SOFTWARE >>>

- Software that offers the personal touch -

European software firms are a year ahead of the rest of the world in the use of technology that enables them to refine how they target new customers. Many customer relationship management (CRM) software suppliers have integrated support for WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) into their products, some of which are specifically designed for use with mobile devices. CRM software is used by companies to monitor behaviour and preferences, and suppliers can use it to implement new marketing approaches and offer clients better services. “Integrating wireless sales, marketing and support applications into customer centres is critical for organisations to optimise the client’s experience,” says analyst Sandra Rathod. “The onus is on European call centres to support communications via any medium the customer chooses, including telephone, email and web-based transactions.” Technology suppliers are seizing the competitive advantage they have built up. Amsterdam-based Data Distilleries, a leading provider of analytical CRM solutions, has been chosen by ABN AMRO, one of the world’s largest banks, to improve its multi-channel distribution strategy. The software will be used to manage millions of customer contacts.

The bank plans to introduce it to branches, call centres, direct mail systems and the internet. Data Distilleries chief executive Robert Baldock says: “ABN AMRO has millions of contacts every year in the Netherlands alone, so the global potential is huge. It is an enormous challenge to translate information into applicable customer profiles. “Not only do we provide clients with the technology to extract information from large amounts of data, but we also help them apply it in real-time environments such as the internet and call centres. The highly competitive nature of the financial market makes this increasingly important.” The strength of the firm’s software lies in its ability to build client profiles. These recommendations, through one or more channels, can be used to generate personalised banners on each customer’s monitor. Call centre agents can view pop-up screens indicating which client might be interested in what product. Reactions to a banner or verbal offer can then be registered and used to refine the profile further. Data Distilleries has also joined up with Nasdaq-listed Siebel Systems, the world’s leading supplier of e-business software.

They will work together to devise marketing and sales programmes. “This strategic partnership will give seamless access to advanced analysis in the leading marketing automation application,” says Mr Baldock. “The combination of Siebel’s marketing and our software will ensure that users across the world can access a system that will at last deliver the promise of effective and profitable one-to-one marketing.” Dublin-based Norkom Technologies, a specialist in ‘intelligent customer interaction’, has expanded abroad swiftly since its foundation in 1998. With offices in Belgium, France, Holland, Sweden and the UK, revenues grew to $18 million, largely due to demand for Alchemist, its web-enabled customer and marketing intelligence application. Chief executive Paul Kerley says: “CRM is about helping organisations compete in the customer economy. We help organisations understand their customers and affect the way in which they behave with their customer asset pool so as to attract more clients and achieve greater profitability.

“The next generation of applications are all about analytical and collaborative CRM, and the ways in which such software is being used is changing the way organisations interact with their customers. I would not necessarily say that US organisations are more advanced than European ones in implementing a customer-centric infrastructure, but it is likely that US companies will spend more, and do so faster.” Irish company Fineos, which plans to launch an initial public offering later this year, has developed CRM and back office software systems for banking and insurance sectors. Founded in 1993 and formerly known as Managed Solutions Corporation, it is a world leader in its type of software solutions. Chief executive Michael Kelly believes much depends on how the US economy behaves. The American CRM players are “unashamedly in-your-face”, he says. “In Europe, CRM is more a service-oriented market. Europeans are less likely to take the hard sell and are looking for longer relationships with their financial institutions.“

Devices monitor behaviour and preferences

Turkish software companies have yet to catch up with the rest of Europe, concedes Tugrul Tekbulut, chairman of Logo Business Solutions. Set up in 1983, the company addresses the e-business needs of medium-sized businesses and plans to offer a complete consulting service. “In Europe, IT spending is very high, but in Turkey it is just one per cent of gross national product. We are backward compared with the rest of the continent. The pace needs to increase faster here than in other countries and we must conform to EU standards.” Likom Software, based in the capital, Ankara, was founded in 1984 and now has more than 25,000 customers. “Turkey is a young country and has the potential to be a competitive force in all areas of business,“ says chairman and chief executive Nejat Sagtekin. Likom’s expertise in CRM and back office management made it the first Turkish firm to receive a World Bank tender, and also gained it a Nato contract. It now plans to expand abroad.