Coming Clean On A CRM Myth

When the results realized with software are disappointing, name changes are an option:

• MRP became ERP
• SFA became CRM
• CRM may be rechristened CEM (Customer Experience Management)

With CRM, customers come first only in the name. Vendors buy CRM to gain control of pipelines, improve forecast accuracy, lower their cost of sales and sell more. CRM results have been mediocre in part due to the hype of what's in it for buyers. CRM doesn't manage relationships. The name is misleading.

Adopting the name CEM would further hype software's role in buying. The critical element in a B2B customer experience is the way an average salesperson sells. While software can suggest offerings that make sense for buyers, the weak link is how these offerings are sold. Research done by Sales Benchmark Index indicates 13% of salespeople generate 87% of the revenue. Superior salespeople are in short supply. Consider that during a dining experience, an inept waiter can compromise an otherwise extraordinary meal.

I'd appreciate your input on any of the following questions:

• Do you agree it's time to be honest about what SFA/CRM/CEM offers buyers?
• What realistic expectations for software's role the B2B buying experience should be set?
• What is needed to positively affect B2B customer buying experiences?

6 Responses to "Coming Clean On A CRM Myth"

1. Michael DesRochers Says:
   September 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pm

   CEM is just AUA (Another Useless Acronym)
   The dirty little secret of CRM is its really just a more expensive contact manager. That's all most sales people use it for - although if they are forced to spend their time filling out little boxes, then managers gain visibility into the pipeline - like watching some of the same *hot* leads stay on the report month after month.

   Software can help, but it is never going to sell for you. It can help you keep track of contacts and related info. It can help organize and automate your follow-up activity. It can help track and qualify leads, and let you know when past customers are researching new products. It can automate lead nuturing and some of the more mundane reporting tasks. Beyond that, B2B sales requires two people communicating - and only 20% of those people are going to be natural personal relationship builders with the ability to win most deals.

2. James Smith Says:
   September 25th, 2007 at 3:12 pm

   1. Yes

   2. Realistic is not relevant. Can companies sit down and describe what it is they currently do, what it is they want to do and why and finally what the outcome will look like in terms of measurement? Then can this same organization actually identify their actual budget and who within the organization needs to review, negotiate and approve the identified solution?

   Finally, can this same organization put together a clear RFP with defined objectives and timelines for vendors to respond to? If companies focus their engeries in these realms much of the 'sales' effort can be rationalized and therefore much of the perceived frustration and disappointment will be minimized.

   It does not matter that $50 or $5,000,000 was paid for a CRM system. What matters is how many dollars come out of the box at the end. To be able to count the dollars coming out of the box you have to be able to measure.

   3. Focus on the what the B is trying 2 do to the B. Forget software and remember what WC Fields said - "Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail and face the situation."

3. Jim Doherty Says:
   September 26th, 2007 at 1:06 am

   1. Yes to all
   2. As a top sales performer I have yet to see tools that help me do my job. Endless filling out of reports while what I want to do is target accounts and develop them. Tough to get history at the sales level when all is geared to the CFO level. That is where CRM is old and it looks grand. If they could just get the underperfomers to make one more sales call. That is not the answer. The answer is getting performers to take newer reps, and say, this is how I did it. CRM can be replaced by a few spread sheets at this level and call reports. I have never seen a CRM plan that gives a sales person a strategic history and a plan. That is what perfomers want-real help.
   For now, CRM is an activity reporting tool that fills the pipeline with the same nonsense as 20 years ago. I for one never blue sky, but now I am forced to do so to keep up with the rest of the bly sky folks.

   Remember when your company was started, there was a CEO and CFO that made sales calls, and made business deals? Now you may be big, but how about the same idea. Get people that have the same zest and go for the deals. Hey, I am available if you want to get back to how EXTRA deals are won, 262-569-1460.
   CRM reminds me of the starving artists sale at your local hotel. The artist paint the same picture over and over again, and sure does look good over the sofa. BUT it will never be a original-you know-the one that built your company-that is the original.
   Jim Doherty

4. Richard Marsden Says:
   September 26th, 2007 at 7:35 am

   There is an ever increasing danger that CRM systems have the opposite effect to the one they profess to address which is that people hide behind them and don't get together to discuss a client's issues or to brainstorm solutions to their needs and ultimately they end up doing to offices what email started... people sitting 10 feet away from a colleague will email them rather than speak to them.

   Sales, as a process, is all about engaging with people to enable them to feel comfortable that they have enough information to make a buying decision and to make them feel confident that you and your colleagues can implement and support a solution for them. Sales as a profession is not about sitting in an office justifying your existence on a CRM system. It's about results and being in the client's office more than your own.

   CRM is, however, a useful management reporting tool but I would hate to see it become a barrier to good old fashioned open and frank communication. It has a role to play but it's not, as Michael and James both point out, the answer. It's a tool and a rather overpriced one at that in many cases.

5. John Holland Says:
   September 27th, 2007 at 8:48 pm

   Richard makes a great point in that the human side of selling is often lost or diminished when technology is used. Especially when the expectations for CRM as relates to buying have been so hyped.

6. Nick Moreno Says:
   November 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm

   CRM is a useful management-reporting tool. That said, the downside is that it is expensive, keeps reps in the office and often overlooks the "quality" of what's in the system. To succeed in sales, you have to be in the field and "face to face" with new prospects. At the end of the day, only one statistic is important... Close Rate.