Just Enough CRM (Just Enough Series) [Paperback]

Francoise Tourniaire (Author)

Book Description

Series: Just Enough Series | Publication Date: February 24, 2003

Just Enough CRM is a practical guidebook for decision makers and those responsible for implementing CRM systems to help them evaluate CRM systems already in place, shorten the selection process, make the right decisions, proceed swiftly to successful implementations and measure the success of CRM initiatives. The book includes checklists and guidelines to make sense of vendors' pitches, guide implementation projects, and allow readers to create their own custom checklists. This book provides a roadmap for auditing current CRM systems while providing practical tools for conducting effective selection and implementation initiatives. Readers will gain an understanding of best practices for selecting and implementing systems so they can leverage their contributions to the projects they are involved in and suggest appropriate strategies for success.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The decision-maker's guide to competitive advantage with CRM

• Getting real benefits from CRM--fast
• A complete roadmap for auditing and
• improving your current CRM processes
• Best practices for CRM project management and implementation
• Effective strategies for aligning CRM with the goals of the business

Just Enough CRM gives decision-makers practical insight for planning, designing, and deploying CRM systems that deliver on their promises--and for avoiding the pitfalls that cause so many CRM implementations to fail. Leading CRM consultant Francoise Tourniaire shows how to streamline and improve every phase of the project lifecycle, from needs assessment and vendor selection through metrics, and beyond.

Tourniaire offers realistic guidelines and checklists for making sense of vendors' pitches, customizing CRM to your own organization's needs, and guiding the entire implementation process. These techniques apply to any CRM implementation, especially projects at mid-sized companies with $10 to $500 million in revenues--projects all too often neglected in other books.

Whether you're a senior executive, line-of-business manager, CRM project manager, or project participant, this book will help you transform the promise of CRM into a quantifiable, sustainable, competitive advantage.

About the Author

FRANCOISE TOURNIAIRE owns FT Works, a consultancy that helps technology companies create and improve their support operations through targeted consulting, training, and coaching engagements. Prior to founding FT Works, she was VP of Worldwide Service for Scopus (now Siebel Systems), responsible for technical support, training, documentation, and operations worldwide. She has close to 20 years' experience in post-sales support and services, including stints at Sybase and Ingres. Tourniaire is lead author of The Art of Software Support (Prentice Hall).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR (February 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131010174
• ISBN-13: 978-0131010178
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,479,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars IT aspects of CRM, March 9, 2004

By 

Mario Missakian (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Enough CRM (Just Enough Series) (Paperback)

If you are already mandated from higher ups in your organization with the exact CRM functionality needed or even to troubleshoot an existing CRM implementation, then this book is great for you: It does not waste any time and gets right to the issues of selecting and implementing CRM tools. In that sense, Ms. Tourniaire's "Just Enough CRM" could easily be re-titled "Just Enough to Select and Implement CRM Tools".

Whereas another book I am reviewing in parallel portrays CRM as a strictly marketing exercise and barely discusses information technology (IT) tools and issues, this book heavily views CRM from the IT point of view and, at times, one forgets that CRM deals with marketing at all. No harm done: This book is mostly about the technology part of CRM and it does cover it very well. That is not to say it is strictly intended for IT people. It is written in plain language and is readable by anyone on a CRM implementation team.

One of the greatest aspects of this book is that it advocates the use of various metrics to measure different aspects of a CRM project (an idea I wholeheartedly endorse for any type of operation). After all, if you do not measure your processes, how would you know if they are performing right? The book lists some very good tools such as a template and a method for checking and scoring different vendor features. The chapter about "Measuring Success" also hides some gold nuggets.

This book would be a great addition to a CRM library.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy on the eyes, a good read., May 19, 2003

By 

Peter Wilson (Canberra, Australia.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Enough CRM (Just Enough Series) (Paperback)

As I read this book I feel as though the Author (Francoise Tourniaire) is in the same room with me giving me calm reassuring and sensible advice. The writing style does not assume you're an idiot, nor does it assume you're a guru. I have not finished it yet, however it's the kind of book that will probably be a keeper.