1)What is CRM? Explain types of crm in detail.

There can be multiple definitions of CRM from different perspectives −

• From the viewpoint of the Management, CRM can be defined as an organized approach
of developing, managing, and maintaining a profitable relationship with customers.
• By equating the term with technology, the IT organizations define CRM as a software
that assists marketing, merchandising, selling, and smooth service operations of a
business.
• As per Franics Buttle, World’s first professor of CRM, it is the core business strategy that
integrates internal processes and functions, and external networks, to create and deliver
value to a target customer at profit. It is grounded on high quality customer data and
information technology.

CRM systems are divided based on their prominent characteristics. There are four basic types of
CRM systems −

• Strategic CRM
• Operational CRM
• Analytical CRM
• Collaborative CRM

1.Strategic CRM
• Strategic CRM is a type of CRM in which the business puts the customers first. It
collects, segregates, and applies information about customers and market trends to come
up with better value proposition for the customer.

• The business considers the customers’ voice important for its survival. In contrast to
Product-Centric CRM (where the business assumes customer requirements and focuses
on developing the product that may sometimes lead to over-engineering), here the
business constantly keeps learning about the customer requirements and adapting to
them.

2.Operational CRM
• Operational CRM is oriented towards customer-centric business processes such as marketing,
selling, and services. It includes the following automations: Sales Force Automation, Marketing
Automation, and Service Automation.
 • Salesforce is the best suitable CRM for large established businesses and Zoho is the best CRM
for growing or small-scale businesses.

3)Sales Force Automation

SFA is the application of technology to manage selling activities. It standardizes a sales cycle and
common terminology for sales issues among all the sales employees of a business. It includes the
following modules −

• Product Configuration − It enables salespersons or customers themselves to

automatically design the product and decide the price for a customized product. It is
based on if-then-else structure.
• Quotation and Proposal Management − The salesperson can generate a quotation of
the product prices and proposal for the customer by entering details such as customer
name, delivery requirements, product code, number of pieces, etc.
• Accounts Management − It manages inward entries, credit and debit amounts for
various transactions, and stores transaction details as records.
• Lead Management − It lets the users qualify leads and assigns them to appropriate
salespersons.
• Contact Management − It is enabled with the features such as customers’ contact
details, salespersons’ calendar, and automatic dialing numbers. These all are stored in the
form of computerized records. Using this application, a user can communicate effectively
with the customers.
• Opportunity Management − It lets the users identify and follow leads from lead status
to closure and beyond closure.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation involves market segmentation, campaigns management, event-based

marketing, and promotions. The campaign modules of Marketing Automation enable the
marketing force to access customer-related data for designing, executing and evaluating targeted
offers, and communications.

Event-based (trigger) marketing is all about messaging and presenting offers at a particular
time. For example, a customer calls the customer care number and asks about the rate of interest
for credit card payment. This event is read by CRM as the customer is comparing interest rates
and can be diverted to another business for a better deal. In such cases, a customized offer is
triggered to retain the customer.

Service Automation

Service automation involves service level management, resolving issues or cases, and addressing
inbound communication. It involves diagnosing and solving the issues about product.
With the help of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, a customer can interact with business
computers by entering appropriate menu options. Automatic call routing to the most capable
employee can be done.

4.Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM is based on capturing, interpreting, segregating, storing, modifying, processing,
and reporting customer-related data. It also contains internal business-wide data such as Sales
Data (products, volume, purchasing history), Finance Data (purchase history, credit score) and
Marketing Data (response to campaign figures, customer loyalty schemes data). Base CRM is
an example of analytical CRM. It provides detailed analytics and customized reports.

Business intelligence organizations that provide customers’ demographics and lifestyle data over
a large area pay a lot of attention to internal data to get more detail information such as, “Who
are most valuable customers?”, “Which consumers responded positively to the last campaign and
converted?”, etc.

