CUSTOMER THINK GUIDE TO REAL CRM PUTTING CUSTOMERS AT THE HEART OF YOUR BUSINESS PROFITABLY.

Our goal is to offer you exceptional content and advice on “Real CRM”—what we call CustomerThink—so that you can guide your CRM program on the road to success. We want to make you think and encourage you to challenge our thinking too! It allows us all to learn and grow as we take the customer-centric journey together.
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CUSTOMER THINK GUIDE TO REAL CRM PUTTING CUSTOMERS AT THE HEART OF YOUR BUSINESS PROFITABLY. CUSTOMERTHINK GUIDE TO REAL CRMPUTTING CUSTOMERS AT THE HEART OF YOUR BUSINESS. PROFITABLY. January 2003 Published by © 2003 CustomerThink Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and Distribution Strictly Prohibited. For reprint permission and fees, email reprint@crmguru.com. C u sto m erT h in k G u id e t o R ea l C R MWelcome to the CRMGuru Community!Thanks for becoming a member of CRMGuru.com, the world’s largest online community forCustomer Relationship Management (CRM). Your fellow members are business managers andprofessionals who place “customers at the heart of business.”Our goal is to offer you exceptional content and advice on “Real CRM”—what we callCustomerThink—so that you can guide your CRM program on the road to success. We want tomake you think and encourage you to challenge our thinking too! It allows us all to learn andgrow as we take the customer-centric journey together.This CustomerThink Guide to Real CRM showcases a few articles to help you get started. Butthere’s much more. If you’re serious about CRM, invest some time exploring CRMGuru’sknowledgebase—known as the Gurubase1—which contains hundreds of archived articles,newsletters, discussions, and white papers. All designed to help you practice Real CRM.After you’ve finished this document, dig deeper by reading GuruBase articles covering: • Fundamentals of CRM, written by our expert panel2 • Independent reviews of major CRM solutions3Again, welcome. We’ll do our best to make your CRMGuru experience enjoyable andeducational. Let me know how we can help you on your Real CRM journey.Sincerely,Carol Parenzan SmalleyManaging Editor, CRMGuru.comcarol@crmguru.com1 Go to www.crmguru.com/gurubase.2 Go to http://www.crmguru.com/gurubase/basics.html3 Go to http://www.crmguru.com/gurubase/solutions.html© 2003 CustomerThink Corporation C u sto m erT h in k G u id e t o R ea l C R MTable of ContentsWhat is CRM?................................................................................................................... 1Why Climb The CRM Mountain? ................................................................................... 4Build Value For Customers To Create Lasting Relationships................................... 7Great CRM Hinges on Great Business Processes................................................... 10The Human Dimension: The Key to Success or Failure.......................................... 13A Guide to Evaluating CRM Software......................................................................... 14Glossary of Commonly-Used CRM Terms................................................................. 19© 2003 CustomerThink CorporationC u sto m erT h in k G u id e t o R ea l C R M 1WHAT IS CRM?By Bob ThompsonThe ideas behind customer relationship management are not new. Today it’s widelyacknowledged that how you treat your customers goes a long way to determining yourfuture profitability, and companies are making bigger and bigger investments to do justthat. Customers are savvier about the service they should be getting and are voting withtheir wallets based on the experience they receive.The concepts of Customer Relationship Management have been in the air ever since one caveman had achoice of buying an arrowhead from either Og or Thag, but CRM as a term gained currency in the mid-1990s. Market analysts squabble over the exact figure, but all agree that in the next few years companieswill pour billions of dollars into CRM solutions—software and services designed to help businesses moreeffectively manage customer relationships through any direct or indirect channel a customer opts to use.But there’s a problem with CRM today. Too many people think it means large enterprises buyingexpensive technology such as a call center, sales automation software, or even Internet-based customerservice. Yes, a lot of money is being spent. In 2002, Aberdeen Research says over $13 billion was spentworldwide on CRM-related technology and services.Perhaps you will be surprised to learn that CRM is notsomething you can buy, and technology is not necessarily How exactly does a companyrequired. Rather, CRM is a business strategy that applies to create a “customer-centricevery organization. It means working with customers such that business philosophy andthey receive great service and are motivated to return again culture?” Hint: Not with aand again to do more business with your company. software package.Management consultant Peter Drucker once said: “The truebusiness of every company is to make and keep customers.”The key question is: How competitive is your CRM strategy? Do you know which customers are the mostprofitable? Which customers are satisfied, or not? How your customer processes compare in speed, cost,and value to your competitors? If not, your CRM strategy needs to be upgraded. Yes, technology canprovide helpful tools, but our research at CRMGuru.com finds that the real secret to successful CRM isexecutive leadership and a customer-oriented culture.What, then, is CRM? Putting this question to our panel of CRM experts, we developed this definition: Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy to acquire and retain the most valuable customer relationships. CRM requires a customer-centric business philosophy and culture to support effective marketing, sales, and service processes. CRM app ...