Why “CRM “Must Die ?

Dears,

When Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez landed his ships on the eastern shore of Mexico in 1519, it was to fulfill his dreams. But his sailors grew tired of the hardships and talked of returning home to an easier life. To ensure they were totally committed with no option of turning back, he ordered his men to burn the ships.

In fact, "fighting" is precisely the right word. Consultants and vendors are in warring camps, each with vested interests in defining CRM their way. CRM has become a convenient label to sell stuff.

Consultants say CRM is an approach to business or process improvement. It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that their "solutions" are packaged as consulting services.
Vendors define CRM as something you can implement via their technology. Sure, some give lip service to "CRM is a strategy," but do vendors propose non-technology solutions to solve a CRM problem? Right. About the same percentage as consultants who propose technology without any of their services.
Industry analysts are hardly independent bystanders. Most use "CRM" to define sets of "front office" applications (marketing, sales and service software). But CRM-as-a-business-strategy could, of course, be enabled with many other technologies classified in other analysis buckets, such as call center, performance management, feedback management or even ERP.
It's no wonder that people are confused. Like the famous Indian legend of six blind men trying to "see" an elephant by touch, and each forming a very different impression, "CRM" can mean just about anything to anybody.
And now, Customer Experience Management proponents arrive fully armed and ready to escalate the war of words in a new direction. Is it part of CRM? An extension to CRM? An alternative to CRM? The answer depends on what you think CRM is.

And what of the collateral damage done in this war of words? You know, the companies that are supposed to "implement" CRM. Or the customers of those companies that are supposed to be more satisfied and loyal.
Customers say "customer-centric" means things like "high-quality goods and services," interactions with "empowered employees" and "open and honest communications Despite billions of dollars spent each year on customer-oriented technologies, there's been little or no improvement in customer-centricity over the past decade, at the industry level. Sometimes industry loyalty leaders use technology extensively and sometimes they don't But technology investments alone are not enough, or we'd all be a lot happier with the service we're getting.

Let's Burn the Great Ship "CRM"

I've come to the conclusion that, for true success with CRM (the customer-centric business kind of CRM, in case you're wondering), the "ship" that must burn is the term "CRM." It's the only way to get everyone on board with a concept that's obvious: Without customers, there is no business, so let's take care of them. But this ship has sailed with far too few people on board.
My advice is to call CRM whatever makes sense to your organization. Call it customer management, customer experience management, customer managed relationships—or, if you insist, customer relationship management. But spell it out and define what you mean, because CRM doesn't have a commonly accepted meaning, and I'm now convinced it never will.
My definition of Customer Relationship Management, for what it's worth, is quite simple: the development and implementation of a customer-centric business strategy. "Customer-centric" means giving your customers what they want. "Business strategy" means accomplishing the goals of your organization. Accomplish both at the same time, and you've got the win-win that CRM is supposed to be about.
Instead of more debates of what CRM is or isn't, focus on developing and implementing a successful customer-centric business strategy.

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