Claus Due

But this year could be the year that sees CRM really take off, according to Claus Due, advertising, marketing and CRM analyst with Danish company Due & Partners, who was in Dubai to speak at the Microsoft Business Solutions Forum on March 24.

He believes that a number of factors are now right for the widespread adoption of CRM tools by companies across the region.

'First, most companies seem to have reached the correct conclusion that they to treat their existing customers properly to retain them, which is the right attitude to approach CRM projects with.

'Second, IT investment is coming back again, it has been on hold for several years, but now we see companies are ready to spend again. Third, now we have new players in CRM along with Microsoft, and these new products are not comparable to the old products. They will make CRM happen.

'The new breed of CRM products are more attractive to companies because they are more cost effective, quicker to install and quicker to show a return,' says Due. In the past some CRM systems could take years to deploy, while new applications can be rolled out in a matter of months.

Quick deployment not only saves time and money, but also means that employees can see the positive benefits of CRM much more quickly, which helps them to accept the solution as a business tool rather than a hindrance.

As for the Middle East region, Due believes that companies here are ready to invest in CRM. Over 400 business decision makers attended the MBS Forum, and the key messages of CRM seem to have been taken on by these executives.

'I have had a surprising amount of feedback,' he says. 'Especially about CRM enabling customer focus and that is very positive. I also think I have opened a lot of eyes about the fact that CRM is not about the system, it is about the business.

'CRM is not another bookkeeping tool, it is a tool to allow companies to make better friends with the customers that they want to focus on.'

CRM is not just the preserve of larger companies either. Due notes: 'As soon as a company has too many customers to be able to keep track of each one personally, then it is time to consider using a CRM tool to track those customers.

'Today, you cannot meet your customers and get to know them properly like you could when running a business like a village grocery, but CRM allows you to give the same service to your customers as you used to get from a village grocery or bakery.'