Highlights from a Sky News panel discussion with Raj Mendes, our MD.

A decade after the first CRM wave, much time and effort is heading towards CRM again. Raj was invited on Sky's "Technology Behind Business" program to discuss Customer Relationship Management, and he explains, amongst other things, how CRM approaches should take a holistic view and why the customer outcomes should be front of mind not the technology when developing a solution, specifically “the customer outcomes and the business outcomes are more important than the piece of technology which is implemented.”

So where does Raj see organisations getting it wrong when it comes to CRM? Raj’s experience in the field over the last 15-20 years has shown one of the largest mistakes companies make is taking a purely technology approach. He also notes that the companies which he has seen “getting it right” take a more holistic approach, really stepping back and taking a look at the things they need to do (i.e. what is the problem to be solved?) to deliver the business outcomes and excellent customer experiences they are trying to achieve with the CRM system. Raj notes that there are some great examples of getting it right at companies CEC has worked with which have gone on to get global awards.

Finally the question is posed, from the customers point of view what should a CRM system deliver?

Raj gives an example of one our customers, who, by looking holistically at the problem was able to achieve a 30 point NPS uplift through, (amongst other things) making sure calls are answered consistently and having every Agent making sure they treat every interaction like it was their only on for the day (the case study can be found here). The key message Raj wants to ensure people embarking on a CRM programme really understand is “that the customer outcomes and the business outcomes are more important than the piece of technology which is implemented.”

Click here to watch the video