Professional Consulting in Information System (IS) – Project plan and report
Project Idea:
development, adoption and implementation of Customer Relationship management system (CRM) in business.
Requirement:
————-
1. Project Plan and Proposal Development
2. The plan is a detailed document that answers the questions why, what, and how. It includes the
following sections and information (attached)
3. Project Implementation
4. The Project Report
Project Implementation
In this phase, you will put your plan to work. Once you have completed your project, developed
your deliverables, and reached your conclusions, you must prepare a written report. The final
report and accompanying deliverables must be approved by your course professor before you can
submit to the MSIS faculty for the final defense. Be sure to give the MSIS faculty at least one
week before your desired presentation date to effectively review the project. Follow the
formatting guidelines as documented in the formatting guideline document. You can download a
copy from the Graduate School website or the course shell.
The Project Report (see also Part II, Report Format and Layout document)
While the plan described what you were going to do, the report tells what you have completed.
You will build upon the written plan. All reports should include the following sections:
1. Executive Summary
a. A concise summary or the important points of the report (one page maximum).
Write this last.
2. Introduction
a. Brief overview of the report
3. Statement of problem or question you identified
a. Restatement of the problem you identified and addressed in the project proposal.
b. Is it the same problem described in your plan? If not, why not? How and why did it
change? Did your committee approve the change?
i. Repeat what you discovered in your literature search describing how the problem
is typically addressed and add any new material you discovered about this
problem.
ii. What solutions or techniques are being used?
iii. What technology is current and is it effective?
4. Objectives (Goals, purpose)
a. Present the project objectives. Very specifically discuss the outcomes expected.
b. What are the deliverables?
5. Results and Conclusions
a. Describe what you did to achieve your objectives. In your plan, you indicated what
activities you planned, what actions you intended to undertake to complete the
project, and your project plan. Now in this section you describe how this worked.
What you did and how you did it.
b. Cite any references you used to help with the project solution.
c. Did you achieve your objective?
d. Do you create all the anticipated deliverables, if not why?
e. What did you learn? Document any lessons learned.
f. What do you see for future or additional work?
6. Submit the final version of your written report to your professor at least one week prior
to the date on which you wish to make your formal presentation. You will not be given a
presentation date until you and the course professor agree that the written report is
complete.
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MSIS PROJECT
The Professional Consulting in IS, BIT 595, will serve as a final research activity conducted by
students under the direction of the faculty. The MSIS project is a scholarly, integrative
experience. Students are expected to apply the theoretical and practical concepts learned in their
coursework to an actual information technology problem.
In the Professional Consulting in IS course you must:
1. design, plan and/or implement an IS project demonstrating the skills and knowledge
learned in the MSIS coursework,
2. prepare a structured written report describing that project and deliverables,
3. make a formal presentation to the MSIS faculty, and
4. submit the approved report to the course professor.
1. Discuss your preliminary ideas with course professor.
Your project idea is your responsibility. Ideas may come from coursework; class or team
discussions; your workplace; past experiences; needs identified; or prototypes developed
to solve remembered problems.
2. Submit your project idea by end of second week of the semester. This must include a
brief description of your idea and project timeline. The project timeline includes the
processes involved in meeting the course objectives. Project approval will come from
your professor.
The Project Plan describes what you plan to do; what your project is all about.
The plan is a detailed document that answers the questions why, what, and how. It includes the
following sections and information:
• Introduction
o This should be a very brief overview of the business and the problem you are
attempting to solve.
• Statement of problem or question [This section answers the question WHY?]
o Why are you doing this?
To solve a problem or meet a need. Identify the problem you have identified and
are addressing in this project.
o Include a review of the current situation (or literature review) to describe what is
going on in this area or discipline now.
How is the problem being addressed now?
What solutions or techniques are being used?
What technology is current and is it effective?
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• Objectives (Goals, purpose) [This section answers the question WHAT?]
o What do you plan to achieve?
o What is the desired outcome of this project?
o Deliverables
Describe what you will actually have once you have completed your project. For
example, this could be a feasibility study, an information system, a website, a
program, theoretical review, etc.
Be specific here – e.g., (1) A website that allows visitors to enter their name, e-
mail address, and question; (2) a database that stores all visitor information
(name, e-mail address, question, etc.); (3) a program that automatically
determines the nature of the questions and returns an automated answer
• Scope of the Project. (Scope of work, Plan of action, Activities) [This section answers
the question HOW?]
o Describe how you plan to achieve the objectives.
o Discuss the activities you have identified that will help reach your desired result.
These are the specific activities you will undertake to solve the problem or meet your
objectives.
o Here you describe how your project or idea will differ or improve on what is being
done and how you intend to accomplish this.
o Include a detailed project plan.
When your project idea has been approved and the plan written, you must receive formal
approval from your course professor before you move into the implementation phase.
• Submit the plan to your course professor. Allow at least 10 days for feedback.
• Make any required changes in scope or edits to the report.
• Approval is signaled by your course professor’s approval following the final submission
of the plan after any edits.
Important note: You cannot move into the implementation phase until your plan has been
approved.
You are expected to make a formal presentation of your project at its completion. Students and
faculty will be invited to all presentations.
If the project presentation contains proprietary information and you intend to require your
committee and any audience present to sign a non-disclosure agreement you must inform the
committee in advance so they can determine the best course of action.
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If you cannot complete the project in the semester in which you are completing the
implementation phase, you must register for BIT 589 Continuing Education. Registering for BIT
589 costs $200 per semester. You should register for BIT 589 only in the semesters that you will
work on your project. If you need to take a semester off let the MSIS Program Director know
and a Leave of Absence will be filed. The Program Director will stay in touch with you to
encourage your completion of the project.
Your project will be evaluated on several factors (see Project Evaluation), including how well
the project integrates what you are expected to have learned in your core courses, how well the
completed project meets the objectives identified for the project, and how well it meets the
course objectives. Both the written report and the presentation are evaluated.
Masters’ projects have value as records of scholarship at Minot State University. Therefore, the
University preserves and makes available the project reports to scholars and the public by
maintaining an archival collection. Each student will submit a PDF of the final version of the
project. The PDF will be stored in a secure location. If you do not want your final project
archived, please contact the MSIS Program Director.
- Introduction
Project Requirements
Project Idea and Approval
Project Plan and Proposal Development
Presentation (see Presentation Guide document)
Continuation
Evaluation
Archiving
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECT 5
Project idea: development, adoption and implementation of Customer Relationship management system (CRM) in business.
Introduction.
In any business, customers remain to be among the key stakeholders. This, therefore, means that for a company to thrive and remain viable economically, there is a great need to establish a good relationship with its customers. Business entities use a wide range of approaches to keep their customers close to the heart of their businesses by showing genuine care based on customer feedback, sharing current knowledge and trends with their customers, exceeding their clients’ objectives, treating customers positively and perhaps remaining focused on customer services through open communication and other customer support services. Unlike the approaches mentioned above, the use of a Customer Relationship management system (CRM) in business will serve better as a strategy for customer relationship management. It helps business entities effectively analyze customer needs, an aspect that provides insights that could be deployed to progressively improve customer relationships with your brand (McCann, 2019).
Statement of problem or question.
Based on the project objectives, the essence of proposing for the development of a Customer Relationship management system (CRM) in business is to help business entities gain more insights about customer behavior so as to come up with modified strategies that could be deployed to help a business meet the needs of the customers. With the implementation of the Customer Relationship management system (CRM) program, it will be easy for customer relations manager to strengthen their business operations and perhaps ensure that they not only meet customer needs but also ensure that their customers are served in the best way possible (McCann, 2019). Among the existing approaches that are used to manage customer relations include rewarding loyal customers’ frequent use of advanced communication platforms to collect customer views that serve as feedback for improvement. With the utilization of a Customer Relationship management system (CRM), business entities will be able to increase revenue, optimize their marketing strategies, improve collaboration, ensure customer satisfaction and also improve data insights and analytics.
Objectives (Goals, purpose).
The objectives of Customer Relationship management system (CRM) technology will entail; Help businesses expand their customer base, improve business operations, increase sales, promote effective management of customer relations and aspects that will, in turn, make customers happy and loyal to the brand. The project’s desired outcomes are that it will streamline business-related processes and practices, improve customer service, instill loyalty, and establish repeated customer purchase behavior. Perhaps The objectives of Customer Relationship management system (CRM) technology deliverables are involved data management, data analysis as well as management of customer interactions (Richard, 2018). The CRM software will provide business entities with a 360-degree view of their clients/customers, enabling them to establish a solid relationship through personal engagement with the customers.
Scope of the Project. (Scope of work, Plan of action, Activities)
For successful development and implementation of an effective Customer Relationship management system (CRM) program, it will be advisable to consider highlighting the critical features of the anticipated CRM software. These features must include…
· Lead management,
· Workflow automation.
· Quotes/proposal management.
· Pipeline management,
· Document management,
· Reporting/analytics,
· Sales forecasting,
· Interaction tracking,
· Quotes/proposal management ;and
· Email integration.
Plan of action and activities.
In order to achieve desired outcomes from the proposed customer management software, it will be essentially good to consider the following activities as they will ensure successful implementation and use of CRM systems in businesses (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Activity 1: bring everyone on board and ensure all hands are on the deck.
Engaging both the staff and critical sales team members will provide insights on what needs to be incorporated within the proposed system. This will provide the momentum required to kick start using the CRM system.
Activity 2: Defining business priorities.
This entails stipulating what one hopes to achieve at the end of it all. This may include firm lead management and web, the establishment of streamlined workflows, among other business needs.
Activity 3: Establish a staff training program on the use of the CRM system.
This will entail explaining what can be archived using the proposed CRM system. After that selected employee will be taken through the CRM system through demos and another training session.
Activity 4: ensure that there is proper data migration and integration into the CRM system.
This can be archived by incorporating features such as automated sync that will enable the software to sync QuickBooks. Company data set must be accurately updated before migration into the CRM system (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Activity 5: tracking of CRM system progress.
This can be achieved by providing answers to the following questions.
· Is the CRM system capable of recording and leveraging data more efficiently?
· Are our sales teams/ agents able to access customer data more efficiently?
· Are sale agents or teams able to create quotes and close deals more quickly and faster than before?
