Customer relationship management (CRM) systems can boost a company's competitive performance by providing customers with much needed consistency and unity. Because the chief executive officer (CEO) plays a key role in the successful deployment of any implementation, the nature of CRM must be accurately communicated to the CEO.
Part Two of the series Difficult Conversations: Positioning Your CEO in a CRM Implementation.
As discussed in Part One of this series, because of the general political process involved in initiative generation and the assumptions the c-level may hold, explaining the purpose and function of a CRM to a CEO may not be an easy task. Part Two of this series provides a general outline for this discussion with the CEO. This approach will offer a logical sequence of topics that will form the basis for a script. It should be noted that this discussion is likely to involve several interactions and may involve different audiences as the topics are explored. Most importantly, this section concludes with a description of what actions the CEO must take as a result of this dialogue.
In Search of a Definition
The CRM industry is largely driven by the voice of technology. As the industry has matured, vendor influence has become more pervasive. Virtually every CRM topic web site and white paper is derived from a vendor perspective. As such, the definition or spin given to CRM reflects what the vendor would have the end user organization believe are the "must have" attributes of the system.
Over the eight years or so that CRM terminology has existed, there has never been a universally accepted definition. If the industry cannot agree on a definition, then what does the end user organization infer when management uses this term to launch an initiative? Most likely, each person is using his or her own perception of what the term and the initiative mean to his or her area of responsibility and to the organization at a whole. Thus, management is using the buzzwords of CRM, thinking they are communicating the same message when in fact they are not on the same page—much less the same chapter of the book. In many companies, the misuse of the CRM term has led to it being ostracized from the organizational vocabulary. Adherents to the concept are thereby forced to use new terminology to avoid association with the now discarded idea of CRM. This is a sad state of affairs for CRM advocates, and is an indictment of the industry for poisoning the pond.
For example, what does being customer-centric really mean? How do you define loyalty? Which metrics would measure whether the organization possesses these attributes or at what level?
For the purposes of this paper, CRM will be defined as follows:
* CRM is an operational strategy that commits the organization to a focus on customer profitability and life cycle value as a means for achieving long-term profitable growth and shareholder value.
* As a technology component of this strategy, CRM provides a complementary set of tools that facilitate processes that touch the customer, such that the total customer experience is maximized in a manner that leverages profitability and lifetime value.
* CRM technology provides a database which includes everything the organization knows about the customer relative to interactions, profiles, profit, and behavior. Access (analytical tools) to this database allows the organization to identify how to profitably serve the customer and anticipate future needs.
This definition clearly positions technology as an enabler of an operational strategy. However, industry hype would have the end user falsely believe that the technology is the driver of operational advantage. If CRM is not an operational strategy, then the technology must have magical qualities that create benefits due to its power and capabilities. One should not dismiss the potential for benefits of scale and pure automation; however, are these commensurate with the price, and is this really the objective of the technology? A pure technology deployment may garner a return on investment (ROI), but then one is simply "paving cow paths" and it becomes analogous to using a tank to kill a mosquito.
The Dilemma
From an organizational perspective, CRM is a disruptive concept, and it is expensive to deploy and support. Senior management tends to recoil at the cost, yet cutting short the strategy phase and budgeting has a consistent track record of failure. The underlying issue here is that without a clear sense of outcomes, it is difficult to generate the commitment to do the right things for the right reasons.
When the initiative is funded, the CEO, the chief operating officer (COO), and the board probably have different ideas about what they authorized, and believe that they have empowered someone to pursue CRM as a means to slay the dragons that threaten the organization. Having completed this step, they may not be receptive to the idea that their homework is incomplete and that they hold the keys of success or failure. This situation is all too common, and the fact that it is a CIO or another individual that is charged with implementation makes little difference. The owner of the initiative is confronted with the dilemma of proceeding and hoping for the best or suggesting the need for a strategy with the person who is positioned as the keeper of organizational strategy—all ingredients for a difficult discussion!
