Yes, it was a sales pitch. What else can you call it when people from four technology firms get up on stage and tout the benefits of their CRM systems?
But a couple of panelists also told how their clients have pursued what is now called mass customizing. For example, James Fiorda, product line marketing manager for PeopleSoft, said that Sun Microsystem achieved a conversion rate of 33% with a customized e-mail newsletter program designed by his firm. "And the industry average is 8%," he added.
Prior to that, Sun had communicated through many channels without "a lot of consistency," Fiorda said. It needed to find the most profitable customers and present them with relevant offers. "The ultimate goal is to drive leads to the sales force," he added.
An early online newsletter test to 1,300 names pulled a 27% subscription rate. The company moved on from there, using sign-up techniques like ubiquitous registration and encouraging people to tell a friend or colleague. It now sends dialogue-based e-mail letters to tens of thousands of people, Fiorda estimated.
Then there was Greg Padavani, head of Padovani Consulting Ltd. He said his Patient Education Newsletter system (PENS) had been used—with good results—by groups ranging from Holy Cross Hospital in Chicago to Washington University Medical School.
This approach bundles articles together from multiple sources and customizes the newsletter for "each individual and each family."
One of Padavoni's clients was able to fold 16 expensive newsletters into 1 PENS newsletter and one traditional letter. In addition, a Padovani handout told how Holy Cross hospital had generated $607,035 during a two-month tracking period, collecting $96 for every dollar spent on PENS.
Sid Siddiqui, a senior marketing specialist with Microsoft Corp., hinted at his company's virtues by listing the 10 top questions a CRM systems purchaser should ask. They include: Does it enable the user to streamline the process in a way that impacts customers? Does it address all points of contact? Does it provide a 360 degree view of the customer?
Then there was Chandos Quill, vice president of strategic marketing for Experian Database Solutions. Her firm helps marketers find identity variations through its "reference repository"—30 years of data history, she said. Doing this can result in a 3% to 6% lift in identifying duplicate information, she continued.
What is the most important thing you can do when implementing a system?
Do it in a methodical way, and "keep in touch with IT," said Quill.
And what's on the horizon in terms of CRM?
"What's on the horizon is everything that was being talked about during the Internet boom that nobody has delivered on yet," Fiorda said.