· Is the marketing team able to create more effective marketing campaigns? (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
References
McCann, E. (2019, October 3). 6 steps for successful CRM implementation. Retrieved from https://www.method.me/blog/6-steps-for-successful-crm-implementation/
Richard, J. E. (2018). The impact of customer relationship management (CRM) technology on business-to-business customer relationships. doi:10.26686/wgtn.16934779.v1
Software Advisory Service. (2018). CRM 5 steps to success. Retrieved from https://www.softwareadvisoryservice.com/en/whitepapers/crm-5-steps-to-success/
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Abstract
Organizations are often caught off guard when a prospect becomes a customer. A salesperson may have learned a lot about the customer’s needs. Still, there’s no point if that information isn’t effectively recorded and passed on to the account manager looking after them. We need to capture this data and be able to access it systematically. CRM helps maintain effective customer relationships and other integrated operations in the company. Therefore, the definition of the target organization has several components, technological, organizational, and human components. It participates fully in the qualification of the need and the framing of the selection project. It has its place in the CRM Specifications that we are now ready to write. The report allows the development and testing of the CRM software. It explains the development and integration of the software via different tools like SQL, Microsoft Hyper-v technology, and CRM software. The methodology is a list of activities leading to software development. The use case, entity-relationship, and data flow diagrams allow a better understanding of software development. The implementation has not been discussed, but the document does provide the details of the testing. The future enhancement allows the improvements in the process. There will be a need for regular updates and maintenance of the system, but it will benefit the company and be more effective and efficient.
Table of Contents
Abstract 2
Introduction 5
Overview of the Current Situation 6
Problem Statement 8
Objective
9
Methodology 9
Step A: Installation of a test platform 10
Step B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform 10
Step C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform 10
Step D: Analysis of business processes 11
Step E: Implementation of automation on the test platform 11
Stage F: Recovery of data on the test platform 11
Step G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform 11
Step H: Test phase 11
Stage
I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform
12
Step J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform 12
Step K: Setting up automation on the operating platform 12
Step L: Installation of screens and customizations on the operating platform 12
Step M: User training 12
Stage N: Data recovery on the operating platform 12
Planning
13
Requirement Gathering and Analysis 14
Functional requirements 15
Use Case Description 1
7
Data Flow Diagrams 20
Project Management
22
Data Modelling
25
Entity Relationship Diagram
27
Development 28
SQL 28
Testing
33
Interactive Website Development 35
Future Enhancement 37
References 41
List of Figures
Figure 1: CRM Functions &
Activities
(Customer Relationship Management, 2021)
7
Figure 2: The Use of CRM as Per Company Sizes (Grand View Research, Inc., 2022).
9
Figure 3: Activity Plans for the Project (created by author)
13
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram – (Rashiduzzaman et al., 20
18
).
18
Figure 5: Class Diagram – (Bellettini, Marchetto, & Trentini, 2004).
19
Figure 6: Data Flow Diagram for Simple CRM- (Author Created)
21
Figure 7: Detailed Data Flow Diagram – (Schönherr et al., 2009).
22
Figure 8: Resources Sheet – (Bala et al., 2015).
23
Figure 9: PERT Diagram (Author Created)
23
Figure 10: Simplified Mapping of Links Between Information Systems Applications – (Bellettini et al., 2012).
26
Figure 11: The Entity Diagram (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
27
Figure 12: ERD (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
27
Figure 13: Step 1 (Kumar, 2021).
30
Figure 14: Step 2 (Kumar, 2021).
31
Figure 15: Step 3 (Kumar, 2021).
31
Figure 16: Step 4 (Kumar, 2021).
32
Figure 17: Step 5 (Kumar, 2021).
33
Figure 18: CRM Website Interface Examples – (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
36
Introduction
Effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the key to the success of a company. It allows customer loyalty and retention and leads to an increase in the company’s productivity. Thus, it is necessary to stand out from the competition while best meeting market expectations and, more specifically, customers directly. It should not be forgotten for a company that the criteria for choosing a client are not always financial, even in times of crisis. In any business, customers remain to be among the key stakeholders. This, therefore, means that for a company to thrive and remain viable economically, there is a great need to establish a good relationship with its customers. Business entities use a wide range of approaches to keep their customers close to the heart of their businesses by showing genuine care based on customer feedback, sharing current knowledge and trends with their customers, exceeding their clients’ objectives, treating customers positively, and perhaps remaining focused on customer services through open communication and other customer support services. Unlike the approaches mentioned above, using a CRM in business will serve well as a strategy for customer relationship management. It helps business entities effectively analyze customer needs, providing insights that could be deployed to progressively improve customer relationships with the brand (McCann, 2019).
Overview of the Current Situation
CRM-type customer relationship management software is considered a modern version of the “customer file.” It is a tool that allows the storage and updating of lists of contacts or prospects and target companies or associated customers. However, modern CRM software goes further. Here are some examples of their functionalities: integrated management of prospects from the website, management of customer complaints, consideration of customer feedback, analysis of activity, assignment of prospects and accounts to the various sales teams, systematization and automation of sales process, direct marketing including advertising campaigns and e-mailing, archiving and management of contacts with customers. The company’s current system is offline and all paper-based, which becomes complicated due to the rising growth (Saputra et al., 2019). Figure 1 details the benefits and functions company requires in a CRM.
Figure 1: CRM Functions & Activities (Customer Relationship Management, 2021)
Comment by Lori Willoughby: Be sure to reference all figures prior to the entry in the document. I am not sure this figure should be referenced in the paragraph before or after it. Please do this for the entire document.
Also, the font should be the same as that in the document; not in italics or bold. Please update all captions.
Choosing the right CRM system requires knowing two things: the company’s business needs and how those needs might match the solutions available in the CRM market. A consultant, onboarding agent, or external reseller can walk them through the process. The help of the right choice of the CRM system suited to the needs and the budget in deploying the system and training the employees who will use it. Although it has a cost, these services prevent the company from opting for the wrong product because, in the long run, it will waste even more money and prove counterproductive. Thus, the idea of developing and testing the product on the company’s system is the best way to move forward.
Problem Statement
Based on the project objectives, the essence of proposing the development of a CRM in business is to help business entities gain more insights regarding customer behavior to come up with modified strategies that could be deployed to help a business meet the needs of the customers. With the implementation of the CRM program, it will be easy for customer relations manager to strengthen their business operations and perhaps ensure that they not only meet customer needs but also ensure that their customers are served in the best way possible (McCann, 2019). Comment by Lori Willoughby: You already defined so you can simply use the acronym.
Among the existing approaches used to manage customer relations are rewarding loyal customers’ frequent use of advanced communication platforms to collect customer views that serve as feedback for improvement. With the utilization of a CRM, business entities will increase revenue, optimize their marketing strategies, improve collaboration, ensure customer satisfaction, and improve data insights and analytics (Baran & Galka, 2016). The need of the company to acquire a CRM system depends on the matter that the utilization of these systems in the US in small, medium, or big companies makes them effective, Figure 2.
Figure 2: The Use of CRM as Per Company Sizes (statistics) (Grand View Research, Inc., 2022).
Objective
The objectives of CRM technology will entail the ability to help businesses expand their customer base, improve business operations, increase sales, and promote effective management of customer relations. In addition, that will, in turn, make customers happy and loyal to the brand. The project’s desired outcomes will streamline business-related processes and practices, improve customer service, instill loyalty, and establish repeated customer purchase behavior. Perhaps the objectives of CRM technology deliverables involve data management, data analysis, and management of customer interactions (Richard, 2018). The CRM software will provide business entities with a 360-degree view of their clients/customers, establishing a solid relationship through personal engagement with the customers.
Methodology
The project aims to develop and test CRM software for a small-scale business. The methodology will be similar to that of one of the software development plans. Each step has been identified using the following characteristics: a letter, a description, an estimate of the time needed to complete it, and the people involved in its realization. The duration of the stages has been calculated as shortest as possible.
Step A: Installation of a test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
This step involves setting up a test platform identical to the production computer system while being separate from it. However, the workstations of this platform must be accessible by the team of the development pole from the operating network. The team members must be able to access the resources of their workstations when they are connected to the machines of the machine’s platform. of testing (Soltani, & Navimipour, 2016). To do this, a physical server will be installed with the Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter operating system. Its role will be to host, using Microsoft Hyper-v technology, the virtual machines necessary for the operation of the test and development platform.
Step B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform. Estimated duration: 1 day
This step aims to test the migration of the production SQL 2005 engine to the SQL 2008 version and resolve the problems encountered. On this occasion, a procedure for migrating the SQL engine will be drafted to carry out the migration on the operating server. Applications using databases stored on this server should be tested (Onut, Erdem, & Hosver, 2008).
Step C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform. Estimated duration: 5 days
This step involves testing the migration from version 3 of the Microsoft CRM software to version 4 and resolving the problems related to this migration both at the time of installation at after migration. Documentation will be developed to perform the migration on the operating server. The development team must continue testing changes to the operating version while the tests for the new version are being carried out. As a result, the test platform must include both version 3 and version 4 of the CRM software at the end of this phase.
Step D: Analysis of business processes. Estimated duration: 60 days
This step involves creating and leading a working group whose goal will be to analyze the current operating rules to adapt the new Commercial CRM software to our mode of operation. At the end of its reflections, this working group will have to provide an analysis document presenting the commercial processes of the company.
Step E: Implementation of automation on the test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
Based on the working group’s analysis document, a transcription of the analysis results in the CRM software environment will be carried out to implement automation related to business processes. A document on implementing these must be produced to carry out maintenance.
Stage F: Recovery of data on the test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
This step involves recovering the information in the old commercial software database in the new CRM software. The drafting of a document on data recovery will be drafted for maintenance purposes (Octavia, 2013).
Step G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform. Estimated duration: 15 days
Using the working group’s analysis document, the screens of the new CRM software will be adapted so that all the information is available. The screens thus created will be subject to validation by the working group.
Step H: Test phase. Estimated duration: 15 days
Carried out by Project manager, sales department, member of the GTP Description: During this phase, one or more test scenarios must be developed to test the application’s functionalities. These scenarios will then be played on the test platform. Once these tests have been carried out and validated, a parallel input test must be carried out on the production platform and the test platform for certain users to verify real use cases. On this occasion, user documentation will have to be written to serve as training support.
Stage I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This involves setting up the SQL 2008 version on the operating environment based on the document drawn up during stage B.
Step J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
Based on the document produced during the step described in C, implementing the CRM 4.0 version on the operating platform operation will be carried out.
