How to Benefit from Partner Relationship Management (PRM)

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How is PRM different from CRM?

In this demanding economy, companies are on the never-ending quest for solutions / tools that will help them accrue / maintain their loyalty and business with their customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one such application that has attracted a lot of attention from organizations worldwide.

Though containing the word “relationship”, CRM is actually not concerned with managing customer relationships. It lays emphasis on creating customer profiles by accumulating and advocating data regarding customer’s buying habits and personal preferences. These profiles are then used by businesses to directly target their niche market.

Talking about relationships, Partner Relationship Management (PRM) is an affair about understanding and satisfying the needs of your business partners with dexterity. As compared to gathering sales data, PRM is a much more complex application as it involves building and maintaining trust between you and your business channel partners. Many discussions on PRM, in correlation with CRM, have argued over personifying PRM either as seperate entity or merely an element of CRM.

CRM was fundamentally structured to manage direct sales engagements between a seller and a buyer. This function concentrates on gathering and sharing data throughout customer/s buying cycle. On the other hand, PRM has been designed to manage a complex system revolving around aligning business processes across the entire chain of vendors to partner and to customers. PRM technology enables companies to generate more work efficiency and profitability with all partner types, including channel, distribution, reseller, strategic alliance, system integration and consulting partners.

Since, every partner organization has a unique way of executing business, it is difficult to manifest a perfect process alignment between partners and vendors. This discrepancy makes it practically impossible to report and measure channel results accurately. CRM systems were not designed to accommodate this level of complexity. To effectively manage indirect business relationships, companies require a dedicated PRM system to co-ordinate activity between all the participants in the process loop.

Making PRM Work for You

Partners provide a cost-effective way to expand your enterprise by providing you with broader geo-market reach. When leveraged properly, they help you to accelerate revenue growth, streamline operations and improve efficiency.

Partner relationship management (PRM) is a business strategy for improving communication between companies and their channel partners. At a time when businesses need to maximize every resource available to them, building strong partner relationships and effective channel strategies has become a critical practice. Working with PRM dynamics, you must also focus on: –

1.Communicating with your partner, using your self-disclosure skills to articulate your needs.

2.Identifying and then sharing your personal most trusted strategies with your partner.

3.Evolving mutually beneficial agreements while working through a conflicting situation.

With businesses becoming global and interdependent in nature, PRM has a more vital role to play. This worldwide interdependence is only based on trust factor. The call-center industry sets a major example on this front. American businesses, having formed alliances with partners in India, Africa, and other distant regions, hire thousands of call-center executives to meet American and worldwide consumer demands. Such alliances require a high degree of partnership intelligence. Without establishing and managing such trusting and mutually beneficial alliances, the level of investments made by the call center and other industries will only face a doom.

Advantages of Partner Relationship Management

Businesses and organizations can immensely benefit from Partner Relationship Management (PRM) programs as follows: –

* Extend your enterprise reach and increase revenues through a well-managed partner network.

* Optimize partner program profitability through better understanding of partner’s value and performance.

* Streamline operations and reduce costs by automating manual processes and integrating partner operations throughout the enterprise.

* Develop a mutually trusting and beneficial partnerships

* Challenge you to change and focus on the future so you do not continually dwell on past glories and stay stagnant.

* Helps you focus resources on critical activities throughout the customer sales cycle and product lifecycle to maximize revenue rates and margins.

* Help companies deliver services that maximize product availability and customer productivity and minimize cost, time and energy.

* Links your future with that of your partner in a positive and exciting way.

* Efficiently manage your association with important customers, suppliers, outsourcing partners and partner alliances.

Web-based PRM software applications enable companies to customize and streamline administrative tasks by making real-time information available to all the partners over the Internet. Several CRM providers have incorporated PRM features in their software applications in the shape of web-enabled spreadsheets shared over extranet.

