CRM is not about “managing” customers (anymore…)

CRM 2.0 is the move away from the transaction based “management” of customers (one way pushing marketing information) towards a real two way dialogue that is based on trust on both sides. To discover the full benefits of a changing customer behavior that is arising with new technologies, it is necessary for companies to open up, share information and start listening to customers instead of just pushing marketing messages out into the market. Engaging in such a meaningful conversation will help to discover new ideas and align products and services with the customer demand. It further leverages the willingness of users to contribute to the development and enhancement of products, services or ideas.

It has to be kept in mind that CRM 2.0 is not just a technology or software tool but consists of several components that all need to be considered and eventually implemented.

The underlying technology is only a minor matter but has to support the shown elements. Open Source software and Software as a Service (SaaS) can help to reduce the cost for the IT infrastructure in order to set the clear focus on the strategically more important parts like the required change in corporate culture.

Technorati Tags: CRM 2.0,Social CRM

What is a “Conversation” ?

When it comes to Social CRM or CRM 2.0, we often talk about establishing a conversation with customers. I think we all agree that pushing marketing data to a (static) Corporate Website or waiting for customers to call in when they have problems with the products is far away from having a conversation with them. But how can we define and establish such a conversation?

Creating a group on XING / LinkedIn, signing up as a corporation to Facebook or having an ‘official’ MySpace page does not automatically create efficient conversations with customers or prospects.

First step to get into a meaningful conversation with customers is a tough one, as it requires a company to share information that might normally be treated as confidential. This insight and the possibility to allow feedback from customers and prospects (using Web 2.0 tools) is the starting point of a real two-way conversation.

Of course the feedback has to be read and analyzed by someone in order to answer and get further feedback. This leads to a dialogue (and true collaboration) that allows to take action to improve a product or create new products and services.
To close the loop, the information about the new or improved products have to be shared again to allow new feedback and so on…

The Enterprise 2.0 paradigm can help creating the mindset within the corporation and will allow to create a relationship with customers that is worth being called so!

Technorati Tags: CRM 2.0,Meaningful Conversation,Two-way CRM

CRM 2.0 tipping point?

What will be the tipping point for CRM 2.0? What (and when) will be the single event to make it mandatory for every company to succeed?

Will it reach the critical mass at all!? Is this just another hype and one more buzzword that will be forgotten in two years?

There are examples like Apple that show it is possible to operate a successful company without actively including customers in the process of creating and evolving products and services (although they do a very good job in listening to their customers...)

Maybe there will be two kinds of CRM strategies in the future - one that gets into a true two-way discussion with the customer and builds on co-creation and co-operation; and another one that keeps focus on operational efficiency or competitive advantage through unique (kept secret as long as possible) features and functions?

I believe it is possible to create an outstanding customer experience without any CRM 2.0 strategy. It might depend on the product or the corporate culture if it makes sense to deeply involve customers in the processes or not.

Taly Weiss collected some predictions form 'Social Media influencers' on what they think will change in 2009:

Social Media Influencers Predictions 2009 By Trendsspotting

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: web 2.0social)

A Merry Christmas to all of you out there...

Technorati Tags: CRM 2.0,Tipping Point,Strategy,Predictions 2009

CRM 1.0 vs. CRM 2.0

• Starts with a (ready developed) product
  
• Strong Focus on SFA
  
• Gathers information about the customer
  
• Where is the Customer Relation?
  
• Where is the value (+experience) for customers?
  
• Process focused (Inside-Out view)

• Provide content to engage consumers in a conversation
  
• Collaborate on products and services
  
• Listen to users and customers
  
• The consumer engagement will lead to loyal customers
  
• This will create a Meaningful Customer Relationship that brings value to both sides!

