Of course we all know this acronym represents customer relationship management.
But that is where it ends because we could line up 20 people and ask them to actually define what customer relationship management means and we would most likely receive 20 different answers. Why? I would presume it is partially attributable to what one’s responsibilities are.
For example:
• The DMS tech person would probably go after the customer data content for definition.
• The Internet manager might look to data as well revolving around lead management information, and their ability to contact the prospective buyers.
• Sales consultants might think pre-printed customer cards, letters and daily marketing plans.
• Call center folks might lean towards customer-oriented phone skills and handling objections.
• The dealer principal might see it as owner-based customer retention
• The service department looks to appointments for the department and mailing ads to customers.
The interesting thing here is they are all correct in their assertation of what CRM means to them. What the dealership needs to do however is define CRM in terms of what it means to the entire store.
Customer relationship management should be a business strategy built around the concept of being totally customer-focused. The main goals are to optimize revenue through improved customer satisfaction via improved interactions at each customer touch point. This can be accomplished by a better understanding of customers, based on their purchasing patterns and demographics, and better information empowerment at all customer touch points, whether with employees or other media interfaces. CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customers, whether it be sales, service or support related. This is a means to gain trust from customers by meeting the needs of each customer in a more personalized way in order to increase sales.
When you remove common sense from CRM, the extra, new ingredient is the ability to store and retrieve accurate customer information so you have a new way to do business in a way that improves customer service. In an ideal world, this customer information will be integrated with operational processes to give a seamless customer interface from inquiry to delivery of products or services. CRM is therefore based on the idea of tailoring your response to each customer's profile using information collected about that customer.
Perhaps the following information I located could provide a springboard to your store in developing a sort of CRM Mission Statement so everyone has a clear understanding of their individual mission and what CRM represents to your overall dealership.
1. Implementing total “customer-focused” business strategies
Everything you do has to have the customer’s best interest in mind. We’re having so much trouble defining CRM for one simple reason: so many of us are determined to define CRM as something less than it is. Why? Because it’s easier to “implement” that way. Hey, if we can cut it down to a couple of simple steps, even one, we can slam it in lots quicker. Unfortunately, the only thing that gets slammed using this abbreviated approach is us. So let’s define CRM for all it is: a complex, four-step process with far-reaching affects on the very way you conduct business.
Starting with developing customer-focused business strategies—also known as the step we most want to avoid, because it’s all about planning. Who has the time and patience for planning? Anyone who wants to be successful at CRM, that’s who.
The object of planning customer-focused business strategies is to find win-win opportunities with customers. Do more that benefits them so they’ll do more that benefits us—like buy more from you and stay with you. The “customer relationship” planning approach is relatively simple. Put yourself in your customers' shoes. See through their eyes. Discover what they want and how they wish to be treated. Even anticipate what they don’t want yet, but will. And when you’ve done that, you'll be ready to identify the best mutual opportunities for your customers and your company. Then you can prioritize these opportunities, pick the best and put them into play. Obviously there’s a little more to it than that, but that's the gist of it.
Very important to understanding customer relationship planning and how it’s done is recognizing these significant departures from traditional market planning:
• You plan everything around customer wants, not company goals.
• You focus on listening to customers, rather than forcing them to listen to you.
• You relegate promotional marketing communication—including database marketing, e-database marketing, e-marketing, etc.—to a secondary role, operating in the shadow of the more important, informed, informational dialog with customers.
You get the picture. And now you get to rush out and put all this into play, right? Well, not exactly, because implementing your new, customer-focused strategies will almost invariably require you to change how you do business. And besides, where’s the software? Can’t do CRM without software, right? But more on these issues in the next three steps.
2. CRM that drives redesigning of everyday functional activities
Redesigning functional activities is otherwise known as the step we forget about altogether. Why? Because we'd rather get ambushed by it, catch a whole quiver of arrows in the chest, and then die a dramatic death in the corner service bay.
So you don’t forget (or duck) and here’s what happens. When you change to more customer-focused business strategies, you have to work differently. Otherwise, you’ll do the same stuff you’ve always done. But we have a nasty tendency to “keep on doing things the way we know” while trying to go somewhere else. Ergo, we leave functional activities as they were.
