Integrating the value of salespeople and systems: Adapting the benefits dependency network
Tóm tắt
Business-to-business (B2B) companies invest in customer relationship management (CRM), integrated with sales force automation (SFA) to achieve a return on investment, through improved sales force productivity, sales revenue, costs, customer satisfaction, process accuracy and customer knowledge. However, the devil is in the detail. CRM and SFA are multi-faceted. There are two main obstacles to successful implementation. One is the need for the customer to get some benefit out of the system; the other is ensuring that employees who are expected to use the system actually buy-in to its benefits, including what benefit they will gain as individuals. However, much planning is needed to manage the risks involved. The ‘benefits dependency network’ (BDN),
1
designed to develop routes to successful implementation of IT, has been tested in CRM projects. The factors for success in CRM implementation in B2B companies, where the sales force must be involved, are many and varied, including proactive sales management, creating champions, consultation, training, incentives and culture change. Practicalities such as incremental application of the technology and a wide portfolio of metrics to monitor progress are also critical. In the light of the special considerations of sales force involvement, the authors propose an adaptation of the BDN to suggest a generic map for the implementation of CRM (with SFA) in B2B markets. This paper is based on the authors’ secondary research for two commercial sponsors in the utilities sector, supplemented by the authors’ extensive experience of working in this area.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Ward, J. and Elvin, R. (1999) ‘A new framework for managing IT-enabled business changes’, Information Systems Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 197–221.
Rigby, D. K., Reichheld, F. F. and Shefter, P. (2002) ‘Avoid the four perils of CRM’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 80, No. 2, pp. 101–109.
Wilson, H., Clarke, M. and Smith, B. (2007) ‘Justifying CRM projects in a business-to-business context: The potential of the benefits dependency network’, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 36, No. 6, pp. 770–783.
Corner, I. and Rogers, B. (2005) ‘Monitoring qualitative aspects of CRM implementation: The essential dimension of management responsibility for employee involvement and acceptance’, Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 267–274.
Gordon, I. (2002) ‘Best practices: Customer relationship management’, Ivey Business Journal, Vol. 67, No. 2, pp. 67–72.
Ling, R. and Yen, D. C. (2001) ‘Customer relationship management: An analysis framework and implementation strategies’, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp. 82–98.
Bull, C. (2003) ‘Strategic issues in customer relationship management (CRM) implementation’, Business Process Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 592–602.
Richard, J. E., Thirkell, P. C. and Huff, S. L. (2007) ‘An examination of customer relationship management (CRM) technology adoption and its impact on business-to-business customer relationships’, Total Quality Management and Excellence, Vol. 18, No. 8, pp. 927–945.
Gibbert, M., Leibold, M. and Probst, G. (2002) ‘Five styles of customer knowledge management and how smart companies use them to create value’, European Management Journal, Vol. 20, No. 5, pp. 459–469.
Kiska, J. (2002) ‘Customer experience management’, CMA Management, Vol. 76, No. 7, pp. 28–30.
Engle, R. L. and Barnes, M. L. (2000) ‘Sales force automation usage, effectiveness and cost-benefit in Germany, England and the United States’, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 216–241.
Rogers, B. and Ryals, L. (2003) ‘Managing “Wicked” CRM projects — The role of marketers in best practice implementation’, Customer Management, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 34–37.
Foss, B., Stone, M. and Ekinci, Y. (2008) ‘What makes for CRM system success — Or failure?’ Database Marketing and Customer Strategy Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 68–78.
Anon. (2006) ‘mySAP CRM delivers actionable ROI insight’, in mySAP CRM ROI Review 2006, conducted by Peppers and Rogers for SAP (Walldorf). Retrieved 24th May, 2008 from the SAP Global website: www.sap.com/solutions/business-suite/crm/pdf/ROI_Intelligence_Report_2006_Updated.pdf.
Robinson, L., Marshall, G. and Stamps, M. (2005) ‘Sales force use of technology: Antecedents to technology acceptance’, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 58, No. 12, pp. 1623–1631.
Raman, P., Wittmann, C. M. and Rauseo, N. A. (2006) ‘Leveraging CRM for sales: The role of organizational capabilities in successful CRM implementation’, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 39–53.
Hess, E. D. and Kazanjian, R. K. (2006) ‘The search for organic growth’, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Moutot, J. -M. and Bascoul, G. (2008) ‘Effects of sales force automation use on sales force activities and customer relationship management processes’, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 167–184.
