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IT Customer Relationship Management
Building Strong Customer Relationships for Quality IT Services
IT Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
The quality of IT services is closely tied to the strength of the relationship between the IT organisation and its customers. Effective IT Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is essential for establishing and maintaining these relationships, as they form the foundation for creating and updating service agreements. CRM ensures smooth coordination between the IT organisation and its customers at strategic, tactical, and operational levels.
The Role of Business Relationship Management
The primary challenge in IT Customer Relationship Management is fostering strong and effective relationships between the IT organisation and the customer at every level. The scope of CRM varies depending on the level of interaction:
- Operational Level: Most Service Desks operate at this level, handling day-to-day interactions and resolving immediate issues.
- Tactical Level: Service Level Management operates at this level, overseeing the control of service levels and ensuring that services meet agreed-upon standards.
- Strategic Level: CRM plays a critical role in aligning the strategic objectives of the IT organisation with those of the customer, ensuring long-term collaboration and success.
CRM also supports the IT organisation by conducting customer and user surveys, providing valuable information, and facilitating communication. The ultimate goal of CRM is to achieve strategic alignment between the IT organisation and the customer, ensuring that IT solutions contribute directly to the customer’s business objectives.
Aligning IT Services with Customer Needs
A key aspect of CRM is staying in close contact with the customer organisation to explore opportunities for aligning the strategic goals of both parties. This alignment lays the groundwork for a long-term partnership, where the IT organisation focuses on delivering IT solutions that help the customer achieve their business goals. Given the fast-paced nature of both IT and customer organisations, it’s vital to coordinate the rate of change between the two to ensure continued alignment.
Developing Service Level Agreements
Agreements on the services to be provided are formalised through Service Level Management (SLM). For instance, if a customer wants to introduce an intranet, aspects such as availability, user support, implementation of change requests, and cost must be agreed upon. These details are documented in a Service Level Agreement (SLA).
When a customer requests changes to IT services that fall within the scope of the SLA, a Request for Change (RFC) is submitted. Change Management then processes the request. For changes outside the current agreements, the SLM process will handle the updates. Typically, users can contact the Service Desk for operational requests, questions, and to report any issues.
Enhance Your IT Customer Relationships with Pink Elephant
At Pink Elephant, we specialise in helping IT organisations build and maintain strong customer relationships, ensuring that IT services are perfectly aligned with business objectives. Contact us today to learn how we can support your IT Customer Relationship Management efforts.