Adopt Mobile CRM Best Practices Now

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One trend in the CRM industry that is hot, hot, hot is “Mobile CRM.” Mobile CRM solutions– the ability to use handheld devices to manage sales, sales contacts, and customer service activities have clearly moved beyond their previous status as a specialized “nice-to-have” option and into the mainstream. And, organizations are also rushing to find new ways to allow their customers interact with them through consumer-owned mobile devices.

The emergence of ubiquitous high-speed broadband connectivity, smartphones and tablet devices with enormous computing power and longer battery life, and increased adoption by employees of touch screen devices in every sphere of life (iPhone / iPad / Blackberry) are all trends that serve to “liberate IT from the desktop.”

I am currently mid-way through a major research cycle on the topic – talking with CRM vendors, systems integrators, and end-users. My goal is to define Mobile CRM best practices and spotlight the pitfalls that can get in way of capitalizing on the mobile technology revolution.

I recently talked with Model Metrics, Wipro’s CRM consulting practice leaders, and Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) CRM practice leadership team. These consulting and development firms are all doing a lot of mobile CRM projects for their clients. We brainstormed about the critical considerations that that must be addressed when defining a Mobile CRM strategy:

  • Who are the intended users and targeted business community to use mobile apps?
  • What are tangible business drivers that mobile solutions could satisfy (customer satisfaction, business processes capabilities, improved operational efficiency etc.)?
  • What is the precise “use-case(s)” that needs to be support?
  • What is the data and information need of the field force (sales or service personnel)?
  • How do we ensure that the information provided is accurate?
  • Does the operational business need offline availability? What is the impact non-availability of offline application?
  • What devices best suit the targeted users for their day-to-day operations?
  • What technology platforms should we consider?
  • How do technology platforms and devices align with the company’s enterprise architecture strategy (Service Oriented Architecture, Cloud/SaaS, Open Source, COTS, BeSpoke, etc)?
  • How will we manage devices from an enterprise perspective?
  • What are the enterprise security considerations?
  • What are the cost implications?

What is been your experience? Are there any critical items that are missing from this list?

Republished with author's permission from original post.

William Band
Bill Band is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. He is a leading expert on CRM topics, having helped organizations define customer-driven strategies to achieve distinction in the marketplace for his entire career. Click here to download free related research from Forrester (free site registration required).

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