Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as defined in Wikipedia is:

  • Customer relationship management (CRM) is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support.
  • Many CRM vendors offer Web-based tools (cloud computing) and software as a service (SaaS), which are accessed via a secure Internet connection and displayed in a Web browser. These applications are sold as subscriptions, with customers not needing to invest in the acquisition and maintenance of IT hardware, and subscription fees are a fraction of the cost of purchasing software outright.

One of the most popular CRMs is SalesForce.com.  Government agencies use SalesForce CRM to build stronger relationships with constituents, customers, vendors, partners, and recruits. Salesforce CRM cloud applications are tailored to agencies’ core business processes to give them a comprehensive view of useful data.  Then on top of SalesForce CRM, government agencies are adding specific applications to speed up processes such as permitting and licensing.

If you would like a report by IDC about how this type of technology can save cost and time, email me.

In an article “Beyond 311” the author, Ted Hoisington, talks about ways that governments can use CRMs beyond managing information and requests from residents:

1. CRM can automate more than service requests

“ For example, the technology can play a significant role in managing all of an organization’s activities, relationships and contacts concerning a major issue, such as transportation. A CRM system can help manage key elements from strategic planning and the resulting decisions to paring down a list of all elected officials within a jurisdiction to an ad hoc group of only those with transportation expertise.”

2. CRM helps manage relationships

“In an age of stripped-down budgets, relationships are one of the most valuable resources to help cities and counties better fulfill their missions. Using CRM, interactions between government agencies and those on whom they depend internally and externally can be more efficient, effective and timely.”

3. CRM helps preserve institutional memory

“The real power of technology-enhanced relationship management lies in its ability to track all of a public sector organization’s contacts, relationships and interactions. Knowing what happened, when it happened, and the issues associated with each event or action helps determine what should happen next, and the next steps the organization should take.

Over time, CRM technology and a rigorous process for using it establishes and maintains the public sector organization’s institutional memory, retaining an ever-expanding record of all the interactions between the organization and any official, other organization or member of the public.”

Read related article – CRM selection tips.

View video about SalesForce CRM