Phil Hope MP, Local e-Government Minister

The National Projects are about delivering transformational change in the way people experience public sector services

CRM is a significant driver of internal change and a key building block of eGovernment which is not an end in itself but about transformation

The introduction of CRM should be a catalyst for more changes in management processes and rethinking of citizen interactions to deliver seamless services

To be fully e-enabled by 2005, councils must embrace the CRM concept to put customers first

CRM's value in improving response times and preventing duplicate data entry is very important as the Gershon Efficiency Review will drive central and local government to think afresh on how we can deliver services

The CRM NP will make councils smarter buyers to look at economies of scale and partnerships. Discounts will be very important for District Councils, maybe through working together regionally

Take-up and capacity will be crucial to success

Cited LB Newham and Hull City Council as examples of best practice

Conclusion: I want to know what is your council's strategic approach to CRM - how are you going to use the outputs to make real savings in time and money to achieve similar levels of customer service and staff satisfaction.

Terry Dailey, Programme Director, CRM National Programme

Terry outlined the lessons learned from the programme

If your CRM is led by IT you need to reassess this - it needs to be firmly led by the business

Standard change management approach involves stakeholders early on - instead we first brainstormed and developed checklist of that what we could do. Stakeholders were involved but this approach accelerated the process by a few months

Can't overstate the role that sponsorship plays - it needs to active and present

Select the right project managers for programmes and constituent projects

Good programme management disciplines pay dividends. Learn from what's gone before - such as the ESDToolkit, PEG Readiness for Change Toolkit (should be publicly available April), PRINCE2, MSP, OGC Gateway Process. Recommended Scoring Points by Clive Humby

What we got wrong: Initially underestimated the number of projects required

Legal compliance standards, call centre specification and procurement strategies and selection weren't planned in the original brief

We pitched the programme management principles at the wrong level, but found the right balance between usability and programme control.

David Tosh, North Somerset Council

David explained how the Council approached its CRM implementation in the North Somerset Care Connect Project.

One impetus was a survey for the Council which showed citizens who don't feel informed were significantly less likely to be satisfied with the Council. Three quarters said getting the right person with right information was the most important factor; 57% preferred phone contact, 18% preferred to visit and less than 10% preferred contact by email

Leadership and commitment from the top is ultimately necessary but not an insurmountable obstacle. Convincing the Council's leadership was hard work. We learned the need to make a business case focusing on the financial and operational improvements; gather evidence from others; find a champion in the business with the vision and to build inertia within, and take the pilot route - this allowed us to progress in a controlled way and the leadership felt in control

The National Project framework was invaluable - we didn't follow the template provided slavishly, but changed the content considerably to suit our needs.

Wendy Carr, Cheshire and Warrington Partnership

Wendy explained the approach behind implementing 'joined-up' CRM model in a partnership context for the Cheshire and Warrington Information Consortium (CWIC), comprising 8 local authorities, Cheshire Police and Cheshire Fire Services

The pilot project involves linking two existing systems used by two councils to other CWIC partners to provide seamless services

It has been hard work, but achieved by partners' commitment to provide people and resources for the duration of the project. It would not have been possible to accomplish alone

After completing the implementation, CWIC will produce a lessons learned report and a demonstator - which means they need more funding

Being involved in the NP meant we have learned from national best practice and expertise on CRM. This involved translating the products written for single organisations into a partnership context. It gave us a degree of confidence that our approach was in line with the national agenda.

Maura Brooks, Salford City Council

Maura stressed that the materials available from the CRM Academy are decision-support, not decision-making tools

Organisational transformation is a challenge and an opportunity. A key theme of CRM implementation is that it involves developing new capabilities. Change management is about developing a capability to meet the need to be able to implement substantial changes that are sustainable. Councils start change from different points, but none have completed the journey

Delegates were advised to consult the Leadership and Innovation modules.

Nigel De Noronha - Audit Commission

Nigel conducted a snap-poll of the audience about their views on the potential roles, responsibilities and structure of the CRM Academy. Findings were:

Around 84% of delegates supported the concept. The vast majority thought there should be free membership, although around 9 per cent were prepared to pay over £3,000 to subscribe. Many thought the Academy should provide individual or on-site training rather than consultancy, and that it should be open to the wider public and voluntary sectors.