Mercer Sees CRM Limits

Mercer Management Consulting has a section on its "How We Help" page called "Featured Capability." The feature today is "Targeting Customers for Profit" -- the gist of which is that you should segment your customers and sell harder (or smarter) the ones that are the most profitable. In other words, pick the best low hanging fruit first.

Pick the best low hanging fruit first.

Most readers already know that, of course, so what's the point of telling them? Like saying overweight people should eat less and exercise more, the real point is attacking the reasons it's just not happening. In the case of customer targeting, I can think of several:

• This is harder than it looks
• CRM systems are not set up properly
• Companies ask the wrong questions
• Data is wrong or insufficient
• There's inconsistent follow-through by frontline staff
• There's a cultural disconnect between "what's really happening out there" and senior management

Mercer hints at a few remedies on its web page and links to an HBR article with more. For example, a company can look at what's worked in the past; and it can also look at the market and see what's likely to work in the future, based on trends. But again, how many companies are really going to do that if they're not already doing it now?

Going back to the weight loss analogy; it strikes me that the real answer is that you need both good equipment and a good trainer (or at least a good workout partner). Of course, the better the coaching, the less good the equipment needs to be. A really great trainer can get you a good workout even in your hotel room (and eat right too, even in airports!). Great coaches don't need good equipment, but it helps. On the other hand, buying that really expensive treadmill doesn't help if it just sits in the bedroom. Apparently, that's equivalent to how many companies are using (or not using) CRM.

Here's one message I see for CRM technology providers: Get good partnering relationships with CRM consultants -- not just to promote the use of the technology but also to promote good CRM exercise.