October 2003 Newsletter
Emphasis on the Customer Experience

Last month we started with "Hooray, we are finally starting to see articles from various experts that are placing a lot more emphasis on the Customer Experience, a great experience being the result of good Customer Relationship Management."

This month is the opposite - Aaaahhhh, we are still hearing about companies that, even with poor to average return on investment (ROI) on their CRM 'systems' to date, continue to invest in the technology without addressing the other fundamental factors required to provide a better ROI land increased business benefits. We are not saying stop investing in technology - we believe in it, however:

"CRM isn't just about technology any more than hospitality is just about throwing a welcome mat on your front porch!"

What is true too is the software vendors that we work with and have interactions with, make this point very clear to their clients but often it falls on deaf ears and, when or if the company does not get what they want out of the' CRM system', the technology often gets blamed - this is very often unwarranted and unfair. Companies must accept that if they do not address the other requirements for CRM success they cannot 'blame the software' and must accept mediocrity at best. Those that do address the other fundamentals for CRM success will enjoy a far greater return on their investment and the vendors will suffer far less stress in trying to perform miracles through the software alone.

Many CRM projects are completed on time and on budget according to technical requirements yet are nevertheless considered failures. This white paper discusses the variables involved in project success and failure, and what you can do to re-align, refocus and re-energize CRM projects that have gone awry.

The Art of the Apology

Whist working with clients to help them provide better customer experiences we often have to work through a process of how to deal with a complaint and how to turn this into an opportunity to develop loyalty rather than create churn. This brief article has some bearing on this and is something many companies could benefit from understanding and instilling throughout the organisation

Tailored Conference Workshop Programmes
 
Many organisations will be starting to think about their 2004 Sales and Marketing conferences and what activities or programmes that they could run that are both participative for their staff and add value to the business.

SRD Group develop and run customised workshops around the topics of CRM and Building Great Customer Experiences that satisfy both of these needs. If you are interested in finding out more about how we could help drop me an email at