CRM/CEM

HYM joined the CRM movement in the very early stages, when we still called it SFA. But we didn’t “fit in” with the practices of the time, which included software-centric implementations and only skin-deep process redesign. Instead, we blazed our own trail to develop consistently effective implementation methods, leading in the late 1990s to our original “Four Steps to CRM Success.”

Four Steps to CRM Success:

1. Develop customer-centric business strategies
2. Redesign workflow and information flow in alignment with strategies (including identification of system changes needed for new information flow)
3. Reengineer individual work process in alignment with workflow (including development of application software requirements)
4. Select and implement software in alignment with workflow and work process

Times have certainly changed since then–especially in the sophistication of CRM technology and the degree of data integration we can achieve. But in other respects, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Front and back office process design remains only skin deep. Alignment between strategy and customers, process and strategy, and technology and process remains shaky. And many companies continue starting CRM initiatives with software.

Here’s what happens as a result:

Strategy is out of alignment with customers, and the strategy, process and technology pieces of CRM don’t fit together. And even though some of the parts aren’t very robust, the whole still equals less than their sum.

HYM is committed to “doing CRM right.” That means first making sure our clients have customer-centric strategies in place, or if they don’t, helping them develop and articulate new strategies using our Hyper-Planning system. Next, using our Visual Workflow office process design approach, we redesign first workflow and information flow then individual work process to carry out strategies. Only then do we evaluate technology options and work with clients to find the best fit.

The outcome of these four steps is stem to stern alignment–and a whole that equals far more than the sum of the parts.

HYM understands CEM (customer experience management) better than most, because we recognize that process design and execution provide the backbone for CEM. The behavioral side is necessary and important, but redesigning process around customers and boosting process quality actually push employees to be more customer-concerned more than any amount of training unsupported by process change.

CRM/CEM and Outside-In differ by degree. O-I, with its stronger process component, is better equipped to reach far into the back office and elsewhere to fix issues negatively affecting customer experience at their source. The fact that HYM is today known as an “O-I company” just means we can take companies all the way to customer-centricity, rather than merely focusing on the front office.

For more information about HYM’s CRM/CEM services, please contact us.