A new CRM philosophy is bringing business and IT closer together – by abandoning standard applications in favour of flexible, process-oriented solutions.

Modern customers expect businesses to treat them as individuals and approach them via the sales channels of their choice. They also use the transparency of the internet to compare offers, and are typically unwilling to swear permanent loyalty to a specific company. This poses a particular challenge for banks in the private customer segment, as it is price-sensitive and characterised by low margins. Financial institutions that wish to retain customers as well as acquire new ones need to personalise their offers to meet customer needs, and communicate these offers to customers, at the right moment, via the sales channel of their choice. The prerequisites for this have already been met: banks have never known as much about their customers as they do today. They can compile information from all kinds of sources and interactive channels, then analyse it. The results can be used to derive recommended courses of action by specific customer segment.

The first step in this approach is to capture and define customer-oriented processes. The profitability of existing customers, complaints management, cross-selling and up-selling potential – all are areas requiring interdepartmental cooperation. To break down a business process into its constituent parts – and then use IT to reconstruct it – all departments must work together extremely closely. When it comes to organisational requirements such as authorisation models and release processes, IT and other specialist departments need to work hand in hand.

BPM tools make it easier to model and adapt business processes systematically. They illustrate how information is processed chronologically, visualise processes and interfaces transparently, and make it possible to simulate process adaptations and optimise them flexibly. A process map provides an overview of the company and its customer-oriented processes. By integrating CRM processes into service-oriented architectures (SOA), banks can quickly see where they need to begin if they want to introduce new financial products or tap into a new sales channel – or if new legal requirements involve changes to procedures.

The better the visualisation of processes, the quicker changes and innovations can be realised. Financial services providers that use BPM and service-oriented architectures are in an ideal position to respond quickly and flexibly to customers. BPM also promises potential savings of up to 20% (Source: Gartner).