11
O P I N I O N
CRM = CCCC Customer relationship management has changed over the decades, but some things have remained the same: currency, correctness, consistency, and completeness.
W alkmen were all the rage, cell phones were the size of eggplants, and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” was the No. 1 hit. The year was 1987, a time when technology was advancing at a tremendous pace. Just imagine – in four more years, some Americans would begin communicating via SMS text.
H. John Oechsle
Enter 2017. Driverless cars are cruising the streets, and high school students are Skyping with astronauts in space. New technologies are shaping the world around us, and small businesses have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on these advancements. This is especially true with customer relationship management, an area that businesses were smart to pay attention to 30 years ago in 1987 – and can no longer afford to ignore in today’s competitive environment. As the technological complexity of customer relationships evolve, so must our approaches to them. The area is best tackled through the four Cs of customer information, which are crucial
components of any business plan. Currency, correctness, consistency, and completeness are – and, arguably, have always been – the most effective path toward forging intimate, long-term relationships with customers. CURRENCY AND CORRECTNESS. Currency and correctness go together like the PC and the mouse. After all, data only has value when it’s up-to-date and ac- curate. While the internet makes it easy to link up with others, it’s important to ensure connec- tions are managed properly. Remember, customer information is constantly changing. People move,
See H. JOHN OECHSLE, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER July 31, 2017, ISSUE 1210
Made with FlippingBook Annual report