Make CRM Smarter

Companies with integrated systems are gaining in other ways. “Pacesetter companies capture self-service activity in the contact and account history in CRM, which allows them to accurately measure deflection by seeing who uses self-service and if that is followed by assisted support,” Ragsdale says.

CRM, he adds, can track use of self-service by customers. “We are starting to see more companies measuring self-service adoption as part of the customer success on-boarding process to make sure customers are using all the resources available to them,” he says.

And it helps resolve one more pain point at a lot of companies: “Companies frequently complain that they spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on knowledge management and employees don’t use it,” Ragsdale says. “Embedding KM into CRM and automatically showing relevant matches to the case being created (which can be filtered by products owned by the customer, custom case fields, short and long description, etc.) can dramatically boost adoption by employees because it is front and center, in the same screen.”

GUIDANCE GOING FORWARD

That everything appears on one screen, in fact, is the key to the whole project. To be effective, the knowledge base search capability has to be embedded directly into the CRM system so agents don’t have to go out to other databases or open other windows on their screens to access it, according to Petouhoff. Successful integrations also need to be dynamic, meaning that results are constantly updated in real time, and contextual, meaning that results are filtered based on the case title and case notes the agent inputs into the system.

In the same way that data cleansing is a necessary part of any CRM implementation, data management is central to KM. Before embarking on integrating the two systems, companies must therefore determine which information to include in the system, and someone must take ownership of data quality, making sure all content is fresh and up to date. Otherwise, KM integration could end up hindering rather than helping CRM performance.

Merging KM and CRM data doesn’t have to involve a huge data migration project either, according to RightAnswers’ Simon Yelsky, vice president of product management and presales. “A lot of times, there’s a benefit to leaving the knowledge where it is,” he says. “It’s more about how you search it and federate it.”

When integrating the two, experts suggest proceeding slowly and methodically. “It’s a good idea to do things step by step rather than all at once,” Petriv suggests. “It’s easier to test the results if you do things one at a time.”

This also makes projects easier to budget; complete software overhauls can be expensive. “Nobody wants to do a rip-and-replace,” Foley says. “It has to be done piecemeal. The right path is to start with one component and then move to others as time goes by.”

Petriv recommends starting with the systems that agents use and then moving to customer self-service tools. “It’s about maximizing agent productivity first and foremost,” she states.

Experts also suggest looking for systems that offer open connectivity, reporting capabilities, and the ability to harness the collective intelligence found across social media.

Like all major business undertakings, blending KM and CRM requires the buy-in and support of top management. Corporate leaders must understand the implications of KM and CRM and the strategic impact of their integration.

A change agent or program champion is also required. Some experts have even gone so far as to recommend that companies bring on a chief knowledge officer—someone who understands the disciplines involved and has the persistence to carry the program through.

Petriv also suggests keeping customer service agents involved in the process since they will ultimately be the ones to use whatever systems are put in place.

At the same time, it’s crucial that organizations stay focused, as always, on their customers, Petriv says. “You can be successful if you keep the customer in the center of everything.”

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Senior News Editor Leonard Klie can be reached at lklie@infotoday.com.

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