Analytical CRM can set different selling approaches to different customer segments. In addition,
different content and styling can be offered to different customer segments. For the customers,
analytical CRM gives customized and timely solutions to the problems. For the business, it gives
more prospects for sales, and customer acquisition and retention.

5.Collaborative CRM
Collaborative CRM is an alignment of resources and strategies between separate businesses for
identifying, acquiring, developing, retaining, and maintaining valuable customers. It is employed
in B2B scenario, where multiple businesses can conduct product development, market research,
and marketing jointly.

Collaborative CRM enables smooth communication and transactions among businesses. Though
traditional ways such as air mail, telephone, and fax are used in communication, collaborative
CRM employs new communication systems such as chat rooms, web forums, Voice over
Internet Protocol (VoIP), and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

There are collaborative CRMs with in-built Partner Relationship Management (PRM)
software application which helps in managing partner promotions. SugarCRM is a popular
collaborative CRM. It enables expert collaboration and provides state-of-the-art social
capabilities.
2) Discuss the objective CRM in detail.
The most prominent objectives of using the methods of Customer Relationship Management are
as follows −

• Improve Customer Satisfaction − CRM helps in customer satisfaction as the satisfied

customers remain loyal to the business and spread good word-of-mouth. This can be
accomplished by fostering customer engagement via social networking sites, surveys,
interactive blogs, and various mobile platforms.
• Expand the Customer Base − CRM not only manages the existing customers but also
creates knowledge for prospective customers who are yet to convert. It helps creating and
managing a huge customer base that fosters profits continuity, even for a seasonal
business.
• Enhance Business Sales − CRM methods can be used to close more deals, increase
sales, improve forecast accuracy, and suggestion selling. CRM helps to create new sales
opportunities and thus helps in increasing business revenue.
• Improve Workforce Productivity − A CRM system can create organized manners of
working for sales and sales management staff of a business. The sales staff can view
customer’s contact information, follow up via email or social media, manage tasks, and
track the salesperson’s performance. The salespersons can address the customer inquiries
speedily and resolve their problems

3)What did you mean by sales force Automation? What are the
advantages of sales force Automation .

Advantages of Sales Force Automation

1. Increased Productivity
2. Competitive Advantage in terms of cost, revenue, and market share.
3. Timely information regarding the sales.
4. Increased customer satisfaction with the reduced response time.
5. Keeping proper records of the customer, that can be tracked down easily.
6. The sales forecast can be done accurately with the help of past sales data.
7. Efficient utilization of scarce resources.
8. Less time required by the sales manager to prepare the daily, quarterly,
monthly or annual reports.
9. sssOptimum utilization of time by the staff members.
Disadvantages of Sales Force Automation

1. Data entry is too much time consuming.

2. Difficult to accustom with the software system.
3. With automation, the personal touch is lost.
4. Tedious job of regularly upgrading the system, making the new entries,
cleaning the unwanted data entries and maintaining the system as a whole.
5. Sometimes difficult to integrate with company’s other management
information systems.
6. The high cost involved in the installation and maintenance of the system.

4)Difference between CRM and ECRM :

S.No.
E-CRM
CRM
CRM stands for Customer E-CRM stands for Electronic Customer
01.
Relationship Management. Relationship Management.
CRM applies traditional tools and E-CRM applies electronic/digital tools and
02.
standards to perform its operation. standards to perform its operation.
Along with telephone, in E-CRM customer
In CRM custo
contact is initiated through the internet,
03. mer contact is initiated through retail
email, wireless, mobile and PDA
store, telephone or fax.
technologies.

in CRM Customer service is time Customer service can be provided at any time
04.
and space constraint. from any location.
In Customer Relationship In Electronic Customer Relationship
05.
Management wide area coverage is Management wide area coverage possible.
 not possible.
In CRM quick response is possible In E-CRM quick response may or may not
06.
through telephonic call. happen poor response

In CRM system is designed around In E-CRM system is designed around

07.
products and job function. customer needs.
Customer Relationship Management In eCRM optional response limits its
08.
is more effective. effectiveness.

