Roger Huffadine

Worcester

CTO

Relationship Management ? - huh. If I said to my misses Wow I just found a software package that will manage our relationship - guess what the response might be --- Well that is exactly what the main board directors should be saying to the software vendors who ply their wares and 'snake oil' as CRM. CRM is a culture and has absolutely nothing to do with databases and software. Databases and software are tools that can assist in the delivery of CRM but only once the culture exists.
I was intimately involved in the Call Centre Industry when CRM was first touted as a magic wand and unfortunately the same level of ignorance pervaded board rooms then - companies were buying worthless applications for megabucks in the hope that the application alone would solve problems. Its a bit like going out and buying a Pilots uniform and then expecting to be able to fly a Helicopter.
Interestingly in those days I mixed with a fair number of experts in business management and Call Centres and non of us could look at the plethora of solutions touted as CRM and come up with an all embracing definition.