CRM - December 2007 - (Page 23)

As 2007 ends, and 2008 looms ahead of us, patterns are beginning to emerge: The future of business may not be in the hands of the executives, but those of the customer instead. And yet, hasn’t it always been that way? we face the start of a new year more than halfway through a decade of significant change. We’ve seen companies come and go; we’ve seen the Web mature; we’ve seen software-as-a-service grow from a niche to a major business model. Through it all, we’ve heard over and over that “the customer is king.” That well-worn platitude is developing a life all its own, as part of a growing movement away from the traditional concepts of CRM. What has been seen as a means of managing customer data in order to understand them—or to sell more to them—is now viewed as a vital two-way link between customers and vendors centered on the overall customer experience. CRM, in other words, is incorporating customer experience management (CEM), or what many are calling CRM 2.0. For insight on this shift, there are few better starting points than Paul Greenberg. His CRM at the Speed of Light is one of the seminal books on customer strategy, and a fourth edition will arrive in 2008. “CRM must go 2.0,” Greenberg says. Up ’til now, he adds, CRM “has been mostly a left-brain effort”: collecting data and analyzing it, trying to comprehend the customer as a set of statistics. “It’s beginning to move to the right brain now,” he says. “It must be whole brain.” Just what that brain will arrive at is still uncertain. Greenberg is one of the driving forces behind an effort to define and characterize CRM 2.0, and even give it a new name if necessary. Not surprisingly, the discussions about CRM 2.0 are taking place through one of its defining technologies—a wiki (crm20.pbwiki.com). The introduction to the CRM 2.0 Wiki reads: “Classic” CRM is no longer viable—a one-dimensional corporate interaction that provides processes, services, and technology to the customer-facing departments—sales, marketing, and customer service. It is time to recognize that there is a customer ecosystem…that provides empowered customers who are increasingly interested in making their own choices in how they interact with companies that they do business with. That means that not only does the company need to provide the goods and services, but the tools and culture to make the experience of that customer one of paramount and unparalleled value to that customer and thus to the company in return. In Greenberg’s view, CRM is becoming something new, something independent of marketing campaigns or sales pitches. The customer now controls the business ecosystem, and that makes the situation different than anything we’ve seen before. “We are not dealing with a business initiative—it’s social evolution,” he says. “In 2008, there will be a drive by multiple companies to get branding, feedback, and more” from customers. The irony is that social media grew naturally, without help from business. www.destinationCRM.com CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2007 23 http://crm20.pbwiki.com http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - December 2007

CRM - December 2007 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity SAP’s Midmarket Design A Shift in SAP’s Growth Strategy: Buy Big to Get Bigger The Buyer Is Your Owner Prime Time for Streaming TV The Word on the Floor Market Focus: Energy/Utilities: Speaking Truth to Power (Companies) The Pulse Required Reading It’s All Coming 2.0gether Power to the People Speak Up! Document Management That's a Breeze Customers Gain Traction With Off-Road Vehicles Getting Connected With Surveys Mobile Data Gets Better Reception Secret of My Success Re:Tooling The Tipping Point Pint of View

CRM - December 2007

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