Salesforce.com’s comprehensive on-demand PRM:

As one of the leading companies offering on-demand CRM application, Salesforce.com provides capable solutions for managing your indirect sales channels. The PRM system, integrated with Sales Force Automation, helps to deliver unmatched visibility to your company’s sales pipeline for direct and indirect channels.

Sales Force PRM makes it easy for partners to access leads, collaborate on deals and locate all the lucrative information. Through a set of easy-to-use services, Sales Force PRM offers: –

1.Higher level of Partner Adoption.

2.Complete Channel Visibility via real-time access to channel sales.

3.Leading Partner Lifecycle Management, including recruitment, marketing, selling and measurement.

4.Integrated SFA application for planning and forecasting.

5.100% on-demand partner solutions resulting in fast deployment and customized partner experience.

Where else will you find such a powerful combination under one-roof? If you need more reasons to get Sales Force PRM solution, download Sales Force PRM Datasheet – Free. Contact Salesforce.com Today!

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For more information contact us at: Sales Force

Making the paperless office a reality with document management systems

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The paperless office or paperless office software is not a new business objective, the advertising slogan which suggested that after the advent of computers in the offices role would be unnecessary, was born in 1975, the year in which Business Week first coined this phrase in an article in which futuristic vision embodied in the office.
Unfortunately this goal has not yet been achieved, although some experience of large companies allowed to be optimistic.

It is why the adaptation of a policy to the paperless office must be born with the premise that the most important change is in the minds of its employees, and not in their information systems.
In fact, the technologies allow information management ever closer to the idea of the paperless office. And this advance in document management technology the new factor that allows IT departments to achieve success and meet the challenge of implementing a paperless office.
After years of development, document management systems have finally managed to cover the entire life cycle of the document in the company, from management or ingestion of input documents to the system, to the record management or management of historical records and all intermediate processes, covering all complex business flows requires an organization today.

Input Management:
Historically one of the weaknesses of the corporate document management has been the source of documentation. Often the process of approaching a paperless office failed by the mere fact that it was very powerful document management system selected, the documents were originally generated in digital format and no- cost time / money for digitization consistent information was a barrier (sometimes insurmountable ) to achieve the complete elimination of paper in business processes.
Today intake systems, documentation or allow the introduction of management input from various sources Fax, mail , papers, manuscripts, etc. mass scanners . Documentation in various formats that is automatically recognized , stored , cataloged and redirected to systems management business logic ( usually a Document Management System ), removing in the process the critical information required.

Dealing with Anger Management

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We all experienced those moments in which we feel completely out of control with frustrations. Perhaps you’ve thrown something across the room, screamed at someone uncontrollably or put your fist through a wall. Having this kind of experienced, most people react rationality out of their emotion. Unfortunately, the majority of people will lash out without thinking and then realize what they should have done after the fact and the damage isn’t exactly easy to take back. Through this, without even realizing that we hurt the feelings of others during those stressful moments and perhaps even cause some damage to ourselves or our property.

An emotional state that may range in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage. Anger has physical effects including raising the heart rate and blood pressure and the levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. It inspires powerful and often aggressive feelings and behaviors, which allow us to fight and defend ourselves when we are attacked. hen anger gets out of control and turns destructive it can lead to problems at work, in personal relationships, and affect the overall quality of life. People with anger management issues get angry more easily and more intensely than the average person, and the notion that -letting it all out- helps is false, because it actually escalates anger and aggression, which doesn’t resolve anything.

The term, -anger management-, commonly refers to therapeutic techniques and exercises practiced by someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger to control or reduce triggers. The goal of anger management is learning how to control anger before it controls the individual, both emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes according to the American Psychological Association and various reliable online resources. The most common techniques recommended immediately before escalation of emotions is to stop talking, stop staring, and leave the room. Learning relaxation techniques like deep breathing and meditation will also help, in addition to stress management skills, learning empathy and forgiveness, and becoming optimistic instead of pessimistic. Chronic mismanagement of anger can lead to serious physical and mental disorders, and if the individual is not proactive, whether by voluntary or involuntary means, the outcome could be disastrous.

