The Secrets of Short-listing CRM Vendors

SOFFRONT SOFTWARE INC.

The Secrets of Short-listing CRM Vendors
Author: Joe Outlaw, President and Chief Analyst, Outlaw Research LLC

Abstract
Mid-size businesses (MSBs) continually face a variety of pressures, such as the
increasingly competitive global markets, the demands to reduce costs or outsource
staff, and the urgency to retain customers and grow their companies. An effective
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program could be one way to meet these
challenges. However, less than 20% of MSBs have chosen this route. One reason is
that the poor economy is causing some companies to delay purchasing new
technology. Another reason is the difficulties MSBs have had finding the right CRM
solution. And other reason, no doubt, can be found in the stories of CRM projects
costing millions of dollars and not delivering on the promises of increased growth,
new customers, and greater profits. Soffront Software’s CRM suite offers all the
sales, marketing, and customer service functionality most mid-size businesses need in
a highly configurable, and low cost package. The software’s architecture and system
design provide MSBs with unique flexibility and much lower-than-average total cost of
ownership.

The New Competitive Reality for Mid-Size Business
Growing a business while keeping customers happy and loyal on a very tight budget
is the new competitive reality for most MSBs. They have moved well beyond “doing
more with less”. MSBs are now being forced to make really tough decisions about
business-critical programs, such as, whether to proceed or kill projects. Hanging on
to their best customers while looking for new ones weighs heavily on all MSB
executives. These tasks are made even more difficult by increasingly fast-paced,
globally competitive markets, and the effects of down economies. Resources for
MSBs are tighter than ever with increased financial scrutiny, pressure to cut staff, and
pressure to consider outsourcing of anything not considered core or of critical
competitive advantage. Tolerance for risk, especially when it comes to customers, is
at a new low. Speed-to-market and the ability to adapt to rapidly changing customer
demands -- traditionally competitive advantages for MSBs -- have now become critical
survival skills. Increasing customer focus and adopting customer relationship
management strategies is one proven method to help MSBs with customer retention,
growth, and increased revenues.

Is Customer Relationship Management the Answer
For Your Business?
If your business faces these new reality challenges, you are not alone. If you
wondered whether CRM could improve your organization's competitiveness, then read
on. It has been estimated that only about 20% of mid-size businesses in North
America currently have CRM initiatives underway. If you look deeper, you will find
that the majority of those are concentrated in a few highly competitive industries,
such as financial services, high-tech manufacturing, and communications. So the
odds are that your business falls into the other 80%, which is the no-CRM category.

Perhaps your business is considering a CRM program. Even if it isn't, it is likely you

and your colleagues have given some thought to how or if CRM could help your
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business. More than likely you would like answers to these questions:
o How can we be sure CRM will really do what we need it to do, i.e. bring us
new customers and help us hang on to the good ones we already have?
o Can we first rent CRM applications to be sure they will deliver the benefits?

o Are there CRM applications available with the functionality a company like
ours needs without costing more than we can afford?
o We have some departments, like sales and customer service, that probably
could use CRM, but we aren't ready to go company-wide. Can we first try
CRM in one or two departments where we really need help?
o Can we do CRM in stages?
o Our IT people have too much to do now. If we get a system, what happens
when we need changes made to it?

What MSBs Should Look For In a CRM Solution?
MSBs are finding that sorting out the claims of the dozens of CRM application vendors
to create a short-list for more serious consideration can be real work and very
confusing. You must, of course, base your ultimate decision on your organization's
specific requirements to support its CRM strategies, but the following advice will
provide a good start:
o Look to vendors offering a full suite of CRM application functions that are
seamlessly and architecturally-integrated. Minimum suite functionality should
include support for sales automation, customer service automation, and
marketing automation.
o Look for suites of applications that can be acquired all at once or as modules
over time. For example, an organization may chose to implement a sales
automation program, and then some time later, they may add a customer
service program. The pre-integration of these modules facilitates this kind of
incremental approach.
o Search for applications that contain the appropriate depth of functionality for
your current and reasonably foreseeable future needs. These requirements,
of course, can vary greatly from industry to industry and from company to
company, so can only really be evaluated on an individual organization basis.
Consider the future, but be realistic and don't buy a lot more functionality
than you expect to grow into. There is often a price to pay in terms of
complexity, inflexibility, and maintenance when MSBs buy applications
primarily designed for very large enterprises, which are substantially more
feature-rich than needed.
o Look for multi-channel application support for self-service, particularly for the
sales and customer service functions.
o Application interfaces should be intuitive and the functionality should be
designed to be easy-to-learn and easy-to-use. Ease-of-use plays a significant
role in user adoption.
o Look for light-weight, flexible, and tiered architectures.
o Look for applications with high degrees of configurability as well
customizability so they can be set up to map to an organization's customer-
facing business processes. The ability to tailor an application with low-cost
configuration (both when initially deployed and later as business requirements
and processes change) is highly desirable and preferable to tailoring by
custom programming. However, where custom programming is required,
industry standard tools should be supported and customizations should not be
affected by application upgrades, i.e. they should not need to be re-written.

