Okay, what is this CRM thing?

What is CRM? Of course the three letters mean Customer Relationship Management, but that's hardly enough to help.

If you ask this question to a dozen people in a large company, you’ll probably get a dozen answers.  Maybe more.  You’ll get answers like “We do CRM with our Sales Force Automation system” while someone else would say, “No, it’s our inbound Help Line, or our outbound Call Center” and a third would pipe up with “It’s our Direct Email operation”.  And then what do these groups do to earn the CRM title?  That is where the complexity comes in.

Yet based on the three words - customer, relationship, management - it should be simple.  And it is, if you can think broadly enough.

Who are your customers, and how do you manage the relations with them? 

First, who are your customers?  Do you know?

An old-school (true) story:  An old codger I know has a huge home shop, but hasn’t bought a new shop tool in decades.  Instead, he haunts flea markets and yard sales, and only buys top brands (Snap-on, Rigid, etc) with good service and warranties.  If you sell tools these tools, what do you think of him?  He’s never spent a dime with your company, and probably never will, but he’s a frequent user of your warranty - he actually costs you money.  Is he your valued customer?

The answer is emphatically “yes”!  He is supporting the secondary market; when someone does buy your tools, they know there is a resale market supporting the value of their purchase.  When this person recommends your tools (after all, he’s an expert), he’s adding to your brand value.

Okay, ‘Influencer’ is a well-known role in the sales process.  But who are influencers?  These days, it can be anyone with a computer and internet connection.  There are some well-written diatribes on subjects like “Dell Hell” and “Wal-Mart Sucks”; alternatively, “I love Zappos” is easy to find too.  No one knows (nor much cares) who writes these, but they have the effect of rallying the like-minded and drawing in the curious.

These days, anyone can be a customer or influencer.  So treat everyone as best you can - everyone.  Treat people as they want to be treated, not just as you would want.  You are different from them.  Find out how they want to be treated, then do it.  (Within reason of course.  Don't give away the store.)