Cisco Cisco CRM Communications Connector Weißbuch

Introduction: SMBs Emerge

Innovative small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are setting their sights on a clear

objective: To increase profitability by focusing their entire business on customers. While

SMBs have long been known for friendly customer service and support, SMB leaders are

taking their customer focus to a new level by capitalizing on the convergence of Internet

Protocol (IP) telephony and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technologies. This

integration of voice and data is enabling SMBs to build 360-degree customer views and

deliver the right customer information to the right employee, all at the right time. The

result: a superior customer experience that drives up profits.

Not long ago, goals such as building 360-degree customer views or managing the entire

customer experience were better left to large enterprises with lofty budgets. Today,

however, many of these barriers to entry are

crumbling, and the convergence of voice and

data is the key. SMBs are integrating IP telepho-

ny and CRM solutions to become customer-

centric organizations capable of delivering a

seamless customer experience that locks in

customer loyalty and keeps competitors at bay.

This white paper explores this rapidly growing

trend. Drawing on the insight of Peppers &

Rogers Group, it explains why customers and

the experiences they receive from a business

hold the keys to profitability. It discusses old

and new challenges to becoming a customer-

centric company and how one leading firm is

using converged voice and data to overcome

these challenges to drive a hard, quantifiable

Return on Investment (ROI). The paper concludes with a prescriptive roadmap on how

companies—and SMBs in particular—can use converged IP telephony and CRM to build a

more profitable, customer-centric business.

The Customer-Centric SMB

Increasing Profitability
by Focusing on Customers

ONTENTS

The Customer-Centric
Opportunity............................3

The Challenges
Facing SMBs............................4

Unified Voice and Data:
Enabling the Customer-
Centric SMB ............................5

Case Study:
GreenStone FCS Turns
Customer Experiences
into ROI.....................................6

The Customer-Centric
Company Roadmap.............7

Conclusion:
Turning Point..........................8

In Brief

When employees have access to 360-
degree customer views, the entire company
can work together to deliver a superior
customer experience and higher profits.

This white paper:

■

Explains why customers, not products,
hold the keys to profitability.

■

Documents how converged IP-telephony
and CRM solutions enable SMBs to
deliver a superior customer experience
and higher profits.

■

Outlines best practices for overcoming
information, integration, cost and
adoption hurdles.

■

Details how one SMB is refining the
customer experience to capture a
100% ROI in 8 months.