Our new eNews feature– “Ask Charlie,” in which customers like you ask business-solution related questions of Charlie Kemmerer, MCG’s Vice-President of Front Office Solutions.

Question:
Dear Charlie: I think I’ve finally convinced the suits that our business can no longer compete without CRM. We’re starting the evaluation process…can you give me some guidelines on how we can prepare for the onslaught of vendors? Thanks, Sales Manager Sam.

Answer:
Dear Sam: You’re not going to believe this (I don’t even believe it!), but the first thing I would urge you to do is forget about the software. Focus first on your business goals (write them down!), namely:

What types of customer relationships are you managing? Do you want more customers? Do you want current customers to buy more? What data do you need to gather? What information is needed to make decisions? How will you manage your customer relationships? What kind of communication do you want to have with your consumers? What business processes are needed? Do your employees need to be able to address customer inquiries, capture responses, or create ongoing two-way communication with customers? Who in your company interacts with customers and why? What information do those employees need to carry out these processes? Does anyone analyze captured data?

Now that you have identified what you need CRM software to do to achieve your company’s goals, you can better evaluate products and determine which software best fits your needs.
Stay tuned…next step, next month!

Email Charlie at charliek@mcginc.com for a FREE copy of the "Top Ten Questions to Ask Your CRM Vendor" white paper.

Got a question for Charlie? Let us know