Portals in Public Sector: the next Evolution...

Challenges in Public Sector IT

So both the Federal and State Public Sectors in Australia are struggling at the moment with deficits.  All are warning of further funding cutbacks.  Many are looking for ways to trim costs from the public sector operational budgets in order to fund pet projects.  In the light of this, self service methods for Citizens to get access to government services to reduce costs are becoming more popular than ever. 

Remember the last time you went into a bank?  Probably not.  Most people do all their banking over the internet.  Firstly it allows you access to the services at a time that suits you.  Secondly there is no waiting in line or on the phone.  You get access to what you want now and don't have to wait. Self Service Portals are interesting then in that they allow you to reduce costs (because you need fewer people on the end of the phone to receive the call) but yet they increase the perception of the quality of the services you are giving to customer or in the case of Gov't the citizen. 

Therefore self service options are now all the rage with most government agencies.  It's taken a little while for the government to catch up with where the banks and financial institutions have been at but they are definitely there now.

Portals in the Past Tense vs. Portals 2.0

In addition to the concept of a Self Service Portal becoming more popular I think the average government thinking in terms of what providing a self service portal means has changed.  Previously the focus for the portal was the portal experience itself with perhaps some integration to backend systems. 

What we are finding now is that government departments are realising it is not just about the self service portal itself but about developing the business processes around it and making them more efficient as well.  To facilitate those business processes you need tools for that as well as for managing the portal content itself which often has to be dynamic allowing for changes in programs and the development of new services. 

Queues plus workflows plus communication managements tools all are needed to manage the inevitable issues, questions and complaints that come from portals which have to support high transaction volumes of citizen requests are key components.  An integrated Knowledge Base that can be exposed to the citizens using the portal also helps.  It is not just about the portal and how it looks and feels but the backend tools that supports the portal processes and active management of Dynamics content.  This is where a CRM system comes into play.   Instead of looking for just a Portal most government IT organizations are now looking for integrated Portal and CRM tools to manage the portal, the content and the process.  This is where Dynamics CRM plus ADX Studio as a solution on top of Dynamics CRM can provide an elegant solution.

The Advantages of a Dynamics CRM/ ADX Studio Based Solution

ADX Studio is a solution built on top of Dynamics CRM which turns Dynamics CRM into a Content Management system for a Government Portal.  A completely configurable solutions it comes with a series of pre-built portals including a Government Portal and a Self Service Community Portal.  All use Dynamics CRM as both the portal database as well as the Content Management Tool.   Fully integrated, prebuilt, configurable and with the option to go cloud based or on-premise, Dynamics CRM with a combination of ADX Studio provides an attractive solution for most government departments who want to get a self service portal up and running quickly and want a set up tools not just to support the portal but to support all business processes that go around setting up a successful self service portal.

The ADX Studio solution with Dynamics CRM has won the 2012 US State and Local Gov't Rising Star Award recently for the solution in the Government space. 

Cloud Based or On-Premise... Decisions Decisions...

So the interesting thing about Dynamics CRM is that you have the option of either going with Public Cloud, Private Cloud or On-Premise.  Watching the active discussions that are going on in Government today around the concept of Public Cloud it is interesting to see the different views.  The Australian Federal Public Sector seems to be very anti-public cloud with AGIMO coming out categorically against the concept of Public Cloud for Public Sector.  On the other hand the NSW Government has made recent announcements stating their favourable view of Public Cloud based IT solutions. 

At the end of the day however Microsoft supports both.  Dynamics CRM can be hosted On-Premise, Private Cloud through Partner or through secure Public Cloud through Microsoft.   All options are there and because the code base for Dynamics CRM On-premise is essentially the same as online that means that you can fairly easily move back and forth between each option. 

All this for Less than the price of a Cup of Coffee per day?

So the Professional version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is priced at relatively cost effectively at ~$65 per user per month.  However Microsoft provides for various license levels and for most Call Centre users of a Dynamics CRM Online system the lower cost "Basic" License applies.  Priced at ~ $30 per user per month this is extremely cost effective for most Gov't departments and can often be handled as a OpEx expense rather than a CapEx expense requiring more formal approvals.  Work this out and this amounts to less than $1.50 per day per user or less than the cup of coffee you buy down at your local coffee shop.  If you want more details around Dynamics CRM Online software pricing just click on  Dynamics CRM Online Quick Reference Guide .

In terms of the Portal tool ADX Studio Tool that works on top of Dynamics CRM the pricing can be found here:  http://www.adxstudio.com/adxstudio-xrm/xrm-licensing  .  For most uses the cost will be a once of $9,995 USD. 

Neither Dynamics CRM nor ADX studio charge for the number of external users (i.e. Citizens) that are accessing the portal from outside of your organization.  These are all free. 

Now there will likely be some services costs associated with the deployment and those costs may vary with the level of backend integration you want with other systems in your business.  But based on practical experience a simple system as a first step can be up and running typically within 2 to 3 months.  So for most Public Sector IT Groups to get a basic system in place the services costs will be relatively low.

