What holds back CRM success: executive fear

I've heard the excuses - most famously, "we need to understand the ROI on this before we launch any projects." That's not a great excuse, because ROI calculators are out there and ready for use, even for social CRM. Great or not, too often the excuses win out.

You've probably heard the mantra that CRM needs executive buy-in to succeed. That's true - so true, in fact, that the opposite is also true. New trends in CRM need executive apathy and fear to fail.

The people working in the trenches are constantly receiving anecdotal evidence of the value of social CRM in helping with sales, marketing and service. The service team sees only too clearly how deficiencies in their processes are holding them back. The people in the field are relying on mobile devices for many things -- and they know that a capability to use their business software on their mobile devices could make them both more productive and more effective.

So the front-line people are ready, and the technology is ready. What's keeping many businesses from launching a CRM revolution? I like to call it "C-level fear."

Read the full article on E-CommerceTimes.com