Consultant gives tips for government CRM projects

Customer relationship management is quietly blossoming in the government, a CRM consultant and author said yesterday.“Agencies are in the forefront of CRM, and nobody’s writing about it,” said Jill Dyche, vice president of management consulting for Baseline Consulting Group of Sherman Oaks, Calif. Dyche, who has served as a consultant to the Michigan state government and other agencies, spoke at a breakfast meeting sponsored by SAS Institute Inc. of Cary, N.C.A recent survey by Input of Chantilly, Va., predicted federal spending on CRM will increase 18 percent annually from $230 million in 2001 to more than $520 million in 2006, Dyche said.Agencies use CRM to add value to their services as well as in online service delivery, Dyche said.One CRM example that Dyche described is a portal run by the city government of Des Moines, Iowa. The city Web-automated its call center with a drop-down menu that makes it easy for residents to submit questions or complaints.Dyche also praised the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for creating a Web system that tags people who haven’t renewed their annual hunting and fishing licenses for follow-up contact.