For more information you can send me an email at dgoad@esavvy.com.au


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia

How to Improve Human Resources Call Centre Management

The Challenges that HR Practitioners  Face in Large Organizations

There are many challenges that HR Practitioners face in large organisations but some of the more common ones involve...

1) How to give consistent advise - with employees that will shop around to get the answer they want to hear.  But even when they employees don't do that with so many access points to a typical HR Department and so many people in that department it is near impossible to ensure that exactly the same advice is given in the exact same circumstance by two different people on your team.

2) How to be Proactive - HR Practitioners are often left reacting to issues that go on in the business and scrambling to catch-up.  Issues around discrimination, employee dissatisfaction with their line management team, and lack of understanding around policies and procedures are often dealt with reactively as opposed to proactively. 

3) How to be more Efficient - It's a tough economy out there.  Everyone is cutting back and HR departments are expected to do their part in terms of cutting costs.  This often means handling more issues with fewer people.  How will you cope with this?

How a Dynamics CRM System can help...

Speaking from practical experience there are a number of ways that a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can help an HR department and specifically how Dynamics CRM can help.  Most HR departments when they invest in technology think of HR Payroll tools and HR Management Systems but not much else.   They rarely think of their employees as their customers and therefore don't think that CRM systems can help them.  But the reality is that CRM systems specialize in managing "People Interaction" and if you are an HR Department Good People Interaction Management is key to your success. 

Specifically here's some ways how a Dynamics CRM based system can help...

1) Full Communications Management - Dynamics CRM allows you to manage all your communications such as email, phone, meetings and letters.  Everything can be tracked and the entire history of communication with an employee since they started with and organization can be seen.

2) Integration with Outlook - Because Dynamics CRM is fully integration with Outlook and most organisations still use Outlook at their email tool this means that everything can be tracked with a single click.  There is no double handling copying emails over to your HR tool or recording appointments and the outcomes thereof in both your calendar and your HR tool.  Double handling is eliminated.

3) Integrated Knowledge Base - There is a fully integrated knowledge base that is easy to search and allows your HR Business Partners with a few clicks to insert the knowledge base article into an email.  This means it is easy to process common employee questions quickly and effortlessly.

4) Complete Activity History through Audit Logging - One of the most important things with employee communication is to keep detailed records.  These can be admissible in the court of law or in labour disputes.  Dynamics CRM keeps a full audit trail of interactions with an employee and keeps track of all changes in the system.  So you can see when a change to an employees record was made and by whom?

5) Advice Self Service  -   The Knowledge Base in Dynamics can be integrated easily to a self service portal.  This means that policies loaded into CRM for your HR Advisors to use can also be made available for employees to easily look for themselves.  Dynamics CRM becomes your one source for all your HR Policies.

6) Proactive Reporting to Identify Trends and Problems - One of the challenges for HR Departments is to see a problem is coming and proactively deal with it before it becomes more serious.   For example identifying a supervisor who gets a lot of complaints or realising that a particular piece of HR policy is generating a lot of questions and needs to be better communicated.  With a full dash boarding and reporting capability, HR business partners can build reports themselves easily to identify trends and emerging problem areas.

7) Proactive Outbound Communication - Once you've identified a particular issue you can use Dynamics CRM to communicate out to your employees in a proactive and consistent way.  You can also track who has read your communications and who hasn't.

8) Standardize Responses - Email templates to standardise responses can be built in Dynamics CRM and used either through Outlook on an Ad Hoc basis or automatically through system generated emails. 

9) Case Management, Queues and Workflows - Depending on the type of question or issues raised by the employee or determined by the department they come from the question or complaint can automatically be routed to the group or person within your HR team best suited to answer the question.  The issues is tracked as a Case and the history of the case is management.  This means that employees are not being bounced around from person to person looking for the relevant expert in your group, communications is more efficient and the employee is responded to more quickly than before. 

10) Business Processes Built right into your System - with the new Business Process Based User Interface the CRM system can be designed specifically around your HR Departments specific business processes. 

In the end then a Dynamics CRM System can help you give consistent advice, be more proactive and do more with less by becoming more efficient in your people management. 

 

Less Cost than a cup of coffee per day, really?

So the Professional version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is priced at relatively cost effectively at ~$65 per user per month.  However Microsoft provides for various license levels and for most HR users of a Dynamics CRM Online system the lower cost "Basic" License applies.  Priced at ~ $30 per user per month this is extremely cost effective for most HR departments and can often be handled as a OpEx expense rather than a CapEx expense requiring more formal approvals.  Work this out and this amounts to less than $1.50 per day per user or less than the cup of coffee you buy down at your local coffee shop.  If you want more details around Dynamics CRM Online software pricing just click on  Dynamics CRM Online Quick Reference Guide .

