Does Size Really Matter? How "CRM Lite" Deployments Are Helping Smaller Banks

Does Size Really Matter? How "CRM Lite" Deployments Are Helping Smaller Banks

Banks have failed in the past to successfully deploy CRM suites. But despite these missteps Celent believes there is a future for CRM in banking.

In a new report Celent examines the case of two banks that have successfully deployed smaller CRM applications. These solutions, which Celent dubs "CRM Lite," are easier to deploy and smaller in scope than traditional CRM packages. The report includes best practices for deploying CRM and examines deployment successes and failures to provide a roadmap for successful CRM deployment.

One success story detailed in the report is that of Great Southern Bank, a Missouri-based bank with $2 billion in assets, that dominates in the region despite the entry of Bank of America, US Bank, and Regions into its market. Great Southern is an example of a smaller bank that has found a competitive advantage by using less complex CRM software.

Another case presented is Synovus, a Georgia-based bank holding company with $25 billion in assets, that operates 41 community banks. Each bank is treated as a business unit with its own profit and loss statement and CEO. Deploying a CRM tool across these different units presented various organizational challenges that Synovus surmounted.

According to Bart Narter, author of the report and senior analyst in the banking group at Celent, "Banks have been burned by CRM deployments in the past. We now examine two banks that deployed CRM Lite to the delight of employees, customers and shareholders."

Through our research, Celent has synthesized best practices for deploying CRM Lite based around the 5P framework. This includes, planning, process, program, package, and people.

of Celent's Retail Banking research service can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left. Non-members should contact info@celent.com for more information.