It may or may not provide so It provides attractive options as it uses audio

09.
attractive options. visual features, animations etc.
In CRM web based applications In Electronic Customer Relationship
needs PC clients and also which Management no such requirement, internet is
10.
needs to be downloaded separately the backbone and the browser is the
in various platforms. customers portal to e-CRM.
In CRM the nature of relationship is In eCRM the nature of relationship is
11.
simple and static. complex and dynamic.
CRM implementation is longer and
In E-CRM reduced time and cost. System
management is costly as the system
12. implementation and expansion can be
is situated at various locations and
managed on one location and on one server.
on several servers.

Customization of information is
Customization of information for each person
13. possible but requires little changes in
is very easy.
system.

14. Innovation is optional in CRM. Innovation is necessary in E-CRM.

In CRM the data is secured as there In eCRM the data is not so secured as there is
is no involvement of internet and no involvement of internet but security can be
15.
additional cost is incurred for data provided with firewalls etc and additional
security. cost is incurred for data security.

5) What are the different types of loyalty programs? Explain in detail.

A loyalty program is a strategy in which a company provides its customers with rewards and
discounts for being loyal. It helps businesses retain existing customers and increase product
sales. A brand offers to become a part of a reward program to consumers who perform repeat
purchases with this company.
Types of Loyalty Programs
When you consider a loyalty program for your business, you can encounter various types. You
should be ready to identify the one that will comply with your purpose. Let’s look through the
most popular for you to make a choice.

• Subscription-based program. This type entails a customer paying for the service a
certain fee to use the benefits of the company. A membership fee creates barriers for
customers who can’t afford to pay for the service. This loyalty program is extremely
popular among services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.
• Points program. This is probably the most popular type. Companies provide customers
with points for each purchase. Once they have enough points, clients can redeem them
and get something for free or at a lower price. Clients can use their loyalty cards to check
the number of points at any time. Starbucks, Petco Pals, and Mariott reward their existing
customers with points they can redeem for something useful later.
• Cashback program. Customers can get a certain percentage of the money they have
spent with a business and use them later for different purposes. Banks often use this type
of appreciation. Bank of America rewards their clients with cash back rewards for using
their debit cards to pay for various products and services.
• Tier-based program. This type relies on the levels customers can unlock only when they
purchase and get a certain amount of points. For example, Sephora gives 1 point for $1
spent. Once customers earn a specific number of points, they can enter a new level with
higher discounts and exclusive products.

• 6)Explain Quality management principles in detail.

The seven quality management principles are:
1 Customer focus
2 – Leadership
3 – Engagement of people
4 – Process approach

5 – Improvement

6 – Evidence-based decision making

7 – Relationship management
1.Customer focus
Statement
The primary focus of quality management
is to meet customer requirements and to strive
to exceed customer expectations.
Rationale
Sustained success is achieved when an organization attracts and retains the
confidence of customers and other interested parties.
Every aspect of customer interaction provides an opportunity to create more value
for the customer. Understanding current and future needs of
customers and other interested parties contributes
to sustained success of the organization.
Key benefits
• Increased customer value
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Improved customer loyalty
• Enhanced repeat business
• Enhanced reputation of the organization
• Expanded customer base
• Increased revenue and market share

2 Leadership
Statement
Leaders at all levels establish unity of pur-
pose and direction and create conditions
in which people are engaged in achieving
the organization’s quality objectives.
Rationale
Creation of unity of purpose and direction and engagement of people enable an
organization to align its strategies, policies, processes and resources to achieve its
objectives.
Key benefits
• Increased effectiveness and efficiency
in meeting the organization’s quality
objectives
• Better coordination
of the organization’s processes
• Improved communication between
levels and functions of the organization
• Development and improvement
of the capability of the organization
and its people to deliver desired results

Actions you can take

• Communicate the organization’s mission, vision,
strategy, policies and processes throughout
the organization.
• Create and sustain shared values, fairness
and ethical models for behaviour at all levels
of the organization.
• Establish a culture of trust and integrity.
• Encourage an organization-wide commitment
to quality.
• Ensure that leaders at all levels are positive
examples to people in the organization.
• Provide people with the required resources,
training and authority to act with accountability.
• Inspire, encourage and recognize people’s
contribution.

