All of the consultants and all of the software can't help you if you forget that point. Don't implement CRM with a halfhearted commitment, and don't believe much of the hype you hear, or you're in for a huge disappointment. Staffing crunches are creating long waits in telephone queues, and shifting customer service to e-mail is only a stopgap. It can reduce the time spent on each issue, but a human must still read messages and process customers' requests. Dwindling profit margins create pressure to cut or outsource service staff, moves that compound customer frustration.
Businesses face an impossible situation.
The only long-term solution to the customer service crisis is information. Companies know this. That's why the vast majority of respondents to the InfoWorld CRM Survey, almost 78 percent, rate CRM as critically important to their business. P.J., you may wonder what these businesspeople know that you don't. Every company presents a different combination of client and back-end applications.