CRM + BPM = CPM

Customer Process Management is the merger of Business Process Management and Customer Relationship Management and it has led to a step forward in the area of Customer Interaction Management. Understanding that, why should an organization consider CPM?

Processes which follow on customer contacts, like a phone call, usually extend departments and involves several employees. For exemple, a customer calls or sends an email with a question about an invoice and he or she want to pass on a change in address as well. CPM manages these processes in a flexible, effective and efficient way. As a result, the Average Handling Time significantly decreased.

How does it work? CPM software unlocks information an employee needs to be of good service to a customer. Because of the unlocked information a unique momentum arises. This momentum can be used, for example, to increase the revenue potential of an organization. Imagine a customer has a question involving the contract he or she has. The customer contact agent can immediately respond with the right answere and can also make an interesting offer.

Besides the ability to effectively execute cross and deep selling activities, unlocking and presenting client information offers more benefits. Customer satisfaction rises, as well as employee satisfaction. Customers find it pleasant receiving immediate answers to their questions, and through the contact channel of their choice. For employees, it is fun to have all these answers.

CPM, where does it come from anyway? In the 90s the focus of process and product oriented thinking shifted to customer oriented thinking. CRM systems supported this philosophy. Though CRM offers no solution to customers becoming increasingly assertive. Demanding 24x7 and multichannel contact with their suppliers. So Customer Interaction Management systems were introduced. Now multichannel customer contacts could be logged and managed. However, CIM has no link with back-office systems. Now that the logging part was taken care of, the contact process still had to be supported properly.

And so CPM took off. In order to communicate more effectively with customers, it is essential that client information from various back-office systems, is made available at the front-end part of the organization. And afterwards, when the contact moment has been terminated, it is essential that the client information obtained can be stored in the back-office environment.

CPM integrates front-end customer interaction with process handling and logs in the different ERP, CRM, financial and administrative back-office systems. It will increase productivity and performance of both employee and organization. A customer contact employee will spend significantly less time to a customer contact process. CRM + BPM = ... You do the math.