It doesn’t work. Instead, we have to carefully assess the roles of all departments interacting with customers to see if they’re adding value to customers, or adding cost instead. Then we have to figure out how to reconfigure our organization so that everything we do is designed to help customers and nothing we do adds unnecessary cost.
Reorganizing the organization to act more in consort with customers can be quite a chore. But so can cleaning up the mess after you try to implement CRM while working at cross-purposes with powerful departments like sales, service, accounting and IT. So you have to take this step if you’re going to succeed with CRM. But you can only take it if senior management wants CRM badly enough to bite the bullet and do the right thing by customers, which is often a hard thing by the organization. There are new strategies to be employed and you better have them in place. Better plan on some good solid 21st century CRM training for your people here or you will be tomorrow where you are today.
3. CRM that demands re-engineering of work processes
Now let look at the third step, re-engineering work processes. Actually, many CRM implementers try to leap over steps one and two to start with work processes, almost always resulting in one of two outcomes. The first being they automate work processes instead of doing CRM. The second is... well, imagine moving the lot around with blindfolds on your employees. But let's not let little accidents like these deter us from serious thinking about a very important CRM component. Especially when many have a nasty tendency to do re-engineering without thinking much about what we’re doing.
The function of process re-engineering in CRM is fairly obvious. In order to put the customer in the center of your business circle, you have to change departmental roles and responsibilities. And when that happens, we have to adopt new work processes. Otherwise, you’ll do the same work you’ve always done with the same outcomes yet hoping for a different result. But how should you change work processes? Here's where things get interesting. You have two basic choices—re-engineering to perform each process step as efficiently as possible or re-engineering to maximize “throughput” from the beginning of the marketing/sales process to the end. You normally opt for the former—which might work if marketing and selling were factory stuff with predictable work flows. But they’re not. Instead, you have these unpredictable elements called “customers” that refuse to cooperate and do things according to your schedules.
Without drowning in the science of process management, suffice it to say that in conditions of uncertainty, trying to maximize efficiency up and down the process chain is usually an unmitigated disaster. In contrast, maximizing throughput usually gives us a far superior return on our marketing and sales resources. Processes will take you to the next achievement level but you better get some training installed in this area as well or again you will be wondering where you are headed.
4. CRM that is supported and facilitated, not driven, by CRM technology
In this last step we’ll look at selecting software that supports or facilitates (but doesn’t drive) new workflow and work processes and your people’s ability to work more productively.
Yes, yes, I know—lots of late awakeners are still trying to start CRM with software. But those folks are so far behind the learning curve that there’s no point trying to catch them up. This is the ready shoot aim approach and never hits the bullseye or for that matter, even close to the target.
CRM software comes in all shapes, sizes and functions. In fact, the functions span a broad continuum from marketing automation to sales automation to BDC center sales to call center support and to field service. And, please note, the end-to-end functionalities are so dissimilar that no software package on the market handles every function with better than “check-box” proficiency. That’s why it’s so important for you to identify your sweet spot needs and compare your focal point to the focal point of every software system you’re considering.
Every system on the market has a sweet spot. And every system is next best at providing the functionality on one side or other of the continuum (but rarely both). Proficiency then declines with distance from the sweet spot. So don’t let any software sales type sweet talk you into believing that their system does everything. You can also overpay for software so do some serious research before you commit.
I am beginning the interesting construction of a document on how different people actually define CRM and what it means to them personally. If you would care to be a part of this endeavor please e-mail me with your rendition of CRM. I would love to hear from as many readers as possible. Until then, make it a great CRM experience.
Chuck Barker’s experience ranges from an executive with a Fortune 200 computer corporation to the automobile business. He has held positions as business development manager, sales manager, acting GM, ADP executive regional manager specializing in CRM and his own current company, Impact Marketing & Consulting Group, LLC, located in Virginia. His firm delivers CRM process strategies, 21st century CRM sales training, CRM e-business deployment and CRM management leadership workshops. More information can be located at his web site: www.impactgroupcrm.com.