Step K: Setting up automation on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This involves setting up automation on the operating platform based on the document drawn up during step E (Budiardjo & Tama, 2009).
Step L: Installation of screens and customizations on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
The customizations created on the test platform during step G are transcribed on the operating platform.
Step M: User training. Estimated time: 3 days Carried out by the Project manager, representative of the sales department within the GTP
Users are trained to use the new CRM software based on the documentation developed during Stage H.
Stage N: Data recovery on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This stage corresponds to the data recovery on the operating platform based on the document drawn up during phase F (Octavia, 2013).
Planning
The project involves several steps. To achieve desired outcomes from the proposed CRM software, it will be essential to consider the activities, defined in Figure 3, as they will ensure successful implementation and use of CRM systems in businesses (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Figure 3: Activity Plans for the Project Comment by Lori Willoughby: Be sure to site the source of the figure. Comment by Lori Willoughby: No need to add anything if it wasn’t cited from a reference.
The five activities are defined in the following paragraphs.
Activity 1: bring everyone on board and ensure all hands are on the deck.
Engaging both the staff and critical sales team members will provide insights on what needs to be incorporated within the proposed system. This will provide the momentum required to kick start using the CRM system.
Activity 2: Defining business priorities.
This entails stipulating what one hopes to achieve at the end of it all. This may include firm lead management and web and streamlined workflows, among other business needs.
Activity 3: Establish a staff training program on the use of the CRM system.
This will entail explaining what can be archived using the proposed CRM system. After that selected employee will be taken through the CRM system through demos and another training session.
Activity 4: Ensure proper data migration and integration into the CRM system. This can be archived by incorporating features such as automated sync that will enable the software to sync QuickBooks. Company data set must be accurately updated before migration into the CRM system (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Activity 5: Tracking of CRM system progress. This can be achieved by providing answers to the following questions.
· Is the CRM system capable of recording and leveraging data more efficiently?
· Are our sales teams/ agents able to access customer data more efficiently?
· Are sale agents or teams able to create quotes and close deals more quickly and faster than before?
· Is the marketing team able to create more effective marketing campaigns? (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Requirement Gathering and Analysis
The data was collected in the form of reports. The needs analysis establishes the list of objectives to be achieved and takes stock of the expectations to refine the project’s scope. In our support, we generally propose organizing a workshop with the CRM consultant and the project stakeholders to list and prioritize the use cases of the CRM. It is very important to involve the end-users of the CRM, to listen to their expectations their needs. A good practice is to formulate the use cases in the first person. This makes things more concrete more meaningful and allows participants to take ownership of the process.
Functional requirements
Functional requirements naturally flow from CRM use cases. They are its functional translation. The target functionalities’ definition supposes technical skills that the company does not always have in-house. For example, what functionality is needed to automatically notify customer service in the event of customer dissatisfaction? Knowledge of Marketing Technologies (or MarTech) is required. It is from this stage, and only that the “technological” question enters the project. In our CRM consulting assignments, we generally take charge of the production of the functionalities grid before sharing it and having it validated with our customers.
The project assumes to have to imagine the target IT architecture, the one in which the CRM solution will be integrated. This Target Organization of Technologies and Data will be implemented and managed by women and men. Therefore, it is also necessary to define the target Organization in terms of HR, human, in other words, the skills required to set up the new CRM organization. Perhaps the company already has the necessary skills, but if not, the project manager needs to be:
· Qualify required and missing skills.
· Determine how to add these new skills: recruitment or outsourcing.
· Finally, it is necessary to define the methods of organization of the project of selection, deployment, and exploitation of the CRM :
· Family of CRM solutions eligible for the RFP.
· Project management method: traditional, agile, hybrid.
· Deployment players (publishers, integrators, AMOA, DSI, etc.) and roles within the project team.
· Planning and subdivision.
· Budget for deployment (setup) and operation (run).
At the time of the call for tenders, the documents like the are used to provide publishers and/or CRM integrators with a general understanding of the needs and expectations. It is an integral part of the qualification file that they will share with identified publishers/integrators. The project doesn’t need to describe every use case and feature in detail. Several CRM features are classic features, which all vendors offer. Unless they have advanced needs in this area, there is no need, for example, to describe that they need a contact management feature! It would be a waste of time for the company (or for the external partner mobilized to write the specifications) and a waste of time for the interlocutors in front of them: the editors/CRM integrators.
The project must be synthetic to express basic needs and conversely spend time on the detail of use cases and specific, advanced, atypical, and/or critical functionalities. Publishers/integrators can meet these more complex needs that will make the difference and help them select the right solution. It is now necessary to organize and analyze the information collected from the participants to bring out the recurring themes. The project manager can ask additional questions to clarify both the current situation and the desired one in the future.
Functionality and performance levels of existing systems and processes (including manual processes) should be cataloged and described reasonably, including relevant details of existing systems, from shared spreadsheets to corporate ERP systems. The goal here is to collect as much of the feedback that has been given to them as possible and prioritize it based on the number of times it has been given to the company. A use case identifies WHO (actor) does WHAT (interaction) with the CRM system for which PURPOSE (objective) without dealing with internal elements of the system.
Use Case Description
A complete set of use cases specifies all the different ways the CRM system will be used and defines everything expected of it. It should be written in clear and simple language: avoid unnecessary jargon. To help them see more clearly, we have listed examples of use cases:
· Better prioritize leads
· Save time by automating low value-added administrative tasks
· Track current sales & deals
· Identify upsell opportunities or churn risks etc.
But also, other ideas in bulk: animation of sales meetings, automation of mundane tasks, management of multiple sales and prospecting channels.
It helps describe the goal, what the project wants to accomplish, and the parameters for success. It also allows the identification of actors for each use case, whether we are talking about people, groups, or other systems. It also describes the process and all the steps that the actors will have to follow and the behaviors they will have to adapt to meet the system’s functional requirements. A use case is a story, Figure 4, with a beginning and a sequence of events leading to the end: each step is an action. There are no if statements. Forget the user interface – for now.
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram – (Rashiduzzaman et al., 2018).
The use case actor is not necessarily a person: it can simply be another computer system, such as e-mail or accounting. Actors interact with the CRM system without being part of it. The use case describes this interaction – what the actor does and how the system reacts. Conversely, it does not yet care about the system implementation or the exact interface it will have.
· Candidate: entity class that represents the different candidates who apply for their CVs, the attributes of this class represent the different fields in the resume.
· Diploma and training: entity class representing the different diplomas and/or training that each candidate has taken. This class, therefore, groups together the different diplomas of different candidates.
· Establishment: entity class contains all the establishments linked to the different diplomas.
· Experience: entity class that represents the different experiences of each candidate.
Competence domain: entity class that represents the competence domain for each skill.
· Competence: entity class that represents the different competencies that a candidate has. Elementary skill: entity class representing the different elements of a candidate’s competence.
· Position: entity class representing the different positions to which a person could apply. Candidate. It contains different basic skills required by the position, has a profile position, and is linked to several missions.
· Profile: entity class that represents the job and candidate profiles.
· Mission: entity class that represents the different missions that can be assigned to different candidates.
· Project: entity class that groups the different missions by the project; this class represents the company’s projects.
· Planning Mission: entity class that represents the schedule of each candidate assigned to a mission to manage his availability.
· Customer: entity class that represents the different customers of the company.
· Certification: entity class representing the different certifications that could have each candidate, which brings together different certification elements.
· Certification element: entity class representing the different certification elements that each candidate could have.
Figure 5: Class Diagram – (Bellettini, Marchetto, & Trentini, 2004). Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: I don’t find any discussion to the class diagram. Be sure to add some discussion and reference the figure before you display the figure.
Data Flow Diagrams
“A data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation, Figure 6, of the flow of data in an information system with no indication of time. Data flow diagrams are frequently used to analyze a system from the bottom up, identifying the processes to be carried out and the interactions and data exchanges between them. Data flow diagrams can be logical, providing a description of the system regardless of its implementation, or physical, describing the actual entities (physical devices, services, people, etc.) involved” (Aleryani, 2016). A simple diagram of CRM is presented below:
Figure 6: Data Flow Diagram for Simple CRM Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: I don’t see this as a DFD, where is the name of the data that is flowing on the line and the arrow indicating the direction of the flow?
The data flow diagram shows that the CRM datastore is connected with different activities like updating opportunities, retrieving demographic data, and updating customer records. It allows the data storage and flow of the data within and along with the company within its departments (Li & Chen, 2009).
A more detailed version is shown in the Figure 7. It was presented by Schönherr, et al., (2009). The researchers developed a “database system for an efficient combination and management of phenotypes and genotypes (eCOMPAGT) deriving from genetic epidemiological studies. eCOMPAGT securely stores and manages genotype and phenotype data and enables different user modes with different rights. Special attention was drawn to the import of data deriving from TaqMan and SNPlex genotyping assays. However, the database solution is adjustable to other genotyping systems by programming additional interfaces” (Schönherr et al., 2009). It also shows the distinction between the user access and the admin access panel. The sub-activities are provided (Hossain et al., 2021).
Figure 7: Detailed Data Flow Diagram – (Schönherr et al., 2009).
Project Management
Project management is a complex matter. The aim is to provide the details of the project in advance and prepare for it. It includes the management of resources like budget and human resources. For the current project, the resources are xxxxxx and represented in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Resources Sheet – (Bala et al., 2015).
The PERT diagram, Figure 9, shows the following activities.
A: Installation of a test platform
B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform
C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform
D: Analysis of business processes
E: Implementation of automatisms on the test platform
F: Data recovery on the test platform
G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform
H: Test phase
I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform
J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform
K: Implementation of automation on the operating platform
L: Setting up screens and customizations on the operating platform
M: User training
N: Data recovery on the operating platform (Octavia, 2013; Feng et al., 2008).
This operation can take up to 40 days. All of these setbacks led me to think differently about the approach to creating a project schedule considering the risk factor. These risks can be different: human such as holidays, material, or linked to factors uncertainties such as the need to create data recovery software. These elements allowed me to have feedback on managing the time factor in the driving project. The projected time is mentioned in front of the activities.
