Implementing CRM software to address Wobble's operational and communication challenges

Wobble is in its 16th year of running and has achieved a reputation as one of the premier global companies in the production and distribution of widgets. Wobble has been rated as one of the top 11 companies by 'Fortune Fabricated" for its dedication to customers and its adherence to proving customers with quality products. But Wobbles has been having some problems. These include the following:

The capacities of the sites are misbalanced with the Brisbane office stretched to capacity but other warehouses under-performing. Hours and structures of these different sites also vary frustrating customers.

Sales have been increasing in some offices and decreasing in others. The performers of the Perth office are under-motivated.

Standardization still remains to be completed between the Perth office and its sister-one in Brisbane. Customers demand specialization and the capacities of parts of the Wobble's company are being under-utilized.

Wobbles has an inconsistent and limited communications system. Its system is local rather than central.

The following proposal therefore recommends CRM software as an ideal solution.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a model for helping the company manages its interactions with current and future customers. CRM software helps the company organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.

Wobble's need for the CRM, the qualities of the CRM and the general benefits of the CRM as well as its particular benefits to each of the key stakeholders in particular and to the organization in general are outlined in the following proposal.

Introduction

Wobble is in its 16th year of running and has achieved a reputation as one of the premier global companies in the production and distribution of widgets. Wobble has been rated as one of the top 11 companies by 'Fortune Fabricated" for its dedication to customers and its adherence to proving customers with quality products. Wobble is dedicated to satisfying customers and as a result, Wobble has achieved a consistent and loyal following.

In today's competitive marketplace, this is all the more important given the fact that competition is severe and that it is the company with the JIST (Just in time) product and service that usually wins the accolade. Technology is the rule today and, unfortunately, often it is the company with the most modern, advanced technology that may grab the price. Speed is all-important; customers want the product delivered instantly and error-free. To achieve those ends, internal and external communication -- between employees within the organization and between organization and clients -- must be rapid and faultless too. It is amazing that Wobble has been able to accomplish this all the years. However, over the last decade Wobble has expended its business so that it covers large swathes of Australia. We want to retain our past performance and reputation and we may find it increasingly difficult to do this by ourselves. It is here that technology comes into the picture as instruments that can help us not only retain our success but help us grow to unparalleled and unpredicted heights.

The product that I will be specifically promoting in this proposal is the CRM. Wobble's need for the CRM, the qualities of the CRM and the general benefits of the CRM as well as its particular benefits to each of the key stakeholders in particular and to the organization in general will be described in the following proposal.

Part A: The Situation and the Problem

Industry and Product

Wobble Corp manufactures and sells Wobbles to customers throughout Australia. They have two main factories, several warehouse distribution centers and regional admin offices. There is 350 staff in the company scattered around the nation and they have been in business for 15 years.

Company Structure

The organizational structure of Wobble Corp is typical of many medium enterprise businesses. The board of directors does not get actively involved in the day-to-day operation, leaving most decisions to line managers and senior executives. Key personal include:

Locations and Premises

Wobble operates an office in many states around Australia. A full list of their locations is the following:

Factory #1: Brisbane. Manufactures 80% of Wobble's Wobbles and services all Eastern states.

Factory #2: Perth. Makes 20% of the product and services WA and SA.

Warehouses: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth.

Large sales and admin offices: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne (also services Tasmania).

Small sales and admin offices: Perth, Adelaide.

Site Issues

The Sydney warehouse is in a very expensive location (high rent).

The Brisbane warehouse is stretched to capacity and needs much more space, whilst all other warehouses are barely half full.

Many sites have different hours of operation and clients are often frustrated trying to reach Wobble early/late in the day for service or assistance.

Sales Issues

Sales are declining in SA due to delivery delays when shipping Wobbles interstate.

Tasmanian sales are booming and there has been discussion about opening a small office there with permanent sales staff. Sue Day, Wobble's IT manager, suggests an online sales portal instead.

Sales staff in Perth are the lowest performers with the weakest supervision.

All client and prospect contact records are kept locally in each office.

Production Issues

The Perth factory was built and operated by a competitor that was acquired three years ago. Only 20% of the systems and procedures have been integrated or standardized between that and the main plant in Brisbane.

The Perth factory makes some unique Wobbles that have growing demand in the eastern states. The Brisbane factory needs extensive retooling to make these so they are currently shipped from Perth. They are either slow to arrive or expensive to ship fast.

Too many complete orders go to manufacturing just because some of the Wobbles are not in stock, without filling part of the order from the warehouse.

Wobble customisation is increasing alarmingly as clients demand specialised products.

Technology Issues

The administration offices have grown organically around the country and have no standard IT deployment. Hardware, software and operating systems vary from site to site.

Phone systems are disparate and it is not possible to transfer calls between sites.

There is a national data network in place with very little bandwidth usable only for the legacy EDP software. Email is sent via local internet connections.

Wobble's problems in short are the following:

5. The capacities of the sites are misbalanced with the Brisbane office stretched to capacity but other warehouses under-performing. Hours and structures of these different sites also vary frustrating customers.

6. Sales have been increasing in some offices and decreasing in others. The performers of the Perth office are under-motivated.

7. Standardization still remains to be completed between the Perth office and its sister-one in Brisbane. Customers demand specialization and the capacities of parts of the Wobble's company are being under-utilized.

