Again, I couldn’t have possibly articulated the “what is CRM” question any better myself, and I’ve been a CRM guy for over 10 years .

We all know that we need to be doing “something”, and most of us rush out and by a software solution that may or may not ever make it out of the box. In my honest opinion, CRM is what’s going to save the small business.

For a while, it seemed like the big box ‘category killers’ were going to put all of us entrepreneurs out of business. But there’s just no replacing the personal relationship. CRM provides the foundation for us to hone in on our database and loyalize each and every client.

I wish you the very best in your future endeavors man (per your post today about leaving your company). You’ve got a big fan in Atlanta.

Discipline always seems to be the hard requirement in life. Where’s the fun in that!
Shouldn’t we just keep chasing “the next best thing” instead of trying to master some “pre 2.0 method”?

I guess it’s like martial arts — where mastery is a matter of deep perfection of classic moves.

Rob, this is really interesting reading. I’m learning a lot from your blog.

I had a Twitter exchange with Jon Washburn of ActiveRain on just what you point out. CRM software by itself is useless. And it isn’t the hard part. The hard part is data discipline — entering it, collecting it, analyzing it, then using it.

I just can’t see how that’s doable without institutions and institutional will.

-rsh

Great article. I am attending a marketing talk by Dan Kennedy tomorrow and it is being sponsored by Infusion Software. Exactly the type of thing you are talking about here. CRM software that does everything, but requires a lot of finesse to run… not to mention a lot of dollars to buy. A few of us are thinking of going in on it due to the expense.

The side of this that is rarely talked about (although you did) is the fact that CRM is pretty meaningless without a true understanding of marketing. Having the system is only part of it: you just collect the data, you must ENTER the data (the stumbling point for so many of us) and then you must know what to do with the data. In that light I see even more purpose behind a firm. A firm has the wherewithal to analyze and implement marketing strategies that individuals just cannot and brokers just will not.

Looking forward to your next post.