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CRM is a silly acronym. I'm sure it will be filed away in the annals of
meaningless business terms with TQM (total quality management), best
practice, proactive, gap analysis, and (my personal favorite) synergy.
Graduate business schools are turning into virtual "Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhoods" of vocabulary lessons just to keep up with the
neverending flow of contrived words and awkward acronyms. When two
business professionals speak, it's almost as if they have their own
dialect, and CRM fits right in.
On several previous occasions, I've written about what I think CRM
really is. I came to the conclusion that CRM is really a merging of data,
providing a clearinghouse of information so that the customer can contact
a company in any manner and receive comparable levels of service. On that
basis, I think it deserves more credibility than some of the other
aforementioned terms. Yet, while more and more businesses are beginning to
understand (and demand) CRM, it remains an overly broad term. Too many
things fall under the CRM umbrella.
In any case, having explored possible CRM definitions, I'm inclined to
take on another CRM problem. Consider this: with so many products and
services under the CRM umbrella, it would be impossible for any company
with a market cap lower than Cisco to implement them all. Even those
companies with dot-com valuation still have to decide which CRM products
to implement first. Some sort of prioritization or hierarchy seems to be
in order.
CRM is a great idea. Basically, it's about letting the consumer choose
where and how to contact the company, keeping things organized in the
process. Yet most vendors who are beginning to ramp up their CRM strategy
are highly confused about which products are really important. They are
flooded with marketing hype about the importance of VoIP, chat, fax
management, e-mail response systems, and better voice responsiveness.
What's worse is that the CRM label is affixed to everything from a call
center agent's headset to a food dehydrator (well, not quite yet).
For an e-commerce vendor, what is the next logical step after creating
a Web site with a spinning, flaming logo? To answer this question, we've
relied on the jury-of-executive-opinion method, which is to say, a bunch
of analysts discussing the subject over drinks. No PowerPoint slides, just
a few blurry scribblings on a soggy collection of cocktail napkins, which
I've faithfully transcribed here, yielding a well-considered hierarchy of
CRM priorities.
- Voice: No matter what kind of business, regardless of market
or location, somebody has to answer the phone. Pure e-commerce vendors
have learned many hard lessons over the past two years when they lost
customers due to the lack of a simple 800 number and call queue. Every
serious business needs a call center. No exceptions.
- E-Mail Response Systems: Web pages need to facilitate sales
beyond just looking pretty. The "inter" in Internet is short
for interactive. Somebody has to answer all of the e-mails that go to
a "sales" or "info" address. Yet with potentially
thousands of messages, it is impractical to answer every one manually.
An automated e-mail response system can answer some using a natural
language processor, and forward the remainder to the appropriate
people using business rules. This is a natural choice for the number
two in priority.
- Fax: People often forget exactly how prevalent fax really is.
For many businesses, particularly internationally, fax is a critical
business tool. The standard method of dropping faxes into a pile and
hoping they reach their appropriate destination just won't cut it in
today's world, where customers demand higher levels of service.
- Chat: We all love our instant messages, and with a chat
system the average user can get immediate product info while still
online. This isn't a "must-have" yet, but it's certainly
gaining in popularity. It takes a high level of skill for an agent to
be able to respond intelligently and quickly to chat-based product
questions. Fortunately, most online consumers aren't totally
comfortable yet with the concept, but very soon will be. Online chat
will increase in importance greatly over the next two years.
- VoIP: Talking to someone through a microphone attached to a
PC is still a bit weird for the average consumer. When people want to
speak to someone remotely, they're still really only comfortable with
the most ubiquitous piece of technology in history, the telephone. I
know that when I talk to my computer, the language typically isn't
G-rated. This is certainly the least critical option, and very few
vendors have implemented it. Look for increased popularity in VoIP via
the PC over the next several years, particularly as DSL and cable
modems increase their penetration.
While this list may seem common-sensical, I never cease to be amazed at
the number of vendors that have a chat feature, but don't answer their
phones. Right now, managing voice and e-mail are the most important
priorities, and everything else is just gravy. To my way of thinking, if a
business can respond to my phone calls and my e-mails, both in a timely,
organized fashion, then I give them an "A" in customer service.
Brian Strachman is senior
analyst, Voice and Data Communications, Cahners In-Stat Group. To
correspond with the author, please send your comments to brians@instat.com.
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