April 21, 2014

Interactive Analysis Tools (calculators)



Customer Relationship Management

Before you begin

Keep in mind the following caveats before you begin the CRM suitability test:

  • This analysis is not meant to be precise. Consider the answer to be a back-of-the-envelope guess.
  • While the questions reflect the main issues that will primarily determine the risks of CRM for your organization, other unspecified challenges may tilt the equation in one direction or another. For example, the following factors may play a large role in determining the fate of a CRM project:
    • the size and level of decentralization of your company;
    • the specific industry;
    • the extent of automation in your organization and industry; and
    • the physical environment.
  • Furthermore, the values in this Rule of Thumb are based on current technologies. Since CRM and its enabling tools are rapidly evolving, within a few years CRM will likely be less risky.
  • Legal disclaimer: Microsoft® Corp. provides this Rule of Thumb analysis tool solely for self-evaluation. The tool is offered "as is." See the "Terms of Use" page for more detailed information at www.microsoft.com/misc/cpyright.htm.
If you have questions or comments about the Rule of Thumb tool, please contact the editor of the Enterprise Executive Connection at: entfeed@microsoft.com. Please note that technical support of Microsoft software products is not available at that e-mail address. Support questions should be submitted to www.microsoft.com/support/.


Instructions: The following questions require answers in the form of a characterization of conditions in your organization relative to a general standard across industries as you understand it from discussions with peers and consultants and in publications.

Question 1
How would you characterize the condition of your customer information at this time? Are the electronic files relatively consistent, or are there multiple definitions and numbers of each customer? Are the files in industry-standard formats, such as IMS or SQL, or in proprietary formats and applications?

At this time, our customer files are in
relatively poor condition
moderately good condition
extremely good condition


Question 2
How would you characterize the operational status of your back-office systems, including accounting, order entry, production scheduling and logistics?

Our back-office systems are
in disarray
moderately efficient and modern
already tightly integrated
being replaced with an ERP system


Question 3
If your organization's financial managers require a detailed cost/benefit analysis before authorizing any large (i.e., more than $1 million) technology project, do they require a payback period of less than a year?

No requirement
Yes, they require a payback period of less than one year


Question 4
Based on your knowledge of the financial benefits of CRM versus the costs, do you think the incremental revenue potential of CRM is larger or smaller than the incremental cost savings potential for your organization?

I think the incremental revenue potential is
less than
about the same
larger than
not clear relative to the potential for cost savings


Question 5
Have you investigated whether enterprise application integration tools are available for the legacy and CRM systems that would need to be linked in your organization? Are they suitable and does your organization plan to use them?

They are available and we will use them
We're checking right now
Not available
Don't know


Instructions: For each of the following questions, insert a number from 1 to 5 that most closely characterizes your organization. The more positive the outlook, the higher the number.


Question 6
Electronic commerce, via the Internet and Web browsers, will become a core part of the sales, marketing and customer service approach for our organization in the next year.

1
2
3
4
5


Question 7
Senior business unit decision makers, such as the chief of sales, marketing and customer service, are comfortable with technology and are anxious to bring new or additional CRM applications into the organization.

1
2
3
4
5




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