We need to understand anger management. Even though, some people don’t need to go to the anger management classes that your communities offer, but others may have that need. There are people who can control their anger and deal with it in healthy ways. They have somehow learned that their emotions can be controlled and that they need to react only after they have thought the situation through. They still have the same physical reactions that are natural to every human being – the quickened heartbeats, raise in blood pressure and the levels of adrenaline. That’s what your body does instinctively when you get angry. The important concept of anger management is the physical reaction that your body doing. Of course, our bodies and minds react in an aggressive manner. We want to whip out and defend ourselves. Even the meekest of individuals will experience that feeling. In fact, isn’t bad thing to react in that manner in that some kind of situation. But, most scenarios don’t need such a harsh outburst. We all know that we can’t get rid of the people who annoy us or the scenarios in this world that will test our patience beyond its limits, but we can change how we react.

If you are attending classes, or reading books and listening to lectures, this can be helpful and life altering that can convey to you. You’ll learn relaxation techniques and how to calm yourself down in certain situations. And also you will learn ion techniques and how to calm yourself down in certain situations. You’ll learn how the language and words that you use in aggravating scenarios can be unwise choices and incredibly harmful. Once you can learn some relaxation or calming techniques, you’ll be better able to solve problems much more rationally than you may have previously. You may also find that you’re learning to communicate with others as well. Suddenly, learning some of these anger management solutions in which you can convey your anger in healthy ways will have you seeing the world a bit differently. If you find that you struggle with anger management, admitting that you may need to find some healthier ways of dealing with life and its stresses could be a great way to start to enjoy your life more. In fact, every single person could benefit greatly from learning some forms of anger management. You just may be surprised at the person you turn into. Limits are placed on how far anger can take an individual, by laws, social norms, and hopefully common sense. People just can’t physically lash out at every person or object that irritates or annoys them; they need to focus on something positive instead of losing control and dramatizing every life event. Fortunately for these people, there are many reliable self-help resources available online for people with anger issues, including online anger management counseling and education.

Crizza To learn more on anger management and how to control it, please visit our web site http://www.tomnicoli.com/emotional-freedom-series.shtml

queue management systems

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At a more strategic level the bank was able to determine the Optimum Counter & Service mix per branch ie Number of counters offering a particular service. Wait time and service time metrics were used to calculate employee productivity bringing high degree of transparency and promoting an analytic driven culture. The comparative data from Opti-Q is sent out every month to all branch heads, motivating them to better their branch performance to higher levels. “Team spirit and accountability at branches has shot up, with measurable cost savings”says Mrs. Madhabi Puri Buch (Executive Director-ICICI Bank)

Opti-Q is today the focal point of ICICI’s branch banking and has been implemented in more than 700 branches of ICICI Bank in India besides the overseas branches including UK, Canada, Bahrain, Singapore and Sri-Lanka. The next level of Opti-Q would involve integration with CRM systems for priority banking services to the banks existing customers while enabling customer service agents to cross sell and upsell products to their current customers.

The branch is as much a service vehicle as it is an effective sales vehicle, “Mrs. Madhabi Puri Buch added, while holding fort on the introduction of Dynamic Queue Management Systems (DQMS) for customers at ICICI Bank branches. “Data from DQMS will now form an input for many of the bank’s initiatives such as productivity and Six Sigma. The data on the number of transactions at each desk per employee will help to calculate employee productivity and determine staffing requirements. ‘Customer wait time’ and ‘Customer transaction time’ form valuable Process Quality Information System inputs for Six Sigma certification”.

