Monthly Email Newsletter
July 2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
I. Message from the Editor
II. Articles
*** FEATURED INDUSTRY: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
1. Going Global: Understanding CRM
2. Applications for Global CRM Success
*** FEATURED LANGUAGE: Portuguese
3. E-Commerce Brazilian Style
III. In Our Next Issue
IV. Your Feedback
V. How to Subscribe
I. MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
Effective customer relationship management (CRM) is a huge driving force behind
any successful business. As many companies go global with their
businesses and target prospects on foreign soil, new challenges arise as they
try and service their customers, manage their employees, and communicate
effectively across multiple locations. This month, Global Communicator's
featured industry examines CRM platforms designed to help you bridge
geographical gaps and service your customers more effectively.
Going global has great benefits, especially in the e-commerce arena. In
our Featured Language article we have taken a peek into the world of Brazilian
e-commerce and provided you with tips on consumer decision-making and some
potential pitfalls to avoid.
Keep an eye out for our upcoming newsletter changes. Global Language
Solutions is undergoing a newsletter redesign offering a new and improved
format. Look for tips, tools and special offers to come your way!
II. ARTICLES
*** FEATURED INDUSTRY: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
1. GOING GLOBAL: UNDERSTANDING CRM
CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is the business strategies designed
to optimize profitability, revenue, retention, and customer satisfaction. When
used to describe software, rather than business processes, CRM applications are
those that focus on relationships, rather than transactions. CRM applications
are used by both product- and service-oriented organizations to track the sales
cycle, service customers, organize and review job applicants, and various other
types of customer or employee management processes.
Today's CRM platforms are helping many businesses bridge geographical and
cultural gaps to compete more effectively. According to Hoovers, there were two
broad trends that helped put CRM on the technology road map: 1) the increasing
globalization of business and 2) the advent of the Internet. Large,
global businesses began to realize that efficiently managing and sharing
customer data was increasingly important, especially as many goods became
commoditized and gross profit margins shrank. Simultaneously, the Internet was
emerging as a viable means of not only sharing enterprise data internally, but
also as a new, unique sales channel and point of customer contact.
Successful international sales and customer relationship management does not
have to be an oxymoron. CRM applications are designed to help businesses sell
to and service customers abroad as efficiently and effectively as in their own
backyard. Consistent follow-up and better service gets results, and that's why
you need good record-keeping skills and a solution that works for your
business.
2. APPLICATIONS FOR GLOBAL CRM SUCCESS
Here is a realistic scenario for you: Joe P. sells a widget to a customer in
Taipei from his office in Topeka, KS. Once the product is sold, the customer is
directed to work with the company's office in Asia. Unfortunately, when the
product arrives, the pre-negotiated discount is not reflected in the invoice.
The customer picks up the phone and calls the office in Taipei. How can your
branch in Asia avoid multiple e-mails and phone calls to address a simple price
fix? Via its shared CRM or sales force automation (SFA) platform, of course.
If your business is one of the many operating with physical locations or
contractors outside of your home country, CRM software offers an opportunity to
push your processes and industry knowledge across borders.
However, choosing a CRM technology has often been a daunting task for companies
in all industries. Whether in financial services, telecommunications, retail,
high tech or any other area, companies know that in order to be successful,
they need to better service their customers and partners. How to do this can
appear to be a monumental task.
THE PLAYERS:
Over the past years, CRM platforms have emerged as popular tools for tying
together sales, marketing and service data. Customer relationship management
systems have been hailed as a way for companies to find, influence, and retain
customers. Packages from companies like Onyx, Pivotal, and Siebel go far beyond
simple contact and sales management--they link sales, marketing, and customer
support operations into a single, cohesive chain.
The market is competitive and abundant, offering something for the small- to
the large-sized businesses. Some of the top CRM solutions include: Microsoft
CRM, e-synergy, SalesForce.com, and NetSuite CRM+. PeopleSoft competes with
Siebel Systems and SAP, among others, in the market for CRM software market.
According to
PC World magazine, lower-cost CRM products such as
Microsoft BCentral Customer Manager, SalesForce.com, and SalesLogix provide
common CRM features like lead generation and management, deal tracking and
customer support management. These packages can be installed on a company's
servers or hosted by an application service provider. But while a Siebel
deployment can cost several hundred thousand dollars, a package like SalesLogix
can be had for less than $50,000 for 20 users--a relative pittance by CRM
standards.
WEB-BASED PLATFORMS: SOLUTIONS FOR THE SMALL- TO
MEDIUM-SIZE COMPANIES
Web-based CRM and SFA applications are well suited to the era of globalization
because they allow companies to manage data remotely from anywhere. No other
system extends the reach of the enterprise more thoroughly or quickly. And web
deployment puts companies closer to more customers now than ever before.
Web-based platforms, such as Salesforce.com, can prove to be the ultimate
solution for the small-to medium-size businesses striving to manage its
workforce and customers in global markets.
What is so attractive about web-based CRM solutions?
1) Companies can go global without many of the complexities of
implementation and maintenance found with traditional client/server tools just
by deploying Internet-based assets.
