TABLE OF CONTENTS The cases highlighted in this book illustrate the five processes we have identified as being key to successful CRM: strategy development; value creation; channel and media integration; information management; and performance assessment.
The companies in the case studies are at different stages with their CRM, and are enjoying variable benefits. Some have been highly successful, while others have learnt from the mistakes they have made and are now in the position of being able to use this learning for their next surge forward. Every company is different, faces different challenges, and has different objectives, and therefore every company sets about CRM differently. Nonetheless, while CRM is clearly not a one-size-fits-all, off-the-peg solution, other firms considering embarking on CRM can learn considerable lessons from the successes and failures of this first tranche of pioneers.
A number of factors prompt companies to embrace CRM. These include competition, more demanding customers, the need to manage corporate growth and an expanding customer base, and the need to retain as well as attract customers. However, those companies that have enjoyed the most success started small, and are now poised to roll out CRM to other parts of the organization. Don Peppers, the US one-to-one marketing guru, and one of the CRM opinion leaders we go on to interview in Chapter 9, says: In our client work, almost all the successful implementations are the result of rolling out from a series of pilot projects. The experiences of our case study companies certainly bear...
