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Maybe I am pushing my luck here with another post using a finance metaphor,
but it works so well that I have to go for it.
A while back I was talking to a CRM prospect and they revealed that the most
important requirement for their company was a CRM solution that could
incorporate their current email system. This sounded strange to me at the
time; frankly, the idea of a CRM solution as an appendage of an email
system caught me by surprise and made me restless.
Later, after I had the opportunity to think it over I realized why the idea
bugged me. An email system is really the opposite of a CRM solution. An email
account belongs to an individual and they really have total control. Without
access, or some pretty sohisticated tools that generally give us the creeps, the
email account is closed. Only the owner knows what's really in there. The
email system works ok for some basic communications and collaboration, but
again, only the senders and receivers ever see the body of knowledge that exists
in their accounts.
CRM proposes a different level of collaboration and communication. Not simply
around the email account owners, but around the customer. The idea plain and
simple is to capture as much of the activity - the relationship - with a
customer as possible. As those who sell, service, ship to, bill or collect from
the customer change or move on, the relationship continues and gains history
and knowledge over time.
Not that email goes away once a company implements a sound CRM strategy, but
the email system serves as a new role. It is no longer master of the company's
domain. Rather, it plays a secondary amd lesser role.
And the finance metaphor? I remember vividly the proof that one of my finance
instructors went through to show us that lottery tickets really had a negative
rate of return. It was an eye-opener. Lottery tickets are little bits of
investment that people get into the habit of buying. Over time however they
invest a great deal, they never fill up the tank or stop for a cold one without
a couple of bucks on the mega game or some scratch and wins.
Likewise, email has become almost an unbreakable habit for the users (and
companies that are serious about building customer relationships need to be
clear and honest about this - it will be a battle to change). Emails are little
bits of customer knowledge, but there are so many of them that they eventually
add up to customer relationships.
At the end of the day lottery tickets for the buyer show a negative rate of
return. The opportunity missed - investing in a mutual fund for example - is
huge. Email, for the company, is exactly the same. The missed opportunity
of communicating and collaborating around the customer, instead of around the
email account owners, is huge. When the current email owners move on, so
does this huge body of knowledge about your customers. It's a negative rate of
return and smart business people are starting to understand this. | 
