Introduction
Britam Insurance Company is a global insurance firm selling various services to its clients worldwide. Being one of the leading companies in the industry, Britam has a large pool of potential and existing customers. The large client base calls for sophisticated software to handle the company’s sales and marketing for efficiency and accuracy. Using the old approaches to promote and manage the services of the company is becoming challenging. The world is embracing digitalization at a high speed, calling for advancements in marketing technology since most consumers are also found online. Britam Insurance Company has to adopt the new marketing and management software to remain at the top of the highly competitive insurance industry.
Project Overview
The initiation and implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software is a strategic project that Britam Insurance Company can use to manage its interactions with potential and current clients. CRM will help the organization streamline all its transactions, build recommendable customer relationships, and improve sales volume by a greater margin. The software will also increase service delivery to customers, which automatically raises the company’s profitability. The introduction of the CRM system is a calculated marketing method within an organization that focuses on improving and maintaining effective relationships with both potential and existing customers (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). The system will automatically enable Britam insurance companies to compete fairly and effectively with other similar industry firms.
CRM system will have a positive effect on the sales representatives of the company because the amount of manual paperwork will be greatly reduced. Physical prospecting done by sales agents of the company is one of the methods of cultivating clients for any insurance firm. However, with CRM software, the tiresome prospecting approach will be lowered since online platforms will be used for all marketing purposes (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). The customers of the company will also benefit from the adoption of the new technology. They will be able to apply and fill out application forms online at their convenience. Following and monitoring how policies are being paid and compensated by the company will be easier and faster with the CRM system. Generally, the effects of CRM on the company are limitless since the benefits are tremendous.
Introducing a new system in a company takes some time for its benefits to be fully realized. Initiating a CRM project into Britam’s system will take a maximum of six months for the project to begin making and saving money for the company. The duration will also depend on the adaptability rate of the staff and customers regarding the use of the software. Change is not easy, but it is the best thing an organization can decide to do to climb the ladder of entrepreneurship (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). CRM software is user-friendly with a flexible platform that allows the users to navigate with less difficulty. The main strength of the system is to create and enhance business relationships.
Project Scope and Project Management Structure
Global markets have increasingly become competitive and highly integrated to an extent all firms, regardless of their sizes, have to identify a market niche to survive. The system focuses on the management principle, that is, a firm’s precise orientation towards all the potential and existing customer relationships (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). In Britam Insurance Company, the customer is the most important part of the firm’s considerations. The project will build manageable, long-lasting, and profitable client relationships. The CRM software’s major concern is customers, making the management and decision-making processes easier and more effective.
- Manageable – the project can harmonize and create, across all borders of the company, all interactions involving existing and potential clients.
- Long-lasting – the project can build up a long-lasting trust between the company and customers. The aim is to enhance quality customer regularity by developing long-term relationships.
- Profitable – apart from the customer-oriented system, the project will be profitable to the company enabling the organization to meet its sales targets and profit margins.
The implementation of a CRM system will improve the overall performance of the organization. Return on assets and cash flows originating from business operations will increase. Arguably, CRM software helps in facilitating the forecast of the firms’ sales and earnings in the future (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). The system of CRM improves customer satisfaction to an extent of promoting the clients to remit their premiums on time. Timely payments enable the company to do its planning and budgeting effectively by meeting its expenses and remitting timely compensations.
The most delicate industry that needs trust and utmost integrity is the insurance sector. If Britam Insurance Company fails to compensate customers who have incurred the insured losses, the integrity of the company will be compromised. Negligence can threaten the future of the insurance firm (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). CRM system eliminates such problems by a greater percentage by promoting timely payment and good relationships.
The management team of the company will control the CRM system. The project will contain detailed information about customers and their policies that needs to be safeguarded. Managing customer relationships is a delicate obligation that needs highly skilled personnel (One of the best life insurance companies in Kenya, 2021). Matrix organization is the appropriate body to manage the CRM system. People inside the organization have first-hand information about their customers, and it is deemed appropriate for them to manage the CRM system.
Budget and Resource Management Plan
Starting and running CRM software for the entire branches of Britam Insurance Company needs heavy input. The budget to meet all the installation and operational costs will come from the company’s headquarters within the country. The project will cost $55.9 million, and in case of any challenge, the help will come from fellow technical experts who have experience in system management (“One of the best life insurance companies in Kenya,” 2021). The project has to succeed for the company to enhance its objective of digitalizing customer experience via self-support interfaces such as the Britam App and customer portals (Annual Report Britam Holdings PLC, 2021). The aim of the project remains centered on customer relationships and satisfaction to improve sales.