Figure 9: PERT Diagram
Data Modelling
Today’s information system revolves around a complex range of software, mostly developed in-house, with more or less strong interactions between them. The central point of this system is the customer file managed by Alfa. Tiers software developed in-house. The functions of this software are to consolidate customer information scattered in the various databases of other applications. It also serves as a point of entry and updates this information for these other applications. In particular, he will update the customer information used in the Selligent and Microsoft CRM software. Microsoft CRM, meanwhile, is used for its call management part or, more generally, for monitoring customer requests, from their entry to their resolution.
Therefore, all of these applications form a dense microcosm, complex due to the variety of technologies used (Access, VB6, Net) and fragile due to the interactions between the various applications. The context in which I carried out my internship being presented; we will now see the methodology used to carry out this project. Once the basic configuration is complete, a snapshot of all workstations on the test platform has been taken. Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: Rewrite so that it is in 3rd person, no reference to I and better to place the emphasis on the task not who completed the task.
Adaptations made using the CRM software interface. These make it possible to manage the data structure by creating notions of entity, which can be assimilated to an object representing a logical view of the data in the database and whose attributes correspond to the fields of the tables. They also provide the ability to create relationships between these entities. Finally, they manage the JavaScript code executed on the client’s computer. – The adaptations were made by developing pages integrated into the CRM software. This involves developing pages using Microsoft’s .Net technology and relying on the object model of the CRM software provided through the application’s Web services and an SDK (Software Development Kit). These pages are then integrated into the CRM software through a configuration file (Gil-Gomez et al., 2020).
Figure 10: Simplified Mapping of Links Between Information Systems Applications – (Bellettini et al., 2012). Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: FIgure 10, 11, and 12 are not referenced in the text. Be sure to reference and discuss before you dislay the fiure in the report.
Figure 11: The Entity Diagram (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
Entity Relationship Diagram
Figure 12: ERD (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
Development
In the matter of development phase, indeed, the Microsoft CRM software has only been used until now for customer follow-up at the level of hotline incidents; the latter only contains the list of customers likely to be called or file an incident. The alfa. Tiers software contains all the administrative information of the customer file but without the purely commercial information. Finally, the Selligent software contains the entire customer file with commercial information.
Historically, the information could be modified within these three applications independently without passing on the modifications within the other applications. Consolidation has been carried out, and the entry point has been defined as the alfa. Tiers software. Therefore, the latter contains the most recent updates and passes them on to the other two applications. However, data inconsistencies may still exist. To carry out data recovery, rules have therefore been defined in consultation with the sales department:
The administrative data contained in the alfa. Tiers software is considered up to date and valid for all other applications. Customer files may be present in the Selligent software but not in the alfa. Tiers software will be subject to manual processing on a case-by-case basis (Al-Weshah, Al-Manasrah, & Al-Qatawneh, 2019).
SQL
This method involves creating SQL queries. These will retrieve the company’s information to import into the Selligent application database and inject them directly into the Microsoft CRM application database. Source data types must be transformed within the query to make them compatible with the destination. The various constraints of the destination databases must be respected. This method is arguably the fastest in terms of processing time. However, it requires a perfect knowledge of the structure of the databases of the Selligent and Microsoft CRM applications. Without this, errors can be made and cause instability of the destination application. This method is not approved by Microsoft, which therefore does not provide a model of the structure of its database, considering that access to data must be done by the object model provided by the SDK.
The import concerns the following entities: legal entity, company, leads, people, opportunity, actions, campaigns. Since the analysis was not yet complete at the time of creating this software, the data to be recovered was only partially identified. Therefore, I chose to make an application as generic as possible and not very dependent on the source of the data to easily add the additional fields to be recovered once the analysis is finished (Juanamasta et al., 2019).
Data recovery application Microsoft Selligent CRM interface Alfa. Tiers Base Application ObjImportDonne Services Web 2007 .Net project of classes Services ImportCRM 39 By pushing this generalization a little further, it is better to choose to facilitate the importation of different sources, the interest being to be able to reuse this program to import data other than those contained in Selligent. For this purpose, the only link being made with third-party applications is at the level of the SQL queries contained in views in the application database.
Thus, in the case of modifying the source, it suffices to modify these views at the SQL level. Five steps follow from this generalization of data import. Each of these steps is associated with a screen of the application: – Importing data (Figure 13): This is to go back in a rough way the information to be imported into the Microsoft CRM software. This step allows the project to control the number of records to be processed and define the source query’s primary key. This primary key will then be used to determine which records have been processed. It will be used as the source identifier in the correspondence table.
Figure 13: Step 1 (Kumar, 2021).
Selection of primary key columns: During this step, a Correlation between source query columns and CRM software fields occurs. This is done by linking the column names defined in the SQL query with the fields present in the Microsoft CRM software for the processed entity. The result of this correlation appears in the “Available columns” box.
Selecting a field in the “Primary key columns” area allows them to determine, among these fields, which will identify the records already present in the Microsoft CRM software and therefore those needing to be updated and not created. During this step, the update of user fields can be forced. Indeed, by default, in the context of an update day of registration, these fields are not modified if they are filled in to avoid updates from outdated data.
Duplicate search (Figure 145: A duplicate search is performed on the source and destination data based on the “Primary key columns” entered in the previous step. These records must then be processed on a case-by-case basis before import processing. The list can be exported as a CSV file to be transmitted to the departments concerned. The sales department must then 41 determine whether these are indeed duplicates and, if necessary, merge these records (Piedade, & Santos, 2008; Zerbino et al., 2018). Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: See the figure reference above, be sure that the text describing the prefix is prior to the figure. It is OK to have all the text preceeding several figures. Keep the flow of the text together rather than chopped up with figures.
Figure 14: Step 2 (Kumar, 2021).
Figure 15: Step 3 (Kumar, 2021).
Summary before processing: The records are separated into two categories based on primary keys defined during the second step. Therefore, those present in the Microsoft CRM software need to be updated and those not present and therefore need to be created. These two lists can be exported in CSV format to carry out control if necessary and trace the treatment to be done.
Figure 16: Step 4 (Kumar, 2021).
Import result: Once the processing has been completed, a summary is displayed. In the event of an error during processing, an error log in the form of a file is created, and a button allowing access to the latter appears.
Figure 17: Step 5 (Kumar, 2021).
This software is a utility initially intended only for Microsoft and Selligent CRM software administrators; I preferred to focus on the functional part and the application’s stability to the detriment of the graphical interface. For the same reasons, certain modifications, such as modifying queries allowing data recovery, require knowledge of SQL queries and the structure of application databases (Talón-Ballestero et al., 2018).
Testing
To be able to carry out the tests throughout the project, I set up a platform consisting of a Microsoft Windows 2008 server with Hyper-v services activated. In addition to being used for the project, this platform replaced the old development platform used by the internal management development team. I chose to use virtual machines for the test and development platform to benefit from the possibility of taking snapshots of workstations and restoring them quickly. In addition, this technology made it possible to limit the number of physical workstations and easily create networks separate from the operating networks. This platform consists of several virtual servers reflecting the production configuration. It includes: – two duplicate domain controllers of the production controllers. – two mail servers duplicate of those of production. – a Web server duplicate of the production one. – an SQL server installed identically to the production one and including a copy of the production databases. – a workstation under Windows XP serving as a client and having a development environment installed in Visual Studio
The Gap between the provisional and actual schedule Many elements directly impacted the initial schedule. Indeed, before starting certain steps, I had to train myself on the environment and the programming language. I also had to research software and analysis methods and familiarize myself with the new CRM software. These stages did not appear in the initial schedule because they were not directly part of the project. They were considered subsequently because the time allocated to them, in this case, 25 days, was not negligible on the scale of the project. Other imponderables came to lengthen the times initially defined. For example, the installation of the test platform required five additional days of work due to hardware and storage volume problems (Soltani et al., 2018).
The CRM 4.0 migration stage on the test platform took five days longer. This stage included an initial compatibility test phase for third-party applications. However, the identification of the problems encountered and the definition of the corrective measures to be taken took longer than expected. Process analysis has been shortened to 40 days. The main reason is the failure to consider the summer vacation period. The latter made it difficult to bring together the working group members. The remaining days have been postponed to a later date by mutual agreement. This period nevertheless made it possible to formalize the pre-sales and sales processes and write the analysis of these processes.
These have been schematized thanks to the documents provided and the holding of 6 plenary meetings of the working group. The holiday period was used to return to version 4 of Microsoft CRM. This return was necessary due to the number of errors encountered on the customizations; the latter was linked to the version change. The number of modifications to be made and the scattering of the code led me to try to optimize the existing code by grouping it and adapting it to version 4 of Microsoft CRM. This work was necessary given future developments of the Microsoft CRM software (Anshari et al., 2019).
However, this step required the complete reading of the customization code, correction, and regression tests. It was therefore time-consuming and delayed the initial schedule by 60 days. When establishing the first schedule, it was anticipated that we could use Microsoft Data Migration software to recover data from the old CRM software. Therefore, the schedule had been established based on an estimate of the test phase of this software. However, the tests demonstrated the need to create data recovery software (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
Interactive Website Development
Many companies have launched CRM projects focused on collecting and using customer data, refocusing the organization around the customer, and implementing a multi-channel policy. To do this, they have created customer information bases and have invested considerable sums (more than 100 million euros for the largest companies). The results are not yet up to expectations because these approaches come against many difficulties in practice: resistance to change from existing organizations, technologies still under development, implementation and operating costs, changes in customer behavior.
Sectors such as mail order or companies such as American Express or Cortal laid the foundations several decades ago:
· constitution, enrichment, and segmentation of customer files,
· targeted sales actions, usually in the form of postal mailings, to realize the consumption potential of each customer within the brand,
· adjustment of the system according to the customer’s “reactivity” to requests.
These companies have built their entire development on this approach and have become experts in setting up efficient customer processes and systems (notably call centers and customer databases). On the Internet side, many projects have also been launched to better win over and retain customers. Here too, the results are not there. Some of the designs for the CRM website are as follows:
Figure 18: CRM Website Interface Examples – (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
Internet service providers (ISPs) illustrate the evolution from a pure audience model to a hybrid model combining audience and customer service development.
The second element of apparent differentiation between Internet and CRM projects lies in the very different characteristics of their implementation:
· CRM projects are often carriers of the transformation of organizations “around” the customer. In contrast, Internet projects are most often managed on the margins of organizations and outsourced in autonomous teams, ventures, or specific brands.
· A very important element of CRM projects, integration with the company’s existing information systems, is rarely present in Internet projects.
· The duration of a CRM project varies between six months and several years, while an Internet project is often a few months.