3 Engagement of people
Statement
Competent, empowered and engaged people at all levels throughout
the organization are essential to enhance its capability to create
and deliver value.
Rationale
To manage an organization effectively and efficiently, it is important
to involve all people at all levels and to respect them as individuals.
Recognition, empowerment and enhancement of competence
facilitate the engagement of people in achieving the organization’s
quality objectives.

Key benefits
• Improved understanding
of the organization’s quality objectives
by people in the organization
and increased motivation to achieve them
• Enhanced involvement of people
in improvement activities
• Enhanced personal development,
initiatives and creativity
• Enhanced people satisfaction
• Enhanced trust and collaboration
throughout the organization
• Increased attention to shared values
and culture throughout the organization
and take appropriate actions.

4 Process approach
Statement
Consistent and predictable results are achieved
more effectively and efficiently when activities
are understood and managed as interrelated
processes that function as a coherent system.
Rationale
The quality management system consists of inter-
related processes. Understanding how results are
produced by this system enables an organization
to optimize the system and its performance.
Key benefits
• Enhanced ability to focus effort on key processes
and opportunities for improvement
• Consistent and predictable outcomes through
a system of aligned processes
• Optimized performance through effective
process management, efficient use of resources,
and reduced cross-functional barriers
• Enabling the organization to provide confidence
to interested parties as to its consistency,
effectiveness and efficiency

5. Improvement
Statement
Successful organizations have an ongoing focus on improvement.

Rationale
Improvement is essential for an organization to maintain
current levels of performance, to react to changes
in its internal and external conditions and to create
new opportunities.

key benefits
• Improved process performance, organizational
capabilities and customer satisfaction
• Enhanced focus on root-cause investigation
and determination, followed by prevention
and corrective actions
• Enhanced ability to anticipate and react
to internal and external risks and opportunities
• Enhanced consideration of both incremental
and breakthrough improvement
• Improved use of learning for improvement
• Enhanced drive for innovatio

7. Evidence-based
decision making
Statement
Decisions based on the analysis and evaluation
of data and information are more likely to produce
desired results.
Rationale
Decision making can be a complex process, and
it always involves some uncertainty. It often
involves multiple types and sources of inputs,
as well as their interpretation, which can
be subjective. It is important to understand
cause-and-effect relationships and potential
unintended consequences. Facts, evidence
and data analysis lead to greater objectivity
and confidence in decision making.
Key benefits
• Improved decision-making processes
• Improved assessment of process performance
and ability to achieve objectives
• Improved operational effectiveness
and efficiency
• Increased ability to review, challenge
and change opinions and decisions
• Increased ability to demonstrate
the effectiveness of past decisions.

7.Relationship management

Statement
For sustained success, an organization manages its
relationships with interested parties, such as suppliers.
Rationale
Interested parties influence the performance of an organization. Sustained
success is more likely to be achieved when the organization manages
 relationships with all of its interested parties to optimize their impact on its
performance. Relationship management with its supplier and partner
networks is of particular importance.
Key benifits

Enhanced performance of the organization

and its interested parties through responding
to the opportunities and constraints related to each
interested party
• Common understanding of goals and values among
interested parties
• Increased capability to create value for interested
parties by sharing resources and competence
and managing quality-related risks
• A well-managed supply chain that provides a stable
ssflow of goods and service.

