By Paul Velgos - Microsoft CRM Consulting Manager

Many companies look at CRM only as software. Something to store sales data so management can make opportunity pipeline reports. While CRM is very useful for these things, it’s only a small part of the big picture. Companies frequently overlook their customers’ needs when evaluating and deploying CRM.

A good example of what happens to a customer when they run into a company with poorly implemented CRM was my recent experience selling my car.

The car buyer called mid-week and wanted to purchase my car that Saturday. He had a long drive to get to my house so he wanted to make sure we could complete the transaction that day. A few days in advance, I called my bank’s loan department to find out what steps needed to happen. On Saturday morning, I followed the instructions and went with the buyer to a local bank branch. I spoke with a teller who, with a slight sneer, told us the loan department’s instructions were totally wrong and that we couldn’t do the transaction that day. Later that day we figured out a workaround but it ended up being a disappointing, time consuming and frustrating Saturday for me and the buyer.

As a Customer (the “C” in CRM), do you think I will ever use this bank again given the bad experience? Probably not. What about the buyer? As it turns out, he was the CEO of a large Chicago based business. Think he’ll ever use that bank for his business or family?

So what went wrong here?
- The auto loan department had access to all of my loan information while the local branch only had access to some of it (lack of full data integration across departments)
- The bank branch didn’t use the same policies and procedures as the loan department. (CRM design and training issue)
- Rude staff (The best CRM software won’t help bad employees)

What could this bank do to correct this situation? Use a CRM methodology to reassess their CRM deployment to identify gaps and optimization opportunities with customers, processes, data integration and training.

The lesson learned is the best CRM solutions are designed and implemented around the customer (the “C” in CRM). If this bank had a good CRM solution the customer experience most likely would have been much more pleasant. Happier customers are usually more profitable and loyal.

Think about the some of the good and bad experiences you’ve had with companies (i.e. Cable TV or cellphone). What type of experience would you like your customers to have with your business?