· Unlike Internet projects, CRM projects focus on the processes (the container), much more than the messages (the content) addressed to customers.
To correct the anomalies observed during the migration to version 4 of the CRM software, I had to study the .Net developments used for customizations. These were grouped in a customization solution comprising four interconnected projects. These projects used web services or were themselves called web services. The following diagram represents these projects and their interconnection links (Pothal et al., 2021). The CRM project can be likened to the presentation layer of these developments. It groups together all the personalized pages made available to users. I could see that this code had been made at different eras, using technologies available then, by different developers but that globally, some project pages were identical. Although, the process of website development comes at the implementation stage.
Future Enhancement
From now on, the functionalities of CRM Marketing software are clearer, but how to benefit from such a tool, and what are these advantages? With CRM Marketing, the company can ideally manage the customers and prospects and optimize marketing. Thus, instead of having two different tools, it only has one that allows them to manage both areas: sales and marketing. The company’s Sales Intelligence enables accurate analysis on marketing effectiveness and knowing exactly which campaigns drove the customers to make the most purchases.
The automation tools present on the platform make it possible to considerably reduce the time spent on tasks that IT can manage. Sending certain marketing campaigns to customers can be done automatically once they have properly segmented the customers and correctly populated the database. Marketing CRM associated with Sales Intelligence makes it possible to considerably reduce marketing expenses but, above all, to know in which segments and channels it is necessary to invest (Li, Huang, & Song, 2019).
CRM tools require greater rigor and lead to qualitative and quantitative improvement in the data collected. It is important to balance what may seem like extra work (even if it saves time) with direct benefits for day-to-day users. For example:
· For salespeople: have alerts to automatically follow up with customers, identify neglected opportunities, etc.
· Marketing: measuring the effectiveness of marketing actions, saving time in data segmentation, etc.
· Customer service: having a knowledge base that can be used internally and externally, resolving multiple requests in a few clicks, etc.
The advanced CRMs on the market allow the different company systems to dialogue (e-mail, ERP, social networks, mobile applications, websites, marketing automation, etc.). For example, calendar invitations can be managed in Google Calendar and mailing campaigns in Mailchimp, etc., while being visible from the CRM. So, find out well before finalizing the choice because they could bitterly regret it if, for example, they cannot synchronize the outlook or google calendar with the CRM.
Implementing CRM software requires effective user training. This training concerns all tool users and aims for better use and strong adoption. It must imperatively take place before the production of the tool. Initially, it should be conducted by their integrator service provider. Subsequently, if the employees feel fit, it can be provided internally. This training must be carried out in 2 phases: introduction of the GRC software first, then a specific part for each position: sales, marketing, and customer service. Finally, remember that it must include a practical work aspect and allow users to understand how they will integrate this tool into their daily lives (Pothal et al., 2021).
Conclusion Comment by Lori Willoughby [2]: Is this the Conclusion? if not you need to add a conclusion section.
To recap, the company’s CRM fully integrates marketing with business management. These two areas are closely linked, and bringing them together can further increase the impact of marketing, get more prospect contacts to convert them, and ensure effective interactions with customers. The integration of multiple existing channels (e-mail, SMS, social networks, telephone, etc.) increases the impact of marketing and communication. Combined with artificial intelligence, CRM Marketing allows the company to know the customers better and to spend the budget allocated to prospecting and customer loyalty as well as possible. The CRM platform highlights include adding promotion channels and automatic data collection, following up on the customer journey, from prospecting to purchase, automatic calculation of marketing ROI, and completing marketing integration with the CRM.
These functionalities were already available before, but the artificial intelligence and the association of the different functionalities make it possible to be always more precise, reactive, and better target its prospects and customers. To improve CRM, remotely or not, the use of software to the detriment of manual solutions may be necessary to facilitate interactions and maximize profits. This centralizes qualified and useful commercial information for the company and facilitates its management and speed via automated and digitized processes.
The company can thus easily identify prospects and reach privileged targets to generate more leads. With CRM software, it has the advantage of putting its customer at the heart of its strategy, allowing collaborative work with each company member, and increasing responsiveness. A plethora of software exists on the market, but each offers various and varied functionalities, particularly in communication by e-mail and SMS between a company and its customers. Programs specifically focused on e-mail and relational marketing exists. With these, the company can carry out quality and personalized e-mail and SMS campaigns, target the customers via Marketing Automation and send different information securely and independently to the inboxes of all the contacts.
References
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Aleryani, A. Y. (2016). Comparative study between data flow diagram and use case diagram. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 6(3), 124-126.
Anshari, M., Almunawar, M. N., Lim, S. A., & Al-Mudimigh, A. (2019). Customer relationship management and big data-enabled: Personalization & customization of services. Applied Computing and Informatics, 15(2), 94-101.
Baran, R. J., & Galka, R. J. (2016). Customer Relationship Management: the foundation of contemporary marketing strategy. Routledge.
Bellettini, C., Marchetto, A., & Trentini, A. (2004, March). WebUml: reverse engineering of web applications. In Proceedings of the 2004 ACM symposium on Applied computing (pp. 1662-1669).
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Budiardjo, E. K., & Tama, B. A. (2009). Cross-Selling? s Product Determination in the Context of Analytical CRM Based on Association Rules.
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Guerola-Navarro, V., Gil-Gomez, H., Oltra-Badenes, R., & Sendra-García, J. (2021). Customer relationship management and its impact on innovation: A literature review. Journal of Business Research, 129, 83-87.
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Hossain, M. A., Jahan, N., & Kim, M. (2021). A multidimensional and hierarchical model of banking services and behavioral intentions of customers. International Journal of Emerging Markets.
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Activity 1: bring everyone on board and ensure all hands are on the deck.
Activity 2: Defining business priorities.
Activity 3: Establish a staff training program on the use of the CRM system.
Activity 4: ensure that there is proper data migration and integration into the CRM system.
Activity 5: tracking of CRM system progress.
CRM data store
Update customer record
Update opportunity
Retrieve customer data
Retrieve demographic data
Contact
Activities
Sales lead product
Lead manage
Opportunity
2
Abstract
Organizations are often caught off guard when a prospect becomes a customer. A salesperson may have learned a lot about the customer’s needs. Still, there’s no point if that information isn’t effectively recorded and passed on to the account manager looking after them. We need to capture this data and be able to access it systematically. CRM helps maintain effective customer relationships and other integrated operations in the company. Therefore, the definition of the target organization has several components, technological, organizational, and human components. It participates fully in the qualification of the need and the framing of the selection project. It has its place in the CRM Specifications that we are now ready to write. The report allows the development and testing of the CRM software. It explains the development and integration of the software via different tools like SQL, Microsoft Hyper-v technology, and CRM software. The methodology is a list of activities leading to software development. The use case, entity-relationship, and data flow diagrams allow a better understanding of software development. The implementation has not been discussed, but the document does provide the details of the testing. The future enhancement allows the improvements in the process. There will be a need for regular updates and maintenance of the system, but it will benefit the company and be more effective and efficient.
Table of Contents
Abstract 1
Introduction 5
Overview of the Current Situation 6
Problem Statement
8
Objective
9
Methodology 9
Step A: Installation of a test platform
10
Step B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform 10
Step C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform 10
Step D: Analysis of business processes 11
Step E: Implementation of automation on the test platform 11
Stage F: Recovery of data on the test platform 11
Step G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform 11
Step H: Test phase 11
Stage
I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform
12
Step J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform 12
Step K: Setting up automation on the operating platform 12
Step L: Installation of screens and customizations on the operating platform 12
Step M: User training 12
Stage N: Data recovery on the operating platform 12
Planning 13
Requirement Gathering and Analysis
14
Functional requirements 15
Use Case Description 17
Data Flow Diagrams 20
Project Management
22
Data Modelling
25
Entity Relationship Diagram
28
Development 28
SQL
29
Testing
33
Interactive Website Development 35
Future Enhancement
37
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..37
References 41
List of Figures Comment by Willoughby, Lori: Be sure to double check the page numbers to ensure they are correct.
Figure 1: CRM Functions &
Activities
(Customer Relationship Management, 20
21
)
8
Figure 2: The Use of CRM as Per Company Sizes (statistics).
10
Figure 3: Activity Plans for the Project
14
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram – (Rashiduzzaman et al., 2018).
19
Figure 5: Class Diagram – (Bellettini, Marchetto, & Trentini, 2004).
21
Figure 6: Simple CRM flow of information
22
Figure 7: Detailed Data Flow Diagram – (Schönherr et al., 2009).
23
Figure 8: Resources Sheet – (Bala et al., 2015).
24
Figure 9: PERT Diagram
25
Figure 10: Simplified Mapping of Links Between Information Systems Applications ……
……
27
Figure 11: The Entity Diagram (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
28
Figure 12: ERD (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
29
Figure 13: Step 1 (Kumar, 2021).
31
Figure 14: Step 2 (Kumar, 2021).
32
Figure 15: Step 3 (Kumar, 2021).
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Figure 16: Step 4 (Kumar, 2021).
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Figure 17: Step 5 (Kumar, 2021).
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Figure 18: CRM Website Interface Examples – (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
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Introduction
Effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the key to the success of a company. It allows customer loyalty and retention and leads to an increase in the company’s productivity. Thus, it is necessary to stand out from the competition while best meeting market expectations and, more specifically, customers directly. It should not be forgotten for a company that the criteria for choosing a client are not always financial, even in times of crisis. In any business, customers remain to be among the key stakeholders. This, therefore, means that for a company to thrive and remain viable economically, there is a great need to establish a good relationship with its customers. Business entities use a wide range of approaches to keep their customers close to the heart of their businesses by showing genuine care based on customer feedback, sharing current knowledge and trends with their customers, exceeding their clients’ objectives, treating customers positively, and perhaps remaining focused on customer services through open communication and other customer support services. Unlike the approaches mentioned above, using a CRM in business will serve well as a strategy for customer relationship management. It helps business entities effectively analyze customer needs, providing insights that could be deployed to progressively improve customer relationships with the brand (McCann, 2019).
