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Here’s a twist on CRM.
With the survey complete, IBM BSC identified the common dominators to CRM success:
CRM should be run at the corporate level, or with a cross-functional perspective. Nearly 75 percent of companies manage it at the functional level, such as marketing, sales or customer service; only 25 percent of companies run it from a corporate level, where a senior-level team typically spans multiple functions and business units. When corporate units or cross-functional groups run CRM, there is a 25 percent to 60 percent greater chance of success.
When senior management views CRM as critical or strategic, that is a major contributor to overall CRM success. Unfortunately, the survey found, senior management in over 35 percent of companies impede CRM success by portraying it as useful, but not critical.
Employees must fully use the CRM tools at their disposal for CRM initiatives to deliver complete value. IBM BCS found that more than 75 percent of companies do not realize returns on CRM initiatives because they do not fully use CRM once it is implemented. Only 14 percent of employees fully use CRM. “This is due in part to companies’ underestimating the value of stakeholder alignment,” the report said. “Companies that are most successful are those that align CRM objectives with the priorities of employees. Yet only 21 percent of responding companies view employee alignment as very important to CRM success.”
