B2B CRM systems on the market: system options for underground laboratories
Ramberg, Marjo (2021)
Ramberg, Marjo
2021
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021121125338
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2021121125338
Tiivistelmä
This thesis was done for the project “Empowering Underground Laboratories Network Usage” (EUL). which was an international project that started in April 4/2021 and ended in 12/2021. One of the goals of the project was to gain more customer understanding and engagement by using service design. Project considered six underground laboratories in the Baltic Sea region. These underground laboratories were underutilized, which was the reason why project partners were interested in learning about customer relationship management and CRM systems, and how they could be implemented in bettering current customer relationships and acquiring new ones. Research question was “What kind of B2B customer relationship management (CRM) systems are there on the market?”, since underground laboratories worked in B2B environment, in this case meaning universities and research centrums.
Qualitative research was done by using secondary research methods. Published books and research articles of the field were examined and complemented with takes from commercial sources, such as review articles and suppliers’ websites in order to get newer information on contemporary CRM systems. Commissioner was described based on project’s websites and project reports, and basic system requirements were discussed with the commissioner.
This thesis’ purpose was to provide a knowledge base of CRM and give an overlook of the supply of the market. Transferring this information to project partners provided tools for deciding which system possibly to choose for underground laboratories’ CRM activities. Research question was answered by describing many interpretations on customer relationship management and how CRM could be categorized. CRM system functionalities and ways to access, deploy and license them were presented. Typical features of B2B sales process and B2B CRM systems were examined in order to demonstrate how systems could be used when acquiring new customers.
Three B2B CRM systems were presented as examples. One of them was HubSpot free version, which was recommended for the underground laboratories. Since thesis focused on describing several aspects in a general way, further research can be made on these ground points. These research suggestions and system recommendation were discussed in more detail in the conclusion and discussion-part of the thesis.
Qualitative research was done by using secondary research methods. Published books and research articles of the field were examined and complemented with takes from commercial sources, such as review articles and suppliers’ websites in order to get newer information on contemporary CRM systems. Commissioner was described based on project’s websites and project reports, and basic system requirements were discussed with the commissioner.
This thesis’ purpose was to provide a knowledge base of CRM and give an overlook of the supply of the market. Transferring this information to project partners provided tools for deciding which system possibly to choose for underground laboratories’ CRM activities. Research question was answered by describing many interpretations on customer relationship management and how CRM could be categorized. CRM system functionalities and ways to access, deploy and license them were presented. Typical features of B2B sales process and B2B CRM systems were examined in order to demonstrate how systems could be used when acquiring new customers.
Three B2B CRM systems were presented as examples. One of them was HubSpot free version, which was recommended for the underground laboratories. Since thesis focused on describing several aspects in a general way, further research can be made on these ground points. These research suggestions and system recommendation were discussed in more detail in the conclusion and discussion-part of the thesis.