Embracing Technology with CRM
By Lisa Witepski
(The following article appeared in the September 2005 edition of Future Marketing)

How are local companies fairing when it comes to embracing technology for their sales and marketing efforts? Future Marketing spoke with Mark Annett, general manager of Camsoft Solutions’ CRM division for his opinion on the subject.

There was a time not too long ago when it was relatively difficult to attribute the term “early adopter" to South African companies - attitudes towards new technology were considered hesitant, to say the least. In fact, if you wanted to find people with lots of tech savvy and great ideas you would generally have had to look to academics at Universities and Technikons. That's all changed in recent years though, and there are now countless established and new businesses alike that are reaping the rewards of a culture that embraces innovative technologies. What does this mean for Customer Relationship Management, i.e. CRM?

"The past five years have seen a significant change in the way South African companies have exhibited an openness to accepting new technologies – an immediately obvious example being our love of gadgets," opines Camsoft’s Annett. "South Africa ranks as one of the fastest growing countries in the world in terms of cell phone usage – and it’s not all talk. Accessing data via GPRS on a cell phone is becoming more popular and the trend is on a very steep growth curve as subscribers realise what opportunities are available with this technology. With the advent of 3G, albeit in its infancy worldwide in terms of availability at this stage and with prices needing to come down before it is adopted more widely, there will likely be a further push in demand for wireless data access over mobile networks. Already with GPRS though, which is relatively inexpensive and can be “always on” without the necessity of dialing up each time, wherever there’s a GSM signal there’s the opportunity to search on Google, do your online banking or access your company’s customer database. A recent survey by the financial newspaper, the Economist, revealed that cellular technology is empowering businesses

on a scale that could never have been anticipated even two years ago. In addition to voice calls, part of this empowerment is the independence that a cellular phone provides in that office-based information can be at the users’ fingertips while they are remote from the office for any length of time.

Then of course there’s been the steady demand for PCs, and, in the last year, a sudden marked increase in the popularity of laptops as the multiple benefits of lower prices in real terms together with the rand strengthening and improvements in battery life making these devices more attractive as desktop PC replacements. The mobile workforce has never looked in better shape, with reasonably-priced equipment making cutting-edge technology purchases more affordable than ever before. Of course, technology usage varies a great deal across income groups, but technology tends to have an irrepressible tendency to filter down from the big spenders at the top to those with smaller budgets at the lower end, who then get exposed to what is possible and can motivate management at their companies to make the investment in appropriate technology.

It’s inevitable that successful businesses are bound to make use of available technology to improve the way they go about doing business - and one tool that is really proving its worth is CRM. "We've recently seen significant growth in the uptake of CRM by a wide range of companies in various different sectors of the economy – and for many it is now accepted as a business necessity," Annett notes. Recent enterprise surveys have borne this out in that respondents identified CRM as the second most important investment that companies anticipate they will be making in the coming year after management consulting services out of a list of the 5 most important aspects required to run a successful business today.

There are many reasons for this rapid uptake and they are also quite varied, observes Annett. "We've noticed that smaller companies in particular have been very keen to benefit from CRM. This may be because they have realised that there are tangible benefits in the ability to act quickly and take advantage of opportunities as they are presented. Decision-making processes in smaller companies are generally also swifter than in their larger counterparts, which helps them to be nimbler in taking advantage of good opportunities to improve the way they go about doing business. The advantages of a good CRM system also become more apparent, more quickly, in smaller organisations, so that the return on their CRM investment is more immediately obvious and can very easily be determined. "That's not to say that all big companies are dragging their heels though. They, too, are embracing CRM, especially those that are showing strong growth, which isn’t too surprising", adds Annett.

CRM has evolved a great deal over the past few years and is becoming more accessible to more people in an organisation with a variety of different access devices being used. The gradual improvement in available bandwidth in South Africa, together with decreases in cost, has also meant that a company’s CRM system can be available to more people in an organisation – and sometimes even a company’s clients, if appropriate - around the clock, 24/7. Annett firmly believes that the demands exercised by businesses on Telkom and ISPs has forced telecommunications companies to take cognisance of their needs and adjust pricing accordingly. "This is shown in the provision of services such as ADSL which has recently seen major price reductions locally. Static IP addresses with ADSL have also now been made available. As a result of this repositioning by service providers, it has become a lot simpler and more economical for most companies to consider implementing web accessibility to their business systems. This accessibility is enhanced by the services offered by such systems, such as online trading, client service logins and general customer management."

"Now, almost all of the most basic, entry-level cell phones are typically WAP-enabled, so that even without browser capabilities on a phone, accessibility to a CRM database can be provided to mobile workers,"  Annett states. "Simply put, CRM is already one of the most powerful means of getting closer to customers - and providing better service results in more business and better profits. It therefore makes sense to have as much accessibility to a CRM solution as a company can afford, even when workers are not in the office. The result is a comprehensive business-building solution."

Annett cites Maximizer’s CRM solution as a good example of what can be possible. "The Maximizer Enterprise eCRM version can be web-enabled, meaning that users can access the customer database wherever they are - in their car, in the field, in another city, or at a client’s premises, for example. Similarly, customer log-ins to the company website can be tracked so that details of their online activities on the site’s web pages can help the company determine what the customers’ needs and interests are without having to be present at any time during the online visits."

The increasing use of wireless technology is also impacting on the manner in which people conduct business. Annett speaks of a current initiative to transform the town of Knysna into a wireless zone. "This technology has, in the past only been available in offices, and with the imminent availability of new standards, such as WiMax which allows wireless connectivity over distances of up to 50km, it is anticipated that there will be an even greater uptake of wireless enabled services. Wireless networks have huge advantages, improving connectivity significantly to a variety of resources via the Internet. From a business perspective, this has exciting implications. Telecommunications costs are typically one of a company's biggest overheads, so reducing costs has a noticeable impact on a company’s bottom line. Furthermore, it is often said that efficient communication is essential in ensuring that a company's message is heard, and with cheaper communication the message can spread further." Technologies enhancing cost-effectiveness also make it possible for small businesses to establish a larger presence, punching above their weight, so to speak. "Any company can realistically own and manage their own website. This becomes like a virtual office; but, unlike a conventional office or storefront, it is accessible beyond the hours of nine to five." This translates into more opportunities - and bigger profits for companies.

But what of the argument that all this technology detracts from the human touch, the value of which can never be overestimated? "Far from being a company's attempt to divorce itself from its clients, the use of technology actually makes for increased interaction. After all, it enables the company to communicate with its customers 24 hours a day. Looking ahead, what kind of new technologies can we expect the future to bring, and how will companies respond? "Poor bandwidth availability and high prices for this much-needed resource has, for many years, proved an inhibiting factor in the uptake of technology by companies and individuals alike. With this obstacle gradually being cleared, the way is being paved for even more advanced products. It's not difficult to imagine a future where every home and business enjoys access to almost unlimited bandwidth, as is already pretty much the case in some first world countries today. This will undoubtedly change the way we communicate, bringing a variety of additional, hitherto undreamt-of services into the reach of people and businesses that are prepared to invest in and embrace technology."