8. Wobbles has an inconsistent and limited communications system. Its system is local rather than central.

Part B: Solution

Often times, as in this case, a mass of problems can be eliminated by addressing one issue. The issue in this case will be the last point: Wobble's limited and inconsistent computer system. Addressing this point will solve many, fi not all, of Wobble's other problems and contribute to continuing development of the company.

CRM Software

Our plan is to provide Wobble Corp with a detailed CRM software solution that will centrally manage their client and sales information. Our solution includes the following components:

Hardware computer systems to store the new database.

Server software and licensing for the CRM core database.

Client software and licensing for all relevant desktop computers.

Improved national virtual private network connections between offices to facilitate access to the central CRM database 24/7.

Training and implementation assistance.

Ongoing support and maintenance.

Website interface for online sales and client order management.

What CRM Software is

Customer relationship management (CRM), in short, is a model for helping the company manages its interactions with current and future customers. The technology helps the company organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.

How does it do this?

1. Sales force automation

The software helps the sales personnel streamline the sales process. Wobble has a problem with deliveries delays, with some under motivated sales-professionals, and with fragmentation of client sales records (due to their being localized rather than centralized). CRM software can solve this situation since the core of the software is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final completion and distribution of product. Many SFA applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts and work flow automation.

2. Customer service and support

The software helps the company's manager and CFO create, assign and manage requests made by customers. It provides Wobbles with tools such as a call center software which help direct customers to agents. This would be ideal for the Tasmanian center which has booming sales and for which Sue Day, the IT director, has suggested an online sales portal.

CRM software can also be used to identify and reward loyal customers over a period of time.

5. Social media

Some CRMs coordinate with social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google Plus to track and communicate with customers who share opinions and experiences about their company, products and services. This service would help Wobble's sales manager in numerous ways. Not only would Wobble be in touch with customer's desires and response but they can also more effectively communicate with customers, track their products success and reputation, market events, and promote their product in a far more reliable, effective, and cost-free way.

6. Non-profit and membership-based

Systems for non-profit and membership-based organizations help track constituents, fund-raising, demographics, membership levels, membership directories, volunteering and communications with individuals. This would reduce some of the problems that Wobbles has in being such a far-flung organization that has only local rather than center communication.

Advantages too include the fact that all employees and shareholders of Wobble can share the data and pull it down when necessary to use it for reports, analysis, and decision making. CRM stores the data in one place and this make it easier to conduct research, investigate patterns and trends relevant to the business, see possible associations, and help the users be on the same page regarding key business concerns. It also helps them understand their internal and external business environment.

By pooling data in one place, CRM also help General Management regulate the data and check it continuously to ensure its consistency and currency. The fact that most data warehouses, moreover, are integrated also enable users to synthesize data from various sources (such as from human resources, finance, IT, accounting, etc.) and use them towards the needed end.

With the CRM in place, each locality will not only be better able to communicate with one another in a faster more reliable way but they will be able to also correspond with clients in this same way.

The CRM in short is a system that will delight Wobble's busy IT manager. It is effective, put-together, and responsible in its productions. It is also relatively easy to operate and to learn.

Part 3. Limitations and Conclusion

Limitations with the CRM system

CRM does have its disadvantages with the prime ones being that setting up, running and using the system can be time consuming as is the fact that the system needs to be maintained and the currency of the company's data needs to be continuously checked.

Current systems too may be incompatible with the data requiring that users need to update their training. Equipment and software upgrades may be incompatible with the data too requiring that these constantly be updated. The result may be costly.

Finally, security may be a huge concern, specifically if the data is relayed over an open system such as the Internet (Tech-FAQ Data Warehouse). All of this can eventuate into an expense that may become too costly for the organization to carry. However, considering the needs of the organization and the fact that Wobble is already losing money over wastage of products and incurring an increasing number of frustrated customers, the conclusions is that Wobble will only profit from its acquiring the CRM system.

Conclusion

Wobble is a vertical, hierarchical structure with downward directives and management span of control where underneath tiers are controlled by and responsible to upper levels of management.

The vertical structure enables the organization to better manage a complex value chain that is comprised of upstream, midstream and downstream tiers of activity. In order to manage each of its complex layers of activity, ensure that money is used wisely, that customers are satisfied, that polies are kept, that suppliers are doing their job, and that the potential of each part of the organization is fully used, Wobble would need an effective piece of technology to help it.

This is where CRM comes into place.

For more than 50 years, CRM has been the software solution of choice for small to medium-sized businesses and divisions of large corporations. CRM enables you to do more with less, providing you with a central organizing component and with instant access to the entire history of every customer or prospect. CRM satisfies each stakeholder of the Wobble team. It offers

Sales automation, full mobility, marketing campaigns and customer support

All-in-one organizational access

Faster technology and means to communicate with and respond to clients' queries.

CRM, in short, is for you.

Sources

DeGregor, Dennison (2011). Customer-Transparent Enterprise: Beyond 20th Century CRM. Motivational Press

Charon Advantages & Disadvantages of the Vertical Functional Organizational Structure

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-vertical-functional-organizational-structure-1268.html

Hillard, R (2010) Information-Driven Business, Wiley: USA

Pettersen, J., (2009). Defining lean production: some conceptual and practical issues. The TQM Journal, 21(2), 127-142.