The adoption of CRM has brought companies as many problems as it has benefits One of the big reasons why I see that CRM systems don't go far enough and often exacerbate any problems is that they are not geared to the individual customer's needs or wishes.
This in turn results in increased customer service costs and more importantly, customer churn problems for the company.
When I was running an independent mobile service operator, I found that we did not know what a good customer looked like and that everybody was pretty much treated the same which was dictated by the existing CRM system.
Until companies reach out to their customers and understand how the users of their product want to be contacted, instead of imposing a - one size fits all- processes, then the CRM systems will fall short and will be fundamentally flawed.
It's very simple, but very effective - ask the customer what is his or her preferred communications channel is; mobile phone, email, SMS, letter or the internet? Also manage their expectations by keeping them continually informed on the progress of their enquiring or application.
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