2) Web-based tools can be deployed on every desktop throughout an
enterprise simultaneously, no matter if that desktop is in the US, Brazil, or
Finland.
3) Browser-based interfaces provide a ready and recognizable look,
which adds familiarity to the user and may cut down training time.
4) Scalability is hardly an issue. Nor are changes to the system
since applications can be updated automatically or by users just downloading
the necessary applets as business processes evolve.
Keep in mind if your employees will not have regular Internet access, online
CRM software may not be feasible.
GLOBAL IMPLEMENTATION:
Implementation is an obvious concern when it comes to rolling out a CRM
application onto foreign soil. No matter how good the methodologies are that
have been developed, if they can't be deployed, the solution is drained of its
effectiveness. The same is true if there is no customer support or
internationalized training materials, both verbal instruction and
documentation. Like domestic CRM applications, how well they integrate with
back-office systems is critically important.
Early in the process, sit down with top sales reps and sales and marketing
executives and figure out what really differentiates your company from your
competitors in a particular region or on a global level. Then take what you
deem to be the company's best practices, and map it to the CRM technology up
front.
Before anyone can even consider using a CRM application for an international
expansion, it has to be converted to adapt to local standards. A good CRM
application without the professional services for translation, localization,
implementation and support is like a wallet full of the wrong currency. The
solution might make things easy somewhere else, but without being supported
locally, it's nothing.
USEFUL LINKS:
To find out more about some of the applications discussed within, visit the
following sites:
1) PeopleSoft:
http://www.peoplesoft.com
2) SalesForce.com:
http://www.salesforce.com
3) Siebel Systems:
http://www.siebel.com
4) SAS Customer Relationship Management:
http://www.sas.com
5) SalesLogix:
http://www.saleslogix.com
*** FEATURED LANGUAGE: PORTUGUESE
3. E-COMMERCE BRAZILIAN STYLE
Portuguese, in Africa? Yes, indeed! Portuguese is one of the most
difficult of the romance languages to learn, yet is the fifth most spoken
language on the planet. With over 200 million native speakers, Portuguese
is one of the few languages spoken on several continents of the world.
Because Brazil, with 184 million inhabitants, constitutes about 51 percent of
South America's population, Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in
South America. But, it is also one of the key languages in Africa.
BRAZIL'S E-COMMERCE POTENTIAL:
Among developing countries, Brazil is already a leader in using e-commerce for
trade. According to the International Trade Forum, E-economy projections for
2005 include US$6.5 billion in business-to-consumer transactions; US$62.5
billion in business-to-business deals; and $2 billion worth of e-services
traded in Brazil.
Brazil is the ninth largest Internet market in the world and the first in Latin
America with the most advanced Internet and e-commerce industries.
According to the Brazilian Chamber of Electronic Commerce, business-to-business
(B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) activities reached revenues of $16 Billion
in 2003. Approximately $11.8 billion B2B and $4.5 billion B2C
transactions were made through the Internet.
Knowing the wealth of the educated online users in Brazil is enough information
to want to break into business there. However, there are a few key items
that companies should know before the conduct any e-commerce Brazilian
style.
Know the decision making process. Latin Americans make their decisions to
purchase based on the following factors, in this order: Price, Delivery Time,
Reliability and Security of Data Transfer (Source: InfoAmericas.com).
LIKELY PROBLEMS:
Problems any e-commerce purveyor should watch
out for are:
1)
Product Returns:
About 25 percent of online product orders in Latin America involves a serious
data entry error that can jeapardize the order such as a wrong address or
incorrect product selection. This is due primarily to language
condiderations.
2) Clearing Customs:
Traditionally, it is the importer (in this case Brazil) who bears the burden of
document preparation. With the influx of imported goods the burden has
now shifted to the exporter (the U.S. or another country). In most cases,
companies will need to employ an experienced logistics company to take care of
this function.
3)
Payment:
Brazilian banks lead the way in
developing e-commerce payment tools, but many U.S. companies are
unfamiliar with them. As a result, many buyers resort to
credit cards, or more likely, wire transfers, which can take up to
four days to complete. Familiarizing yourself with native
e-commerce tools is imperative.
USEFUL LINKS:
We have compiled some
useful links that will help you with understanding the nature of the
Portuguese language and culture and great insights for operating a
Brazil-based business:
1) Information on the
Portuguese E-commerce Trends:
http://www.vico-ecom.de/bildungsprodukte/files/Portugal/e-commerce%20in%20Portugal.doc
2) U.S. Commercial Service in Brazil:
https://www2.focusbrazil.org.br/siteusa/index.htm
3) Multilingual
Shopping Cart Tools:
http://www.lingostorefront.com/
4) English to
Portuguese Dictionary:
http://www.freedict.com/onldict/por.html
5) Portuguese
Pronunciation Guide:
http://199.33.141.196/courses/idm2002/leung/oportugues/intro/pronunciation.html
III. IN
OUR NEXT ISSUE
*** FEATURED INDUSTRY: Legal
*** FEATURED LANGUAGE: Chinese
V. YOUR FEEDBACK
Have questions? Or a story idea or topic you would like us to address
in a future issue? Let us know by sending a message to
newsletter@globallanguages.com.
VI. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
