Jeremiah_laplante-mt400 assignment # 1 1

Implementing a new Customer Retention Management

System and the process involved

Jeremiah LaPlante

Kaplan University MT400 Business Process Management Jeremiah_laplante-mt400 assignment # 1 2

Implementing a new Customer Retention Management System and the process involved

1. Organization

I currently work for a medical device manufacturer based out of Sacramento, California.

The company has been in business now for 30 years. Our main focus is on disposable respiratory devices. I came to work for VORTRAN Medical four years ago as an account executive to handle our customer base. I was hired because I was formerly employed by one of our largest dealers and was the top sales representative for this product line. Since being hired I have been promoted three times, from account representative, to manager, to director of sales and marketing and now I am director of worldwide sales and marketing, because I was instrumental in taking our company into new markets internationally. Prior to me being promoted to director, the company did not even consider expansion into international markets. Our company consists of 12 employees, the CEO is the Owner, my direct boss is the COO, and then I am in charge of sales and marketing as director and I have an assistant. We have two engineers and six people who work in our production area who includes the production manager. So our company is very small and family owned, yet we work in an industry that is highly regulated and has many processes to follow, so that we can stay compliant with governing bodies like the FDA and the

European version called the ISO/CE certification.

Process

My first objective or foundation for the framework of this process is to implement a more extensive and user friendly customer retention system so that we can keep better records of our customers, and use this information in a more effective manner for marketing purposes. A successful CRM project balances strategy, process, technology and employee initiatives so that Jeremiah_laplante-mt400 assignment # 1 3 you address all of them within the time and resource limitations you face (J. Sparger,

2014). Secondly, the next step in the process to enable myself and my assistant to first research the many different CRM (Customer Retention Management) systems, and get a consensus between the two of us on what we seem to prefer amongst the many available. This is the part of the process where we will decide the guidelines for choosing the right system for us, and allow us to look at different examples to measure what works the best for our organization (J. Jeston,

2014). A CRM project isn't successfully complete when you have implemented new processes or

Software. A CRM project will be successful only when it helps the company achieve its strategic

Goals (J. Sparger, 2014). Keeping this thought in mind, some steps we will follow to achieve this are to create a customer based business strategy. Then turn our strategy into goals and objectives and communicate our goals and objectives to the rest of the staff. My assistant I will work to define our business processes next. We will then need to define clear requirements for the technology we choose to implement our processes and both my assistant and I will develop a list of systems we feel best meet our company’s needs. Once both us have developed this list, we will sit down together and discuss each other’s findings. At that point we will narrow down from our two list to a singular list that only includes three of both our top choices. The next step then would be to plan out our process and technology changes to minimize impact on our staff. Since we are a small organization, we will want to implement a smart rollout. Lastly, I will need to sell and reinforce the value of the project to my CEO and COO for final approval. It is important for the two of us to do most of the work as we both mainly use the system in our small organization.

Justification. Being that my company is very small we tend to get overwhelmed with things to do, since we all have to handle many tasks. Having a process that everyone follows to help our customers will allow us to be more organized and be able to respond in a timelier Jeremiah_laplante-mt400 assignment # 1 4 manner, and improve our marketing capabilities. We have to keep in mind that just by implementing a new system doesn’t mean a seamless change. We need to train our staff on the importance and how to use the new system, and carefully define what our needs our prior to implementation (P. Dascalos, 2014).

To conclude, the steps that we need to adhere to successfully implement a new customer retention system are to first create a framework for all our areas of the customer relations, make a record of the systems we are considering, analyze each possible system for forecasting and marketing purposes and have the ability to have a predictable format to show our successes and failures (P. Dascalos, 2014). Jeremiah_laplante-mt400 assignment # 1 5

References

Sparger, J. (n.d.). Newsletter. Newsletter. Retrieved June 17, 2014, from

http://www.sterlinghoffman.com/newsletter/articles/article182.htm

Dascalos, P. M. (n.d.). SEVEN CRITICAL STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL CRM SOLUTION. .

Retrieved June 17, 2014, from

http://www.crmodyssey.com/Documentation/Documentation_PDF/Seven_Critical_Steps

_to_a_Successful_CRM_Solution.pdf

Jeston, John. Business Process Management. 3rd Edition. Routledge, 2014. VitalBook

file.Bookshelf.Retieved from, http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781136172984/page/107