Technorati Tags: CRM 2.0, process flow, loyal customers, meaningful customer relationship

Cross-Channel Integration

If you - as a company - want to create a truly positive customer experience, there will be no way around the integration of all the different contact channels.
This was already a hot topic in the CRM 1.0 days (and still is) and led to terms like the "360 degree view on a customer". But having all the information available at the agents fingertips is not everything needed to create an experience.
In addition to the collection of data and making it available in the front office, the analytical side of CRM needs to take all this data into consideration as well when it comes to real time offering suggestions or campaign management. Additionally the customer wants to get the same experience independent on the channel he is using. There should be no difference between an email, a letter or a phone call to a business.
I am one of the typical "1st try an email..." type of guys. And guess what, I am getting really upset when it takes 3 weeks to answer my email but the agent on the phone can resolve the issue within 10 secs. Does it also take three weeks to answer a mail - or are they considered more important?

It looks like the processes in a CRM 2.0 environment need to change dramatically from the current ones, that seem to have strong preferences on certain channels (while ignoring some others completely).

The following questions need to be considered in a CRM 2.0 implementation:

• What channels do I need to serve?
• What are the costs involved (opening new channels will disburden others)?
• How can I make sure the experience is the same across channels?
• What channels do my customers prefer (each customer individual)?

Technorati Tags: CRM 2.0, contact channels,

The Outside-In View

One of the Amdocs Marketing messages is around the 'Outside-In Perspective', i.e. the customer view on CRM rather than the 'Inside-Out Perspective' that only considers company features and processes.

This is true on one side, but does not really cover both sides. It is not enough to listen to the customer, it is very crucial that a business can offer value and an experience to buyers that is unique on the market. This will require some leadership and customer education in a specific area.

Companies like Apple do a very good job listening to their customers, but this is not the only reason for their success. Steve Jobs is also a visionary and is able to show new ideas and uncommon products bringing two worlds together.

To make buyers to loyal customers (i.e. Apple fans) requires a real Two-Way CRM that is also able to provide an outstanding and personalized customer experience with the products and the company or brand!

So it is a nice feature of CRM suites to adapt to existing business processes, but it is also necessary to re-think these processes and make sure they allow Two-Way CRM.

Advisory Relationship

Charles' comment about the differences in the business - customer relationship made me think about the changes that CRM 2.0 will imply in this area:
"CRM 1.0 assumes a “transaction relationship” with the customers. Trust is not necessarily important, just ”feeds and speeds,” so to speak. Does this not imply an advisory relationship? What kind of relationship does CRM 2.0 imply? Is this just a little change or is it a qualitative shift in relationships? Is trust important? In other words, there are a lot of subtitles involved in this 1.0 to 2.0 shift. What are they?"

If I follow the idea of an active customer that is willing to provide data and information about himself and takes part in what I called a 'two way CRM', it is absolutely necessary to create a high level of trust between both parties. Otherwise the customer will not be willing to provide all that data - he will see no value in doing so.
In the past (actually this is still the standard for 95% of the market) CRM was always a one way - or advisory - relationship, meaning that the businesses tried to gather as much data as they could of their customers and made them available wherever they could. That's what they called a 360° view of the customer and the goal was providing this information with some intelligence (e.g. what product can I up/cross sell to this customer) in real time on all available channels.
Although this still desirable, it will not be enough in the future to differentiate from competition and create a unique customer experience - which will lead to loyal customers.

CRM 2.0 really requires a much stronger relationship to customers, allowing them to take an active part in decisions and get more influence. A good example is the internet community that grouped together and bought Ebbsfleet Utd., a football club that is now actively managed by the members which take part in all decisions (even the formation during a game or player changes). How loyal would you be to a product where you are involved this deep?

CRM 2.0 should really be called "Customer Relationship Model 2.0" as the term Management suggests that the business 'manages' customers, which is not the case anymore...

Day 7 - Two Way CRM

Currently most of the CRM activities are initiated and driven by business rather than the customer. With CRM 2.0, this can change as the customer will play a much more active role in this relationship.
By providing data and deciding whom to provide the data, the customer actively steers the purchase decision and will speak to companies on the same level. Ideally, the relationship will be much deeper and the company is rewarded by true loyalty from the customer.
While most of the current marketing activities are based on analyst recommendations which derive their data from anonymous surveys the might - or might not - represent the consumers' demand, CRM 2.0 can help to let the customer take part in the creation and development of new products.
This will not only lead to new ideas and inventions, but also save cost and deepen customer retention.