This background goes some way to explaining the changing fortunes of the CRM conference, which runs from 7-9 October this year at London's Olympia. This is the show's first appearance after a year's hiatus and it has changed organiser, from Business Intelligence (now part of Optima Media Group) to Penton Technology Media. Business Intelligence ran the show for three years until 2001, but went into receivership. Under new management, CRM 2003 is aiming away from its pure technology focus to presenting the business case for CRM.
The conference is being chaired by Barton Goldberg, president and founder of CRM consultancy ISM. "CRM leverages the internet," he says. "It should integrate people, processes and technology to maximise relationships with all customers."
The extensive programme is firmly rooted in best-practice case studies and practical experience, and runs over three days in two separate streams.
The first day is split between the private and public sector, with two streams: 'Key Commercial Issues for Implementing an Effective CRM Programme' and 'Citizen Relationship Management: Harnessing CRM for the Public Sector'.
Simon Edwards, country manager, UK & Ireland, at Microsoft Business Solutions will give the keynote talk, entitled 'CRM: where next?'. He says: "I'll look at how CRM solutions can bring benefits to small and medium-sized organisations. With smaller budgets, but the same desire for success, SMEs demand business applications that meet their needs. It's not about cutting down complicated enterprise-level applications but providing a solution that does the job required."
The programme for days two and three are more technology-based, including: 'Getting the Best out of your CRM Technology', 'Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies for your CRM Programme' and 'Integrating People, Process and Technology'.
On day one, Neil Wilson, UK customer programme manager, global customer team, at Royal & SunAlliance, will speak on 'Aligning Customer Management and People Management'. He believes in investing in people. "Technology isn't the answer to all problems. At the end of the day, we need to understand and manage customers better to deliver bottom-line results."
To this end, Royal & SunAlliance has moved away from the term CRM to talk about customer management. "When we start managing from a customer, not a product, perspective, we have to cut across traditional organisational structures and silos," says Wilson. "We often need different expertise, leadership and more sophisticated measures, both shared and individual. That's why embedding a customer management approach is such a challenge and goes to the heart of an organisation."
On the other hand, Manchester United Football Club found technology vital when it wanted to develop its relationship with fans worldwide and exploit it for commercial gain. It embarked on a CRM project with data specialist Dimension Data, and this is the subject of a talk by Ben Hatton, director of business development at Manchester United, on day two of the conference.
He stresses that Manchester United is not just a club, but a complex global sports and media organisation.
"To deliver the emotion of the stadium experience to all 50 million-plus supporters around the world, the club needed to transform Manutd.com from an ordinary footie web site into an interactive, online football community," explains Hatton. "A bespoke content management system at the front-end facilitated innovations such as a kick-off countdown, latest team news and an interface that changes colour according to the strip for that game."
Other conference speakers include Neil Harrison, chief information officer at Travelex, who will explain how the currency exchange specialist used Salesforce.com's web-based customer view application to realise savings of some $300,000 in its corporate foreign exchange division, while improving salesforce efficiencies and closing rations.
"CRM can very much enhance your business," notes Coleman. "Real benefits can be realised by implementing CRM and this is reflected in the emphasis the programme puts on case studies - they are the real sell for the event."
The shift towards business is also reflected in the heavyweight sponsorship the show has picked up, including Microsoft Business Solutions, which will launch a CRM product at the show, as well as sponsorship from Sage, Seibel and Remedy. The Financial Times has also stepped in as media backer.
"The FT has never touched it before," says Coleman, "so its involvement is a positive development and reflects how CRM is much more a business and strategy issue than IT."
Commerce is not the only focus for the show. This year, a key area of the exhibition is dedicated to the public sector, besides conference offerings from organisations like Peterborough Hospitals NHS Trust, Westminster City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. "This reflects the 2005 deadline for putting facilities online, and the push for public sector accountability and transparency," says Coleman. It is also the public sector that has cash to spend these days, rather than the private sector, whose sails have had to be trimmed. However, this is no dotcom gravy train. "It is imperative that CRM delivers," stresses Coleman, "or the funding will dry up."
CRM 2003 exhibitor round-up
Atmyside (stand G09)
Atmyside claims web-delivered e-service technology is based only on html, requiring no downloads and minimal bandwidth. Its HotProspecting promises to analyse visitors to a site and sift useful and likely prospects from idle browsers, allowing sales staff to communicate with prospects while they're online.
Concerto Software (stand M10)
Concerto's contact-centre solutions include Unison, an outbound and blended call management tool that automates customer contact activity; Ensemble, a tool to integrate outbound and inbound calling; and LYRICall, a browser-based tool for quick delivery of call-centre agent screens and scripts. Its Enterprise ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 Manager is a customer-interaction data-warehouse for developing sophisticated contact strategies.
