How to realize the true value of your CRM [Part One]

By now, most of us have heard about the potential that data has to change the world. The amount of data being stored is growing exponentially, and we’ve seen some amazing applications of this, from health care providers accurately diagnosing and treating patients using big data, to financial institutions leveraging it to pinpoint and stop fraudulent transactions in fractions of a second.

However, when it comes to data and customer relationship management (CRM) in the enterprise, the outcomes are not nearly as impressive. The more conservative the industry, the more accurate this statement is.

CRM systems at large financial services firms, for example, are almost never used to their full potential. While the executives at these firms know they need a CRM system, it’s almost always underused, if not outright ignored, because of the manual and tedious data entry needed from the advisor, and the lack of clean, consistent data in the system. For sales and distribution, marketing, and compliance leaders, the lack of insight into advisor and customer activity is a critical challenge.

 

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