Stakeholder Management and Reporting Plan
Coordination and teamwork are crucial for the project to be successful. The success of the CRM depends on the acceptance of the new system by various stakeholders. In Britam Insurance Company, the stakeholders that will be involved in the CRM system are top management; those in charge of sales and marketing, retail sales officers, field sales leaders, clients using self-care applications, product supervisors, and dealers (“One of the best life insurance companies in Kenya,” 2021). The project will significantly reduce operational costs and is market-oriented.
The CRM system will benefit the stakeholders as follows:
Top Management
- It will enhance the business reporting approach leading to improved governance.
- It will reduce operating costs leading to an improved bottom line.
- It promotes company branding via enhanced customer service delivery and diverse product and services.
- The management team makes sound decisions depending on the instant feedback from the customers using the system.
Marketing Managers
- The project will help in correcting customer segmentation based on several parameters.
- It will help track marketing budgets and planning for campaigns.
Retail and Field Sales Officers
- The project will promote ease of navigation with greater speed.
- The project will provide full-time monitoring of customers.
- CRM system will help reduce capturing errors and avoid duplication of information during fieldwork.
- The project will remind sales agents of the list of activities via pop-up messages and disclaimers, among many other such notifications.
- Increases integration level with other systems promoting effective customer services.
- The system reduces general paperwork in the field, promoting efficiency.
Customers Using the Software
- Promotes ease of navigation during online application of policies.
- Provides an interface to see charges related to the policies the customer has bought.
- Provides notifications for offers and other interesting new products and services the company is offering.
- The project provides user guides to help customers in their operations.
Product Managers
- It helps managers reduce marketing time.
- Product managers access essential rules and information about the services and products without help from another technical team.
Dealers and Partners
- Dealers access self-care services
- There is a fast sharing of investment opportunities between dealers and the company.
- The project increases accuracy and speed in the calculation of compensations and other incentives.
Quality of Writing and Professional Image
Developing a proposal before the formulation and implementation of the real project is fundamental in any project. A requisition for a proposal is important in providing an insight into what is expected after the successful completion of the real project. The proposal will have proposal managers, team leaders, and team members to run the project (Haislip & Richardson, 2017). The skills and knowledge of the CRM system will be required during the project’s formulation and implementation. The proposal will have the following structure:
- Introduction – basic information about the project and its relevancy is outlined under the introduction. It provides an overview of what the project will contain.
- Literature Review – information about the same project that has been discussed by prior researchers is elucidated. For instance, Frygell, Hedman & Carlsson (2017) have researched CRM systems’ implementation in different organizations’ setups.
- Methodology – A CRM system is a broad project that needs appropriate data collection, analysis, and representation methods.
- Time and budget – the duration of the project will take are stipulated with an approximation of the amount of money needed to run the project.
PowerPoint Visualization
The slides will contain brief and precise information on the CRM system to ease the understanding during the presentation process. For instance, one slide can have a summary of the impacts of CRM as the application of information technology, as shown in Figure 1 below:
The slides will contain core messages about the project with relevant images to enhance understanding of the presented concept. Approximately 12 slides will be enough so that the presentation time is as short as possible.
Conclusion
The insurance industry faces stiff competition that calls for regular upgrading of the company’s approaches when rendering services. Introduction of Customer Relationship Management system is one of the technologies deployed by Britam Insurance Company to enhance its relationship with customers. The project will be of great use since it creates a user-friendly interface to link the company and its customers globally. It will improve customer relationships and enable the organization to achieve its sales target and profit margin.
References
Annual Report Britam Holdings PLC. (2021). Best Life, General & Micro Insurance Company in Kenya | Britam – Kenya – Corporate. Web.
Frygell, L., Hedman, J., & Carlsson, S. (2017). Implementing CRM system in a global organization – national vs. organizational culture. Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2017), 1(1), 4586-4595.
Haislip, J. Z., & Richardson, V. J. (2017). The effect of customer relationship management systems on firm performance. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 27(1), 16-29. Web.
One of the best life insurance companies in Kenya | About us | Britam – Kenya – Corporate. (2021). Best Life, General & Micro Insurance Company in Kenya | Britam – Kenya – Corporate. Web.