Manchmal sagen (bewegte) Bilder mehr als Worte:
Sometimes a picture’s worth a thousand words:

Joel Spolsky (joelonsoftware.com/) once distinguished between the various implementations of software, he described most regular commercial software packages as Consultingware:

»Consultingware is a variant of shrinkwrap which requires so much customization and installation that you need an army of consultants to install it, at outrageous cost. CRM and CMS packages often fall in this category. One gets the feeling that they don’t actually do anything, they are just an excuse to get an army of consultants in the door billing at $300/hour. Although consultingware is disguised as shrinkwrap, the high cost of an implementation means this is really more like internal software.

Commercial web based software such as Salesforce.com or even the more garden variety eBay still needs to be easy to use and run on many browsers. Although the developers have the luxury of (at least) some control over the “deployment” environment — the computers in the data center — they have to deal with a wide variety of web browsers and a large number of users so I consider this basically a variation of shrinkwrap.« [1]

We here at leancrm.com believe that CRM can be very easy and maintainable without becoming Consultingware. A standardized approach using a web based solution will allow for a lot of customization while maintaining a very moderate TCO.

Just to make sure you get me right: this article is stone old. It was my first editorial on CRM, published in the late 90s. When I started to think about “lean” CRM, I looked back and realized how little things have changed… But read for yourself!

1) CRM is new

The concept of CRM is not new at all. Managing your customer relationships is one of the basic elements of any business. However, solid customer relations were never as crucial as in today’s Internet-speed economy. The rules of hyper-competitive markets turn company hierarchies inside-out, putting the customer into the centre of all activities. In other words, CRM means nothing more than really listening to your customers and giving them what they’re asking for. Only real news: if you don’t start listening to your customers today, your business won’t be around much longer!

(Obviously this hasn’t changed since 1998. On the contrary, I had probably underestimated just how quick even successful companies, ironically including also a number of “traditional” CRM vendors, had to learn this the hard way…)

2) CRM helps you shape your business strategy

Due to the enormous hype, it is tempting to believe that CRM will give you all the answers around your business strategy. Many organisations rely on CRM as central vehicle on the road to success. Unfortunately many existing CRM installations aren’t worth the disk space they occupy, because they are built on top of a lousy business model. CRM itself doesn’t give you the answer! Most successful CRM solutions would even work as ‘paperware’, because the pure efficiency gain is secondary. Doing the right things is what really counts. So, business-strategy first, CRM second!

(Again, no news. Except nowadays’ CRM tools will let you follow the business strategy much quicker and with less effort!)

3) Enterprise-wide CRM

Why do so many CRM implementations fail? Looking at the characteristics of CRM projects, obviously size is negatively related to the likelyhood of success. Striving for instant completeness in their CRM approach hinders many organisations on their way to improved customer relations. Despite the need for thorough thinking behind the approach, it’s crucial to get going – no matter what the number of initial users is. Provided an overall “CRM-attitude” does exist (which is the hardest part anyway, as pointed out below), there’s no need to cover the whole organisation with CRM at once.

(Nothing has made this more clear than the success of salesforce.com!)

4) CRM is about Technology

One of the common ways of approaching CRM is to look at preceding IT ‘waves’ like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Supply Chain Management (SCM). However, the all time favorite comparison of CRM with ERP, for example, leads to a fatal misjudgement. Starting with the first spreadsheet application, ERP software has always been – and still is – all about leveraging technology to automate formalised, administrative processes. Applying the same concept to CRM reduces its potential to a minimum. Not only that typical sales processes can hardly be ‘automated’ at all, any attempt in this direction usually leads to strong resistance amongst potential users. Technology can only help people in doing things they believe in. CRM starts at the very heart of your organisation, in the minds of people, not in some IT center.

(With this trend unbroken, it’s again salesforce.com showing the big ones how “easy in” can work for enterprises, too)

5) Electronic Marketplaces will be the death of CRM

The exorbitant growth of electronic marketplaces suggests a movement away from grown 1:1 relationships to global, anonymous business platforms. Thinking it through, there are some scary questions that come to mind almost inevitably: will the traditional role of salesmen even still exist in such markets? How can vendors differentiate on anything but price, when the competition is just one click away? What will replace the face-to-face contact and long term personal relationship? Certainly not an Internet browser! Although electronic marketplaces will become THE platform for business to business procurement over the next few years, they will neither substitute long-grown relationships, nor will they decrease the need for building such relations. Electronic marketplaces will simply make the world yet a little smaller … and faster. Thus, CRM will become even more essential for surviving the ever increasing speed and complexity of the business.

(From today’s perspective, this seems much too pessimistic. I’m sure the average number of sales staff needed to manage an average customer relation has significantly decreased over the last decade. But has it done any good to the quality? You tell yourself!)

EMAAR, one of the world’s largest real estate developers, decided to use PropertyBase to market their US$27 billion King Abdullah Economic City Project in Saudi Arabia. The company decided to go with PropertyBase because of it’s ease of use, it’s comprehensive real estate features and functionalities and immediate availability.