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T H E
Customer Relationship Management Strategies
by Sheryl Kingstone
September 2004

Customer-Centric CRM:
YA N K E E
G R O U P
Fully Optimizing CRM
Executive Summary
Businesses initiate CRM projects for a variety of Exhibit 1 illustrates how a company should evolve its
reasons. Many do so because they can increase current CRM strategy to become customer-centric.
revenue by better understanding their customers. By Businesses that don’t prioritize customer centricity
gaining insight into both individual customers and will see a negative effect on corporate performance.
target market segments, these companies can boost CRM supports the creation of relationships that yield
sales and optimize top-line business performance. The maximum value over their entire lifetime by selling,
essence of customer relationship management is to marketing and caring for customers based on their
balance the following desires: specific needs and preferences. This custom report
• Increase revenue through differentiated products discusses how customer-centric CRM can improve
and services revenue, decrease costs and enhance the
• Decrease sales, marketing and service costs through customer experience.
better execution
• Enhance the customer experience for improved
loyalty Exhibit 1
Traditional CRM vs. Customer-Centric CRM
Source: The Yankee Group, 2004
However, for a variety reasons we discuss in this
custom report, many CRM implementations have Customer-centric CRM requires all business processes
done very little to meet the top goals and objectives throughout the extended enterprise be optimized
around Customer Lifecycle Care
of many businesses. Yet effective implementations of
CRM are critical to the success of just about every Traditional CRM Customer-Centric CRM
company. Customers, after all, are any company’s
Internally, siloed Seamless processes around
most important asset. Consequently, businesses need applications for sales, customer lifecycle that extend
to rethink from the outside in and turn their internal marketing and service beyond corporate boundaries
CRM projects toward their customers.
Differentiation based Differentiation based on
on products customer centricity

Segregated data and People/data/technology

processes decreasing that optimizes customer
customer satisfaction interactions

Reactive service In-context, proactive service

Inconsistent Corporate performance

corporate goals metrics and goals aligned
with customer needs

Copyright 2004, the Yankee Group. All rights reserved.

The Yankee Group Consulting Report is published for the sole use of Yankee Group clients. It may not be duplicated, reproduced, or transmitted in whole or in part without the
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All rights reserved. All opinions and estimates herein constitute our judgment as of this date and are subject to change without notice.
Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

Table of Contents
I. The Shortcomings of Traditional CRM: Too Much M and Not Enough C and R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II. Delivering on Customer-Centric CRM Through Customer Lifecycle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Technology, Data and Processes Create the Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Enterprise Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Copyright 2004, the Yankee Group. All rights reserved.

Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

I. The Shortcomings of Traditional CRM: Exhibit 2

Are You Tired of Hearing These Complaints?
Too Much M and Not Enough C and R Source: The Yankee Group, 2004

Sales Marketing Customer Service Customer

I ndividual siloed departments such as sales, marketing,

service and IT have driven traditional CRM initiatives.
The results have been mixed. Why is that? Deploying a
Marketing creates all
these campaigns that
provide no qualified
leads.
Sales never follows
through on our leads.
How can I sell a
customer that calls in
with a complaint?
Why hasn't anyone
responded to my product
inquiry?

packaged CRM application that helped operationalize If I have to re-enter the If I have to re-enter the If I have to re-enter the If I have to re-enter the
same information again, same information again, same information again, same information again,
I'm going to scream. I'm going to scream. I'm going to scream. I'm going to scream.
the data within the enterprise—usually within sales or
I know I can sell more I need to target my I could assist the I have been a loyal
service departments—has done very little to improve the to this customer, but I messages more customer more customer for years and
wonder which is the effectively, but I effectively if I had this is how they treat me.
customer relationship experience. Current CRM initiatives best recommendation. need more more accurate
information about information.
have disappointed many enterprises because they are the customer.

