As CRM analysts, we are always finding flaws in processes and the overall customer experience given by the companies we have relationships with (or, should I say, "undergo transactions with," because few companies have embraced the true concept of a relationship). Many of these stories have been documented as blogs, with associated "call to action"-type pleas at the end.

In my rotating role as CRM blog manager, I began to wonder if, as CRM analysts, we were setting our expectations too high. Do our standards reflect what the average consumer is actually looking for?

Interestingly, I was at a friend's 30th birthday (I hang around with her in the vain hope of holding onto my own youth) when someone started telling a story about credit cards. On a trip to Norway, his credit card stopped working after a few hours. When he got back from his vacation, he called the bank to ask why. He was told that it was due to the fact that the bank thought his card details had been stolen and someone was using it fraudulently in Norway (because it was not being used in his usual spending location or pattern). What seriously annoyed him, but amused me, was that he had pre-ordered some Norwegian currency from his bank, which he had picked up before setting off. Therefore, the bank knew he was travelling to Norway. When he inquired about this to the fraud department, they told him, "We didn't have access to that information, sorry."

This restored my faith somewhat in what we preach. Consumers do care and so should you! So, we may huff and puff about CRM, CEM, CDI and a multitude of other acronyms, but the bottom line is that it's for a good reason.

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Its so annoying because it is totally unnecessary. When a transaction is "in process", i.e. your card is put into a machine, you have put in your pin number, and they raise a flag at the credit card company, why cant they call you for "out of band" verification? We had a big conversation about this over at VentureBeat last week. http://www.venturebeat.com/...

That reminds me of the folks at Netflix and my CC company who kept mailing me special offers thinking of converting me from a prospect to customer without knowing I was already their customer.
Guess their CRM systems were busy mining prospect data without cross-checking it against existing customer lists. It's not as bad as getting your CC rejected in a foreign land just when you need it, but it surely leaves a very bitter taste.

all the information in your CRM is there because some thought it was important enough to put in there. This is a key to having all the information you need when talking to a lead, prospect, account or client. If you have an organization that truly uses the CRM how it should be used then you will have the most valuable information at your fingertips.