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Six (and more) Reasons Why CRM Initiatives Fail

THERE ARE COUNTLESS TRAPS on the way towards a successful CRM program, and one of them lies in thinking about it as an “initiative”. This article summarizing some of them. I find the following very compelling:

CRM systems are essentially databases with customer oriented forms built on top. They are very good at capturing and organizing structured information, but are horrific at capturing and organizing unstructured information.

and

Today’s CRM is more useful for transactional (i.e. call center) types of companies than it is for small businesses who have client relationships that are more solution oriented in nature.

Exactly. True relationships defy pre-set rules. CRM is operating on the premise that customers are deterministic automatons: it’s a useful abstraction, yet it is – taken literally – dangerous and foolish. All businesses are “solutions oriented” in that they solve customers’ needs. And these are all but predictable. There must be a better way of capturing them and working with them than stuffing them into “Opportunities” and subjecting them to a process dead-set in stone.

For a small business that has a lot of direct interaction with customers, CRM ought to be little more than a contact management. Why? Because it’s silly and wasteful to automate relationships that you are able to maintain on the personal level. Yes, for big business, CRM 2.0 poses a gargantuan challenge: how to re-activate the human, ad-hoc side of business transinteractions when your customer base is half the planet? (think Microsoft, GE…). For the little guy, I advise common sense. Yes, by all means, keep your customer information in one place and make it accessible, searchable, reusable. Just don’t forget your clients are more demanding, more insightful than ever. And keep talking to them (and listening back). That will give you a ROI no CRM software can.

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March 5, 2007 | Filed Under CRM 

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