missing fundamentals: My key account just

called me wanting to
Why didn't someone
tell us there was a
Another call from this
guy? I escalated the
Why don't I get better
information on the status
know how much longer problem with that problem to my of my request?
• Customer: Internally focused deployments in silos are it will take to fix his customer? manager; he'll get
problem; I had no idea back to you.
not customer-centric. Although applications that help what he was talking
about.
employees are still a critical part of many CRM Impact on Corporate Performance
deployments, they have done little to enhance the - Decrease in sales - Increase in sales, - Decrease in - Decrease in customer
effectiveness general and productivity satisfaction
customer experience. - Decrease in revenue administrative - Decrease in - Reduction in loyalty
- Decrease in costs customer - Lost revenue
• Relationship: Limited customer-centric processes and profitability - Decrease in satisfaction
differentiation
in-context information didn’t enhance the relationship
or improve loyalty. Newer analytics have only recently
been integrated into CRM technology to provide more Businesses that don’t prioritize customer centricity will see
actionable insight and improve customer-facing processes. a negative effect on corporate performance. Eventually,
• Management: Only management-level employees can companies begin to see:
leverage operational data. Companies can’t get a • High customer churn
holistic view to obtain better insight by focusing only on • Low customer satisfaction
transactional data, such as sales pipelines, call-center talk • Plummeting employee morale
times, marketing program history and service incidents. • Decreasing market share
• Increasing cost because of fragmented business
CRM initiatives that typically fail to meet top-line business- processes
performance objectives aren’t usually optimized around the
customer lifecycle. They don’t fully integrate customer-facing Don’t underestimate the importance of customer
business processes across all departments. Not only do satisfaction. Happy customers buy more than unhappy ones,
marketing, sales and customer service tasks continue to be and they do so for a much longer period. Unhappy
executed within their respective silos, there is also limited customers decrease future wallet share and inhibit the
integration with critical information locked away in back- potential for new customers.
office applications such as inventory and financial
information. As a result, there is little synergy across
departments resulting in skyrocketing costs and process-
efficiency gaps remain the norm. Therefore, although
salespeople may be given some incrementally better data,
the overall ROI is limited. Even worse, many companies
don’t even realize they have a problem. How can companies
recognize symptoms? Exhibit 2 highlights common
complaints from sales, marketing, customer service and
the customer.

Copyright 2004, the Yankee Group. All rights reserved. 3

Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

II. Delivering on Customer-Centric CRM Technology, Data and Processes Create the
Through Customer Lifecycle Care Foundation

T here is an alternative to traditional CRM: Customer-

centric CRM optimized around Customer Lifecycle Care
(CLC). CLC integrates customer-centric business processes
I n a customer-centric enterprise, CRM suites form the
core of the technology platform, but they are externalized
and optimized for Customer Lifecycle Care. CRM will
across the entire enterprise. CLC demands that enterprises: fulfill its potential of maximizing profit and value only
• Shift focus from internal fragmented processes toward a when the foundational components illustrated in Exhibit 3
seamless 360-degree view of customer-facing processes (customer-centric technology, data quality, people/process)
aligned with every customer, partner and employee are integrated and leveraged fully. For example:
• Leverage customer data for differentiation to improve • An integrated customer-facing technology backbone
customer satisfaction, retention, loyalty and corporate ensures that a complete and dynamic view of the
performance customer is consistent across the entire organization and
• Integrate CRM metrics and key performance indicators provides the right information at the right time to
into an over-arching customer strategy to optimize optimize the customer and employee experience. The
business processes and make better decisions on both a technology foundation should also be expanded
tactical and a strategic level throughout the extended enterprise to include value-
added networks.
Our research shows that many enterprises value their CRM • Meticulous quality data management requirements
initiatives but don’t understand how to maximize the value that are comprehensive and leverage both historical and
of their CRM investments. More than 75% of enterprises real-time data for more contextual applications and
have a CRM strategy as well as the necessary data for a customer dialogues. Critical information such as
360-degree view of the customer. CLC builds upon current customer lifetime value should also drive the process.
CRM initiatives by delivering high-value information across • An alignment of people and business processes that are
the customer relationship lifecycle using the 360-degree optimized and adjusted based on not only the customer
view. With CLC, companies can: interaction, but also a hierarchy of CRM metrics and KPIs
• Improve revenue by targeting customers’ specific desires derived from corporate performance objectives. It’s
and increasing customer wallet share critical the customer interaction drive the process, is
• Reduce costs through more efficient and effective aligned with goals and objectives, and can guide the
execution because all customers are not created equal customer or employee on the best course of action.
• Enhance the customer experience by providing
differentiated products and services Exhibit 3 also illustrates that:
• By integrating technology with quality data, businesses
Companies should continue to focus on CRM and customer gain insight that is more actionable.
lifecycle care as a key driver for improved business • Combining technology with people achieves process
performance. Customer-centric companies use every efficiencies.
customer touchpoint to stimulate interest, close business, • Providing employees and customers with the information
satisfy a need or demonstrate commitment to the (quality data) they need enables performance
relationship. This ensures that every customer contact effectiveness.
produces value.
Actionable insight, process efficiencies and performance
effectiveness will lead to profit and a competitive
advantage.

