Is CRM DOA?
By George Anderson
First, there was the dot.com bust. Then there was the don’t tell if asked accounting scandals. Now, many are wondering if customer relationship management (CRM) is dead on arrival (DOA).
Companies made investments into CRM technologies looking for dramatic sales gains and profit line improvements, says an article on the Line56 web site. Instead, CRM appears on the verge of joining ECR, etc. in the anachronism hall of little to no relevancy.
AMR Research has published an article, What’s Wrong with the CRM Market? It’s More Than the Economy, that takes a dim view on the prospects for broad use of CRM technologies. Rod Johnson, analyst at AMR Research writes, “The CRM market has hit its mid-life crisis, as users almost universally step back and question the value and relevance of the technology in light of the changes in the business and priorities.”
Mr. Johnson adds, “Our bottom-line view is that there is a very limited future for generic, horizontal CRM technologies and strategies.”
Moderator’s Comment: Is it time to stick a fork in
CRM?
Joanie Rufo, analyst AMR Research isn’t quite ready to
declare CRM DOA. Instead, Ms. Rufo sees a portion of CRM, enterprise performance
management (EPM) coming to the forefront.
EPM is a set of technologies that define performance metrics
and tracks them. Ms. Rufo believes, “It’s the missing link to CRM success.”
[George
Anderson – Moderator]