CRM through Smart Phones
by Karthik Andhiyur Nagarajan
Though mobile phones sales declined worldwide due to the recession, the market share of smart phones has grown constantly and is expected to account for a major chunk of the mobile market in the next five years.
Does this have anything to do with CRM? Yes of course, these smart phones are simply sweeping off customers with incredible connections between the digital and the real world.
As the iPhone Ad goes...
What is great about the iPhone...?
If you wanna check for snow condition in the mountains there is an App for that...
If you wanna check how many calories you have taken for your lunch...there is an App for that...
If you wanna check exactly where you have parked your car...there is an app for that
There is an app for just about anything....
The delivery of customer care itself should be re-thought as these new devices have opened up a gamut of new channels of service. In the traditional CRM care functionality, there are three areas of support where these smart phones would play a major role - field personnel support, remote technical support and end customer care.
Field Personnel Support: In the retail channel for instance, there is always a need for a smart device for the field person who would be interacting with the POS contact. The field personnel should have access to functionality which would provide customer information on the mobile device. The smart phone will also provide essential details of the retailer such as products and SKU (stock keeping unit) ordered. Also it would store the order details and historic information of the transactions in the past. These applications can be easily integrated to the underlying supply chain management system. The use of smart phones will minimize the investment on the mobile devices which would be integrated to field support software.
Technical Support: The key lies in effectively merging traditional CRM care functionality with specific mobile device management functionality, thereby extending smart phone support to the heart of the call center operations. In doing so, call center agents would be empowered to have a unified view of the services provided to the customer. Further the agents would have real-time device diagnostic information which would help them provide better solutions to the customer's technical problems.
End Customer Support: The CRM chains are already getting integrated to smart phones. It is like developing specific functionalities for the end customer's needs giving rise to nearly endless possibilities. For instance, it is like having an application installed on the smart phone for service assurance (integrated to the trouble ticketing system) of the broad band connection the customer is using. Or a simpler application, having a separate application for the customer to order pizza and book a plane ticket in his preferred airlines.
The Social Touch: There are so many day to day tasks which as civilized human being we are bound to do. These smart phones have been conceptualized and built to touch the user in his day to day work through the social touch, rather than data centric transactions. Natural user interfaces are taking the front seat for the actual customer relationship management. The multitude of services provided through Twitter, Facebook, etc. are already getting closer to the user through these smart phones.
As smart phones are bridging the gaps between the digital and real worlds and opening new avenues of service delivery, CRM providers should embrace mobile CRM integration with main stream enterprise applications. Siebel Wireless enabled interface is one such application foreseen to integrate Siebel's underlying CRM functionality to mobile phones. In the days to come, smart phone integration would be a key area to look forward to.
"During the next Digital Decade, technology will make our lives richer, more connected, more productive and more fulfilling in profound and exciting ways"... Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates - keynote address to the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev. Jan. 6, 2008
About the Author
Karthik is a Consultant with Enterprise Solutions. He has worked on Amdocs CRM implementations for various major telecom companies, and is currently working on a project for a European telecom major. Karthik will blog on CRM trends, marketing and telecom.