7.Discuss ethical issues in CRM ?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be beneficial to both supplier and customer.
The supplier reduces costs by offering only products that are wanted, when they are wanted, and
he passes the cost savings on to the customer who signed up for the company’s CRM. To
implement such a system, extensive information about the customer must be collected and
stored. The two concerns with regard to this system are customer privacy and the accuracy of the
information collected.

Collecting Customer Data

Ethical issues originating with the collection of customer data for CRM are related to secure
collection methods and to the verification of the information. Ethical companies ensure that
sensitive information such as credit credit card numbers or medical histories are collected in a
secure environment and transmitted back to the databases securely. During data collection, it is
also critical to verify the identity of the customer and the accuracy of the information being
submitted. High security for these functions is costly but ethically necessary.

Storing CRM Data

Once customer data is safely in a company database, ethical companies adhere to four principles
regarding storage. Data is only stored with the agreement of the customer. Customers must be
able to view their data and either change their data or ask for it to be changed. Customers can
withdraw from the program, and such a withdrawal causes their data to be erased. The ethics
behind these principles are that the data belongs to the customer and the customer must be able
to control his data.

Using CRM Data

Given that much of the customer data for CRM is sensitive, ethical companies ensure the data is
kept private to the maximum extent possible. To achieve this, the company must store the data in
a form or in a location not generally accessible. The data must only be consulted when necessary
for the fulfillment of a CRM task, and only those employees who handle the data to complete the
task are able to access the data. When sub-suppliers need to use the data, they must first commit
to restrictions similar to what the CRM company has in place.

Disposing of CRM Data

Since customers must be able to withdraw from the CRM program and since their data is then
erased, the company needs a procedure in place for safely destroying customer data when it is no
longer needed. While deletion from the database is initially sufficient as long as the database
remains secure, data on obsolete equipment and equipment that changes status to non-secure is at
risk. An ethical company has detailed policies and procedures for tracking and destroying data
and keep accurate records of such activities.

8.Explain inbound and outbound communication in detail.

Inbound and outbound logistics refer to two of the most common processes to
move goods throughout the retail supply chain. While they are similar in nature
and both involve the transportation of products across various distribution
channels, inbound logistics deals with supply and outbound logistics fulfills
demand.

Inbound logistics

Inbound logistics processes include the movement of raw materials, finished

goods, and supplies from a manufacturer or other distribution channel to a
fulfillment center, warehouse, or retail store depending on the business model.
Outbound logistics

Outbound logistics processes are related to the movement of end products to the
end user, often originating in a distribution or fulfillment center and then delivered
to its final destination.

What is the difference between inbound and outbound logistics?

The main difference between inbound and outbound logistics is to whom the
products and goods are delivered. In the context of a warehouse that’s fulfilling
direct-to-consumer orders, inbound logistics involves receiving goods from the
manufacturing plant or product creator, whereas outbound logistics focus on
getting products sent to end customers.

The comparison table below breaks out the differences between inbound and
outbound logistics processes.

Inbound logistics Outbound logistics

Outbound logistics are the

Inbound logistics is the receiving of
actions required to get the
Definition raw materials or products from a
final goods delivered to the
supplier to a warehouse
end user

Shipping orders to end users,

Materials management and sourcing,
Processes customer service involving
warehouse receiving
deliveries

Supplier, manufacturer, distributor, or

Company, brand, retailer, or
product holder > Company, brand,
Touchpoints third-party logistics company
retailer, or third-party logistics
> Customers
company

The inbound and outbound logistics processes

Inbound and outbound logistics both focus on the transportation of goods from one
distribution network to another. Knowing how each process works is crucial to
optimizing the supply chain, reducing logistics costs, and better managing
customer expectations.

Inbound logistics processes

Here are a few common inbound logistics examples.

Purchasing materials

Inbound logistics includes the sourcing or buying of raw materials and products.
You and your supplier or manufacturer should record the materials and goods your
business has ordered and have proper freight shipping tracking in place.

