The kicker for us is the price. It's tough to put out that big an investment on something that some executives within the corporation don't think we need. In fact, simply by evaluating CRM platform providers, Kansas Farm Bureau is ahead of many others. In a recent survey conducted by InformationWeek Research, half of almost 500 companies contacted haven't even begun CRM planning.
Cost is certainly an issue for some companies.
Other factors may include the difficulty of data integration, concerns over the quality of customer data, and internal resistance to new applications. CRM is so misleading. You talk to three people in a room and you get three different definitions. For Greenstein, whose company rents and sells large machinery to construction companies, it means being able to track customers, make sales, and send out personalized direct mail. For others, CRM has broader meaning.