Now there will likely be some services costs associated with the deployment and those costs may vary with the level of backend integration you want with other systems in your business.  But based on practical experience a simple system as a first step can be up and running typically within 6 to 8 weeks.  So for most HR Departments to get a basic system in place the services costs will be relatively low.

A Practical Example:  How the NSW Gov't does it...

One of eSavvy's oldest customers is NSW Health, specifically the Hunter New England Region.  They came up on one of the earlier versions of Dynamics CRM and have since upgraded.  But their HR Department are using Dynamics CRM as described in this article with some significant business benefits being realised.  For more information click here:  NSW Health Customer Case Study  or alternatively you can send me an email at dgoad@esavvy.com.au


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia

How to Maximize the Return on Invesment (ROI) from your planned CRM System Deployment

Setting the Scene

A recent study indicated that the deployment of Microsoft Dynamics CRM delivers an average ROI of 243%.  Details of the support study can be found here:  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/dynamics/docs/mstei.pdf. 

Speaking from an experience with more then 200 deployments of Dynamics CRM, this writer has seen some deployments achieve much more than the desired ROI and more than this quoted study and some that have achieved less.  Based on these experiences there are definitely some things that those who are looking to undertake a CRM deployment can do to maximize the Return on Investment (ROI) from their Dynamics CRM or whatever other CRM solution or Business Application they choose to deploy.

What to consider and plan for before you start any CRM Deployment

An old University Professor used to say to me that half of solving a problem is know what the problem is in the first place.  Put another way, if you have a good plan then you are a large part of the way there in terms of driving a successful project and achieving the desired ROI. 

It's surprising but the number of customers I talk to day in and day out who can't articulate what their process is going to be to select a CRM solution or Business Application and to then to deploy it is quite high.  Often they come to me with a simple problem statement and a time frame within which they want it fixed and that's it with no further thought around these questions. 

Development of successful plans can be found by answering these basic questions ...

Your Plan for the Software Selection

1. What's the software selection process?
2. Who needs to be involved?
3. Who will write the Business Case?
4. Who will write the Functionality Requirements derived from the Business Case?
5. How will you compare the software you are looking at against those requirements (through and RFT, through Demonstrations, or both)?
6. Who will approve the selection?

Plan for the Software Implementation

1. Who will be involved?
2. How many phases?  How long will the phases be?
3. Which department will go first?  Which department will go last?
4. What tasks are you going to do internally?  What are you asking a Systems Integrator to do?
5. Have you included Business Process Analysis and Design and User Acceptance Testing in your Plan?  Who will do the training?  Who will be responsible for these?
6. How will you manage the process change?

Speaking as a systems integrator customers who have an initial view of all of these are much easier to deal with because it means they at least thought things through.  Now having a plan doesn't mean a plan can't change.  By definition most plans are out of day as soon as you write them and if you are smart you will take inputs from your vendor/ systems integrator on all of the above questions and your plan will adapt as your project changes.  They've done this a lot before and so will have good advise.  But at least going into the process with an initial view on all of the above questions you'll have a much better chance of achieving the ROI you are looking for. 

Setting Good Objectives and Targets for your Business Applications Deployment

Often the goals and objectives of your CRM deployment can become muddled and confused during the design process.  Various interest groups and interested parties within an organization can steer a project in a direction that was never really intended by the projects sponsors.  One easy tool to keep your project on track and to ensure that the focus is on the problems you intended to solve in the first place is by developing a "Conditions of Satisfaction" statement at the beginning of the project. 

The process for developing Conditions of Satisfaction is fairly simply.  A relatively simple process, this involves sitting down with the project sponsor, having a brief conversation and asking him/ her what are the type 4 or 5 things that they want to achieve out of the project.  Another way of asking the question is to say "If we achieve these 4 or 5 things you will be happy correct?"  Hence why they are called Conditions of Satisfaction.  Properly formatted Conditions of Satisfaction should be in bullet point form, should be no longer than one or two sentences each and should consider both the "What" and the "How" of the project.  Where possible they should be SMART objectives (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable and Time Specific).  They are not intended to be functional specifications or detailed functional requirements so be careful of becoming to detailed. 

Essentially these Conditions of Satisfaction become the high level Vision for the project.  Once agreed to they should be attached to the bottom of every project status report to remind the project team of this collective vision.  When the functional scope of the project is being developed usually with the people more junior in the organization, any requirements or subsequent scope change requests should be measured against those Conditions of Satisfaction.  If a requirement doesn't directly address any of these points then the project team should seriously consider dropping it from the project scope.  In this way then a Conditions of Satisfaction Statement is used to aligned the project sponsor, with the project team and with other interested parties within the organization. 

Your chances then of achieving you desired ROI in the specific areas you are concerned with will increase dramatically if you establish the Conditions of Satisfaction early on for each project. 

Why use a Project Management Methodology

Project Management has evolved considerably over the last 20 years with certain well known methodologies like those espoused by the Project Management Institute (PMI) becoming prevalent.  This in itself indicates the benefit of having a well defined methodology for your project. 