Receiving

Once the goods arrive at a warehouse, the receiving team accepts, logs, and stows
the inventory in the appropriate inventory storage location. You’ll need a good
system for inventory tracking to help you track when and how much inventory has
arrived at the warehouse.

Reverse logistics

Another aspect of inbound logistics is reverse logistics, which includes the

processing of customer returns and exchanges when new shipments arrive back at
the warehouse and need to be examined and restocked into available inventory.

Outbound logistics processes

Here are a few common outbound logistics examples.

Order processing

Once an order is received, it is sent to the warehouse management system (WMS)

and pushed into the queue to be processed.

Product picking and packing

The products are picked from their assigned inventory location, and inventory
counts are updated to ensure stock levels are accurate. Products are then packaged,
labeled, and sorted by carrier and service.
Shipping out finished goods

Carriers pick up the packages, and the finished products are shipped out.

9.Explain advantages and disadvantages of mobile CRM.

Mobile phones have become a necessity in today’s age and an extremely important commodity
in our day-to-day lives. With such increased use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets,
a new concept in sales and marketing has emerged called mobile CRM.

But what is mobile CRM, and what does it help you obtain? The main aim of mobile CRM is to
make it possible for employees to do all that they can do with a laptop on mobile from anywhere.
Nowadays, mobile CRM is a more streamlined menu and involves fewer clicks and swipes. A
mobile CRM system is designed with intuitive navigation and user efficiency without
compromising on features.

Advantages
A mobile CRM comes with many benefits for all parties, i.e., sales reps, management, and
customers.

1. Flexibility to use any device: Most mobile CRM work on mobile devices and
smartphones, including tablets. This enables an easy transition and flexibility for the sales
rep to use their own devices.
2. Mobile CRM caters to customers’ needs at all times: You can give real-time solutions to
customers. Customers prefer doing business with those who can be available even at
short notice, which mobile CRM aids in.
3. Makes it easy to push notifications: All communications can be easily pushed to a large
team with mobile CRM.
4. Location tracking: You can register your presence at your current location and start your
day directly from the customer’s location without the need to come to the office.
5. Opens business to workers apart from full-time employees: Contractors and company
partners can access information through mobile CRM without the need to log in with
 passwords. Mobile CRM and other collaboration tools work hand in hand to widen the
business scope to a larger array of stakeholders.
6. Performance appraisal: All the data entered, and visits taken by the sales rep are tracked
in the mobile CRM. This helps management review the performance of employees.

Disadvantages
customer experience may worsen due to staff over-reliance on the system.
• Security and data protection issues with centralised data.
• The excess initial time and productivity cost at the implementation.
• Requires a process-driven sales organisation.
• CRM may not suit all businesses.

10.write a note:Key features of e-CRM.

1.Increased Customer Loyalty

An effective ECRM system lets a company communicate with its customers using
a single and consistent voice, regardless of the communication channel. This is
because, with ECRM software, everyone in an organization has access to the same
transaction history and information about the customer. Information captured by an
ECRM system helps a company to identify the actual costs of winning and
retaining individual customers. Having this data allows the firm to focus its time
and resources on its most
profitable customers (epiphany.com). Classifying one’s “best” customers in this
way allows an organization to manage them more
efficiently as a premium group, with the understanding that it is neither necessary
nor advisable to treat every customer in the
exact same way.
One tool that a company can implement in pursuit of customer loyalty is
personalization (Waltner 2001). Personalization software
tools generate real-time profiles for each customer using data from many sources
including customer databases, clickstream data
and transaction systems. The tool selects the best offer each time a particular
customer shops the company’s web site based on
what it “knows” about that customer. As an individual accepts or declines an offer,
the personalization engine builds this
knowledge of the customer into his/her profile, making it available for better-
informed future offers (Greenberg 2001).

