Customer Relationship Management Requires Agile Marketing, Sales and Service Capabilities to Change the Competitive Playing Field, According to New CRM Book from Accenture

Successful customer relationship management (CRM) requires the marketing, sales and service agility of a star athlete to enable today’s businesses to outpace their competitors in the race for customers, according to a new book by Accenture (NYSE:ACN) and Montgomery Research, Inc. entitled CRM Transformation: Transforming Marketing, Sales and Service. This year’s publication, the seventh CRM book produced by the two companies, presents new game-changing maneuvers in marketing, sales and service that can help high-performing companies deliver the consistently satisfying experiences that win and keep customers. CRM Transformation: Transforming Marketing, Sales and Service features new essays by leading CRM practitioners, academics, analysts and consultants from organizations including Accenture, Avaya, Baylor University’s Keller School for Professional Selling, Business Objects, Forrester Research, IDC and SAP. The authors explain how to adopt a new mindset and approach to customer relationships, and they provide in-depth analysis on topics such as new software selection models, managing the customer experience, maintaining a more reliable database, improving service operations, fostering customer loyalty, embracing the characteristics of high-performance marketing and other related subjects. Additionally, the book includes case studies that illustrate key points and provide practical advice that corporate executives need as they seek to contribute to their companies’ growth goals in an increasingly globalized world. The book’s opening paper, "Making the Pivot: The New Playing Field of Customer Experience Management,” authored by Woodruff ("Woody”) Driggs, managing director of the Accenture CRM practice, sets the stage for subsequent pieces in the book. Driggs called on businesses to manage their customer relationships with the same degree of agility as the best athlete who is able to execute a game-changing play. "Making such a pivot in CRM to create customer interactions that produce optimal experiences and long-term relationships must be the top mission for today’s CRM executives,” said Driggs. "Above all, those experiences must be consistent with a company’s brand promise. Failing to live up to that promise leads to erosion of customer loyalty, making it easier for the competition to entice people to take their business elsewhere.” "Unfortunately, many CRM implementations failed to live up to expectations in recent years because the objectives, technologies, processes and people were not aligned from end-to-end to create a satisfying customer experience,” said Chris Trayhorn, CEO of Montgomery Research. "This book contains the ideas, examples and practical guidance companies need to get on track.” The book and other CRM white papers are available via www.crmproject.com. Montgomery Research, Inc. (www.mriresearch.com) publishes thought leadership that focuses on the convergence of business and technology. The organization works with business visionaries and industry specialists to define industry trends, such as those discussed in the new CRM publication. About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 158,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is www.accenture.com.