Katie Gregory, CRM Systems Manager, Serco Group plc, was recently interviewed for the CMC 2005 CRM Supplement which looks at the views of technology providers and technology users. Click here to view the CRM supplement.
1. Can you give us a brief description of your company and its main areas of business.
- Serco Group plc is an innovative international service company, which combines commercial know-how with a deep public service ethos.
- We improve public services by managing people, processes, technology and assets more effectively. We advise policy makers, design innovative solutions, integrate systems and - most of all - deliver to the public.
- Serco Group plc supports governments, agencies and companies who seek a trusted partner with a solid track-record of providing assured service excellence. We field a team of operational, management and consulting experts, who work in defence, science, justice, health, education, transport, technology, local government and the commercial sectors.
2. When did your company first start thinking about CRM?
March 2002 was when we first started thinking about systemising CRM. However, as a company we have been practising CRM for some time.
3. What key business issues were you hoping to address through CRM? Which was most important to the business and why?
Serco is a large organisation working in different market sectors, however, it became apparent that our separate divisions often had the same contacts, whether they be customers, partners or suppliers. We needed to ensure that we were approaching those contacts in a 'joined-up fashion' and leveraging our relationships across the business to achieve the best outcome.
4. What results or improvements did you initially hope to achieve through a CRM programme?
- Cross-divisional visibility of who we know and what we know about them,
- Visibility of activity relating to those contacts by way of meeting reports, call notes, letters, e.mails etc,
- Provision of a mechanism to make all of the above visible, to ensure that we make the right approach, at the right time, utilising the person with the strongest and most appropriate relationship,
And ultimately:
- Ownership of our intellectual property at a company level.
5. How did you go about deciding which CRM system to implement? How long did it take you to decide and how many vendors did you contact?
Maximizer Enterprise had already been identified as a possible solution for a divisional requirement. Following the workshop, numerous other midmarket applications were put forward as a suggestion but Maximizer Enterprise fitted the brief at that time and was already familiar to a number of users who had been researching the product, hence its choice.
6. When planning the implementation, who did you include on the team (sales, marketing, IT etc) and why?
Group Executive (Sponsors of the project), Group Sales & Marketing (Project Managers), Divisional Super Users (to act as centres of excellence in each division) IT (to maintain the system infrastructure) and a selection of users from a number of pilot divisions – mostly business development.
7. How much consultation and support did you receive from your chosen vendor before during and after implementation?
Consultation and support was initially good, but it became apparent that our original supplier did not have the capability or technical expertise to support the implementation across such a large and diverse organisation.
As part of a project review 6 months in, the decision was made to move to our current supplier, who have been able to fully support the implementation both technically and as account managers assisting in the project plan.
8. What problems did you encounter during the process? How did you overcome them? What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome (i.e. board level support, budget restrictions, IT infrastructure problems, cultural change etc.)
User take-up. The implementation was sponsored and fully supported at Board level, but use of the system was not mandated, and drive of the system through the separate divisions was not consistent. Continuing resource has been allocated in an effort to overcome this including team meetings, roadshows and presentations to ensure the benefits of CRM and its use are being communicated at all levels.
9. Did the implementation project finish on time and on budget?
Implementation of the system hardware, support infrastructure and supporting documentation, website etc was delivered early and to budget.
However in my opinion the implementation of a CRM programme is on-going as the business grows and our requirements change.
10. Now that it's up and running, does your chosen system meet your requirements? Would you recommend your current system to another company?
Yes our chosen system does meet with our requirements. Trying to match 'off the shelf' products with a large company's 'blue sky' requirements is never easy, however I would suggest that Maximizer Enterprise provided a 90% fit. Through new version upgrades and minor enhancement / integration work we continue to increase this fit without incurring the high on-going costs of maintaining a bespoke / heavyweight software system.
Of course, other companies need to match their needs to the CRM systems on offer, but with that in mind I would recommend our system to other companies. A CRM implementation is about much more than just the software package. Maximizer Enterprise provided the foundation to allow us to embrace CRM methodology however it is very important to recognise the value and expertise of the supplier relationship in order to assist in getting the best out of your CRM strategy. Our supplier has been able to provide us with the knowledge, skills and experience of previous implementations of CRM within large organisations allowing us to short cut the learning curve. This has enabled us to control our CRM programme in the context of changes in our business.
11. What have you learnt from implementing a CRM system in your organisations?
That the system is just a small part in what is essentially a change programme, and that management buy-in, UAT, the realisation and promotion of the business benefits are realised at a user level, not just for the business as a whole and ongoing drive is essential for CRM to be a success.
12. As we all know, implementation is just the first stage in a CRM programme. What are your plans for the future - further enhancements, staff training, cultural changes, delivering ROI in x years etc?
CRM will be an on-going and ever more necessary programme within Serco as we continue to grow and change. Enhancements to system accessibility, satisfaction of group reporting, and the support of our Group Sales Pipeline and Marketing Infrastructure are just some of the areas of improvement already identified.
The skill transfer that has taken place between our supplier and ourselves will allow us to adopt the changes as required with minimum involvement from them.
13. Do you have any other specific advice you'd like to offer to our members about the highs and lows of CRM, the benefits it can deliver and the process you need to go through to get there?
Ensure you have a business case with well defined deliverables as these will keep you focussed and ensure you stay within the scope of the original business requirement. The deliverables should be defined by a detailed business requirements specification and business processes document. Sharing this information with your supplier is critical for them to truly be able to assist you at a strategic and detail level.
Avrion's Role in the Implementation at Serco Group plc
Avrion’s became involved with the Serco CRM project some 12 months after the initial installation of hardware. It became clear that despite the system being in place the implementation of their CRM strategy had not truly started. This meant that Serco could not exploit the potential value of CRM available to them.
Avrion were chosen as a result of their ability to demonstrate and embrace the vision of CRM within Serco and their comprehensive understanding of what Serco truly needed to achieve. Other supplier requirements for this project included a strong history with the Maximizer Enterprise software brand; in depth knowledge of hardware and network infrastructure, and development skills to enhance and adapt the software as required.
Avrion’s first objective was to establish the strategic goals in order to define the project scope going forward based on the real business needs identified. Serco engaged a dedicated and experienced project manager who worked with Avrion to define the immediate and longer term CRM strategy for the company; this involved delivering CRM across phases in the context of both the divisional roll-out (system growth) and functional requirements. Each phase included a clear way to test the success of the project and to measure the progress of Serco’s CRM strategy. Ultimately each phase was tied to delivering against the defined business goals and needs previously identified.
The emphasis of this project has been about skills transfer – empowering Serco to manage their system day-to-day, and working with Avrion on the overall project scope in accordance with Serco’s CRM strategy.
Contact Jonathan Wilkins on 020 8492 3500 for further information.
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