Operational CRM

Operational CRM means supporting the "front office" business processes, which include all customer contact (sales, marketing and service). Tasks resulting from these processes are forwarded to employees responsible for them, as well as the information necessary for carrying them out. Interfaces to back-end applications are provided and activities with customers are documented for further reference.

Operational CRM provides the following benefits:

• Delivers personalised and efficient marketing, sales, and service through multi-channel collaboration
• Enables a 360-degree view of your customer while you are interacting with them
• Sales people and service engineers can access complete history of all customer interaction with your company, regardless of the touch point

The operational part of CRM typically involves three general areas of business:

Sales force automation (SFA)  

SFA automates some of the company's critical sales and sales force management functions, for example, lead/account management, contact management, quote management, forecasting, sales administration, keeping track of customer preferences, buying habits, and demographics, as well as performance management. SFA tools are designed to improve field sales productivity. Key infrastructure requirements of SFA are mobile synchronization and integrated product configuration.

Customer service and support (CSS)  

CSS automates some service requests, complaints, product returns, and information requests. Traditional internal help desk and traditional inbound call-centre support for customer inquiries are now evolved into the "customer interaction centre" (CIC), using multiple channels (Web, phone/fax, face-to-face, kiosk, etc). Key infrastructure requirements of CSS include computer telephony integration (CTI) which provides high volume processing capability, and reliability.

Enterprise marketing automation (EMA) 

EMA provides information about the business environment, including competitors, industry trends, and macro-environmental variables. It is the execution side of campaign and lead management. The intent of EMA applications is to improve marketing campaign efficiencies. Functions include demographic analysis, variable segmentation, and predictive modelling on the analytical (Business Intelligence) side.

Integrated CRM software is often also known as "front office solutions." This is because they deal directly with the customer.

Many call centres use CRM software to store all of their customer's details. When a customer calls, the system can be used to retrieve and store information relevant to the customer. By serving the customer quickly and efficiently, and also keeping all information on a customer in one place, a company aims to make cost savings, and also encourage new customers.

CRM solutions can also be used to allow customers to perform their own service via a variety of communication channels. For example, you might be able to check your bank balance via your WAP phone without ever having to talk to a person, saving money for the company, and saving your time.