CRM the new Y2K

I remember the year well.....1999 a year filled with terror and panic in the business world. Thousands of dollars were spent on making computer systems Y2K compliant. It all had to do with the calendars in computer systems. Whole systems were going to be wiped out, defense systems, transit systems, web sites, even hamburgers were going to go up in smoke at the stroke of midnight 12/31/99. People bought 50 gallon drums of water and freeze dried foods by the ton. It was a marketing bonanza!

Yet thousands and thousands of personal computers, small business computers and home office computers came through it without a scratch. Even though they did nothing to addresss the problem.

Now marketers are telling corporations that they have lost touch with their clients and only technology can save them. Only CRM can bring those clients back. Billions of dollars have been thrown at this latest Y2K scare. When the programs don't work the CRM firms promptly blame it on the companies' failure to use the software properly.

The fact of the matter is, companies have lost touch with their clients!

Voice mail, autoresponders, self serve kiosks and check out registers, mass e-mailings written by marketing firms, India based customer service centers answering questions from American clients about American products, and the grandious CRM cure-all, the madness is spiraling out of control.

Business screams about how fickle customers are, how there is no customer loyality anymore. Hmmm, I wonder....

This is my CRM golden nugget!

If you want loyal customers, you must treat them as royal customers. There is no shortcut, nothing short of human interaction, is going to help you! Get rid of the voice mail and hire an operator, get rid of the overseas operators and hire native speakers of English, get rid of the help-yourself registers and train you checkers to treat all customers with respect. Don't hire a marketing firm to get your customers opinions, ask them yourself, call them and care for them. Nurture the relationship and give them what they ask for, nothing less and always more. Look at your clients face, their eyes and if you see frustration or anger address it immediately. Now there is your CRM system and I gave it to you for free!
No Y2K scam here just a reality check.

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