A possible integrated CRM solution

A few months ago, actually almost a year, we posted about our need for an integrated CRM solution. It would be one that could handle all of our customer service needs, customer contacts, payment processing, billing and AR/AP, statement generation and regular financial reporting needs. It would eliminate the duplication in account entry and management we face now.

We had a couple of solutions presented. They were good. But we couldn't justify at this point the costs. Granted, while their solution would be great, I'm sure, the pain on our end wasn't great enough to get over that hump.

Now we're looking at NetSuite. NetSuite appears to offer some interesting solutions for all these needs. Most of them are canned and in the box. But the application displays some flexibility and ease of use. 

We've scheduled a series of initial demos with our various company stakeholders: Customer Service, Sales, IT, Accounting. We'll share with you this story as it moves forward.

( Why? Well, whatever technology we decide best helps us serve you will make a big impact on your experience with us. Feel free to chip in with any feedback on NetSuites or its offerings. )

We've had 2 demos. The first one served as an initial overview. The 2nd one was today.

Today's demo was with Customer Service, Cindy Whitney and Theresa Chatelle respectively.  It's interesting to hear their perspective and also understand how different our approach to serving customers is compared to 'big' companies.

NetSuite's  a proven application with a ton of features and resources we could grow into. We could eliminate many of the duplications for entering each of your customer records; We could possibly streamline our payment processing. Standard reporting would possibly be easier for me. And their people are great, Karl and Rudy, great and smart and flexible.

But...what we're seeing is a very divergent view on corporate structures with hierarch of organization, autonomy and authority. One being ours; one being theirs or their clients.

And we're also seeing a divergent view on the use of technology to build a company, a brand, a workplace.

In the corporate structure arena we differ greatly from most companies and it seems NetSuites standard designs to support most companies. We put as much decision-making autonomy and resources into the hands of everyone in the company sufficient that they can do their job, right then and right there. No hierarchy of approvals except for very unusual requests. And our customer database is designed with that in mind. Every bit of data pertinent to most customer decisions is right on the front screen for Customer Service. No drill down menus of multiple levels. No hierarchy of permissions needed.

We hire adults, give them the tools to accomplish their goals, prioritize their day on the key goals, our customers and our company, and get out of their way. We've found a team now that can shoulder this much freedom and autonomy while working together.

The purpose is to make the experience for you when you call or email as fast and efficient and pleasant as possible.

And granted it's a work in progress. But we keep taking simple steps forward to have more interaction directly with you, immediately with you when you need it, and long-term to stay out in front helping reaching your goals.

But what we noticed is the different approach NetSuite may see technology and its use in creating a product or service or brand.

We use technology to put each of us individually out in front in direct and personal contact with you, our customers. We want to put technology in the background where it belongs. ( Technology is best neither seen nor heard. What's important is the content, not the technology used to deliver it.) And use it to free us to give more personal and customized solutions for you. Whether it's just the option to ask a question or the need for more detailed personalized answers, we want technology to 'free us' to deliver that to you. 

And it appears, like many companies, they view technology as a resource to minimize personal and customized customer contact. Herd 'em all into standard options, make 'em pick from a list of drop down menu options and then reply using standard stock phrases. ( Very efficient. We all dread it.)

Now again, I'm speaking broadly here.

Our next step with Customer Service is to deliver a work-flow document. We'll do that next week. And we'll arrange for a web conference that will show them our work flow.

In the meantime we'll have demos with our Sales Agents. ( This could be a huge win for them.) And our Accounting and IT departments respectively. Accounting could also benefit hugely in batch payment processing and emailing invoice receipts for you flat-rate unlimited customers.

We'll let you know.