What Is the Right Culture To Implement CRM Successfully?

Bill Brendler
Member

Posted 20-Mar-2003 09:57 AM
What have you experienced regarding the culture that help or hinder CRM?

CRMGuru panelist specializing in Change Leadership & Organization Development

Marco Deveglia—CRM Group
Member
Picture of Marco Deveglia—CRM Group

Posted 21-Apr-2003 06:26 PM
I think the most important thing isn't "focusing on the customer". I guess the SME is focused enough and surely more than the big corporate.

I think the most important thing that helps CRM adoption among SMEs is understanding the role and importance of marketing.
If you don't consider marketing as the most important thing you do, you cannot even think about CRM.
CRM is marketing to your best customers. And marketing is what you do to create a market, that is to bring customers to your venture.
This is not selling: selling is when they're already in. Marketing is what you do to bring them in. And CRM is what you do to bring them in again.

A second key thing for the right CRM attitude—but this is key for large companies too—is understanding that you can and must measure results. If you don't measure what's going on with your CRM activities, if you're making more money or less, you're driving blind and this is never advisable.

So, understand marketing, check results and you'll do great CRM. Nothing too difficult, isn't it?

Marco Deveglia

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CRM Group
The CRM Pros of Italy
+39 02-36557682 [direct]
+39-328-3651907 [mobile]
http://www.crmgroup.it
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Edwin Setzpfand
Member Council
Member

Posted 15-May-2003 01:09 AM
If you need more information about change management you should certainly take a look at the work of Peter de Jager, at

http://www.technobility.com

* Enjoy Change! *

Edwin F. Setzpfand

Aaron B.
Member

Posted 13-Nov-2005 05:13 PM
I found on some of my projects cultural aspects that will hinder CRM, like:

-Cynics that only tell what won't work without give you alternatives.
-Lack of internal leadership, somebody has to lead the CRM program!
-Not listen to the customers.
-Lack of defined internal processes, dissorganized ways of work on sales and customer service.
-Wrong performance indicators.
-Departments works like isolated islands.

A right culture will help CRM, like:

-People has good disposition to change the way of doing things.
-Margin for making mistakes and learn from them.
-Listen to the customers
-Share the knowlege
-Collaboration between departments.

Aaron Barrantes
www.zonacrm.com

Graham Hill
Guru
Member

Posted 13-Nov-2005 11:24 PM
We must never forget that culture is "the way we do things around here". It is emergent bottom-up behaviour rather than planned top-down behaviour. As such, it is out of the direct control of management, although management's action's does influence it greatly, whether intentionally or uintentionally.

I have found that the 10 factors that organisational developers use to describe high-performance work organisations provide a very effective way to look at a customer-driven organisation's culture, values and behaviour.

High performance work organisations have been shown to deliver superior business results compared to other ways of organising work. That applies to customer-driven organisations too.

All of the factors that Aaron mentions fit neatly within the 10 characteristics of high performance work organisation's too.

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant

Natasha P-C
Member

Posted 20-Nov-2006 07:24 AM
I would argue that culture is NOT out of the direct control of management.

I have just conducted research (albeit very limited) into the cultures of 2 distinctly different B2B SMEs. 1 a well-established timber importer, the other, a relatively younger full service marketing agency.

Why? Well, having tried to implement CRM and Corporate branding within the timber importer, I started to give up hope and started to read. I came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter what we call it (CEM, CRM or corporate branding (see Hatch & Schultz for a more indepth comment on corporate branding)) but it basically amounts to the same. The company defines its proposition and then ensures the network (structure/processes/rewards) are in place to effectively implement it.

Organisational culture is about the behaviours staff are expected to display in order to fit in—behaviours that can be influenced and changed by the netwrk. My research showed that in both companies there was a propensity to change the culture based on these behaviours AND there was congruence between the managers and staff as to the ideal direction.

Without creating a nanny state, it is possible to control the culture even if the intensity of the shift may not be completely as desired.

Getting to the point—if you can identify the behaviours your team require to demonstrate that will help implement CRM (constructive, team working, communications etc.) the type of culture required will evolve. Human Synergistics OCI tool is a good start!

John Turnbull
Member

Posted 20-Nov-2006 03:18 PM
I believe culture is an important consideration in customer management. After seeing a number of organisations attempt CRM, it is clear to me that some organisations are "going against the grain" internally with CRM; merely plugging in some software and expecting their people to get up on Monday and behave differently.

Whilst "culture" is defined in different ways, fundamantally it works as a way of thinking about:

- the way we do things
- who are our heros / who is rewarded
- what do we expect you to do with customers
- who and what is important
- what will we spend money on

All of these things influence the customer experience. If your organisation believes and reinforces a culture of "so long as we make great products we will be successful", the customer will sense this and will interpret it as poor service.

John Turnbull
CRM Consultant
www.customerconnect.com.au