A recent survey by PWC (http://www.pwc.com/es_CL/cl/publicaciones/assets/insighttrends.pdf) indicated that the 69% of respondents who use a Project Management Methodology consistently reported a  much lower project failure rate than those who didn't.  A corollary of this is the ROI from a project will improve if a consistent, proven methodology is used to deliver a project. 

In the case of Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft has spent a lot of time developing a methodology and set of tools specifically for the deployment of Dynamics CRM projects.  This methodology is based on the methodology developed by the PMI but then extends it out with tools and templates specific for Microsoft Dynamics CRM.   The methodology is available and free to use for Microsoft Customers and Partners and can be found online at: https://mbs2.microsoft.com/Surestep/default.aspx

Increased Solution Adaptability and Usability with Effective Change Management

For those who go down the path of purchasing a new business application often what can get forgotten in the deployment is the human being to technology interface.  Often people refer to the triangle of People, Process and Technology.  All three have to work together for you to get a good end result. 

My favourite way of illustrating this is to give an example of a customer I once had.  That customer had a CRM deployed by another company but they were very unhappy.  They invited my organization in to look at the system and help them either "redeploy" the technology or throw it out and look for something new.  In this case they were using the CRM system for Sales Force Automation.  The system they had designed required the sales people to complete no less than 15 individual screens to complete the process of entering in a new opportunity.  In addition relatively little training had been conducted with the users and they had no venues through which to ask questions or get help.  As a result the system was largely unused and as a result the customer was getting no benefits or return on investment. 

The solution to the problem was relatively easy, simplify the system, redesign the business processes with the users in mind, provide them with some effective training (business process specific and in bite sized chunks) and they were off and running gaining all kinds of benefits. 

You can have the best technology in the world but if you don't consider the processes and the people and effectively manage the change they are going through you are not going to get the result you are looking for. 

When and how to revisit the Original Business case How to evaluate the Results of your Investment

One of the interesting things I've found about CRM projects and Business Application projects in general is that often the Business Case is generated at the beginning of the project but typically is never looked at again once the project is approved.  My view is that the Business Case should be looked at repeatedly through the project, definitely during the software selection and definitely at the end once the deployment has happened. 

During the software selection is very important to constantly refer back to the business case as you evaluate the solutions.  Refer to my comments later on about software selection. 

At the end of the project you should compare the business case against what was actually achieved.  If those targets haven't been achieved then certainly you can look at a phase 2 where you tweak the CRM system to achieve those benefits.  Or if the numbers forecast were unrealistic then adjust your business case process such that next time your forecasts/ predictions are much more realistic.  Point being that successful IT organizations are learning organizations where over the course of time they learn from their experiences and thereby improve how they select and how they deliver IT projects. 

Either referring back to your Business Case regularly is an important facet of achieving the ROI you are looking for. 

Maximize ROI by selecting the Right CRM Product in the First Place - Common Mistakes in CRM Selection

So whilst much of this article has focused on achieving the desired ROI with your already chosen CRM product.  One of the more important ways to achieve a good ROI is to select the right software for your business need in the first place.  I could do a whole presentation just on this topic and have done so in the past.  But here in are the highlights of the things to consider in doing an effective software selection...

1. Too Much Focus on Functional Fit - Pareto's Rule applies in Business Application deployments in that 20% of the requirements can create 80% of the effort in service costs for the deployment.  Two different applications can have the same degree of fit but vastly different costs to achieve that last 20%.  So the more important question to ask which comparing two applications is not how many features and functions does the solution have out of the box but rather how much will it cost to build those features and functions it doesn't have and that you will need to build.
   
2. Costs Estimates based on Limited Information - Many times throughout my career I've been presented with an RFT or some other document from a customer and asked to provide a services quote based on it.  Rarely has the information provided been sufficient to provide an accurate estimates.  Clients need to understand that services organizations (both internal or external) will substitute a lack of information with gross assumptions and increase contingency to compensate.  If you take the time to provide more information a better quality services estimate and the software selection decisions it impacts will result.
   
3. Comparing Apples and Oranges - Not all vendor proposals are done on the same or right set of assumptions.  Factors that may affect quoted by your vendor or systems integrator include when the project will start and finish, the number of phases in the delivery, how much the client plans to do for themselves and the level of documentation that is expect.  You need to make sure all these things are clear in the quotes you receive back.  Otherwise you may get a surprise when the actual costs of the project exceed your original quote from the vendor. 
   
