Governments take to CRM solutions to enhance constituent relations
Driven by the need to improve its management of constituent relationships, a new report predicts that government spending on customer relationship management (CRM) technology solutions in the US, UK, Germany and France will grow from $2.9 billion in 2008 to $4.4 billion in 2013.
In today’s commercially-oriented world, it has become a trend among public sector agencies to treat constituents as customers who expect top levels of service.The operating environment for public sector agencies is characterized by the need to "do more with less". As governments strive to provide more personalized public services, they are looking to CRM solutions, which can help align service delivery with constituent needs and address numerous pain points.
CRM was initially used as a solution for private sector companies to better manage their sales, service and marketing channels. With public sector adoption of CRM, however, governments are using these features to meet their own unique needs. For example, CRM’s service function facilitates the provision of information to constituents. One of the key drivers is the surge in government contact centers for constituent inquiries, such as the numerous non-emergency contact center initiatives which have been rolled out across North America and Europe.
In today’s world, agencies are faced with the task of managing relationships with a diverse mix of constituents, whether it is providing top quality services, giving agency employees the tools they need to do their job well or attracting and retaining citizens and businesses. CRM helps manage all these relationships by making interactions more personalized and efficient. Governments are able to automate workflow and consistently track cases as they move through the system, agency to agency, in order to be resolved. For example, social services departments are using case management to improve efficiency and ensure consistency in how they track and record interactions with their clients.
Furthermore, CRM allows governments to inform constituents of relevant services and upcoming events or deadlines which might affect them. For example, sending out a reminder email about tax filing information in advance of the deadline can decrease the number of late filers. Not only does this bode well for revenue collection, it also reduces the costs of chasing after the late-filers. In some cases, innovative governments have taken this a step further, and are experimenting with Web 2.0 in CRM, through constituent surveys and interactive websites. CRM solutions also allow governments to increase efficiencies and reduce costs by tailoring message content for constituents.
Related Reading: CRM and The Move to Constituent-Centric Government
