CIOs and CEOs who are engaged in implementing a Customer Relationship Management initiative know how difficult a process it is. Relatively new and rapidly evolving, CRM solutions are still the source of great concern for managers in many of the Fortune 1000 companies. Because of the high stakes involved in these complex projects, managers are struggling to find meaningful measures of effectiveness and progress with which to assess and direct their efforts. To maximize the return on investment (ROI), managers must periodically revisit and refine their CRM strategy and objectives to keep the project on track and avoid conflicts later.
Although most people agree that CRM is an important enhancement to their current strategy, many executives are experiencing sticker shock as they look at CRM projects that costs millions of dollars, especially during such an austere time of belt tightening. But don't get discouraged. Even if the funds are not available right now, it is possible to start the CRM process by performing critical primary steps without a heavy initial investment. Indeed, companies that jump-start their CRM enablement today can help to ensure that they are not left behind tomorrow.
Are you feeling the crunch? After years of heavy investment and expansion, businesses across the economy are feeling enormous pressures to reduce their costs. Such a tactical reversal is a difficult change in approach for managers mired by the "grow at all costs" mentality of the 1990's. But hold on a minute; despite the sense of urgency at achieving cost savings, it is vital that business managers apply strategic thinking to the reduction of their costs. A well-conceived cost reduction strategy enables managers to capture maximum value in the form of direct savings and the installment of a culture of efficiency while minimizing the destruction of company value resulting from cutting too much from core business activities. This article will outline some of the reasons that companies are feeling the pressure to reduce costs and then offer a five-step methodology for building a foundation of strategic cost reduction (SCR) in your organization.
Walk around the offices of corporate America today and you will hear whispers of the cost cutting and employee layoff villains. Where can we turn to, what force will combat these scourges? In the same hushed breath, people often answer with a focus on value added.
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