2.More Effective Marketing

Having detailed customer information from an ECRM system allows a company to
predict the kind of products that a customer
is likely to buy as well as the timing of purchases. In the short to medium term, this
information helps an organization create more
effective and focused marketing/sales campaigns designed to attract the desired
customer audience (epiphany.com). ECRM allows
for more targeted campaigns and tracking of campaign effectiveness. Customer
data can be analyzed from multiple perspectives
to discover which elements of a marketing campaign had the greatest impact on
sales and profitability, for example (Greenber 2001).

3.Improved Customer Service and Support

An ECRM system provides a single repository of customer information. This

enables a company to serve customer needs quickly and efficiently at all potential
contact points, eliminating the customer’s frustrating and time-consuming “hunt
for help (epiphany.com). ECRM-enabling technologies include search engines, live
help, e-mail management, news feeds/content
management and multi-language support. With an ECRM system in place, a
company can:
• more accurately receive, update and close orders remotely,
• log materials, expenses and time associated with service orders,
• view customer service agreements,
• search for proven solutions and best practices,
• subscribe to product-related information and software patches, and
• access knowledge tools useful in completing service orders (peoplesoft.com).
All of these expanded capabilities work together to keep the customer right where
s/he belongs: at the center of the company’sattention.

4. Greater Efficiency and Cost Reduction

Automating customer data mining saves valuable human resources. Integrating
customer data into a single database allows
marketing teams, sales forces, and other departments within a company to share
information and work toward common corporate
objectives using the same underlying statistics (epiphany.com). Examples of this
are identifying unproductive/underutilized esources, closer tracking of costs, better
forecasting for the pipeline and setting realistic project metrics and measurements
to quantify return on investment.

11.write a note :Enterprises Application Integration.

Simply put, it involves the exchange of critical business data and processes
within an organization. It enables the consolidation and sharing of data, resources,
and processes across different applications. This helps you seamlessly connect
various on-premise & cloud apps to transform & utilize data for smooth
workflows.

And, EAI is the process of integrating enterprise applications using IT-enabled

systems. It is over a common platform and requires data integration in the back end
for the smooth functioning of the connected applications. Further, EAI helps
streamline processes like billing, marketing, accounting, customer relationship
management with increase data availability. It helps establish a middleware
framework that enables free data flow between applications without significantly
changing the database configurations or the applications themselves. Wondering
what the ROI-led advantages are? Give our blog a read on why you need to invest
in application integration & how we can help future-ready organizations like you
develop a powerful standalone solution!
5 Models of Enterprise Application Integration

Since there is no one-size-fits-all approach for integration, there are various models
that help establish a connection between different applications. However, here are
five types of EAI that we can help you with:

1. Point-to-Point Integration

It handles simple interactions between two data sources.

• As part of this approach, a script pulls, translates & transfers information

from one application to another.
• Proved to be effective with relatively small operations and become
inefficient while handling several systems, all at once.

2. Hub-and-Spoke Integration

As the name suggests, this model uses a central “hub” where applications and
systems connect via “spokes.”

• The information is reformatted and distributed from one central database

thus eliminating the need to interconnect subsystems.
• Yet the development team would still have to engage components that would
automatically set the route information to the appropriate destination.

3. Bus Integration

An advanced method of the hub-and-spoke model, it performs the same tasks but
in a different architecture.

• It runs without human interference, using a defined set of standards that

govern data flow between applications.
• It enables data transmittance and retrieval as the rules of each service.

4. Middleware

This software works with application interfaces and operating systems to translate
& support communication. It simplifies data aggregation across systems using
different scripts and formats.
5. Microservices

This is the standardized architecture for modern cloud-based enterprise applications.

Organizations that use web-based integration can collect big data through internal and external
sources with the help of application programming interfaces (APIs).

12)What are the step involved pre implementation of CRM?

Here are 10 steps that will help you to implement the CRM with ease:

1. Identify The Need To Have A CRM System

If you don't have a strong answer to this simple question then moving ahead is just
a waste of time and resources. Identify the needs of your business that would be
benefited by the implementation of CRM and then search for the CRM that offers
you everything you are looking forward to. You can ask the team members and
discuss the same with them. Their thoughts and review can give you better ideas to
proceed.

