gokubi.com

Customer relationship management, or CRM, is often thought of as solely a technology system. But it’s more than that. It’s a philosophy. It’s a policy and strategy of connecting different staff within an organization so as to coordinate their efforts in creating an overall valuable relationship for the constituent. It’s about breaking down silos of work and information, and creating a holistic picture of each constituent so that s/he might be better served.

In mission-based work, the “value” of that relationship is not measured in dollars, but rather in total impact that constituent has on the mission. Funds donated are a part of the equation, but there are so many other activities a constituent can undertake that add to the mission impact bottom line.

High constituent impact is best elicited by targeting that constituent with information and opportunities for action which directly suit his/her interests. Asking a millionaire for $35 is not the best way to maximize her impact on the mission, just as asking someone who is dedicated to marine mammals to lobby the government on behalf of urban farmers isn’t either.

CRM allows an organization, over time, to aggregate all the interests and traits of a constituent, and activities she has undertaken. This information is really just the artifact of a relationship that has developed over time. CRM then allows the organization, which may have staff come and go, to interact with the constituent with all the benefit of the history of that relationship. This more authentic relationship allows for more appropriate interactions, leading to two things: a constituent who feels valued by the organization, and more actions being taken.

Having a good history of a broad relationship allows an organization to work in new ways. It may be that an event coordinator has always wanted to send invites to all constituents in Oregon who have come to events in the past and have also expressed an interest in the issue of climate change. It is likely that the answer to that question has been, “we can’t get that info.” By implementing CRM across the organization, staff members can have richer data, and be much more creative in how they use it.

In a complex organization with multiple outreach channels it is nearly impossible to provide this kind of service without CRM. Add to the fact that large, complex organizations almost always have thousands of constituents, and the necessity for CRM becomes even more apparent.

Most organizations would describe their relationship with data as less than satisfying. Often it is a struggle to put data into a system, and the results never really pay off. Successful implementation of CRM requires a change in the way an organization relates to its data. By spending time up-front determining what data is important to capture, how it will be captured, and most importantly, how it will be used to add value to the mission, and organization can place CRM at its center and be ready to reap the benefits.

In addition to helping get daily work done, data on constituents and their actions can be aggregated for periodic analysis. Key metrics can be generated that tell various stories about the organization, the constituents and the outreach work being done. This big-picture information can help managers make decisions about organizational resources and efforts.

CRM at scale is very difficult to implement without a technology system behind it. If an organization has a good CRM system, it can serve as the core repository of constituent information. It is then possible to integrate a CRM system with other technology systems that address specific needs like: mass emailing, event registration, and web content publishing.

It is even possible for a CRM to integrate with a system for planning and tracking organizational goals. Activities and outreach efforts recorded in the CRM system can roll up to the strategic goals they relate to. By doing this, a constituent-centered organization can deeply embed CRM into everything it does. And if done well, it can have a significant positive impact on how rapidly the organization moves to fulfill its mission promise.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 10:52 am and is filed under CRM, Technology. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.