One of the most important investments that your company makes is in systems and process that manage customer information.  Although this is often framed as a CRM system (customer relationship manager) sometimes it is also described in terms of SFA (sales force automation) and CSR Systems (customer service systems).  The basic point is you need to manage information about your customers, understand the interactions that you have with them and learn how to improve the economic value of the relationship.  This exchange of value between you and your customers is at the heart of your business.

As part of our effort to improve the creation and exchange of value, we have embraced the Salesforce.com platform.  We think of it as a platform more than simple SFA because of it's open API (application programming interface), their broad enablement of new applications through the AppExchange and the availability of the Force.com development tools.  As a result we believe Salesforce.com has tremendous agility and capability.

Having said that, a few key business benefits that can be gained from a well thought out implementation - and this can be true for any customer management system:

Customer value gains 
We start with the customer.  Placing an economic value on each customer relationship can be a monumental step forward in improving the performance of your company.  Each customer has delivered value to your company.  Each company has potential value to be delivered in the future.  Knowing whether this is $5 or $50M is important.  It changes what you are willing to give and what you expect to receive from your customers.  Fair value for a good product or service. 

Sales productivity improvements 
The single most important leverage point in sales productivity is in selling to the right customer.  Once you're are talking to the right customer, given them the right offer and your chances for closing the deal improve many fold.  How you say it is less important than what you say and to whom.

In the traditional direct marketing world this is referred to as list, offer and creative.  In the world of sales it is often expressed in terms of "qualified prospects."

No matter how you think about it, getting to the right customer with the right offer stacks the odds in favor of both parties.

Better visibility 
In terms of customer value, sales productivity and eliminating waste, better visibility into customer behavior can translate into better gross margins and better profit.  

If you can see the value of a customer knowing how far to bend becomes much easier if something has gone wrong and you need to "make good."  Seeing how often a customer calls into customer support, technical support or redeems rebates definately can improve how you price your products and services.   

Margin is important.  You need to see the behaviors of your customers in order to protect, maintain or improve profit margins. 

Informed decision making 
Knowing who you are and where you've been, makes daily decisions much, much easier.  This is as true for companies as it is for individuals.  It helps to know where you are going and what it takes to get there.

Customer management systems like Salesforce.com offer well defined systems and processes for capturing and storing customer information, customer interactions and reporting on customers, sales people, marketing, customer service, channel partners and many others.  The primary challenge is in making thoughtful decisions. 

Less waste - more efficiency 
One of the promises of Salesforce.com and others like it, lies in automation.  Automation cuts waste and creates efficiency.

This can occur in simple alerts that are triggered by the capture of an email address or phone number.  Or much more elaborate systems that use calculated fields, projections and streams of automated processes. 

Think of it in terms of dominoes.  Each domino, when tipped over, causes the next domino to fall.  Like the domino, automated messages can fall into place at the right time when tipped by a customer request, a quote or the shipment of an order.  These connected events, like dominoes can cause an entire sequence of events to interact with customers in a very efficient and effective manner.