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/difficult-conversations-discussing-crm-with-your-ceo-part-two-elements-of-the-discussion-18822/
Part Two of the series Difficult Conversations: Positioning Your CEO in a CRM Implementation.
As discussed in Part One of this series, because of the general political process involved in initiative generation and the assumptions the c-level may hold, explaining the purpose and function of a CRM to a CEO may not be an easy task. Part Two of this series provides a general outline for this discussion with the CEO. This approach will offer a logical sequence of topics that will form the basis for a script. It should be noted that this discussion is likely to involve several interactions and may involve different audiences as the topics are explored. Most importantly, this section concludes with a description of what actions the CEO must take as a result of this dialogue.
In Search of a Definition
The CRM industry is largely driven by the voice of technology. As the industry has matured, vendor influence has become more pervasive. Virtually every CRM topic web site and white paper is derived from a vendor perspective. As such, the definition or spin given to CRM reflects what the vendor would have the end user organization believe are the "must have" attributes of the system.
Over the eight years or so that CRM terminology has existed, there has never been a universally accepted definition. If the industry cannot agree on a definition, then what does the end user organization infer when management uses this term to launch an initiative? Most likely, each person is using his or her own perception of what the term and the initiative mean to his or her area of responsibility and to the organization at a whole. Thus, management is using the buzzwords of CRM, thinking they are communicating the same message when in fact they are not on the same page—much less the same chapter of the book. In many companies, the misuse of the CRM term has led to it being ostracized from the organizational vocabulary. Adherents to the concept are thereby forced to use new terminology to avoid association with the now discarded idea of CRM. This is a sad state of affairs for CRM advocates, and is an indictment of the industry for poisoning the pond.
For example, what does being customer-centric really mean? How do you define loyalty? Which metrics would measure whether the organization possesses these attributes or at what level?
For the purposes of this paper, CRM will be defined as follows:
* CRM is an operational strategy that commits the organization to a focus on customer profitability and life cycle value as a means for achieving long-term profitable growth and shareholder value.
* As a technology component of this strategy, CRM provides a complementary set of tools that facilitate processes that touch the customer, such that the total customer experience is maximized in a manner that leverages profitability and lifetime value.
* CRM technology provides a database which includes everything the organization knows about the customer relative to interactions, profiles, profit, and behavior. Access (analytical tools) to this database allows the organization to identify how to profitably serve the customer and anticipate future needs.
This definition clearly positions technology as an enabler of an operational strategy. However, industry hype would have the end user falsely believe that the technology is the driver of operational advantage. If CRM is not an operational strategy, then the technology must have magical qualities that create benefits due to its power and capabilities. One should not dismiss the potential for benefits of scale and pure automation; however, are these commensurate with the price, and is this really the objective of the technology? A pure technology deployment may garner a return on investment (ROI), but then one is simply "paving cow paths" and it becomes analogous to using a tank to kill a mosquito.
The Dilemma
From an organizational perspective, CRM is a disruptive concept, and it is expensive to deploy and support. Senior management tends to recoil at the cost, yet cutting short the strategy phase and budgeting has a consistent track record of failure. The underlying issue here is that without a clear sense of outcomes, it is difficult to generate the commitment to do the right things for the right reasons.
When the initiative is funded, the CEO, the chief operating officer (COO), and the board probably have different ideas about what they authorized, and believe that they have empowered someone to pursue CRM as a means to slay the dragons that threaten the organization. Having completed this step, they may not be receptive to the idea that their homework is incomplete and that they hold the keys of success or failure. This situation is all too common, and the fact that it is a CIO or another individual that is charged with implementation makes little difference. The owner of the initiative is confronted with the dilemma of proceeding and hoping for the best or suggesting the need for a strategy with the person who is positioned as the keeper of organizational strategy—all ingredients for a difficult discussion!
SOURCE:
http://www.technologyevaluation.com/research/articles/difficult-conversations-discussing-crm-with-your-ceo-part-two-elements-of-the-discussion-18822/
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