Overview of the Current Situation
CRM, customer relationship management software is considered a modern version of the “customer file.” It is a tool that allows the storage and updating of lists of contacts or prospects and target companies or associated customers. However, modern CRM software goes further. Here are some examples of their functionalities: integrated management of prospects from the website, management of customer complaints, consideration of customer feedback, analysis of activity, assignment of prospects and accounts to the various sales teams, systematization and automation of sales process, direct marketing including advertising campaigns and e-mailing, archiving and management of contacts with customers. The company’s current system is offline and all paper-based, which becomes complicated due to the rising growth (Saputra et al., 2019). Figure 1 details the benefits and functions company requires in a CRM. It shows that CRM not only focuses on engagement with clients but also ensures quality, designs the specifications of engineering etc.
Figure 1: CRM Functions & Activities (Customer Relationship Management, 2021)
Choosing the right CRM system requires knowing two things: the company’s business needs and how those needs might match the solutions available in the CRM market. A consultant, onboarding agent, or external reseller can walk them through the process. The help of the right choice of the CRM system suited to the needs and the budget in deploying the system and training the employees who will use it. Although it has a cost, these services prevent the company from opting for the wrong product because, in the long run, it will waste even more money and prove counterproductive. Thus, the idea of developing and testing the product on the company’s system is the best way to move forward.
Problem Statement
Based on the project objectives, the essence of proposing the development of a CRM in business is to help business entities gain more insights regarding customer behavior to come up with modified strategies that could be deployed to help a business meet the needs of the customers. With the implementation of the CRM program, it will be easy for customer relations manager to strengthen their business operations and perhaps ensure that they not only meet customer needs but also ensure that their customers are served in the best way possible (McCann, 2019).
Among the existing approaches used to manage customer relations are rewarding loyal customers’ frequent use of advanced communication platforms to collect customer views that serve as feedback for improvement. With the utilization of a CRM, business entities will increase revenue, optimize their marketing strategies, improve collaboration, ensure customer satisfaction, and improve data insights and analytics (Baran & Galka, 2016). The need of the company to acquire a CRM system depends on the matter that the utilization of these systems in the US in small, medium, or big companies makes them effective, Figure 2.
Figure 2: The Use of CRM as Per Company Sizes (statistics) (Grand View Research, Inc., 2022).
Objective
The objectives of CRM technology will entail the ability to help businesses expand their customer base, improve business operations, increase sales, and promote effective management of customer relations. In addition, that will, in turn, make customers happy and loyal to the brand. The project’s desired outcomes will streamline business-related processes and practices, improve customer service, instill loyalty, and establish repeated customer purchase behavior. Perhaps the objectives of CRM technology deliverables involve data management, data analysis, and management of customer interactions (Richard, 2018). The CRM software will provide business entities with a 360-degree view of their clients/customers, establishing a solid relationship through personal engagement with the customers.
Methodology
The project aims to develop and test CRM software for a small-scale business. The methodology will be similar to that of one of the software development plans. Each step has been identified using the following characteristics: a letter, a description, an estimate of the time needed to complete it, and the people involved in its realization. The duration of the stages has been calculated as shortest as possible.
Step A: Installation of a test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
This step involves setting up a test platform identical to the production computer system while being separate from it. However, the workstations of this platform must be accessible by the team of the development pole from the operating network. The team members must be able to access the resources of their workstations when they are connected to the machines of the machine’s platform. of testing (Soltani, & Navimipour, 2016). To do this, a physical server will be installed with the Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter operating system. Its role will be to host, using Microsoft Hyper-v technology, the virtual machines necessary for the operation of the test and development platform.
Step B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform. Estimated duration: 1 day
This step aims to test the migration of the production SQL 2005 engine to the SQL 2008 version and resolve the problems encountered. On this occasion, a procedure for migrating the SQL engine will be drafted to carry out the migration on the operating server. Applications using databases stored on this server should be tested (Onut, Erdem, & Hosver, 2008).
Step C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform. Estimated duration: 5 days
This step involves testing the migration from version 3 of the Microsoft CRM software to version 4 and resolving the problems related to this migration both at the time of installation at after migration. Documentation will be developed to perform the migration on the operating server. The development team must continue testing changes to the operating version while the tests for the new version are being carried out. As a result, the test platform must include both version 3 and version 4 of the CRM software at the end of this phase.
Step D: Analysis of business processes. Estimated duration: 60 days
This step involves creating and leading a working group whose goal will be to analyze the current operating rules to adapt the new Commercial CRM software to our mode of operation. At the end of its reflections, this working group will have to provide an analysis document presenting the commercial processes of the company.
Step E: Implementation of automation on the test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
Based on the working group’s analysis document, a transcription of the analysis results in the CRM software environment will be carried out to implement automation related to business processes. A document on implementing these must be produced to carry out maintenance.
Stage F: Recovery of data on the test platform. Estimated duration: 10 days
This step involves recovering the information in the old commercial software database in the new CRM software. The drafting of a document on data recovery will be drafted for maintenance purposes (Octavia, 2013).
Step G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform. Estimated duration: 15 days
Using the working group’s analysis document, the screens of the new CRM software will be adapted so that all the information is available. The screens thus created will be subject to validation by the working group.
Step H: Test phase. Estimated duration: 15 days
Carried out by Project manager, sales department, member of the GTP Description: During this phase, one or more test scenarios must be developed to test the application’s functionalities. These scenarios will then be played on the test platform. Once these tests have been carried out and validated, a parallel input test must be carried out on the production platform and the test platform for certain users to verify real use cases. On this occasion, user documentation will have to be written to serve as training support.
Stage I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This involves setting up the SQL 2008 version on the operating environment based on the document drawn up during stage B.
Step J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
Based on the document produced during the step described in C, implementing the CRM 4.0 version on the operating platform operation will be carried out.
Step K: Setting up automation on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This involves setting up automation on the operating platform based on the document drawn up during step E (Budiardjo & Tama, 2009).
Step L: Installation of screens and customizations on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
The customizations created on the test platform during step G are transcribed on the operating platform.
Step M: User training. Estimated time: 3 days Carried out by the Project manager, representative of the sales department within the GTP
Users are trained to use the new CRM software based on the documentation developed during Stage H.
Stage N: Data recovery on the operating platform. Estimated duration: ½ day
This stage corresponds to the data recovery on the operating platform based on the document drawn up during phase F (Octavia, 2013).
Planning
The project involves several steps. To achieve desired outcomes from the proposed CRM software, it will be essential to consider the activities, defined in Figure 3, as they will ensure successful implementation and use of CRM systems in businesses (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Figure 3: Activity Plans for the Project
The five activities are defined in the following paragraphs.
Activity 1: bring everyone on board and ensure all hands are on the deck.
Engaging both the staff and critical sales team members will provide insights on what needs to be incorporated within the proposed system. This will provide the momentum required to kick start using the CRM system.
Activity 2: Defining business priorities.
This entails stipulating what one hopes to achieve at the end of it all. This may include firm lead management and web and streamlined workflows, among other business needs.
Activity 3: Establish a staff training program on the use of the CRM system.
This will entail explaining what can be archived using the proposed CRM system. After that selected employee will be taken through the CRM system through demos and another training session.
Activity 4: Ensure proper data migration and integration into the CRM system. This can be archived by incorporating features such as automated sync that will enable the software to sync QuickBooks. Company data set must be accurately updated before migration into the CRM system (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Activity 5: Tracking of CRM system progress. This can be achieved by providing answers to the following questions.
· Is the CRM system capable of recording and leveraging data more efficiently?
· Are our sales teams/ agents able to access customer data more efficiently?
· Are sale agents or teams able to create quotes and close deals more quickly and faster than before?
· Is the marketing team able to create more effective marketing campaigns? (Software Advisory Service, 2018).
Requirement Gathering and Analysis
The data was collected in the form of reports. The needs analysis establishes the list of objectives to be achieved and takes stock of the expectations to refine the project’s scope. In our support, we generally propose organizing a workshop with the CRM consultant and the project stakeholders to list and prioritize the use cases of the CRM. It is very important to involve the end-users of the CRM, to listen to their expectations their needs. A good practice is to formulate the use cases in the first person. This makes things more concrete more meaningful and allows participants to take ownership of the process.
Functional requirements
Functional requirements naturally flow from CRM use cases. They are its functional translation. The target functionalities’ definition supposes technical skills that the company does not always have in-house. For example, what functionality is needed to automatically notify customer service in the event of customer dissatisfaction? Knowledge of Marketing Technologies (or MarTech) is required. It is from this stage, and only that the “technological” question enters the project. In our CRM consulting assignments, we generally take charge of the production of the functionalities grid before sharing it and having it validated with our customers.
The project assumes to have to imagine the target IT architecture, the one in which the CRM solution will be integrated. This Target Organization of Technologies and Data will be implemented and managed by women and men. Therefore, it is also necessary to define the target Organization in terms of HR, human, in other words, the skills required to set up the new CRM organization. Perhaps the company already has the necessary skills, but if not, the project manager needs to be:
· Qualify required and missing skills.
· Determine how to add these new skills: recruitment or outsourcing.
· Finally, it is necessary to define the methods of organization of the project of selection, deployment, and exploitation of the CRM :
· Family of CRM solutions eligible for the RFP.
· Project management method: traditional, agile, hybrid.
· Deployment players (publishers, integrators, AMOA, DSI, etc.) and roles within the project team.
· Planning and subdivision.
· Budget for deployment (setup) and operation (run).
At the time of the call for tenders, the documents like the are used to provide publishers and/or CRM integrators with a general understanding of the needs and expectations. It is an integral part of the qualification file that they will share with identified publishers/integrators. The project doesn’t need to describe every use case and feature in detail. Several CRM features are classic features, which all vendors offer. Unless they have advanced needs in this area, there is no need, for example, to describe that they need a contact management feature! It would be a waste of time for the company (or for the external partner mobilized to write the specifications) and a waste of time for the interlocutors in front of them: the editors/CRM integrators.
The project must be synthetic to express basic needs and conversely spend time on the detail of use cases and specific, advanced, atypical, and/or critical functionalities. Publishers/integrators can meet these more complex needs that will make the difference and help them select the right solution. It is now necessary to organize and analyze the information collected from the participants to bring out the recurring themes. The project manager can ask additional questions to clarify both the current situation and the desired one in the future.
Functionality and performance levels of existing systems and processes (including manual processes) should be cataloged and described reasonably, including relevant details of existing systems, from shared spreadsheets to corporate ERP systems. The goal here is to collect as much of the feedback that has been given to them as possible and prioritize it based on the number of times it has been given to the company. A use case identifies WHO (actor) does WHAT (interaction) with the CRM system for which PURPOSE (objective) without dealing with internal elements of the system.
