Many CRM users find that their investments in CRM systems are not providing the benefits originally promised by their service providers. While service providers are quick to advertise the revenue-enhancement potential of the products they offer, a lack of responsiveness, an absence of client knowledge, and high costs often keep clients from recognizing these benefits.

Most companies with large investments in CRM packages such as Siebel, SAP, or Salesforce.com attempt to raise service levels and keep costs in check with a mix of internal resources and support staff offered by their application providers. When users escalate a problem outside of their level of expertise, they must route their issue through the application provider's account manager--who generally just acts as a conduit to product engineers. These engineers need to service multiple clients, and prioritization of the issues coming from a multitude of clients may not match the needs or timing expectations of any individual client. Subsequently, low response times lead to increased costs and lost sales that offset any potential savings gained from employing a joint support solution.

One way to avoid these recurring problems is to demand a bundled onshore support and development package from consulting partners. A holistic approach with a long-term view that integrates best practices from traditional offerings can build consistency around release cycles, enhancements, patches, and any other support issues that need to be addressed. Furthermore, combining strategy, process, support, and development work can ensure alignment across all parts of the CRM support chain, and will lead to lower costs, quicker response times, and better problem resolution.