Lawrence, R., Perlich, C., Rosset, S., Arroyo, J., Callahan, M., Collins, J. M., Ershov, A., Feinzig, S., Khabibrakhmanov, I., Mahatma, S., Niemaszyk, M. and Weiss, S. M. (2007) ‘Analytics-driven solutions for customer targeting and sales force allocation’, IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 797–816.
Stone, M., Foss, B., Henderson, I., Irwin, D., O’Donnell, J. and Woodcock, N. (2003) ‘The quality of customer information management in customer life cycle management’, Journal of Database Marketing, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 240–254.
Landry, T. D., Arnold, T. J. and Arndt, A. (2005) ‘A compendium of sales-related literature in customer relationship management: Processes and technologies with managerial implications’, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 231–251.
Massey, A. P., Montoya-Weiss, M. M. and Holcom, K. (2001) ‘Re-engineering the customer relationship: Leveraging knowledge assets at IBM’, Decision Support Systems, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 155–170.
Collins, K. and Thompson, E. (2007) ‘How to improve the customer experience’, Gartner Research Report, 21 December.
McKim, B. and Hughes, A. M. (2001) ‘How to measure customer relationship management success’, The Journal of Database Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 224–231.
Hughes, T., Foss, B., Stone, M. and Cheverton, P. (2007) ‘Degrees of separation: Technological interactivity and account management’, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 25, No. 5, pp. 315–335.
Pujari, D. (2003) ‘Self service with a smile? Self-service technology (SST) encounters among Canadian business-to-business’, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 200–219.
Rackham, N. and DeVincentis, J. R. (1999) ‘Rethinking the sales force’, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Davis, F. D. (1989) ‘Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and user acceptance’, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp. 319–340.
Ward, J. and Daniel, E. (2005) ‘Benefits management: Delivering value from IS and IT investments’, John Wiley and Son, Chichester.
Ward, J. and Murray, P. (1997) ‘Benefits management: Best practice guidelines’, Cranfield School of Management, Information Systems Research, Cranfield.
Shaw, R. (1998) ‘Improving marketing effectiveness’, The Economist Books, London.
Wu, I. -L. and Wu, K. -W. (2005) ‘A hybrid technology acceptance approach for exploring e-CRM adoption in organizations’, Behaviour and Information Technology, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 303–316.
Brown, A. D. (1994) ‘Implementing MRPII: Leadership, rites and cognitive change’, Logistics Information Management, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 6–11.
Pries, C. and Stone, M. (2004) ‘Managing CRM implementation with consultants — CRM or change management?’ Journal of Change Management, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 351–370.
Yim, F. K., Anderson, R. E. and Swaminathan, S. (2004) ‘Customer relationship management: Its dimensions and effect on customer outcomes’, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 263–278.
Honeycutt, E. D., Thelen, T., Thelen, S. and Hodge, S. K. (2005) ‘Impediments to sales force automation’, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 313–322.
Venkatesh, V. and Davis, F. D. (2000) ‘A theoretical extension of the technology acceptance model: Four longitudinal field studies’, Management Science, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 186–204.
Jones, E., Sundaram, S. and Chin, W. (2002) ‘Factors leading to sales force automation use: A longitudinal analysis’, Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 145–156.
Ahearne, M., Hughes, D. E. and Schillewaert, N. (2007) ‘Why sales representatives should welcome information technology: Measuring the impact of CRM-based IT on sales effectiveness’, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 336–349.
Ekinci, Y., Gillett, P. and Stone, M. (2007) ‘Deploying a CRM system in practice: Understanding the user experience’, Database Marketing and Customer Strategy Management, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 195–224.
Imai, M. (1998) ‘Gemba Kaizen as applied to sales management’, Journal of Selling and Major Account Management, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 71–80.
Maklan, S., Know, S. and Ryals, L. (2005) ‘Using real options to help build the business case for CRM investment’, Long Range Planning, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 393–410.
Ittner, C. D. and Larcker, D. F. (2003) ‘Coming up short on nonfinancial performance measurement’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81, No. 11, pp. 88–95.
Speir, C. and Venkatesh, V. (2002) ‘The hidden minefields in the adoption of sales force automation technologies’, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 98–111.
Kendrick, T. (2004) ‘Strategic marketing risk management’, Thomson Gee, London.
Bytheway, A. (1992) ‘A concept model for EDI’, Special working paper for the Fifth International EDI Conference, Bled, Slovenia, September.