4. References but for what? - Often clients seek references showing that the vendor has worked on similar deployments of a like solution.  What they fail to recognise is that the reference demonstrates that the company has done it before but not necessarily the consultant being proposed to work on your specific project.  Unless a consultancy can demonstrate multiple deployments of a similar solution in the same geographical area using some of the same consultants than the reference is meaningless.
5. The forgone conclusion - Psychologists describe the principal of Closure whereby the subject tries to complete the picture put before them seeking supporting facts or ideas.  Organizations often form an opinion about what is the preferred solution early on in the selection process and then seek facts to support the decision.  This can limit the effectiveness of the selection process.
6. Not understanding the Business Case before selecting a solution - Also known as the Shinny Hubcap Syndrome this refers to a favourite tactic by IT sales people to show the prospect features and functions that "they didn't know they need".  If you are an aficionado of Targeted Account Selling this would be referred to as a Flanking or Fragmenting Strategy.  Essentially you try to get the customer to forget about all the previous requirements they've identified and either focus just on a subset of those requirements (Fragmenting) or to change the requirements all together to better suit your solution (Flanking).  Hence why it is important for customers to remember their original Business Case for purchasing a solution and why they are out in market in the first place.   
   

Conclusions

So for those of you who have purchased a new Business Application or CRM Solution congratulations! There are huge opportunities that await you.  But there are also risks. If you've purchased Dynamics CRM then the ROI for your project could be over 200%.  But if you are going to get that ROI then you need to pay heed to my previous pieces of advice...

1. Pick the Right Solution by having an effective Software Selection Process;
2. Have a good Business Case and revisit it throughout the project;
3. It's not about the software it's about the People Process and Technology.  Don't forget the first two;
4. Use a proven Software Deployment Methodology and follow it;
5. Establish your "Conditions of Satisfaction" up front at the beginning of the project; and
6. Recognise that half of solving a problem is know what it is in the first place.  Develop a good plan and stick to it. 

... you do all of the above and that 200% ROI is within your grasp!



David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia

Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013 - Radical Innovation from Microsoft with the new Process Based User Interface for Dynamics CRM

Radical Innovation Really?

Yes I know that the words Radical and Innovation are not normally associated with Microsoft.  I've been working as a Microsoft partner for the last 4 years and at Microsoft itself for the 6 years before that and I'd have to say that Microsoft have traditionally made their name as a "Fast Follower" in the IT industry, at least over the last 10 years anyways.  But I would definitely say that at least with this new version of Dynamics CRM the words "Radical" and "Innovation" do apply. 

Radical in that the User Interface with this new product is significantly different from the previous Dynamics CRM User Interface.  Users of the old product will have some challenges in getting used to the new user interface.  Innovative in that in my experience across all the major ERP and CRM products (SAP, Oracle, SF.com, etc.) I have yet to see a User Interface quite like this one.

The New Process Based User Interface

Traditional CRM and ERP application require users to navigate to various screens to do various activities and tasks.  For example you might navigate to the Account to update some customer information then open up an Order screen to enter in an Order against that customer then decided to create an Appointment to meet with the customer to get the Order signed and then go back to the Order screen to process or close the Order. 

Invariably then users were navigating to several different screens and were left searching for information.  If they were lucky they had an application that was fully integrated with Outlook and other tools to avoid rekeying.  In some cases the information from several areas of the application might be combined together into one screen to make it easier to enter in the data.  But that assumed one standard process. 

With the new Process Based User Interface for Dynamics CRM, users can configure the application around their business processes not the other way around.  You can now have multiple different processes for multiple different business scenarios and you don't have to navigate around to various screens to complete a process.  In our previous example instead of navigating around to 4 different screens you can sit in one screen and the application brings the data relevant to that particular step in that particular process to you for each step in the process.  You don't have to go look for things.  The system serves it up to you.  If the process you use to sell one particular product is slightly different than the process you use for another product then you can configure those different processes in the system and switch between them depending the product you are selling.  The system changes to match your process.  You don't change your business processes to match the system. 

What are the benefits then of this new User Interface...

1. The application more closely replicates how you do business;
2. It will be easier to train users on the system;
3. It becomes easier for new employees to learn your business processes and you need less knowledge to navigate your business;
4. You can more easily enforce process compliance;
5. Few clicks, fewer screens to navigate to and a generally better user experience;
6. Less time searching for information; and
7. Easier to use from a mobility perspective as everything is brought to the one screen when you need it.  

Business Rules Engine - Power in the Business Analysts hands

In addition to the new Process Based User Interface, Microsoft had extended the tools that people can use to build business rules into their CRM Application.  With the new Business Rules Engine, Business Analysts with a relatively moderate IT skill set can configure how the application responds to users.  Making a field required to be entered is just a few clicks.  Having a whole section of a form to appear or disappear based on the answer to a specific question is just a few clicks.  Giving the user feedback when they've entered in an incorrect value and giving the guidance on how to enter in the correct value just a few clicks. 

Combine this with the new Process Based User Interface and you can have different business processes and different business rules for each process configured into your business application thus more closely matching how you do business.  Again all this is accessible by the user from just one screen for each business process. 

 

 

Microsoft Embraces Mobility

Along with the new Process Based UI and the new Business Rules Engine that Microsoft has released with Dynamics CRM 2013, Microsoft are also in the process of releasing newly reengineered mobility clients for iPad, Windows Tablet, Android and iPhone.

