| |
| |
|
KwikMarketing.com - Marketing Information |
|
|
|
CRM Star Wars: When Marketing is from Venus and IT is from Mars
Inherent tensions exist between marketing and IT. This is often compounded by lots of cross-talk, with each function on different channels. When tension becomes unresolved conflict, CRM strategy is impossible to execute. To avoid clashes, it helps to understand that CRM is not just about the exchange of information, it's about the exchange of relationships. And every effective relationship includes a fair amount of conflict. The key is in how you handle it. Conflict as a Catalyst Conflict is a fact of work life. It can be especially pronounced when the two parties involved see the world from different lenses, as is often the case with marketing and IT. Conflict can be the catalyst for creativity resulting in innovative, productive teams. It can also be the catalyst for emotionality, polarizing people and generating counter-productive behavior. Let's look at the following scenario to see how conflicts can be managed. Situation: Executive management wants to encourage the use of teams to streamline decision-making and communications during CRM implementation. Marketing: You are the marketing vice-president, co-chairing the CRM cross-functional implementation team. You know little to nothing about technology implementation but you really believe in the CRM philosophy and the power of the technology to make things happenfor the sales force. This week two key people from the IT staff, who were supposed to be on the CRM team, did not show up for the weekly meeting. You need these people to participate at the implementation meetings. You meant to confront the IT director about this right after the meeting, but she got called away. You have called her several times this morning already. Here is some self-talk that the VP of marketing might be having with himself about this situation: I'm ticked off. I have resource allocation issues myself but this project is critical. This no-show behavior can't happen. It's obvious that IT hasn't made this a high enough priority. IT: You are the IT director, co-chairing the CRM cross-functional implementation team with the VP of marketing. You have many internal clients who require ongoing support as well as assistance with new projects. You just checked your voice mail and there are several messages from the marketing vice president. You know what it's about. Quite frankly, in the rush to move the CRM implementation forward, you feel that you've over-committed people to the CRM team. You're not opposed to the "team" approach, but the reality of running day-to-day operations is making it a struggle to send two of your staff to weekly meetings, plus attend yourself. You did not realize when you authorized days off for that week that it would mean no-shows in this morning's meeting. Here is some self-talk that the IT director might be having with herself about this situation: We have so many demands. I can't allocate two people to this team-only one-and that person may have to rotate with others on the team. He (VP of marketing) is just going to have to be more flexible. Not a Personality Conflict The next interaction between these two people is critical. It will determine whether Mars and Venus crash and burn, or if they align in the right orbits. Let's take a look at what the research tells us about conflict and the usual areas of disagreement at work. It often surprises people that personality conflicts are rarely the culprit. Most conflicts at work are a function of lack of clarity around one or more of the following variables: Roles: I know what your job is, you know what my job is, and we both understand our own roles. When you have role clarity, each party shares mutual expectations for performance. Goals: We both buy in to the organization goal to be achieved and there are no hidden agendas. When you have goal clarity, each party understands and agrees upon what is to be accomplished. Procedures: I want to do it this way; you want to do it that way. Procedures can be changed and are simply the means to the end goal. Can you brainstorm an alternative procedure to execute the goal? Personality: A true dislike exists between the parties based on personal characteristics, behaviors, mannerisms, etc. Perhaps history has colored the relationship and interactions are now seen through the lens of the past, not the present or future. As consultants to CRM teams, we urge people not to fall into the trap of immediately assuming that the tension they feel or experience is a function of personality clashes. It is almost always a function of roles, goals, and procedures-and miscommunication about those three variables. In this scenario, the two parties are probably pretty clear about the organizational goals established for the CRM team. What is not clear is: What are the best procedures for making the goal happen? How will the two of them manage their own relationship as co-chairs? The Hidden Issue The real conflict is a resource allocation issue, not a commitment problem. The way to resolve this conflict is to problem-solve around how to maximize IT's participation on the team while recognizing the resource and time commitments for the both departments. But it's not just the procedures that need to be ironed out. The less obvious issue is the quality of the relationship that exists between the co-chairs. If some groundwork had been done early on to build their relationship, these negative feelings might not be surfacing now. Instead of investing energy in anger and frustration, they might give each other the benefit of the doubt and just solve the problem. Moving forward, this can be done if the marketing vice-president and the IT director put their relationship as co-chairs on the agenda and work out how they will handle tension, misunderstandings, and conflict. If they skirt the issue by avoiding authentic dialog on how to manage expectations and problem-solve, interplanetary CRM clashes are bound to happen. The art and science of dealing with the people side of the change equation is Change Management. As a practice, it draws from a multitude of social science disciplines to effectively bring people, technology, and ideas together at the same time. Copyright 2002 Dailey & O'Brien, Inc. (c) 2004 TurningPointe Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Conduct a Successful Fax Marketing Campaign 1. Focus your fax marketing on one objectiveFax is a flexible medium, and is being used by Adestra clients to sell off-the-page, to