Business Process Mapping For CRM

Any business that is planning a change from the traditional way of doing business (delivering what is good for you) to a customer-centric way of doing business (delivering what is good for the customer and then you) will require a re-alignment of information flow and work flow by going through a business process mapping exercise. The purpose of this exercise is to expose the the fundamental inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of cross-functional work flows.

In the front office, the biggest problem is always in the hand off of information between functional units like Sales and Marketing, or Sales and Customer Service. And once you begin the business process mapping exercise you will also likely find redundant work processes from department to department. The goal of realigning processes for CRM is to look at how things flow from a customers perspective. Bottlenecks, delays or even asking the customer to bridge the gap between departments, only serves to lower their satisfaction with the process and ultimately leads to lower customer loyalty.

What to expect from realigning business process

The guru on realigning front office work flows for CRM is Dick Lee of High Yield Methods. He was writing about what CRM really is way back in the 1990's. Back then, I was simply plowing forward in my standard VAR mode. I still can't believe how long it took me to understand the fundamental changes that need to take place in a company in order for CRM to be a success. For a long time, I thought all the problems were technical in nature. I was really mistaken.

Dick has developed a business process mapping methodology called Visual Workflow designed specifically for the front office. He feels, and I agree, that there are fundamental differences between front and back office environments. Here are a few of his examples (see his white paper on Visual Workflow:)

Office - Manufacturing

- Low Repetition - High Repetition Decision-based Process - Fixed Process Adaptability is critical - Consistency is critical Defects at Workflow Level - Defects at Work Process Level Invisible Defects - Visible Defects Empowered Staff - Compliant Staff

Those area just a few examples of the differences. It's important to keep these in mind because methodologies like Six Sigma were designed for manufacturing processes. Frankly, anything with a cottage industry attached to it scares me. So I like Dick's more appropriate approach.

The Outcome

Probably the most important thing about realigning business processes are the outcomes.

• Driving toward shared objectives across functional lines
• Building a stronger relationship with your customer
• Building stronger cross functional employee relationships
• Eliminating workflow bottlenecks
• etc.

The outcomes of your alignment need to address the specific challenges of front office work flow, especially those designed with the customer at the center. A process for forming sheet metal is difference than a work flow where people are empowered to make decisions. Business Process Mapping is a powerful and necessary tool in your CRM initiative, but choosing the wrong methodology could hurt your efforts.

Business Process Outsourcing and Its Advantages

Business process outsourcing or BPO is a service-based sector that encompasses a wide range of activities including marketing, sales, logistics, legal, financial research accounting and so on. All the given services are essential to be offered as per the needs and demands of customers.

Most major corporations in Europe and United States are busy outsourcing their back office operations to the BPO centers. These companies select BPO in lieu to gain advanced services and to attain the customer retention.

The business process outsourcing market is broadly classified into three distinct categories like transcription services, customer care services and the knowledge based services. With the ever evolving technological innovation, companies tend to make best use of the advanced technologies.

The use of ever-evolving technology, process efficiencies, labor arbitrage and technology has helped the established transcription and customer care services to continue to develop rapidly. In addition, the diverse and the new knowledge based BPO services are also fast emerging through technological advancements and use of skilled expertise.

Why do companies outsource?

There are several reasons that lead most companies to outsource business processes. Some of these reasons are as follows:

• The option to ensure cost reduction opportunities • Proving access to the special expertise • Providing flexibility to focus on core business areas • Increasing organizational flexibility • Increasing speed of the given business process • Providing the resource-related business solutions that relieve the resource constraints, augment or reduce IT staff

BPO outsourcing involves consideration of diverse factors that brings desired results in every respect. The domain knowledge, expertise, use of skilled and general infrastructure and a group dedicated, trained and highly skilled professionals are needed to offer superior quality outsourcing services to the clients.

There are several factors that contribute to the advantages of BPO outsourcing services. Some of these significant factors are as follows:

Skilled BPO professionals: All employees are well-trained to offer services as per the needs and requirements of the clients. They are available for all types of telemarketing. This is to retain the existing customers and also to build the new base of potential customers for the client.

Use of right infrastructure: The most significant asset of the BPO firm stands to be its infrastructure. After human resources, infrastructure stands to be an essential factor of a business process outsourcing set-up. Whether it is use of general or telecom infrastructure or advanced equipments, most modern BPO centers meet essential infrastructure needs. Companies no longer require being equipped with all necessary facilities related to work.

Boosting efficiency: There are some processes in each organization essential to contribute in terms of efficiency and increasing productivity. However when required most processes contribute little in terms of the productivity. Most processes need special expertise and skills to manage processes without having to lose concentration on the main core processes.

Business process outsourcing helps businesses to carry forward business processes by the team of experts. This not only boosts your efficiency but also enables to save time.