Use Case Description
A complete set of use cases specifies all the different ways the CRM system will be used and defines everything expected of it. It should be written in clear and simple language: avoid unnecessary jargon. To help them see more clearly, we have listed examples of use cases:
· Better prioritize leads
· Save time by automating low value-added administrative tasks
· Track current sales & deals
· Identify upsell opportunities or churn risks etc.
But also, other ideas in bulk: animation of sales meetings, automation of mundane tasks, management of multiple sales and prospecting channels.
It helps describe the goal, what the project wants to accomplish, and the parameters for success. It also allows the identification of actors for each use case, whether we are talking about people, groups, or other systems. It also describes the process and all the steps that the actors will have to follow and the behaviors they will have to adapt to meet the system’s functional requirements. A use case is a story, Figure 4, with a beginning and a sequence of events leading to the end: each step is an action. There are no if statements. Forget the user interface – for now.
Figure 4: Use Case Diagram – (Rashiduzzaman et al., 2018).
The use case actor is not necessarily a person: it can simply be another computer system, such as e-mail or accounting. Actors interact with the CRM system without being part of it. The use case describes this interaction – what the actor does and how the system reacts. Conversely, it does not yet care about the system implementation or the exact interface it will have.
· Candidate: entity class that represents the different candidates who apply for their CVs, the attributes of this class represent the different fields in the resume.
· Diploma and training: entity class representing the different diplomas and/or training that each candidate has taken. This class, therefore, groups together the different diplomas of different candidates.
· Establishment: entity class contains all the establishments linked to the different diplomas.
· Experience: entity class that represents the different experiences of each candidate.
Competence domain: entity class that represents the competence domain for each skill.
· Competence: entity class that represents the different competencies that a candidate has. Elementary skill: entity class representing the different elements of a candidate’s competence.
· Position: entity class representing the different positions to which a person could apply. Candidate. It contains different basic skills required by the position, has a profile position, and is linked to several missions.
· Profile: entity class that represents the job and candidate profiles.
· Mission: entity class that represents the different missions that can be assigned to different candidates.
· Project: entity class that groups the different missions by the project; this class represents the company’s projects.
· Planning Mission: entity class that represents the schedule of each candidate assigned to a mission to manage his availability.
· Customer: entity class that represents the different customers of the company.
· Certification: entity class representing the different certifications that could have each candidate, which brings together different certification elements.
· Certification element: entity class representing the different certification elements that each candidate could have.
Figure 5 is a class diagram. It represents the blueprint of the system. the arrows are showing that the frame is connected with the frameset with the association of web documents while there are other arrows showing that the object is in session thus there will be a server page with all the attributes like alert, confirm and others. The form is consisted of buttons, hidden and select options while there is a connection of session with the cookies as well.
Figure 5: Class Diagram – (Bellettini, Marchetto, & Trentini, 2004).
Data Flow Diagrams
“A data flow diagram (DFD) is a graphical representation, Figure 6, of the flow of data in an information system with no indication of time. Data flow diagrams are frequently used to analyze a system from the bottom up, identifying the processes to be carried out and the interactions and data exchanges between them. Data flow diagrams can be logical, providing a description of the system regardless of its implementation, or physical, describing the actual entities (physical devices, services, people, etc.) involved” (Aleryani, 2016). A simple diagram of CRM is presented below:
Figure 6: Simple CRM flow of information
The diagram shows that the CRM datastore is connected with different activities like updating opportunities, retrieving demographic data, and updating customer records. It allows the data storage and flow of the data within and along with the company within its departments (Li & Chen, 2009).
A more detailed version is shown in the Figure 7. It was presented by Schönherr, et al., (2009). The researchers developed a “database system for an efficient combination and management of phenotypes and genotypes (eCOMPAGT) deriving from genetic epidemiological studies. eCOMPAGT securely stores and manages genotype and phenotype data and enables different user modes with different rights. Special attention was drawn to the import of data deriving from TaqMan and SNPlex genotyping assays. However, the database solution is adjustable to other genotyping systems by programming additional interfaces” (Schönherr et al., 2009). It also shows the distinction between the user access and the admin access panel. The sub-activities are provided (Hossain et al., 2021).
Figure 7: Detailed Data Flow Diagram – (Schönherr et al., 2009).
Project Management
Project management is a complex matter. The aim is to provide the details of the project in advance and prepare for it. It includes the management of resources like budget and human resources. For the current project, the resources are xxxxxx and represented in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Resources Sheet – (Bala et al., 2015).
The PERT diagram, Figure 9, shows the following activities.
A: Installation of a test platform
B: SQL 2008 migration on the test platform
C: CRM 4.0 migration on the test platform
D: Analysis of business processes
E: Implementation of automatisms on the test platform
F: Data recovery on the test platform
G: Creation and customization of screens on the test platform
H: Test phase
I: SQL 2008 migration on the operating platform
J: CRM 4.0 migration on the operating platform
K: Implementation of automation on the operating platform
L: Setting up screens and customizations on the operating platform
M: User training
N: Data recovery on the operating platform (Octavia, 2013; Feng et al., 2008).
This operation can take up to 40 days. All of these setbacks led me to think differently about the approach to creating a project schedule considering the risk factor. These risks can be different: human such as holidays, material, or linked to factors uncertainties such as the need to create data recovery software. These elements allowed me to have feedback on managing the time factor in the driving project. The projected time is mentioned in front of the activities.
Figure 9: PERT Diagram
Data Modelling
Today’s information system revolves around a complex range of software, mostly developed in-house, with more or less strong interactions between them. The central point of this system is the customer file managed by Alfa. Tiers software developed in-house. The functions of this software are to consolidate customer information scattered in the various databases of other applications. It also serves as a point of entry and updates this information for these other applications. In particular, he will update the customer information used in the Selligent and Microsoft CRM software. Microsoft CRM, meanwhile, is used for its call management part or, more generally, for monitoring customer requests, from their entry to their resolution.
Therefore, all of these applications form a dense microcosm, complex due to the variety of technologies used (Access, VB6, Net) and fragile due to the interactions between the various applications. Once the basic configuration is complete, a snapshot of all workstations on the test platform has been taken as it can be seen in the Figure 10 and 11. Figure 11 shows more of the entity relationships where there is a clear view of relationship between all the items and systems is presented. It shows that all the servers at client end, the SQL, messengers and other entities.
Figure 10: Simplified Mapping of Links Between Information Systems Applications – (Bellettini et al., 2012).
Figure 11: The Entity Diagram (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
While Figure 12 exhibits the entity relation diagram (ERD) in more detail it shows that the adaptations made using the CRM software interface. These make it possible to manage the data structure by creating notions of entity, which can be assimilated to an object representing a logical view of the data in the database and whose attributes correspond to the fields of the tables. They also provide the ability to create relationships between these entities. Finally, they manage the JavaScript code executed on the client’s computer. – The adaptations were made by developing pages integrated into the CRM software. This involves developing pages using Microsoft’s .Net technology and relying on the object model of the CRM software provided through the application’s Web services and an SDK (Software Development Kit). These pages are then integrated into the CRM software through a configuration file (Gil-Gomez et al., 2020).
Figure 12: ERD (Rashiduzzaman, 2018).
Development
In the matter of development phase, indeed, the Microsoft CRM software has only been used until now for customer follow-up at the level of hotline incidents; the latter only contains the list of customers likely to be called or file an incident. The alfa. Tiers software contains all the administrative information of the customer file but without the purely commercial information. Finally, the Selligent software contains the entire customer file with commercial information.
Historically, the information could be modified within these three applications independently without passing on the modifications within the other applications. Consolidation has been carried out, and the entry point has been defined as the alfa. Tiers software. Therefore, the latter contains the most recent updates and passes them on to the other two applications. However, data inconsistencies may still exist. To carry out data recovery, rules have therefore been defined in consultation with the sales department:
The administrative data contained in the alfa. Tiers software is considered up to date and valid for all other applications. Customer files may be present in the Selligent software but not in the alfa. Tiers software will be subject to manual processing on a case-by-case basis (Al-Weshah, Al-Manasrah, & Al-Qatawneh, 2019).
SQL
This method involves creating SQL queries. These will retrieve the company’s information to import into the Selligent application database and inject them directly into the Microsoft CRM application database. Source data types must be transformed within the query to make them compatible with the destination. The various constraints of the destination databases must be respected. This method is arguably the fastest in terms of processing time. However, it requires a perfect knowledge of the structure of the databases of the Selligent and Microsoft CRM applications. Without this, errors can be made and cause instability of the destination application. This method is not approved by Microsoft, which therefore does not provide a model of the structure of its database, considering that access to data must be done by the object model provided by the SDK.
The import concerns the following entities: legal entity, company, leads, people, opportunity, actions, campaigns. Since the analysis was not yet complete at the time of creating this software, the data to be recovered was only partially identified. Therefore, I chose to make an application as generic as possible and not very dependent on the source of the data to easily add the additional fields to be recovered once the analysis is finished (Juanamasta et al., 2019).
Data recovery application Microsoft Selligent CRM interface Alfa. Tiers Base Application ObjImportDonne Services Web 2007 .Net project of classes Services ImportCRM 39 By pushing this generalization a little further, it is better to choose to facilitate the importation of different sources, the interest being to be able to reuse this program to import data other than those contained in Selligent. For this purpose, the only link being made with third-party applications is at the level of the SQL queries contained in views in the application database.
Thus, in the case of modifying the source, it suffices to modify these views at the SQL level. Five steps follow from this generalization of data import. Each of these steps is associated with a screen of the application: – Importing data (Figure 13): This is to go back in a rough way the information to be imported into the Microsoft CRM software. This step allows the project to control the number of records to be processed and define the source query’s primary key. This primary key will then be used to determine which records have been processed. It will be used as the source identifier in the correspondence table.
Figure 13: Step 1 (Kumar, 2021).
Selection of primary key columns: During this step, a Correlation between source query columns and CRM software fields occurs. This is done by linking the column names defined in the SQL query with the fields present in the Microsoft CRM software for the processed entity. The result of this correlation appears in the “Available columns” box.
Selecting a field in the “Primary key columns” area allows them to determine, among these fields, which will identify the records already present in the Microsoft CRM software and therefore those needing to be updated and not created. During this step, the update of user fields can be forced. Indeed, by default, in the context of an update day of registration, these fields are not modified if they are filled in to avoid updates from outdated data.