conduct research, for broadcasting newsletters, for generating prospects and for database cleaning. The Words That Sell What You Say, Who You Say It To, How you Say It: If you have or can get a list of people who are already interested or genuinely likely to be interested in your product or service then you are well on your way to being successful with your postcard marketing. Before that, you have to answer the key question, "Who should I send my postcard offers to?"After that is answered, your next problems are what to say to them and what to ask them to do. When The Stars Align - Choosing the Right Entertainment Savvy event producers follow the Golden Rule: know thy audience. When they set out to create a special event, the first thing they do is slip into the shoes of a typical guest. How To Get To The Top of The Marketing Food Chain Are you tired of living off handouts from big-name marketers, earning meager affiliate commissions?If you truly want to live and breathe the rarefied air of the super-marketers, what you need is not a change in method, but a change in attitude and mindset.You need to start thinking like a top gun and create your own identity instead of feeding off the efforts of others. How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 6 How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth?: Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - The Final PartAdditional Lessons from Popcorn MarketingI'm assuming that the movie theatres have tested their price point and figured out what the highest price is that they can charge and get away with - the highest price the market will be willing to pay.And, that's what they charge for their popcorn. Five Marketing Tips to Double Profits It's a startling fact: almost all entrepreneurs aren't marketing their businesses effectively. Marketing goes much deeper than advertising. A Business In One Sentence Marketing expert and author, Geoffrey Moore, has a useful fill-in-the-blank method for creating a theme and positioning statement for your business. I prefer to use his same system for creating clarity for myself in what I'm selling, creating an elevator or introduction speech, and also material for my website, brochures and business card. Utilizing Your Best Hidden Asset To Increase Sales You probably already have in your possession one of the most valuable and powerful assets you can possibly own. But if you're like most business people you probably aren't using it to its full potential. Want To Impress Customers, Win Clients and Influence People? Remember the baseball cards kids traded while chewing their way through kilos of noxious bubblegum, all for about a nickle a pack? No? Then ask your Dad. Are you familiar with the latest digital CD Cardz that look like traditional sports trading cards and play interactive video, triva, bios, stats, music, as well as desktop goodies? No? Then ask your kid. Another Commercial? Dont Touch That Dial! Watch & Learn When commercials come on the television do you get up and head for the kitchen to get a snack? Do you tune out the radio when commercials start? Do you skip over advertisements in newspapers and magazines?If you do, you're missing a golden opportunity for increasing your business.When you pay attention to ads, you can very quickly pick out ads that are effective. 6 Simple Ways to Determine Which Marketing Ideas Are Best for Your Business Did something catch your eye in a direct mailing this past week? Have you recently gone to a website and encountered something entirely new that caught your attention? Did a friend of yours try out a new marketing idea and generate a few thousand dollars of extra business overnight?As a small business owner, it's all too easy to get caught up in the hype of new marketing techniques that promise quick rewards for little cash. I'll even admit that we copywriters are trained to overcome your psychological objections to buying what we're selling so that you're ready to whip out your wallet right then and there. The Secret to Good Writing Skilful business writing involves getting your message across simply and quickly. This often means writing in a style that is easily read and understood by a broad audience. The Power Of A Story If you want your marketing to be effective, you absolutely must connect emotionally with your prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by telling a story. Your Marketing - From The Couch To The Cash Register When you put time or money into any marketing plan, your only objective is to MAKE A SALE. Are you sure your marketing is going to get your customer from their couch to your cash register?When somebody hears your message or sees your logo from some medium you have created, what does the path from that first 'touch' to your cash register look like?We call this path the yellow brick road. Whats Your Marketing Weak Link? Your marketing weak link could be undermining the rest of your marketing. It is vital that each link in your marketing system supports and builds upon the previous link. Itchin For Some Nichin The whole idea of Niche Marketing is exciting! The possibilities are endless, as there are literally millions of people surfing the web, the vast majorities of whom are here for two reasons . . How To Recognize Your Niche Marketing Agenda Starting a business, whether it's retail products or services, must establish their own "niche". It doesn't matter how great your products or services is, how great your sales letter is or your headlines, offers or what a great price you're offering. Direct Marketing: Overlooked, Underappreciated, and Unstoppable Every business needs customers, but more importantly every business needs to maintain those customers while constantly retaining new ones. The only successful way of doing this is by learning everything about your customers, including who they are? What do they have in common? Do they share a hobby, an age range, a life stage, or a geographic community? Can you break them down into groups? The answers to these questions hold a wealth of information for you. The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is it because of the competitive prices? Yes, that's part of it. Simplicity In Marketing In a world that is spinning out of control; with consumers being bombarded with hundreds of advertising messages per day in a variety of mediums, it is imperative to develop an understanding of the consumer's thinking to develop an edge in advertising.Consumer's get confused with excessive stimulus.
|
| home | site map |
| © KwikMarketing.com 2007 |