All three of these innovations (Mobility, Process Based UI and the new Business Rules Engine) are complimentary.  User can now sit are the mobility device of their choice and have all the information brought to them in on screen that they need to perform their job function.  All of this is presented in a Mobility User Interface that is optimised for touch and easy to use. 

 

 

How will the Market react?

I've demonstrated this new UI personally to a number of customers and prospects since the product was released earlier this month.  Existing eSavvy Customers were also treated to a sneak pre-view of the new UI during the last eSavvy Dynamics CRM User Group meeting.  The feedback from customers and prospects has been overwhelmingly positive.  Users appreciate how much the application can now adapt to how they want to use it and how easy it will be for them to use. 

The only challenge I see is getting users used to this new way of thinking.  People who have been constrained by the classical layout that business applications have had over the last 20 years will need to break down that paradigm and raise their expectations in terms of how business applications will meet their needs.  It's a challenge though that I'm sure people will be happy to rise to. 


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Improving Customer Retention in the Insurance Industry using Dynamics CRM

Differentiate on Service not on Price

The challenge these days in the Insurance Industry is that it is almost impossible to differentiate on price given the tools that are at the consumers finger tips.  Web sites such as www.iselect.com.au, www.greenslips.com.au, www.infochoice.com.au and www.ratecity.com.au all give you the ability to get quotes from multiple insurance providers on the same terms, simultaneously with relative ease. As an insurer as soon as you drop your price the competition will do the same.  Conversely you can't raise your price otherwise the consumers will be aware of the variation and migrate to other providers fairly quickly.  Price as a tool to drive demand is working less and less. 

The trick then is to retain your customers in the first place through effective customer service across the Customer Service  Cycle.  This article discusses the key points any insurer should consider when developing their customer service strategy and gives examples of how a tool like Dynamics CRM can assist in the execution of that strategy. 

The Customer Service Cycle

The following is the basic cycle that needs to be considered when interacting with customers in the insurance industry...

In brief ....

• Profile - Having a complete understanding of your customer's needs and wants;
• Segment - Different customers require and prefer different service levels and different types of service.  You need to provide this to them;
• Interact - Having tools that help you manage the interaction with your customers efficiently and effectively; and
• Personalise - Providing offerings and service levels specific to your customers needs.

Profile

The first step in the Customer Service Cycle is to Profile your Customer before you interact with them.  Some refer to this as having a 360 Degree View but it's more than that.  Aside from understanding your customers history it's also important to understand their purchase preferences and what they will want in the future. Basic questions like...

• What have they purchased in the past?
• How will that influence what they would purchase in the future?
• How have they interacted with you before?
• What have your communications have been about ?
• Based on their Demographic what products and services will they be most interested in?

In Dynamics CRM aside from providing that 360 Degree View and complete Audit History you can use custom Workflows to identify potential cross/ upsell opportunities.  You can create customer experience maps which will provide your customers with custom interactions based on their profile. 

Segment

Once you've Profiled a customer you want to Segment them not just based on the types of products and services they would be interested but also the level of service the customer will prefer.  Not only can "over servicing" be an unnecessary cost to the business but it can also lead to reduced customer satisfaction.  Calling the customer repeatedly who does not want to be called can work against you.  Communicating to the customer over the phone when they really would have preferred email also leads to a reduced perception of service.  Once you've determined the appropriate level of service then understanding the types of services they are interested in, not only increases your chances of upsell and cross sell but also increases the overall perception of Quality of Service

An example of this in Dynamics CRM is Dynamic Marketing Lists.  Users can create complex Boolean logic queries which are dynamically updated based on the information in the CRM database. This allows for extremely targeted communication.  For example you can create a Marketing List that identifies customer who are coming up for insurance renewal whom you haven't talked to in the last 6 months but whom prefer to be called after 6:00pm. 

Interact

A good interaction with a customer is one where you have as much information as possible at the point of that interaction and where you have a structured but flexible interaction process thereby increasing the chance that the customer gets what they want as quickly as possible. The customer having to provide information you show already know or having to wait whilst you process through several screens on your business system is going to cause frustration on their end and reduce the perception of service. 

An example of how Dynamics CRM can improve interactions with your customers is through the use of Dialogs for phone based communication.  The Dialog tool in CRM allows you to script conversations with your customer.  It can present information about your customer based on a recognised phone number.  As you ask and answer questions in the system the Dialog determines the next set of questions for you to ask you customer.  All the while the relevant data is being trapped by the Dialog in CRM in one screen eliminating the need to navigate from screen to screen.  Thereby the system improves customer interaction by making sure you have the requisite information at your figure tips, have a structured process and not having to navigate from screen to screen. 

Personalize

Customers expect all their communications to be highly personalized.  One example of this is the email that is addressed to them by name from the person in your organization they know, that shows that you remember their history with your organization and provides them with specific information on the services they are interested in.  Or in the case of a phone, recognises the customers phone number and provides you with the information necessary to continue on the previous conversation with the customer or proactively know what they would likely be calling you about to prepare you for the conversation. 

