C.1. Organizational Self-Assessment

Start with the company itself. What is your company's primary way of relating to customers? What's your company's Value Discipline?

C.1.1. Company Value Discipline

Table C-1 illustrates some questions that can be used to establish how your company builds and maintains relationships with its customers. What is the primary value that your company offers?

Table C-1. Value Discipline

Assessment Question	Response
	Operation Excellence	Product Leadership	Customer Intimacy
What is your company's value discipline focus? (Operational Excellence, Product Leadership, Customer Intimacy) Select your company's value discipline focus.
How do you assess your performance in your primary discipline compared to your competition? Enter (Worse, At Par, Better)
How do you assess your performance in the other two disciplines compared to your competition? Enter (Worse, At Par, Better)

Chapter 1 provides an explanation of the three value disciplines and how they are impacted.

C.1.2. Company Focus

Where is the primary focus of your organizations and how are decisions made? How do you determine which segments your customers are engaged in? Table C-2 shows some good basic self-assessment questions.

Table C-2. Customer-Centered or Product-Centered?

Assessment Question	Response
Where is your company focused?	___product-centered ___customer-centered? How do you know:
How do you segment your customers into groups?	___ by product purchased ___ by customer characteristic Describe:
How do customers experience their interactions with your company?	___fragmented ___integrated Why:

Chapter 2 discusses the impact of company focus on CRM, and vice versa.

C.1.3. Functional Assessment

The questions in Table C-3 can help you document the organizational structure of your company's “CRM functions.” These are the organizations that will be most impacted by your company's CRM program.

Table C-3. CRM Business Functions

Assessment Question	Response
1. What are the functions in your company that directly interact with the customer, and where do they report?	Function	Reports To
2. At what level in the organization do these functions come together?
3. What touch points do you currently employ, and which function(s) manage them?	Touch Points	Functional Ownership
	Broadcast
	E-mail
	Systematic
	Internet
	Mail
	Event
	Phone/Fax
	Personal

There is more to CRM than just understanding your own organization.

C.1.4. Customer Life Cycle

The customer life cycle is what the relationship with your company looks like to the customer. Use words that describe what the customer experience is – not what your company is doing. Table C-4 illustrates a standard life cycle framework. Use terms that are familiar to your industry, customers, and company.

Table C-4. Customer Life Cycle

Describe Your Customers' Life Cycle
Consider (or)	1. 2. 3.
Purchase (or)	1. 2. 3.
Setup (or)	1. 2. 3.
Use (or)	1. 2. 3.

You will be able to verify your understanding of the customer life cycle(s) through both internal and customer interviews.