IBM on Wednesday announced customer relationship management (CRM) software that lets corporations keep track of interactions with customers during marketing campaigns to drum up new business.
Called DecisionEdge for Campaign Management, the software includes a desktop client to support data mining of the back-end database where customer information is stored. The product also has an application server component, based on AIX or Windows NT, which sits in front of the back-end database to control access to records and presents findings based on demographics or customer activity.
According to Al Meyer, IBM's marketing manager for global business intelligence solutions, the CRM software lets the marketing professionals within an organization plan how to conduct a continuing dialog with customers whenever a marketing message goes out to them. This could be outbound telemarketing, direct sales, e-mail or other means.
"For instance, if you expected someone to mail back a response, but instead they called customer service, DecisionEdge for Campaign Management would let you keep track of that," Meyer says. "And it gives you a holistic view of customers with multiple accounts."
The CRM software lets marketers plan a campaign by segmenting potential customers into groups based on demographics, education, age or other variables, to tailor the message to fit the target audience.
IBM originally designed the software for use by Japan's Sumitomo Trust and Banking Company, which says it used DecisionEdge to reach 3.5 million clients. The company found it had higher success rates using the software than it had had in the past.
Scheduled to ship in mid-March as a generic package that could be used by any sort of business, DecisionEdge for Campaign Management keeps track of customer responses, including any desire they may have to decline unsolicited marketing materials by "opting out."
Pricing for the software starts at $75,000.
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