An example of this in Dynamics CRM is using Click Dimensions to provide Dynamic Content Emails.  These tools allow you to tailor content in your email communications specific to your customer.  The person based out of Victoria, Australia receives contact details specific to that geography, offer information specific to their needs and if you want can even have a graphic on the email specific to them (e.g. If you are in Victoria the header graphic is a picture of AFL star but if you are in NSW the header graphic is a picture of a Rugby League star). 

Improved Service in the Insurance Industry is the Way...

Speaking from a personal perspective the services companies I use for all the services I consume (not just insurance or financial services) I've stuck with or left based on wether that company could give me what I needed when I needed it.  I didn't stick with them for providing me services that I wasn't interested.  Ultimately those service providers whom Profiled and understood me, Segmented and provide me the offerings and level of service I was interested in and made me felt that I was getting more Personalized service are the ones that got my business.  Interactions that were smooth and efficient also helped.  Insurance providers need to understand this model as do services companies across most industries.   Dynamics CRM has a number of tools that can support an effective Customer Service Strategy in this regard.  If you'd like more information you can contact us at info@esavvy.com.au . 


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Improving Occupancy in the Aged Care Industry using Dynamics CRM

In Aged Care profitability is driven by Occupancy.  There are many factors that contribute to poor occupancy including...

• Poor Forecasting and understanding of availability across assets;
• Marketing which is not targeted to focus on underutilized assets;
• Mishandling of Leads and Referrals once they are generated; and
• Poor management and scheduling of the new resident admission process.

 I will take each of the areas in turn...

 

Improved Occupancy Forecasting

It might be grim to say but one of the most important things in Aged Care is being able to generate reasonable forecasts around future occupancy.  In Dynamics CRM you can trap information about a residents which taken in aggregate can be used as leading indicators to forecast future occupancy across your facilities.  Dynamics CRM can also be used to provide ready access to current availability statistics allowing marketing and sales folks to make better decisions about where to target their efforts.

Targeted Lead Generation  

Once there is a view as to where occupancy is down or forecast to be down Marketing can then focus their demand generation in those areas.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM in combination with the Click Dimensions solution built within Dynamics CRM allows you to develop targeted marketing programs with a customized experience based on the individuals needs.  It also gives you the ability to use surveys to collect residents and their families feedback around why the did or did choose a specific facility.  You can measure your Marketing ROI and you can understand better where your leads are coming from. 

Improved Lead Management

Using the free customer portal that comes with Dynamics CRM allows you to turn your website into a lead generations tool.  Combined with a structure workflow process to automatically manage lead allocation and you will improve response times and conversion rates.

Once a potential resident is identified as a lead then there is a process around attracting them to your facilities and managing their admittance should they chose your facility.  Microsoft Dynamics CRM allows you to manage this process in a structured fashion with a full workflow and queue management capability to automate the application process.  A structured sales process specific to your business needs can be imbedded into the Dynamics CRM tool.  Having a more structured predictable process means you will have a more predictable result. 

A functionality called Dialogs within Dynamics CRM allows you to script the Residence Application Process entering in all the data in one screen.  Mobility tools allows your representatives to have the information at your figure tips. 

Improved Scheduling

Dynamics CRM includes a scheduling facility which can be used to optimize the appointments, room allocations and new residents intakes reducing gaps in occupancy.  This same functionality allows interested parties to automatically schedule introductory appointments with your representatives from the website. 

The Result - Improved Occupancy

In summary then Improved Occupancy Forecasting with Dynamics CRM allows you to be proactive in your marketing and target more effectively your marketing dollars.  Targeted marketing using Dynamics CRM and Click Dimension drives demand in the programs where you need interest the most. Improved Lead Management once you generate those leads allows you to understand better where your leads are coming from and improve conversion rates.   Improved scheduling allows you improve the intake process reducing gaps in occupancy.  Add all this together and the result is Improved Occupancy rates which  leads to higher profitability for your organization.

If you have this question feel free to drop us a line at info@esavvy.com.au    



David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.

Dynamics CRM Online as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education

Is Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education a New Problem?

Student Recruitment and Retention is definitely getting a lot more focus from Education institutions these days.  Education is becoming a hot topic in federal politics. All the political parties have been putting forward their own proposals over the last few months and the recently released Gonski Report has generated lots of discussion.  People realise that the surest way to impart a better standard of living to their children is through a good quality education and there are clearly opportunities for improvement in the current education systems in Australia.

Prior to the Gonski Report the Federal Government commissioned the Bradley Report in 2008 to examine the performance of Australia's higher education system in light of growing competition in the global market for skills and innovation.  In responding to the review the Federal injected new funding and a number of reforms.  The most significant of these reforms was the decision to introduce an new demand-driven funding model from 2012, to promote growth in student placements as well as increased student choice. 