CA 94539
T: 510-413-9000 F: 510-413-9027
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o Look for applications which can be quickly (within weeks or a few months)
Configuration enables an application to be
configured and implemented. Rapid implementation shortens the time to
tailored based on pre-built parameters without value and typically lowers the implementation project costs and risks.
computer programming. Customization enables o Look for applications that are easy-to-maintain. Ease of maintenance has both
an application's functionality to be tailored or cost implications and IT resource implications. Web-based architectures and
extended by computer programming.
industry-standard components are key.
o Look for application vendors who have demonstrated an understanding of and
a commitment to MSB requirements. A rule of thumb is to look for vendors
who have derived at least 25% of their revenues from MSBs over the past 3
years.
o Look for applications whose scale matches your business. Only consider
applications able to support the size of your workforce and the scope of your
business both at start-up and for the foreseeable future. Don't forget to
consider the requirements of adding key suppliers and other business
partners over time.
o Look for application vendors who are stable and viable. It is estimated that
fully half of the existing CRM application vendors will exit the market over the
next 3 years. Look for vendors who have demonstrated strong leadership,
competitive and differentiated products in the markets they target, and are
spending appropriately to sustain their positions. Also look for vendors who
are either profitable today or on a clear path to profitability.
o Look for applications designed to support ease of application integration to
other business applications, such as accounting, order processing, inventory,
and human relations. Again, architecture is the key to straight-forward
integration and interoperability.

Soffront CRM - Flexible, By Design
Support for the agile, fast-moving MSB is what Soffront Software had in mind when
they created the Soffront CRM suite. With an emphasis on configurability, Soffront
applications can be set-up and changed very quickly and easily, and in many cases, by
non-IT trained administrators and users. This unique capability provides business
Soffront Customer: Redline users with the tools to make changes to the system quickly and inexpensively,
Communications thereby supporting changes to business processes.
Redline Communications, a rapidly growing
Toronto-based equipment manufacturer
focused on the broadband fixed wireless What Makes Soffront CRM So Configurable?
industry, used a variety of incompatible sales Soffront designed configurability into its applications by starting with a 3-layer, Web-
applications to track leads prior to Soffront based application architecture. The Soffront CRM suite is based on an object model
CRM. Consolidating their sales opportunity
and is a three-layer architecture consisting of:
data for pipeline visibility was time-consuming
and difficult. Redline also had challenges in
customer service with trouble tickets and
tracking defects. Beyond Soffront CRM’s ability
to support its customer service and sales
teams, Redline found Soffront's flexibility to be
critical. "Another advantage of the software is
its flexibility. We needed a CRM system that
would not only provide superior support, but
would also be easily adaptable, as our
business is always evolving," says Jeff Mulvey,
Redline's Director of Technical Services.

CA 94539
T: 510-413-9000 F: 510-413-9027
info@soffront.com

Soffront Customer: Ensim
Sunnyvale, California-based Ensim Corporation
is a global leader in developing and providing
software solutions for the Web and application
hosting industry. In 2001 Ensim searched for a o Data base layer
CRM application to help them manage their o Meta or object layer
exploding customer service demands. They o ASP/XML/HTML layer
chose Soffront CRM because "We were looking
for a feature-rich and flexible CRM solution to
provide the highest levels of self-service,
customer ticketing, and knowledge-base
functions on our Website," says Jim Macellaro,
director of IT at Ensim. "Without doing
extensive programming or coding, we can
easily define relationships with the business
objects that make sense - giving us much
more flexibility and functionality. It is so
customizable that we can make it fit our
business processes instead of us changing to
fit the software.”

Workflow is an IT technology which uses
electronic systems to manage and monitor
business processes. It allows the flow of work
between individuals and/or departments to be
defined and tracked.

Next Soffront built in the ability of the applications to generate program code based
on the user's specifications. For example, when a user specifies a new business
process (workflow), such as notifying the appropriate sales executive when a
Independent Testing Verifies customer's order is shipped, application programming is automatically created to
Unique Flexibility perform the notification. Similarly, when a user designs a new customer data input
In mid-2003 Network Computing rigorously form with the desired data fields, constraints, and validations, Soffront CRM generates
tested five mid-market CRM products, the programming to support the new form. After changes are made, administrators
including Soffront CRM, in their Business or users only need to request “re-generate code” for the system to build the program
Applications Lab. Among their findings:
logic based on the modified specifications. Soffront CRM is able to automate these
“Soffront's requirements make the
customization so flexible that you can support application changes because of its system architecture and design. Soffront CRM
any business model without getting a contains a memory-resident meta/object layer that sits between the database and the
migraine.” (For the complete review, please user interface layer. Soffront's application program code generator uses this
visit Network Computing Review at
www.networkcomputing.com)
meta/object layer and user’s specifications to generate the new program code.

