3 Reasons Why CRM is a Full-time Job
- Chad Ghastin
- Apr 5, 2016
- 2 min read
Throughout my career I’ve heard marketing leaders openly profess the importance of increasing customer engagement and loyalty. But… I’ve also seen firsthand how their decisions directly contradict their words.
It’s no secret that marketers now need to do more with less or the same amount of staff and budgets. This situation often leads to short-term thinking that produces big budget, one-off mass media and digital marketing campaigns that generate significant impressions and share of voice, but unmeasurable ROI.
I’ve also experienced leaders that lack a true understanding of the required investment in people, processes and products needed to sustain and grow a profitable CRM program. They often have a perception of CRM as “batch and blast” email marketing or cutback their CRM investment once a basic program is in place. Unfortunately for the business and it customers, this short-term thinking leads them to believe they can now “part-time” their way to a successful CRM program.
However, as we’re taught in the famous Aesop’ fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, cutting corners isn’t the best approach and I propose three reasons why CRM is full-time job.
1) CRM is Always-on Marketing: Unlike one-off mass media campaigns, CRM is a dynamic data-driven marketing program that links the value chain across customer touch points. Even the most basic CRM program touches customers across the life cycle and in real-time. This always-on trait requires an investment in the processes and products needed to grow profitable customer relationships across their journey with the brand. If you won’t, your competitors will!
2) CRM Generates Real-time Business Intelligence: Knowing your customer’s needs, desires and preferences can be leveraged to create a competitive advantage (e.g., Amazon). CRM provides marketers with the actionable data needed to treat customers with relevant and meaningful offers and experiences that increase loyalty, advocacy and profitability. We all love brands that surprise and delight us and we go out of way to share these experience with our friends!
3) CRM is a Test-and-Learn Environment: The data-driven foundation of CRM allows marketers to continuously test-and-learn from simple A/B testing to large multivariate testing that can have a significant impact on customer loyalty and profitability. Over time, this hypothesis testing and data analysis becomes more complex and requires an investment in the right staff including, data scientists and financial analysts. As with life, the old saying “if you’re not learning, you’re not growing” applies to CRM!
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