CRM events this month

In a competitive commercial environment in which a customer is most loyal to their wallet, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become the differentiator between companies that have clients, and those that have satisfied clients.

There is more to CRM than listening to customers, though, including making information on them available to call service staff. The CRM system must then integrate with the information management, knowledge management, ERP, and other back end systems in use.

Two upcoming conferences address these issues and explore the logistics of implementing CRM and using the technology as an effective management tool.

Call Centre Solutions Asia Pacific, from November 24-26 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, concentrates on strategic issues surrounding CRM, and looks at some of the emerging technologies.

This third annual conference comprises workshops, a management and customer relationship summit, and a series of seminars during the exhibition on the show floor. Delegates can also take a guided tour of the exhibition, and see a live interactive call centre. The exhibition itself will showcase technologies including workforce management software, IP telephony, predictive dialers, speech recognition, voice mail processing, CRM, and video conferencing and other multimedia.

The 40 minute seminar sessions will cover CRM, human relations, the role of the Internet, and case studies.

For info: Advanstar Communications, (07) 3217 7549.

CRM World 99, on December 2 at Australian Technology Park in Sydney, will combine plenary sessions from international speakers and practical implementations to explore best practices for CRM.

The Microsoft-sponsored event will investigate ways to streamline practices, increase employee and management effectiveness, and improve return on investment through CRM technologies.

Two optional half day workshops, held on December 1, will complement the main conference. The first workshop, conducted by Deloitte Consulting, will use research and case studies to demonstrate how organisations can take advantage of changing customer expectations, and the issues of becoming a customer-centric organisation.

The second workshop, held by KPMG, will examine CRM in practice through company and industry examples.

For info: Priority Learning,

(02) 9369 4804