You'll come to love the Duct Tape Marketing Channels for their debunking of the jargon and myths that get in the way of an honest conversation and fair exchange of goods, services and cash flow with your customers. Any blog or dialogue that throws the initials CRM in the mix is immediately suspect. It will be impossible to give you all of the advantages you need in business without providing some reality checks on this CRM thing.
If you have nothing to do and plenty of time to do it, then start reading everything that has been written or said about CRM in the past 20 years. If you want to really understand what CRM has to do with small business, any business or who our customer will be tomorrow or later this year, get the latest edition of CRM at the Speed of Light, by Paul Greenberg.
His book, published in January 2001 by McGraw-Hill is now in its third edition. CRM at the Speed of Light is now in 8 languages and been a runaway best seller. It is used as a text in more than 50 universities across multiple continents. It was called "the number 1 CRM book" by SearchCRM.com in July 2002. The Asian edition of CIO Magazine named it one of the 12 most important books an Asian CEO will ever read. It has even been called "the bible of the industry."
Paul is a gentle man who works "down the road" from me, in northern Virginia, and shares with me his friendships and quality hang time with other CRM pioneers. Come back to this blog, early and often, to see if your favorite CRM topics and titans are mentioned. The point is Paul lives what he writes. He treats everyone like they are the best customer in the world.
If you want to start on the right foot with all of this CRM chit chat, focus on the principles, not technology. This is about knowing who your most valuable customer are and why. You need to have a firm grip on who your most growable customers are, as well. They are your future and could be more profitable than what you think is success now.
Finally, you will know that you have mastered the principles of CRM when your language changes, because your mind transformed. Instead of share of market, you'll know that share of customer is where it's at. Instead of targets and segments, you'll talk about portfolios of customers. While you are going online for books, do you think you'll be looking for that perfect next book to top off our order, so you get free shipping? The other must-have and use-daily book is the lastest from Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.-- Return on Customer.
Get them both and then come back here and tell us what you think and how they helped you find clarity (debunk the CRM blather) and identify the best customers for your business.
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