Funding for higher education places would be allocated on the basis of student demand.  This gave universities the freedom to expand enrolments but they would also face increased competition to attract and retain students.  These new reforms combined with ever more discerning parents and students and Australia's Universities and Higher Education institutions are now being put into a position where they have to actively compete to get students and they have to actively work to retain them.  In a recent walk through a local train station in Sydney this writer encountered no less than 5 different advertisements on Billboards each from a different education institution inviting potential students to investigate their programs.

Why the Increased Interest in Dynamics CRM as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention?

In the last 6 months there has been a dramatic interest from education institutions in Microsoft Dynamics CRM as a solution to Student Recruitment and Retention.  The problem of Student Recruitment is further divided into the problems of finding and interesting potential students in university programs and then processing their applications (trying to ensure that the students that are recruited have a good chance of success).  The problem of Student Retention is also broken down into managing current student interactions effectively (treating them more as customers than students) and proactively identifying and working with students perceived to be at risk to take action to retain them.  Broadly then prospective buyers are looking to a CRM system to help them...

1. Recruit New Students;
2. Manage the Student Enrolment Process;
3. Manage Students on-going Interaction with the University to improve Service Levels;
4. To be Proactive in Retaining Students Considered at Risk;
5. Once a Student is an Alumni actively market to them for contributions. 

With it's preferential Education Pricing, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides Education Institutions with a cost effective method of addressing all of these scenarios with one system.  Each Application of Dynamics CRM would be considered in turn...

Recruit More New Students

Students these days use a variety of mediums to make a decision about which University or Tertiary Education Organization to invest their time in.  The majority of these mediums are digital.  Facebook, Linked In, Websites and Email are all key marketing tools which University marketers need to master.  Along with more traditional forms of Marketing such as information sessions and presentations and conferences and industry associations.  Dynamics CRM supplemented by a marketing tool called Click Dimensions provides the answer here.  University marketers can use Dynamics CRM with Click Dimensions to turn their web site into a lead generation tool, doing lead nurturing, lead scoring and using customized emails, EDMs and communication through LinkedIn and Facebook to provide the prospective student with highly targeted communications.  A number of universities have deployed Dynamics CRM with Click Dimensions to great effect increasing enrolments. 

Manage the Student Enrolment Process more Effectively

Student Enrolment can be a complex process.  Once you've identified the student you want to recruit and enrol there can be many steps in the enrolment process.  You want to make this process as efficient as possible thereby allowing your enrolment folks to spend more time evaluating which students to admit and reject versus spending most of their time chasing the requisite paperwork.  Dynamics CRM with it's Case Management, Workflow and Queue management tools allows your Registrar to automate this enrolment process moving the application to the right person at the right time with automated responses in terms of emails and automated follow ups when certain information is missing.

Improve Student Service Levels

Students interact with the University or Higher Education Institution almost weekly for a variety of reasons.  Many Universities employ the use of Call Centres to answer and address the myriad of questions students might bring up.  To improve services levels to your students in an effort to retain them it's important to having systems in place which provide you with a 360 Degree View of the Students and methods to easily answer the most common questions they may have.  These tools in combinations with an integrated self service portal for the Student means more efficient call centres with lower costs to operate and higher perceived service levels on the part of the students. 

Proactively Retain Students at Risk

What about the student who fails an exam, stops showing up to class or fails to make a tuition payment.  Clearly these students are at a high risk of dropping out.  The university has invested large sums of money in recruiting these students and getting them to walk down their halls.  It is clearly more cost effective to put action plans in place to try to keep them.  Universities are looking for systems that can...

• Alert the University for Students flagged at Risk;
• Provide information in a single location so that staff can easily understand the circumstances of the student;
• Ensuring accountability at the University for managing these High Risk Students;
• Provide processes and guides for the staff at the university to manage the students through their issues and to set an effective action plan; and
• Ensure that the action plan for the student is followed up on a timely basis.  

Dynamics CRM has tools and capabilities to address all these requirements.

Market to Alumni

The same tools used to Recruit Students can be used to great effective to market to them once they are alumni and encourage them to continue to support their school. 

Dynamics CRM Online as a Solution to Student Recruitment and Retention in Higher Education 

Dynamics CRM Online thereby provides a flexible, cost effective and easy to use tool for Higher Education to manage the student all the way through their student life cycle from recruitment all the way through to alumni management.  Being provided at the extremely low pricing that Microsoft offers in a hosted fashion (which makes it easy to deploy) it's no wonder that a number of Education Institutions are considering CRM.  The only question a lot of the schools I talk to have is where do they start.  If you have this question feel free to drop us a line at info@esavvy.com.au  


David Goad is the Managing Director for eSavvy – Microsoft Dynamics CRM Gold Certified Partner. eSavvy is an award winning Microsoft Dynamics CRM Partner staffed by some of the most experienced solution and technical architects in the Microsoft partner channel. We build and deliver relationship management solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform for large enterprises as well small and midsize businesses in Australia.