Soffront CRM - Low TCO, the Result
Total cost of ownership (TCO) for an application (a calculation that considers not only
the initial costs, such as purchase and installation, but also the on-going support
costs) has become an industry standard method for comparison. However, absolute
or “out-of-the-box” TCOs for an application are not valid. TCO is implementation-
dependant, i.e. TCO must be calculated on a company by company or installation by
installation basis. In a way, TCO is like the automobile advertisement which claims its
product gets 23 miles per gallon, but warns “your mileage may vary.”

CA 94539
T: 510-413-9000 F: 510-413-9027
info@soffront.com

Soffront Customer: HiT Software
According to Giacomo Lorenzin, CEO and Based on Soffront’s experience installing more than 500 applications some trends are
president of HiT Software, a leading developer clear. Soffront's application pricing and maintenance fees average approximately
of standards-based infrastructure for relational
$1,500/user, which are at the low-end vs. comparable MSB-focused CRM application
database and data access, "We know that
excellent customer support is one our key suites. Soffront CRM implementation project costs typically are in the range of 25 -
competitive strengths. With that in mind, we 50% of the software costs. This range is also at the low-end vs. comparable systems.
wanted a CRM product that was feature-rich, The typical mid-size business CRM implementation project costs range from 75% to
easy-to-manage and reasonably priced. We
250% of the software license costs, depending upon the amount and complexity of
needed a browser-based solution with a
powerful platform that would easily integrate the integration and customization required.
into our existing system and give us a
common user interface. After evaluating the Soffront can implement its applications so inexpensively for several reasons. First,
cost and features of competing products, we
Soffront's experienced professional services teams perform almost all of the
chose Soffront."
implementations. Second, Soffront makes extensive use of off-shore programming
resources for any programming-related development required for implementations.
And finally, Soffront's highly configurable applications do not require as much custom
application programming to tailor them to the customer needs as other applications.

Low Cost Start-up Option: Hosted Soffront CRM
Soffront also offers its full CRM application suite on a hosted or rental basis. Soffront
offers "rent-to-own" arrangements for MSBs who want to try the application prior to
purchase.

Lower Cost Customer Service: Soffront's Advanced Self-
Service
Soffront offers advanced, multi-channel customer self-service functionality. This
functionality supports the MSB's customer demand for anytime access to product
information, trouble-shooting knowledge, and problem reporting. In support of
customer self-service, Soffront CRM provides multi-channel (telephone, Web, and
email) help-desk, defect tracking, a best-of-breed knowledge base, and automated
customer survey functionality.

Soffront Customer: Ensim
"By implementing a self-help strategy, we
were able to actually increase customer
satisfaction without having to hire additional
support staff -- even in the midst of significant
growth. We can directly attribute this to the
implementation of Soffront knowledge base
and self-help tools," says Joe Ayyoub, Ensim
director of customer support.

CA 94539
T: 510-413-9000 F: 510-413-9027
info@soffront.com


Soffront Software - Built To Adapt
Soffront Software has more than 500 CRM installations worldwide. Its installed base
of primarily mid-size businesses across all industries also includes divisions of Fortune
500 companies, federal agencies, and state/local governments. Privately-held,
Soffront has been exclusively focused on the mid-market and has been profitable and
debt-free since 1992.

Glossary Summary
ASP – active server pages CRM is not the answer to all of the challenges facing mid-size businesses. And, CRM
CRM – customer relationship management
applications are only the technology enablers of CRM strategies and programs.
HTML – hypertext markup language
HTTP – hypertext transfer protocol However, effective, flexible CRM software, built for MSBs can be an effective tool for
IVR – interactive voice response your business to become more competitive, increase profits and provide better
MSB – mid-size business customer service.
TCO – total cost of ownership
SQL – an industry-standard language for
creating, updating and querying relational When it comes to selecting a suite of CRM applications for your mid-sized business,
database management systems look for the following:
WML – wireless markup language o applications with the right depth of functionality,
XML – extensible markup language o applications that are designed to be flexible and highly-configurable,
o applications that are easy and low-cost to maintain,
o applications that are easy to link to your other business applications, and
o vendors with a solid track record and commitment to businesses like
yours.

Soffront Software and Soffront CRM possess these qualities and more. Soffront CRM’s
unique flexibility to map to your business processes and to quickly and easily re-map,
to changes is a key to your CRM application success.

Author Bio
Joe Outlaw is the president and chief analyst of Outlaw Research LLC, an independent
provider of research, analysis, and strategic advice about contact center systems and
customer relationship management solutions for the mid-size business. Joe is a
frequent conference speaker and a regular contributing writer for News Factor
Network’s www.crmdaily.com. Joe’s more than twenty-five years of IT professional
experience includes applications programmer, systems analyst, project manager, and
program manager positions with DuPont, and research director analyst - contact
center, voice processing, and CRM with Gartner, a leading information technology
advisory firm. Joe earned a BS and MBA from the University of Delaware.

CA 94539
T: 510-413-9000 F: 510-413-9027
info@soffront.com

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