Ezeehelp (stand K10)
Contact-management specialist Ezeehelp has two web-based tools. Ezeehelp is an interactive icon embedded in any web page that enables 'live' contact with an adviser, through text-based web chat or voice/video interaction. Its Permalink technology anchors the icon to a designated position on a page. Other tools include interactive icons embedded in an email to trigger live interaction with a sales adviser on the web.
Microsoft Business Solutions (stand K10)
CRM products claim to help you boost customer satisfaction, shorten sales cycles, improve efficiency and boost revenues. CRM solutions also enable the automation of many tasks for sales, customer service, call centre and marketing employees.
Nomis (stand M25)
CRM consultancy Nomis will unveil a new version of Sales-Vision, which uses a central database to maintain all the available information about current prospects, including those that have been won, lost, suspended or abandoned, as well as historical and current sales forecasts and performance reports.
QAS (stand H24)
QAS's QuickAddress range of data-capture tools aim to ensure firms capture customer and prospect contact information fast and accurately, from just a postcode or partial address. Other applications can clean and maintain address data. And the software has certified integration into Siebel New Business, Peoplesoft, Oracle, and SAP CRM applications.
Round (stand J25)
Try CRM strategy consultancy Round's fun, baseball-themed 'customer centricity' quiz (www.round.co.uk/cci) and get a personal report at the show. See your answers in the exhibition results, against 10,000 across the world. Or use its business-based Home Run board-game to liven up meetings.
Sage CRM Solutions (stand K20)
Event sponsor Sage will be promoting its ACT! and SalesLogix products for small- to medium-sized business and divisions of larger corporations. The ACT! contact-manager tool is available in web, Palm and PocketPC format, while the SalesLogix CRM suite includes modules for sales, marketing and support.
SalesOutlook (stand H02)
SalesOutlook aims to turn the familiar office tools of Microsoft Outlook, Office and Exchange Server into a customisable CRM package. SalesOutlook filters and displays contacts within the context of a corporate account and lets users define criteria such as accounts having multiple office locations.
SalesPage Technologies (stand H15)
It is launching its new salesforce automation tool, OpenSpace, in three entry points: Lite, Pro and Enterprise. The software promises to automate company information and sales contacts, give pipeline analysis of links in the corporate supply chain and has a calendar function. Pro adds the ability to run campaigns. Enterprise promises a 360-degree view of the customer.
Talisma (stand K06)
Talisma claims its web-driven customer service solutions are built by customer service experts, making its WebCenter 5.0 offering as robust and functional as a phone-based operation. Capabilities include interaction queuing, routing and management, and integration of web and phone operations.
Transversal (stand H25)
Hi-tech start-up Transversal launched online customer service solution Metafaq last year, whereby users can interact with a site to ask questions relating to it or the firm behind it.
VLI (stand H06)
Web applications provider VLI unveils its Revolution data management system, whose unique selling point is to give a single, intuitive, browser-based view of data, putting sales, marketing, billing, project, staff and time management data in one place.
A full list of exhibitors can be found on www.crmevent.co.uk. Stand numbers are subject to change.
ECM 2003 PROVIDES A LINK BETWEEN INFORMATION AND CRM
Alongside the main CRM event there is a sister show, running in the same building but with distinct branding.
The Enterprise Content Management show (ECM) is an updated version of Content Management, a web-focused event.
The show aims to make the link between the information that companies hold on their customers and their individual CRM strategies.
"CRM systems rely heavily on customer knowledge and customer intelligence," says show organiser James Coleman. "The way this is kept hosted and filed relies on content management." Essentially, the ECM event could be seen as the nuts and bolts of CRM.
Creating and maintaining intelligent databases of everything from Word files to database details and brochure requests may not be sexy, but it is vital for to a proper understanding of customer behaviour.
The event is built around several free seminars across four streams - content, document, knowledge and information management, with extra sections for the public sector on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 October.
Case studies involve firms like British Airways, retailer Phones 4U, Canon, airport operator BAA, chip-maker ARM, and The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Car-maker TVR will feature on the Thursday in a case study outlining how it got its extended branding under control, internally and via its dealer network, using Cintra's MASmedia tool.
The project involved the management of TVR's site, streamlining marketing and technical communications through a secure-dealer extranet and co-ordinating the firm's brand identity wherever it appeared online.
Event visitors will also be able to get their hands on the technology for practical demonstrations, gain help and advice from the event's free centre, and pick up the latest independent findings from the Research Centre.
FACT BOX
What: CRM Show 2003
When: 7-8 October 2003, 10am-5pm; 9 October 2003, 10am-4pm
Where: Olympia, Hammersmith Rd, London
How to get there: Olympia Underground and British Rail station is opposite. The station is on the District Line and there are mainline connections to Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction. The venue is close to Hammersmith with easy access to the A4 and M4. There is room for 670 cars in the two Olympia multi-story car parks. The venue is not in the congestion charging zone.
Sponsors: Microsoft Business Solutions, Sage, Remedy, Achiever Software, Concerto Software, Peoplesoft; Round
Visitor registration: www.crmevent.co.uk.
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