Chapter 6. Get Ready: Avoiding Common Barriers

Now that we understand the basic methodology we will follow, we need to understand the critical CRM barriers that can prevent success. Of course, every company has specific potential barriers within its culture and organization, which you will discover during the strategy phase we'll tackle in Chapter 8. But there are several universal barriers to success, like organizational silos, that almost all companies run into in one way or another. We'll take at look at these common barriers and discuss ways to prepare to reduce or remove them.

Figure 6-1 shows the three most common barriers:

• Expectations: Many companies fall victim to unrealistic expectations; they are looking for a silver bullet to fix customer relationships.

• Culture: Product-centered cultures discourage support and funding for customer-centered programs.

• Operational Infrastructure: Most customer-facing systems (order administration, call center support) automate a single process and do not integrate across all functions.

Let's look at these barriers more closely and consider some of the ways we can eliminate them or at least reduce their impact.