4 Copyright 2004, the Yankee Group. All rights reserved.

Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

Exhibit 3 III. Conclusions and Recommendations

Customer-Centric CRM Creates Profit
Source: The Yankee Group, 2004

T he best metrics in the world will have no meaning

without a plan, process and integrated customer-facing
technology foundation to maximize value. From a
Technology Quality
Foundation Actionable Data
- Customer-facing
Insight
- Value-added management point of view, it is all about customer share
- Seamless beyond information
corporate - Consistent versus market share. Because all customers are not created
boundaries - Real-time across
- Real-time Profit and all channels equal, it’s critical to understand which customers cost you
analytics Competitive
Process Advantage Performance money and which high-value customers must be retained.
Efficiency Effectiveness Customer service differentiation has a cost. Because most
People/Process customers demand personalized service across all channels,
- KPIs and metrics aligned
with corporate goals companies must align resources profitably. However,
- Differentiated products
and services success demands integrated insight. Without integration
- Seamless processes
across corporate and departmental boundaries, businesses
can’t answer these questions:
• Which prospects look like my most profitable
The million-dollar question remains: What are the customers?
hierarchies of customer-centric metrics that should be • Which promotions produced the most qualified leads?
incorporated into corporate performance initiatives? • Which products are the most profitable over 3 to 5
Businesses need to pick key performance indicators that are years?
quantifiable and measurable today and over time, and assess • Which customers are likely to respond to which new
regularly against preset corporate targets. Exhibit 4 shows a product offering?
sample of metrics by department. • What product and service mix will increase customer
satisfaction and reduce churn?

Exhibit 4
Key Metrics for Measuring Success
Smart businesses understand that the only way to offer
Source: The Yankee Group, 2004 profitable, differentiated services and products is to better
understand their customers. By gaining insight into both
Sales Marketing Customer Service Customer
individual customers and target market segments, these
- Revenue per - Marketing dollars - First call resolution - Abandon rate: online
salesperson as a percent of rate or IVR companies can boost sales and optimize business
- Average sales revenue - Call quality (as - Conversion rate
cycle
- Average deal size
- Average return on
marketing
measured by quality
monitoring)
- Share of wallet
- Customer satisfaction
performance.
- New rep ramp - Total leads - Voice service level - Customer profitability
time generated (by type of call) - Customer lifetime value
- Average - Average response - E-mail service level - Customer loyalty
administrative rate (by type of e-mail)
time/rep - Lead qualification - Average speed of
- Average price rate answer
discount - Lead close rate - AHT: average
- Percent of accurate - Percent of marketing handle time
forecasted collateral used by - Cost per contact
opportunities sales representatives (calls, e-mails)
- Average number of - Change in market - Average call value
calls to close the deal penetration - Average close rate
- Average number of - Improve time-to- - Agent turnover
presentations market - Accuracy of data
necessary to close - Number of feedback entered (e.g.,
the deal points trouble tickets)
- Average number of - Marketing execution
proposals needed to time
close the deal - Message close rate

Value Impact on Customer-Centric CRM

Strategic account Differentiated Differentiated service Optimized, personalized

planning that marketing that is optimized around key customer experience that
maximizes sales-facing allocated appropriately corporate performance is aligned with corporate
processes to reduce to reduce costs and objectives such as performance goals
sales cycle and increase product customer satisfaction,
increase win rate margins through loyalty or profitability
specialized products
or services

Copyright 2004, the Yankee Group. All rights reserved. 5

Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

Enterprise Recommendations

• Enterprises must put an end to business as usual and optimize the CRM investment around the customer lifecycle.
Customer-centric CRM optimizes the customer experience across sales, marketing and service interactions. With effective
CRM, customer relationships can be appropriately managed to maximize revenue and lifespan while keeping operational
costs low.
• Sales must create strategic account plans across all departments based on customer-facing qualitative and
quantitative metrics that can be analyzed against corporate goals. In a customer-centric company, the sales department
is aligned with strategic customers and prospects. Integrated sales tools maximize sales efficiency and sales effectiveness
to help guide and optimize each interaction.
• Marketing must use real-time analysis to create a profitable and enhanced customer experience both online and
through assisted channels such as the contact center. Marketing needs to incorporate a combination of planned
campaign activity as a start, and more situational sequences of messages where greater understanding of the customer is
achieved through channel- and context-specific interactions to optimize any cross-sell opportunities.
• Service must deliver higher customer satisfaction at a lower cost by improving agent productivity and effectiveness.
It’s critical to provide guidance and in-context information not only through improved customer self-service, but also
through assisted service channels such as customer service representatives. Customers and employees must have access to
the right information at the right time to maximize the profitability of each interaction.

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Customer Relationship Management Strategies September 2004

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