Debunking Popular Myths About CRM And More

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Business Intelligence (BI) are the buzzwords right now, and there's a whole lot of technology being thrown at these two efforts, but one expert sought to debunk some of the myths floating around about these two hot topics at the CUNA Technology Council's conference, here.

Myth No. 1: CRM and BI are one and the same thing.

Not so, according to David Ford, COO of CUBIWeb, the Tukwila, Wash.-based CUSO started by Boeing Employees CU. Business intelligence relates to information gathered about how an organization conducts its business-in the case of credit unions, that would include analyzing things like which branches are busy during when, which ATMs are used most often, etc. CRM, as the name implies, is about customers-or members.

Myth No. 2: CRM is a suite of applications that supports the entire life cycle of marketing, sales and customer support.

"CRM is not technology, though we use technology to achieve it," Ford observed. "According to the Gardner Group, 60% of IT managers will consider CRM a failure." That's because it's not being defined properly, he suggested, offering his own definition of CRM: "it is about aligning business strategies, cultures and information so members will benefit financially in ways that are meaningful to them. It's about taking care of people one on one. It's not a software program, and you're already doing it. The tool is not the thing. If you don't already have a culture in place, the tools won't do it for you."

Myth No. 3: You develop and deepen your relationship with your members simply by conducting transactions with them, such as every time they take out cash at the ATM.

While even the most mundane of transactions can be an opportunity to develop the member relationship, it doesn't happen automatically, simply because the member gets used to doing business with the CU, Ford advised.

Myth No. 4: CRM is collecting data on the member.

"CRM is the process of actively deepening that relationship by deepening the knowledge-and not just data-that you have of your members over time, and then using that knowledge to customize your business and strategies to meet that customer's needs." Ford likened failed CRM strategies to failed Christmas shopping quests: "You go to the mall, and you think 'this person is so hard to buy for.' But maybe it's just that you don't know enough about them."

Myth No. 5: CRM, BI should be an IT project because of all the technology required to support them.

"Business intelligence cannot be an IT project, it cannot be driven by IT," Ford commented. "The political will has to be there, and that doesn't come from IT."

Myth No. 6: CRM is for marketers and BI is for operations.

Both marketing and operations will find valuable information in CRM and BI. Certain aspects of CRM intersect with BI and will help determine staffing levels or where to build the next branch, for example, while BI can point out which products are most popular.

Myth No. 7: It's best to find a vendor to take care of CRM and BI.

While Ford encouraged credit unions to outsource these functions, he noted the importance of staying as tied in and involved as possible. "You have to find a vendor who listens to you," he noted. "Boeing bought its system to be in-house but allowed the vendor to take care of it and then let the vendor get away without first learning from them.

Myth No. 8: The right, integrated CRM technology simply doesn't exist, yet, and isn't worth the trouble.

Indeed, the technology to link all of the various legacy systems to a data warehouse that will put all of the information together in one place and in one format so complex analytics can be run on clean data, is still evolving, Ford said, but without an investment now, your credit union won't ever get there. "The biggest barrier to CRM is complacency and not being willing to get into the cost," he said. "And yes, it's painful to get there, but you have to get there."

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