Increasing Customer Value One Contact at a Time

Original Post: 7/17/2003
Ask a dozen customer-facing managers in any large company whether their CRM initiatives have been a success and the chances are that many of them will say “no.” Ask them why they failed, and they will talk about big bets on technology, insufficient management support, a lack of focus on customers and a number of other factors. And ask the others why their initiatives succeeded, and they will tell you about having a customer-focused strategy, line-level training and support, an emphasis on measuring outcomes, and a number of other factors.

But look past their generic answers — at the root causes of CRM success and failure — and a different picture emerges. This one shows which CRM capabilities create (and destroy) value — and the additional value from using the capabilities more effectively. Value is created during contacts with customers, both for the company and for its customers, but it leaks away through inefficiency. A phone company making a sale instantly c…