“CRM is not about technology” was the popular mantra of 2000: so it is ironic that in 2008 CRM means ‘customer relationship management supported by technology’. Even Forrester has redefined it this way. However, to view CRM as secondary to customer relationship strategy – as some business managers do - is to be blind to the opportunities for innovation and value creation spilling out of the heads of IT professionals. For there, flows a wealth of ideas to realize the vision of sales through service, differentiating customer experience and conversational marketing.

With the escalating pace of IT change, and investment in CRM technology (licences and maintenance) set to reach $11bn by 2011 it is now a pre-requisite for strategic marketing managers to be IT literate and work in collaboration with IT colleagues to spot opportunity, innovate and set relevant business change in motion. Fortunately, new software delivery models such as open source and software as a service (SaaS) enable this transformation by increasing access to IT and lowering the cost of experimentation.

So here are some key technologies to look out for. Many are at long last able to meet the CRM vision we have had for so long; others promise to remove the ‘Berlin Wall’ between IT and business; some will revolutionise industries.

Enhancing the customer value proposition

• Real-time decision support (aka next best action)
• Social productivity platforms
• Mobile and location based services
• Mashups

Augmenting people - your most valuable asset

• Enterprise 2.0
• Voice recognition

Generating the adaptive business

• Model driven CRM applications
• Cloud computing

Behind the scenes

• Information security
• Service orientated application or architecture (SOA
• Bandwidth and memory storage
• Virtualisation

For more detail see “New Technologies every marketing manager should know about”.

This time last year the ‘plastic bag’ movement was getting into full swing. Now, the hype is passing. Going green hit a high last season; now economic pressures have taken over. A new report by Ernst and Young suggests that as food prices rise, higher priced organic food will be shunned; whilst higher fuel prices show that giving up ‘combustion engine’ transport is neither popular or viable. Meanwhile the evidence on climate change is looking less and less consensual.

But that does not mean that organizations can go back to business as usual. There is seldom hype without good cause; a butterfly has fluttered its wings and changes are in motion.

The problem with greenwash is that it has been a bullying, hypocritical, bandwagon. Live Aid wrist bands were worn more as a ‘personality’ fashion statement, than out of a real passion to help Africa sort out it’s structural issues. But underneath it all there is still a need to think about our environment - just look at the state of China. There is still a need to save resources - Freecycle is a popular movement. There is still a need for companies to help combat social issues - obesity is real, and food education badly needed.

So, in your research find out both the ethical concerns and the everyday problems of your customers, and build your proposition accordingly - but be informative and be honest. There are still good ’solid’ reasons for people to buy organic food from local producers, cut down on plastic bag use, and walk more - it will save them money, declutter their houses, and help them lead healthier, longer lives. There are also major market segments very interested in doing something real to help others, and companies like outdoor clothing company Patagonia, provide an excellent service in raising awareness of global social and environmental issues.

Personal social responsibility never was and never will be hype.

‘Google’ a company name and customer service and you will get a good view of their customers’ experiences - especially if it is poor. Customers can also use ‘word of mouth’ sites to discuss and review experiences eg epinions, tripadvisor, and ciao!. These can all be helpful to potential customers, but the downside is that reviews may not be genuine - trolls and vested interests are not always apparent - and ‘one mans meat, can definately be another mans poison’ - in other words are the customers ‘like you’.

On very few of these occasions does the company have a means of reply (Tripadvisor does), and of course any good conversation is two way; and thus more valuable. Which is why I am interested in the development of Plebble, a site for rating the service and value for money for any organization from The Labour Party to your local butcher. With the added advantage that the company has the ‘right of reply’. The reply being posted on site, and the reviewer being notified by Plebble.

The idea is to get companies and customers talking. For customers they can see both how the company is rated, but also how it deals with complaints and compliments. For the company they get customer feedback, a benchmark of how they do against other companies, and the right to respond, so demonstrating their ‘customer care’.

A good initiative I will be following, and using, with interest.

I’ve been evaluating and judging companies on their ‘customer centricity’ for nearly eight years now, but on Monday at the 2008 National Business Awards I found myself in a situation I’ve never faced before. How do you evaluate companies who have all developed ‘good practice’ customer relationship management?

All four candidates this year in the Customer Focus Award had a sound customer value proposition, a passion for personalising customer service, they involved their staff in collaborative teams, they asked for customer opinions, they know what proportion of their results are attributable to their customer focus, and they all link their services into their communities. They were truly an inspiration.

No longer was it a question of separating sheep from goats, for the first time I was into grading the quality of ‘wool’; so what was I looking for? I decided on four criteria:-

1. How far they had pulled down the walls of the company and let customers in - did they have conversations with them, did they collaborate with them?

2. OK, they had put in place excellent customer processes but how were they going to sustain that excellence. How did they look ahead, what infrastructure was there for innovation in solving customer problems and managing change?

3. What language did they talk in, what clues did they give as to culture and leadership. Did they tell me about their customer community with cost saving being the number one benefit? It is hard to change to outside- in language, if you are not truly outside-in. It’s a sure sign of customer focus.

4. How was customer focus driving value and resource management in the company? What waste had been eliminated, what value added?