“Does your customer relationship management (CRM) tool get in the way of implementing your customer relationship management strategies?”

So asks the Soffront blogger, and it’s a more perceptive question than might appear at first glance -- unbridled technolust has destroyed many a well-intentioned CRM project.

Here’s one reason. As the blog accurately says, “customers receive communications from sales, marketing and customer service, and these contacts could come in the form of phone calls, e-mails, text messages, or even face-to-face conversations.”

The question, of course, is “Do all the marketing, sales and customer service people know what messages the other ones have sent and received from the customer?” If not, then you’re not doing it right, and the customer can tell.

Many CRM tools require users to navigate to different screens to view various types of contacts from different departments, the Soffront blog says, noting accurately that this “causes delays and confusion, and makes it easy to miss vital information.”

What you want is a CRM tool that will “display the entire communications history with a customer or lead on a single screen,” since as company officials say, knowing the communication you’ve had with a customer, in chronological order, could be critical in gaining a sale or maintaining a customer because information is readily available to all departments.”

Earlier this month TMC’s (News - Alert) Deepika Mala wrote that Giant Paintball, the corporate hub of the world’s largest chain of Paintball Parks in Southern California, selected Soffront’s integrated CRM to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their sales operation.

Prior to Soffront, Giant Paintball had no mechanism for tracking pertinent customer information in order to inform them of its promotions and otherwise communicate with them.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.