B.1. Putting Together a Strategic Plan

Data collection for the strategic planning phase is the cornerstone of your CRM program. It doesn't have to take years to gather enough information to get started, but it has to be done. The following templates are a great way to capture the basic information that most companies need to be ready to launch their first project.

B.1.1. Internal Strategic Interview

Table B-1 shows a sample internal strategic interview. You certainly will want to add some company-specific questions. But remember that the shorter and more direct the interview, the better the results are likely to be. Mix open-ended and close-ended questions.

Table B-1. Strategic Interview

Internal Strategic Interview
Contact Information:
Name			Phone
Organization			Role/Title
Date			Time
XYZ has launched its company-wide CRM initiative with the objective to make customer loyalty a competitive advantage for _____ using CRM methodologies and tools. The purpose of this survey is to help us define our company vision and strategy for CRM – quickly
I. Company Overall
What are the key business objectives/opportunities for ___ for next year?
1
2
3
Biggest risks for ___ for next year?			Three critical success factors (things that must go right)?
1
2
3
II Your organization
What are the key business objectives/opportunities for your organization for next year?
1
2
3
Key business risks for your function?			Three critical success factors (things that must go right)?
1
2
3
III. The Customer
Who are the company's most important customer segments?
	Segment (example customers)?		How do you recognize/classify them?
1
2
3
What do these important customers expect from you (by segment if relevant)?
	Segment	Expectations
1
2
3
IV. The CRM Initiative
What do you mean by “Customer Relationship Management (CRM)”?
For the purpose of the rest of this survey, we will define CRM as: The strategic use of information, processes, technology, and people to manage the customer's relationship with your company (marketing, sales, service, and support) across the entire customer life cycle.
What will CRM do for your most important customers?
1
2
3
What will CRM do for …
	The Company?		Your function?
1
2
3
What touch points are most important to your company, and how do you compare to your competitors in these areas?
1
2
3
Which CRM area or what projects should we tackle first?
1
2
3
What are the biggest risks to a successful CRM initiative for the company (organizational, cultural, behavioral, etc.)?
1
2
3
What CRM projects currently exist or are underway?
	Name/Owner/Organization			Purpose (marketing, support, sales, service)
1
2
3
IV. Wrap-up
What are the three stupidest things that we currently do to our customers?
1
2
3
Who do you think it's important that we interview?
	Name/Contact Info		Organization/Role
1
2
3
Anything else you think that we need to know that we haven't already asked?

Some of XYZ's interview results are summarized in Chapter 8.

B.1.2. System Inventory

The system inventory is another important element impacting your strategic plan. You need to know what customer-related systems already exist and which are planned or under development in order to get an understanding of the scope of your company's CRM infrastructure. A sample systems inventory is shown in Table B-2.

Table B-2. Systems Inventory

System	Information	Technology
Name:	__Customer ID (name/user ID)	Hardware
Purpose:	__Contact info (address/phone/e-mail/	Size (GB)
Business Unit:	_____)	Software/database
Contact Person:	__Company info (name, size, industry)	Closed or open architecture
Location:	__Owned products (ours/competitors)	Customer contact
Status: (live, development, planned)	__Purchased service (ours/competitors)	(e.g., web, phone)
	__Suspect/prospect/customer
	__Deals

The results of XYZ's systems inventory are shown in Chapter 8.

B.1.3. Customer Survey

The customer survey, shown in Table B-3, is intended to take a quick reading of how well your company is doing in the eyes of your customers. Find out what is important to customers in all your value segments.

Table B-3. Customer Survey

Touch point	Broadcast E-mail Systematic Internet	Mail Event Phone/fax Personal
Life Cycle Stage	Consider Awareness/interest Investigation	Set up Install Learn customize
	Purchase Evaluate/choose Order/purchase	Use Operate/maintain Upgrade/retire
Survey (replace the words in italics with one of the choices from the appropriate list above)	1. How important is touch point in helping you to accomplish life cycle stage? Very Somewhat Low 2. How well does our touch point communication work for you/meet your life cycle stage needs? Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Completely

We saw some of XYZ's results in Chapter 8. By the way, it is also valuable to do a more in-depth survey of a few of your customers. You can modify the internal survey for this purpose, remembering to substitute their company name for yours, etc. Starting this type of survey with questions about the customer's goals and objectives sets the right customer-centered tone for the interview, making it more likely that you'll get honest answers about how you can (and do) impact your customer's success.

B.1.4. Competitive Assessment

The competitive assessment (shown in Table B-4) can (and should) be appended to the customer survey. Of course, this works only if you have an independent third party perform the survey and your company is anonymous.

Table B-4. Competitive Assessment

Company List	Create a list of three or four of the key competitors that you're interesting in comparing. Of course, you'll add your own company to the list.
Survey	1. What company's touch point has given you the best experience? Why was it best? 2. What company's touch point has given you the worst experience? Why was it the worst? 3. How well does touch point communication from company work for you/meet your life cycle stage needs? Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Completely

Sample competitive results for XYZ are also illustrated in Chapter 8.