2. Define The Goal Properly

Whether you want to bring back all the lost customers OR have a revenue increase
by 10%, the goals can be different for different companies. So, analyze the areas of
your business and prioritize it as per the necessity. It will help you in implanting
the CRM in an organized manner. It is very important to understand how a CRM
system should be implemented to meet the real needs of the company. Moreover,
assign specific and measurable targets and objectives to be achieved by the CRM
implementation. If the goals are set from the beginning then it becomes easier to
achieve desired results.

3. Gather Required Documents

After you have defined the problem, find out the flow of your business and gather
all the documents pertaining to it. No one would like to change the course of their
business and make things difficult. For example: If your company is into sales and
marketing of a particular product, you need to identify the details regarding
acquisition of new clients, handling of VIP clients, inventory and stock
management, collection of leads and similar relevant aspects. Gathering about such
documents and policies will help to implement the CRM in a manner that will reap
maximum benefits for all the areas of your business.

4. Find Out The Weak Points

Find out the gap between your current set-up and your objectives. Check for the
lacuna where the CRM tool can be implemented and the ways in which it can be
used to bridge the gap. Ideally a CRM expert consultant can conduct the analysis
for you. But if required it can be done with the help of staff members who are
proficient with CRM tool, after close examination on the current practices and
expectations. The people in the organization are well versed with the problems and
could help you to gain more from the CRM system. Closely or remotely, everyone
in the organization is involved in the system.

5. Put Good Business Practice Before CRM

A wrong input gets you only flawed output. Any system is at the behest of the staff
that uses it and a CRM system can benefit you only if your business processes
provide the right data to the system. If there is any flaw while entering the
information, it won’t fetch desired results. Make specified guidelines or if required
modify practices( complex to simple) and implement uniform practices across all
the departments to reap maximum benefits. Change takes time to be accepted and
this needs to be communicated to the staff gently. More the willingness &
acceptance the staff has for the CRM, better and higher the result would be.

6. Draft a configuration plan

Considering the functioning of your business draft a plan for CRM

implementation. The plan should have the detailed description of all the data and
the procedure via which it will be routed to your CRM system. Every business has
a unique requirement so construct the plan that focuses on increasing the revenue.
If required you can ask the CRM provider to make necessary changes in the tool in
order to cater your business requirement.

7. Plan A Smooth Data Transfer

It is the most crucial step as it needs to be done with complete accuracy and, also it
can turn to be a cost barring phase of implementation. You need to clearly
communicate your team about the same as they might have to face the phase of
some downtime while data migration and need to be prepared for the same. Any
kind of error while data migration can have fatal consequences for the company
hence it must be done with precision. Does your homework well- discuss with the
CRM consultant and take input from the team members to make this process
smooth and time efficient.

8. Let Everyone Share The Same Vision

In order to make CRM implementation a success; involve everyone in your

company as it not only would affect the sales team but will change the functioning
of all other departments. They will have to change their mode of functioning and
get accustomed with new CRM tool. Before execution proper training should be
given to them regarding the usage; stating the potential benefits to everyone. They
should be told that their new partner is not only going to help them in their
job but also sharing their work pressure & increase their productivity! Deploy
proper resources and time for implementation of CRM tool.

9. Test It Before It Is Put To Use

It is very vital to test the CRM system before going live. It helps to check the
functioning, error (if any) and the necessary rectifications that may need to be done
before going live.

10.Let The CRM Be Live

After proper testing and a thumbs up from the team, CRM tool should be ready to
go live. Go live with a bang, and involve your team as well as senior management
in the process. Create enthusiasm in your company with regards to the CRM tool
and motivate them to be a part of the change. Monitor and analyze the performance
after the implementation of CRM tool. Ask your users to share their experience as
well as measures to improve the efficient usage of CRM.