Connected CRM: Implementing a Data-Driven, Customer-Centric Business Strategy

Chapter4 Connected CRM

Building Customer Strategy as a Business Strategy

Our inspiration for developing the Connected Customer Relationship Marketing (cCRM) approach was not about a need to convince marketers that a customer-centric strategy is the path to business success. It was born out of the existence of a collective roadblock preventing marketers from following through on what they knew needed to be done. That roadblock represented the how—how to take customer centricity from an aspirational end state to a real way of life. cCRM is the way through the barriers. Instead of cringing at the increasing complexity of the marketplace, it allows brands to unveil the immense opportunity it creates. We define cCRM as “a systematic method of identifying, serving, and retaining customers based upon their value, through orchestrated customer interactions that improve financial results, create competitive advantage, and drive shareholder value.” That's a mouthful, but when you break it down, you begin to see several distinct competencies that, once mastered, can drive competitive differentiation.

These competencies comprise a clearly rationalized framework that is at the heart of cCRM. It describes an ongoing process for complete enterprise implementation. Fundamentally, the approach is the same for every organization, with three seemingly simple steps: developing the strategy, building the infrastructure, and effecting the operational changes necessary to implement.

It's difficult. There ...