Deon Cilliers at SAP South Africa; Bruce Bond-Myatt at SAS Institute; Bridgette Ward at AdvanceNet; and Julian Diaz & Jon Jacobson at Global Vision.

Several years ago, a little piece I wrote about CRM was kindly posted on themarketingsite.com. At the time, CRM solutions were a seriously big buzz in SA. I seem to recall that the (slightly self-styled?) CRM gurus, Peppers & Rogers, visited the country to wave the technology’s flag. 

Loadsamoney certainly got spent and a little of it even came my way in the form of some consulting work with Siebel’s local sale team. That small project was about how companies can systematically develop an understanding of the Value they produce for their customers – and then go on to use CRM technology to increase the efficiencies and effectiveness of customer interactions. 

I think the project had some lasting benefit for those involved: a few years later, one of the team saw me again and re-introduced himself, favourably quoting ‘PQRS&T’ – the mantra of Value. 

Here’s some snippets from that old article: 

“We are all somebody’s customer. And from this standpoint, we know that Customers Represent Money – it comes out of your pocket and goes into theirs. And here’s the big failing of CRM in SA: it takes no account of what you value.”  

“As the customer, you decide what something is worth, and you decide how much of it you want to buy. You create the value. But the way many CRM-users talk, you’d think they created the value. It’s business as usual and Customers Rarely Matter. You’re there to be harvested and exploited in the most time-efficient and cost-effective manner.”

Customers Rarely Matter.

I’m afraid this still rings true. We still hear the same complaints about SA’s low levels of service. Chris Moerdyk wrote about these woes just a few weeks ago. But he also stressed the positive side: because we’re coming off such a low base, there is a great deal of commercial opportunity that’s longing to be addressed.

It’s certainly a truism that if you work at providing customers with what they value, then the profits will follow. And, in this respect, B2B is no different than B2C.

So what’s changed in CRM? 

I asked SAP, GlobalVision, AdvanceNet and SAS Institute for their views on CRM in 2009. In particular, I wanted to find out if CRM had migrated from a predominantly B2C focus and how it was being used within B2B marketing. 

Some common themes emerged from talking to these solution providers: 

• B2B certainly can benefit from CRM
• CRM is still used predominantly within B2C, primarily for Sales Force Automation (SFA)
• Even within B2C, there is a lack of integration between SFA and the marketing function 

Go for small wins. Take it step-by-step. 

Deon Cilliers, CRM Solution Manager at SAP South Africa thinks B2B companies should, “Target specific goals by looking at areas within their marketing where there are challenges and address these on a step-by-step basis. Go for small wins and build from there.” 

Even though he acknowledges that a strength of SAP CRM is the facility to integrate with, for example, ERP solutions, he cautions against: “Going straight for big solutions that require large-scale integration across multiple disciplines.” As examples of achieving small-wins, he cites: improving customer-data quality; scheduling and monitoring selected campaigns; and measuring the response to them. 

For me, this sounds like just the right approach: set some specific objectives and be clear about the outcomes that are required. For example, don’t attempt to improve all the data related to the market – select some specific components and begin with these.   

Analytical vs operational. 

For Bruce Bond-Myatt, Solutions Architect, SAS Institute, an analytical approach is key to migrating CRM into B2B: “Who you are communicating with and what you are saying to them would have to be the starting point.” 

Now this is music to my ears, and I’m sure Bruce would agree that ‘why’ you are saying it should get added to the list. 

Bruce says that for some time he has been thinking about the function of CRM within B2B and the need to develop: “An holistic approach to marketing in which CRM technology plays a ‘standardising’ role.” 

He sees real advantages in introducing processes into marketing communications that allow measurement and response in a controlled manner. “SAS technology already enables this within the B2C environment, albeit principally for the sales function. Perhaps what is needed is more encouragement about how these practices can be more aligned to meeting the needs of marketing.” 

Once again, my reaction to this is that he is right on the money. Given the fact that B2B marketing must respond to a diversity of market reflections, a systematic approach to managing communications makes real sense. 

B2B CRM? Doing it already… 

Bridgette Ward, Sales Manager at AdvanceNet says that they are predominantly focused on B2B – rather than B2C, and that their approach to CRM is different to that of other vendors: “We see our work in CRM as being more about business process management – as a strategic, competitive weapon as opposed to a tool. CRM is not software, it’s strategy.” 

I like it. Bridgette says that CRM is no longer a software solution but is much more concerned with competitor-strategy and communicating brand messages. “Internally, we use our solutions to the full, so we have several years’ first-hand experience in maximising its potential.” 

This certainly rings true. Last year, a colleague enthused about the way visiting customers are treated at AdvanceNet’s Jo’burg offices and rated it as the most personal and professional ‘reception’ he’s experienced. 

Bridgette says that, “B2B clients are applying the technology to influence their end-users and manage brand communications throughout the sales channel. The solution is also used to incentivise and motivate the channel in order to support and increase their own sales. These clients consider it important to assist their customers as much as they can with ‘centralised’, cohesive marketing.” 

Last. But certainly not least. 

We just kept missing one another: Jon Jacobson and Julian Diaz of Global Vision did their best to fit in with the questions I wanted quickly answered, and here is Jon’s e-mailed summary: 

“Based on the following CRM breakdown of the 3 main pillars from a technology perspective being: Sales Force Automation, Marketing Automation and Customer Service & Support – then the B2B aspects are typically delivered through the Sales Force Automation modules. 

This is how financial services companies manage their agent channel or how an FMCG business manages their distribution channel. 

Marketing automation normally manages the consumer related communication aspects and allows the business to build a consumer profile for ongoing marketing efforts which eventually is used to drive “Just-In-Time” marketing initiatives. 

Customer service and support is about managing: contact centre agents; help desk; support desks; and Case Management”.

Modern CRM. Come Read More…

This November’s issue of the UK’s ‘B2B Marketing’ magazine is due to feature an examination of where we’re at with CRM. Critical Reading Matter?  

Once again, my thanks to all of you who helped out on this blogpost.

Back to The Long Hello: making B2B marketing work for the bottom line