The CRM Textbook: customer relationship training Terry James © 2006 Chapter 2: CRM Culture

If CRM is so obvious, why aren't we doing it now? Boredom, lazy, not rewarded,… Good service syndrome – the better you are, the more work people bring you, the slower you go,... Culture – pay, loyalty, authority… the company just is not setup to focus on customers 1000 other reasons

What is a company culture? Discuss with students around you what is meant by company culture. Pick a speaker to represent your group to the class Culture is the values, attitudes, and behaviors of the company. Just as a person can have a personality, so can companies. Fun, sad, energetic, slow,…

Difficult, but possible CRM is about people changing attitudes, how they think about work, and how they work. Changing culture is not easy, but it is possible Every big project means big changes, and big changes always mean changing thinking and behavior, which means changing the culture. Learn to change culture, become a culture master, and every company will need you.

Needed ? Pace of change is accelerating every year. It is not IF you will change? Change is a given, the only question is how much change for next week ? Evolution, revolution, or die With evolution, you control timing and impacts Evolutionary change is more managed How many companies in the top 500 are still in the top 500 ten years later?

Education and reward All experts agree, the two best ways to change a culture is education and money. Education – explain your vision, let people see what can be accomplished, and why. Money – people will change if you pay them

Education – two flavors Why the change is great for the company Why the change is great for the group you are talking to. Note- NOT why it is great for you, why it is great for them (your audience).

Education You can be sure CRM was understood to be great for the company, or the funds to do it would not be approved. You will need to tailor your presentation to show why it is great for each department.

Rewards Always begin with a carrot, not a stick. What does the early adopter get? Startup money is given to startups Bonus, training funds, short term goal rewards With attention of success, the others will follow. Rewards are not always money Rah-rah meeting, newsletter, executive attention

Divide and conquer Do not expect full support from everyone With any change, there are always winners and losers. People who lose power may not be keen. There are always some eager leaders waiting to show what they can do. Find just one.

Pick one champion Don’t spread your resources too thin, a very common source of failure More is not better. Pick one champion and give them full support It is okay for others to wait, it increases demand Everyone wants what everyone else wants. Must be a good reason this product is popular?

Work the project relationship Make sure your early adopter knows how much you value their help, and will reward their help with a 'favor bank'. Assure the early adopter that little mistakes will be covered, not advertised.

Show me Many people will use CRM if another area has shown success. Because they are tired of hearing and seeing benefits going to other groups Because they don’ t want to be last Because its proven

Metrics Measure success. Don’t use vague goals Firm, clear goals. By Q1, CRM Level 1 will be implemented as a pilot in our Hamilton office. Etc. Start with small, clear steps

After the carrot, then the stick Once you have the statistics and data to prove your value, you can put pressure on the traditionalists to move along. You can start asking for, and ensuring executives tie salaries, promotions, and bonus plans to CRM adoption. Publish lists of who is still remaining. Reverse attention can be a strong motivator.

Measurement trap What is the biggest metric error? Failure to measure the before picture Why? The forever project has no defined completion goal. Cultural change is effective when 40% of the staff use the new method as part of their everyday job. At that point, it is time to move to the next department. Why only 40%? At 40%, the momentum is hard to stop, the change will keep rolling and has its own impetus.

Watch the numbers People will change behavior to manipulate the numbers, rather than meet the goal, if that is easy to do. Example: If a service desks pays for every completed call, the employees start answering easy calls since they are faster, and leave other customer hanging forever. Is that what you wanted?

CRM culture only These slides have been written to implement any cultural change, not just CRM. The steps, the methods, - they are the same – whether you are doing an Enterprise Data Warehouse, Enterprise CRM, Enterprise Merger, or any other big project

Now sally forth… Now it is your turn, the turn of your generation to move forward and change the world for to a better place.

Class discussion From your work experience, did the company reward CRM well, or do you have horror stories? What should the company have done?