Microsoft and Rotman School of Management To Open CRM Research Center

Microsoft Canada and the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management have announced the creation of the Rotman Executive Programs Centre for CRM Excellence, a joint initiative housed within Rotman Executive Programs with a focus on research, building intellectual capital, and developing interactive customer relationship management (CRM) educational programs.

The CRM Centre will be unique in that it will be the first CRM research institute that utilizes the strengths of both an academic center and a large corporation. Supporters hope that it will become a global capital of CRM research and effort.

The first program running at the CRM Centre will be a three-day conference designed for executives responsible for CRM implementations, with a particular focus on social CRM. The program will help participants build IT infrastructure that satisfies their customers’ needs.

“The practice of CRM is evolving as businesses increasingly tap into the power of social networks and real-time feedback,” says Frank Falcone, CRM Lead at Microsoft Canada. “The days of simply providing better service are gone – today CRM is social, driven by personal interactions and by customers who expect control over their engagement with companies. Programs like this will help companies learn to be more responsive, transparent, and personal in their dealings with customers.”

Paul Greenberg, author of CRM at the Speed of Light and President of the 56 Group LLC., also notes how crucial such an institute is. “The creation of the University of Toronto CRM Centre of Excellence isn’t just important, it’s seminal. As recognition for this business strategy and methodology grows, a neutral body that supports the evolution of Social CRM is important. Thanks to the University of Toronto, the new ideas, approaches, practices and refinements of this mission-critical business science have an indisputable home.”

The CRM Centre is scheduled to open November 2010.

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