Since 1994, Intellvisions has been committed to developing innovative solutions that help global organizations achieve their most important objectives… generating more revenues while increasing operational efficiency and reducing transaction costs. We serve the most demanding customers known for setting the highest benchmarks in customer service.
Our products stand out for their innovative engineering, long-term value and our proven ability to solve business problems of our customers using imagination and insight. They are built on the foundation of our long-established industry knowledge in image processing, control electronics and system engineering capabilities. They reflect the creativity of our diverse team of product designers and software specialists.

Organizations in over 11 countries rely on Intellvisions to drive up their operational efficiency, enhance the security of transactions while reducing transaction costs taking their business to a new level of competitive advantage.

Opti-Q is a complete branch analytics system that not only manages customer queues in real-time but also provides the management real-time access to performance metrics like customer wait time, average service time and employee efficiency. It provides banks and retail institutions a complete branch transformation tool to prioritize services for their VIP customers while providing them a convenient method to cross sell and upsell their products to waiting customers.

Almost overnight, scenes of customers crowding across teller counters and agitated employees vanished from the banks branches. Customers were no longer anxious about their turn and the branch became a more stress free environment. Existing customers of the bank were given higher priority in the Queue resulting in better customer retention. Having tasted success in its first phase, the bank decided to overhaul its entire operations and logistics across the branches. The Second Phase of Opti-Q commenced in 2006 whereby data from individual systems was pooled into a central server.

Opti-Q’s data provided an incisive insight into the working of a branch from average footfalls in a day to service bottlenecks, gaps in staff training and other operational issues. This data was then used by the analytics team in ICICI Bank to restructure its entire operations.

Intellvisions is a leading provider of self-service technologies. For more information about Queue Management Systems and ATM CCTV visit: www.intellvisions.com

Exhibition Project Management – an Introduction

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Congratulations you have pitched for a job a won it. But now what? What is the best way to get the job done, and make sure that the whole team are working together?

Once a brief has been established, it is then the task of the project manager to assertain how the team will be able to achieve it.

The first stage is the planning process. Here the project manager will need to delegate roles to the members of the team, define their objectives and determine the key tasks that they will undertake.

It is imperative that all tasks assigned are documented and that all involved are clear about what outcomes are expected and their ability to achieve them in any given timescale.Project Managers should be well acquainted with the particular skills of each member of the team and be able to assign tasks appropriately.

Projects in the exhibition and architectural visualisation industry can be very complex, so the ability to break them down into managable bite-sized chunks is vital. Using a “Work breakdown structure” or “WBS” is a good visual way of representing these tasks. It is much like a family tree with the objective at the top and all the tasks necessary to achieve it underneath grouped into the areas of responsibility of the members of the team. The larger the project the larger the structure of the WBS.

Each different level of the WBS is often given a name such as Phase, Activity, or Task. These names will vary between organisations, but it is important to be consistent when referring to them.

With some of our more complex exhibition and installation jobs, it has been necessary to split some of the tasks into completely seperate sub-projects. Treating them as almost seperate design jobs which will only be merged back into the overall scheme further down the line. these tasks can often include jobs not necessarily familiar with your teams normal output and may very well be the types which may need to be outsourced. However it will still be someones job to make sure that these task are not only delegated but also completed to the required timeframe and budget.

Don’t take on too much yourself! If you try to do too much yourself you may become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. You will be over-worked, over-stressed, and shown to be the weakest link in the chain, highlighting your inabilities to plan accordingly. Likewise by passing too much of the workload to other collegues you then run the risk of over-working them to the point of tension and resentment.

This method of working, although potentially time-consuming to set-up will pay dividends through increased productivity and the system can then be applied to future assignments. Projects tend to be more unsuccesfull when not properly planned out.

It is very common for there to be changes to the brief, but when properly mapped out, the WBS can be altered and tweaked to incoroprate these unforseen and often last minute alterations.

Remember if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Good Luck!

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Matthew Theobald has been involved in the architectural design and visualization industries since studying industrial design in the UK and Italy. He is now a superfly pimp working at Exhibition Display Solutions in Maidenhead