“So many roads I tell you
So many roads I know
So many roads, so many roads
Mountain high, river wide
So many roads to ride
So many roads, so many”
— Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter
It was just after dawn in Cave Creek, Arizona, and I was in that place between sleep and awake where it is difficult to separate reality from fantasy. I had just returned from a four-day marathon of visiting clients, hop-scotching across the country from North Carolina to Michigan to Texas. You’d think I was stumping for the presidency. But this morning in my own time zone and in my own bed, my mind was somewhere else altogether. Would you believe in a bank? Yes, I realize it is a sad state when we GonzoBankers even dream about banking.
Anyhow, I had just opened a new checking account and the bank made me feel welcome — really welcome — more than just the “thank you for banking with us” kind of welcome. The feeling was like the one you get when you join some exclusive club (not that I would know anything about that, but I imagine it’s pretty cool).
My personal banker (Heather, a blonde, a knockout — hey, it’s my dream!) sat me down and took the time to truly understand my needs, my interests and my hobbies. At first, I was a little freaked out, but being at the mercy of dreamland I buckled in for the ride. We set up an account and I, of course, demanded everything for free including checking, Internet banking, and bill pay, and I insisted on the best interest rate on my savings account. After Heather typed in all of my information, she informed me I was automatically approved for a credit card and a HELOC and also asked if I wanted to open a safe deposit box. Further, I was automatically enrolled in Internet Banking, Bill Pay and the IVR, and I was able to customize the layout of my statement, combining all accounts on one statement which I elected to receive electronically.
At this point, I was ready for Heather to present me with a stack of paperwork to complete, but to my surprise, she handed me a single sheet, only one document requiring my signature, and voila – we were done!
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by my initial experience. Surely it couldn’t last. But each time I called into the call center, they always seemed to know who I was. I was greeted by name, and I had the feeling there was a team dedicated to just my issues. Following each phone call, I promptly received an email reflecting our conversation and encouraging me to call or email back if I had questions or problems.
One day I was paying bills online and inadvertently paid my mortgage bill not once, but twice in the same session. How was I going to explain this to the family? “Uh, sorry kids, we don’t have any money for food this month because your dad is an idiot and likes to give all his money to the mortgage company.” Nah, that wasn’t going to work. What was I going to do? Stopping a check is one thing but stopping an online payment is something else. Impossible. Or so I thought.
I quickly went to the message area of online services, and before I could even stop my hands from shaking, I saw there was a new message in my private email. I was certain it was going to be the once-friendly customer support team informing me that I was bouncing checks all over town. My heart racing, I carefully clicked the message. As expected, it was from my customer service team, but it wasn’t informing me of bounced checks. Instead, the email asked if I really intended to pay my mortgage twice, and if not, would I like to stop payment? I couldn’t believe it. I stood up and started dancing a jig. Excited and impressed, I transferred every financial account I had to this bank and shared my experience with anyone who would listen. (This probably explains the talking in my sleep my dog later reported.)
The next thing I knew the wailing of the alarm clock brought me back to reality. I should have known what four days of back-to-back CRM demos would do to my psyche. CRM and the rhetoric surrounding those three little letters is approaching Library of Congress proportions. Admit it, GonzoDreamers, you’ve been sucked in. We see the demos, read the articles, and instantly we think we can buy our way out of the problems we currently face. The reality, however, is that we didn’t end up with multiple databases, seven different front ends, numerous servicing platforms and individual business line analytics overnight. No. We evolved into this chaos over many years, and it will take us years to straighten the mess out.
In client conversations, a sentiment I hear repeatedly is “that CRM stuff is the answer.” How do you respond to “that CRM stuff”? It would be like me walking into my bank branch and saying to the teller, “I need some banking stuff.” Huh? How would you answer? I’m sure the teller would probably ask me what my needs are, how much money I have to open an account, and so on. Do you see where I am going?
There are many roads one can travel on the CRM highway, but sooner or later, the decision-makers must choose a focused starting point. A good way to determine that starting point is by defining what CRM means for your organization (and please, please, please don’t say “a holistic view of the customer”). What will CRM look like if you are successful? How will you be able to measure it? Arriving at your own definition of CRM is the first step you should make. I won’t lie to you — this can be the hardest part.
Once you have mastered your way through this political mine field, try breaking down the components into the following six major categories:
Under this deconstructed framework of CRM, begin placing current applications and platforms in these categories. This will give you a high-level picture of your current state. Your grid might look something like this:
| CATEGORY | APPLICATION/ PLATFORM |
| Customer profile/system of record | • Jill Henry |
| Sales automation and reporting | • 1S |
| Customer analytics | • $ellMax |
| Relationship marketing/campaign management | • Chameleon |
| Service automation | • Viaya |
| Channel integration | • CoTib |
The next step is prioritizing the new CRM capabilities in order of importance to your organization. Your roadmap should begin to take shape. Here are a few examples of the dozens of specific CRM capabilities that your bank should prioritize:
| CAPABILITIES | APPLICATION/ PLATFORM | STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE | ||
| High | Medium | Low | ||
| Enterprise contact management | • SCSC | X | ||
| Sales tracking w/payroll integration | • ToneWeb | X | ||
| Customer profitability by segment | • Hank’s Heart | X | ||
| Automated campaign tracking | • Biesel | X | ||
| Computer telephony integration in call center | • Cocis | X | ||
| Single Internet banking sign-on | • Analog Insight | X | ||
At this point — and not one moment before — you are prepared to take a look at what vendors can bring to the table to assist your organization. No vendor can direct you where you need to go. You need to have some sense yourself of where you are going on the CRM highway. There are, after all, “so many roads, so many.”
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
– Confucius
Meanwhile, I just got an email from my private banker … Heather. I think the snooze button is calling. This ol’ dog’s got a date in dreamland. Sweet dreams.
-tj