Duplicate search (Figure 14 and Figure 15): A duplicate search is performed on the source and destination data based on the “Primary key columns” entered in the previous step. These records must then be processed on a case-by-case basis before import processing. The list can be exported as a CSV file to be transmitted to the departments concerned. The sales department must then 41 determine whether these are indeed duplicates and, if necessary, merge these records (Piedade, & Santos, 2008; Zerbino et al., 2018).
Figure 14: Step 2 (Kumar, 2021).
Figure 15: Step 3 (Kumar, 2021).
Summary before processing: The records are separated into two categories based on primary keys defined during the second step. Therefore, those present in the Microsoft CRM software need to be updated and those not present and therefore need to be created. These two lists can be exported in CSV format to carry out control if necessary and trace the treatment to be done.
Figure 16: Step 4 (Kumar, 2021). Comment by Willoughby, Lori: You need to reference Figures 16, 17, and 18 in the text just as you have done for all the other figures.
Import result: Once the processing has been completed, a summary is displayed. In the event of an error during processing, an error log in the form of a file is created, and a button allowing access to the latter appears.
Figure 17: Step 5 (Kumar, 2021).
This software is a utility initially intended only for Microsoft and Selligent CRM software administrators; I preferred to focus on the functional part and the application’s stability to the detriment of the graphical interface. For the same reasons, certain modifications, such as modifying queries allowing data recovery, require knowledge of SQL queries and the structure of application databases (Talón-Ballestero et al., 2018).
Testing
To be able to carry out the tests throughout the project, I set up a platform consisting of a Microsoft Windows 2008 server with Hyper-v services activated. In addition to being used for the project, this platform replaced the old development platform used by the internal management development team. I chose to use virtual machines for the test and development platform to benefit from the possibility of taking snapshots of workstations and restoring them quickly. In addition, this technology made it possible to limit the number of physical workstations and easily create networks separate from the operating networks. This platform consists of several virtual servers reflecting the production configuration. It includes: – two duplicate domain controllers of the production controllers. – two mail servers duplicate of those of production. – a Web server duplicate of the production one. – an SQL server installed identically to the production one and including a copy of the production databases. – a workstation under Windows XP serving as a client and having a development environment installed in Visual Studio
The Gap between the provisional and actual schedule Many elements directly impacted the initial schedule. Indeed, before starting certain steps, I had to train myself on the environment and the programming language. I also had to research software and analysis methods and familiarize myself with the new CRM software. These stages did not appear in the initial schedule because they were not directly part of the project. They were considered subsequently because the time allocated to them, in this case, 25 days, was not negligible on the scale of the project. Other imponderables came to lengthen the times initially defined. For example, the installation of the test platform required five additional days of work due to hardware and storage volume problems (Soltani et al., 2018).
The CRM 4.0 migration stage on the test platform took five days longer. This stage included an initial compatibility test phase for third-party applications. However, the identification of the problems encountered and the definition of the corrective measures to be taken took longer than expected. Process analysis has been shortened to 40 days. The main reason is the failure to consider the summer vacation period. The latter made it difficult to bring together the working group members. The remaining days have been postponed to a later date by mutual agreement. This period nevertheless made it possible to formalize the pre-sales and sales processes and write the analysis of these processes.
These have been schematized thanks to the documents provided and the holding of 6 plenary meetings of the working group. The holiday period was used to return to version 4 of Microsoft CRM. This return was necessary due to the number of errors encountered on the customizations; the latter was linked to the version change. The number of modifications to be made and the scattering of the code led me to try to optimize the existing code by grouping it and adapting it to version 4 of Microsoft CRM. This work was necessary given future developments of the Microsoft CRM software (Anshari et al., 2019).
However, this step required the complete reading of the customization code, correction, and regression tests. It was therefore time-consuming and delayed the initial schedule by 60 days. When establishing the first schedule, it was anticipated that we could use Microsoft Data Migration software to recover data from the old CRM software. Therefore, the schedule had been established based on an estimate of the test phase of this software. However, the tests demonstrated the need to create data recovery software (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
Interactive Website Development
Many companies have launched CRM projects focused on collecting and using customer data, refocusing the organization around the customer, and implementing a multi-channel policy. To do this, they have created customer information bases and have invested considerable sums (more than 100 million euros for the largest companies). The results are not yet up to expectations because these approaches come against many difficulties in practice: resistance to change from existing organizations, technologies still under development, implementation and operating costs, changes in customer behavior.
Sectors such as mail order or companies such as American Express or Cortal laid the foundations several decades ago:
· constitution, enrichment, and segmentation of customer files,
· targeted sales actions, usually in the form of postal mailings, to realize the consumption potential of each customer within the brand,
· adjustment of the system according to the customer’s “reactivity” to requests.
These companies have built their entire development on this approach and have become experts in setting up efficient customer processes and systems (notably call centers and customer databases). On the Internet side, many projects have also been launched to better win over and retain customers. Here too, the results are not there. Some of the designs for the CRM website are as follows:
Figure 18: CRM Website Interface Examples – (Guerola-Navarro et al., 2021).
Internet service providers (ISPs) illustrate the evolution from a pure audience model to a hybrid model combining audience and customer service development.
The second element of apparent differentiation between Internet and CRM projects lies in the very different characteristics of their implementation:
· CRM projects are often carriers of the transformation of organizations “around” the customer. In contrast, Internet projects are most often managed on the margins of organizations and outsourced in autonomous teams, ventures, or specific brands.
· A very important element of CRM projects, integration with the company’s existing information systems, is rarely present in Internet projects.
· The duration of a CRM project varies between six months and several years, while an Internet project is often a few months.
· Unlike Internet projects, CRM projects focus on the processes (the container), much more than the messages (the content) addressed to customers.
To correct the anomalies observed during the migration to version 4 of the CRM software, I had to study the .Net developments used for customizations. These were grouped in a customization solution comprising four interconnected projects. These projects used web services or were themselves called web services. The following diagram represents these projects and their interconnection links (Pothal et al., 2021). The CRM project can be likened to the presentation layer of these developments. It groups together all the personalized pages made available to users. I could see that this code had been made at different eras, using technologies available then, by different developers but that globally, some project pages were identical. Although, the process of website development comes at the implementation stage.
Future Enhancement
From now on, the functionalities of CRM Marketing software are clearer, but how to benefit from such a tool, and what are these advantages? With CRM Marketing, the company can ideally manage the customers and prospects and optimize marketing. Thus, instead of having two different tools, it only has one that allows them to manage both areas: sales and marketing. The company’s Sales Intelligence enables accurate analysis on marketing effectiveness and knowing exactly which campaigns drove the customers to make the most purchases.
The automation tools present on the platform make it possible to considerably reduce the time spent on tasks that IT can manage. Sending certain marketing campaigns to customers can be done automatically once they have properly segmented the customers and correctly populated the database. Marketing CRM associated with Sales Intelligence makes it possible to considerably reduce marketing expenses but, above all, to know in which segments and channels it is necessary to invest (Li, Huang, & Song, 2019).
CRM tools require greater rigor and lead to qualitative and quantitative improvement in the data collected. It is important to balance what may seem like extra work (even if it saves time) with direct benefits for day-to-day users. For example:
· For salespeople: have alerts to automatically follow up with customers, identify neglected opportunities, etc.
· Marketing: measuring the effectiveness of marketing actions, saving time in data segmentation, etc.
· Customer service: having a knowledge base that can be used internally and externally, resolving multiple requests in a few clicks, etc.
The advanced CRMs on the market allow the different company systems to dialogue (e-mail, ERP, social networks, mobile applications, websites, marketing automation, etc.). For example, calendar invitations can be managed in Google Calendar and mailing campaigns in Mailchimp, etc., while being visible from the CRM. So, find out well before finalizing the choice because they could bitterly regret it if, for example, they cannot synchronize the outlook or google calendar with the CRM.
Implementing CRM software requires effective user training. This training concerns all tool users and aims for better use and strong adoption. It must imperatively take place before the production of the tool. Initially, it should be conducted by their integrator service provider. Subsequently, if the employees feel fit, it can be provided internally. This training must be carried out in 2 phases: introduction of the GRC software first, then a specific part for each position: sales, marketing, and customer service. Finally, remember that it must include a practical work aspect and allow users to understand how they will integrate this tool into their daily lives (Pothal et al., 2021).
Conclusion
To recap, the company’s CRM fully integrates marketing with business management. These two areas are closely linked, and bringing them together can further increase the impact of marketing, get more prospect contacts to convert them, and ensure effective interactions with customers. The integration of multiple existing channels (e-mail, SMS, social networks, telephone, etc.) increases the impact of marketing and communication. Combined with artificial intelligence, CRM Marketing allows the company to know the customers better and to spend the budget allocated to prospecting and customer loyalty as well as possible. The CRM platform highlights include adding promotion channels and automatic data collection, following up on the customer journey, from prospecting to purchase, automatic calculation of marketing ROI, and completing marketing integration with the CRM.
These functionalities were already available before, but the artificial intelligence and the association of the different functionalities make it possible to be always more precise, reactive, and better target its prospects and customers. To improve CRM, remotely or not, the use of software to the detriment of manual solutions may be necessary to facilitate interactions and maximize profits. This centralizes qualified and useful commercial information for the company and facilitates its management and speed via automated and digitized processes.
The company can thus easily identify prospects and reach privileged targets to generate more leads. With CRM software, it has the advantage of putting its customer at the heart of its strategy, allowing collaborative work with each company member, and increasing responsiveness. A plethora of software exists on the market, but each offers various and varied functionalities, particularly in communication by e-mail and SMS between a company and its customers. Programs specifically focused on e-mail and relational marketing exists. With these, the company can carry out quality and personalized e-mail and SMS campaigns, target the customers via Marketing Automation and send different information securely and independently to the inboxes of all the contacts.
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Activity 1: bring everyone on board and ensure all hands are on the deck.
Activity 2: Defining business priorities.
Activity 3: Establish a staff training program on the use of the CRM system.
Activity 4: ensure that there is proper data migration and integration into the CRM system.
Activity 5: tracking of CRM system progress.
CRM data store
Update customer record
Update opportunity
Retrieve customer data
Retrieve demographic data
Contact
Activities
Sales lead product
Lead manage
Opportunity