from “A Comparison of CRM Versus E-CRM Adoption” include:
Acceptance/Understanding/Implementation
- Fourteen percent of respondents indicated they have accepted and deployed CRM, while nine percent of respondents indicated they have accepted and deployed eCRM.
- The number of organizations considering CRM, but not reaching a general acceptance, is significantly higher (ten percent) for CRM than it is for eCRM. Eighteen percent of respondents indicated they have considered eCRM without reaching general acceptance. On the other hand, 28 percent of the respondents indicated that they have considered CRM without reaching a general acceptance.
- More than two thirds of respondents indicated they do not have a sufficient enough understanding of CRM and eCRM to make key decisions.
- Eighty-eight percent of the respondents have deployed, accepted or minimally considered CRM, while only 12 percent have not considered CRM. Similarly, 82 percent of the respondents have deployed, accepted or minimally considered eCRM, while only 18 percent have not considered eCRM.
- Respondents indicated that nine percent of them have had their CRM initiatives fail while only five percent have experienced failure of their eCRM initiatives.
Priority
- Sixty-six percent of respondents indicated that eCRM is a top-ten priority, while only 61 percent indicated CRM is a top-ten priority.
- Respondents indicated that 85 percent of the time that CRM is made a number-one priority, eCRM is also made a number-one priority.
Staffing
- Of the organizations that indicated CRM was a number-one priority, only 56 percent have trained staff to implement a solution. Thirty-six percent indicated they will use consultants, and nine percent said they would train existing staff to meet the skill requirements.
- Of the organizations that indicated eCRM was a number-one priority, only 50 percent have trained staff, while 36 percent said they would use consultants. Twelve percent said they would train existing staff.
CRM and Business Intelligence (BI)
- Our research showed that CRM often has a close relationship to an organization's Business Intelligence (BI) initiatives. Thirty-two percent of the respondents who have implemented BI in the last 24 months indicated they have also implemented CRM in the last 24 months. An additional 26 percent have begun their CRM implementation in the last 12 months. Sixteen percent plan to implement CRM in the next 12 months. Eleven percent indicated no plans to implement CRM, and a surprising 16 percent have attempted to implement CRM without success. Similarly, respondents who have implemented e-BI indicate a strong adoption of eCRM. Forty-two percent of those who have implemented e-BI in the last 24 months have also implemented eCRM.
The research summary, “A Comparison Of CRM Versus E-CRM Adoption,” is available for download to members of Intellor.com. Membership at Intellor.com is free to IT professionals.
Robyn Greenspan, an independent researcher and speaker, is interested in innovation, market trends and information technology. She was a participant in the AI Summit and also took part in the IEEE International Conference on Edge Computing, International SOA Symposium series and the International Cloud Symposium series. She graduated from Temple University. She was previously the communications and research manager for the AMS, an internationally recognized professional association that advances knowledge in the IT and business management areas.
