There is a thought provoking post published on Search CRM blog. It is named CRM in the contact center sees little progress and focusing on results of the benchmarks analysis conducted by Dimension Data PLC.

Consider some of the solutions CRM systems were supposed to provide, and contact centers are worse off today than they were 10 years ago. According to the report, for example, the percentage of contact centers that have a single view of the customer across all channels decreased from 40% to 34%, contact centers that are able to measure and use customer profitability decreased from 25% to 18%, and contact centers that can measure and use customer lifetime value decreased from 14% to less than 10%.

In the early days of CRM the endless stories about failed initiatives were considered to have primarily technological roots, and as such became a domain and a source of healthy  cash flow for a number of implementation “experts”. Now, judging by the findings of this analysis we see “devaluation” of CRM holy grail.

There are three hypotheses can be offered in attempt to explain the meaning of these findings:

1. The original targets and benchmarking lost it’s meaning and importance in management decision making, and as such continuing measurement does no longer necessary for business to be successful;

2. The call/contact center have lost it’s focal place for collection of these metrics with an advent of new, more suitable technologies. Therefore the findings of this analysis are not valid, since it’s methodology is a suspect;

3. Companies failed to change. Organizational Transformation, which is required to focus on effectiveness, turn out to be “too difficult”, and after two or three changes of conveniently blamed technology, management expectations bar slid lower and lower until CRM degenerated in easier to achieve exercise in efficiency. 

So which one do you choose?

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