Just who is the "C" in CRM?
In all the years of working on in CRM the most often question not asked during the implementation process is "Who is the customer?" Don't get me wrong, people add more data detail around most of their customer account screens than they usually ever populate...and therein lies the challenge.
The quick answer to the question above is:
a. Any person or organization you interact with that is not on your payroll.
b. All of your employees.
The first answer reveals that there are two different approaches to CRM. One approach is to take a myopic view of simply concentrating on customers and prospects and concentrating on the classic CRM definition of marketing, sales, and customer service. If only it were that simple. Many years ago one of my colleagues on the West Coast educated me on his view that CRM was really more about operational excellence than just managing customers.
As it turns out the "customer" includes customers, prospects, channel partners, vendors, referral sources, influencers, consultants and sub-contractors. When you assess your customers and all of the moving parts it is simply impossible to single out just the people who buy your products or services. Your vendors and their performance has as much to do with sales and customer service as the people who place orders with you. When done right you can track and relate these moving parts in a way that you get a true picture of your customer facing environment and all of the external influences on your customers.
The other "customer" that you need to be concerned with are the employees that work for you. When designing any CRM system it is important to consider who will be using the system and the needs of users according to their role in your organization. Among the considerations to be taken into place are where people need access, what information they need to complete the tasks in their job descriptions, and an analysis of how they interact with other departments.
At the end of the day the your employees ability to serve the different customer constituencies and improving communications and workflow between your internal departments will maximize both profitability and operational performance. The final question to ask at the end of your first phase of implementation is "Are my team members and my customers better off than they were when we started?" If not...go back to the drawing board and figure out where to make changes that will make this answer a true statement.
The quick answer to the question above is:
a. Any person or organization you interact with that is not on your payroll.
b. All of your employees.
The first answer reveals that there are two different approaches to CRM. One approach is to take a myopic view of simply concentrating on customers and prospects and concentrating on the classic CRM definition of marketing, sales, and customer service. If only it were that simple. Many years ago one of my colleagues on the West Coast educated me on his view that CRM was really more about operational excellence than just managing customers.
As it turns out the "customer" includes customers, prospects, channel partners, vendors, referral sources, influencers, consultants and sub-contractors. When you assess your customers and all of the moving parts it is simply impossible to single out just the people who buy your products or services. Your vendors and their performance has as much to do with sales and customer service as the people who place orders with you. When done right you can track and relate these moving parts in a way that you get a true picture of your customer facing environment and all of the external influences on your customers.
The other "customer" that you need to be concerned with are the employees that work for you. When designing any CRM system it is important to consider who will be using the system and the needs of users according to their role in your organization. Among the considerations to be taken into place are where people need access, what information they need to complete the tasks in their job descriptions, and an analysis of how they interact with other departments.
At the end of the day the your employees ability to serve the different customer constituencies and improving communications and workflow between your internal departments will maximize both profitability and operational performance. The final question to ask at the end of your first phase of implementation is "Are my team members and my customers better off than they were when we started?" If not...go back to the drawing board and figure out where to make changes that will make this answer a true statement.
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