Although I do not have extensive experience working with CRM I remain skeptical of companies that claim to offer CRM solutions. CRM seems to be a topic that is relatively unique to each company, and even to each customer. In order to properly manage your customers, CRM solutions must be developed for each individual customer. Imagine that you were a customer with specific needs. Would you want to do business with a company that treated you the same as all of their other customers and simply used one a few standard CRM solutions for you? I certainly would not want to be treated in that manner. Rather, I think it reasonable that a customer of value deserves a fair amount of personal attention. CRM solutions that a customer is provided with should be based on their unique needs which can only be discovered by gaining a detailed understanding of your customers. This kind of individualized attention can lead to a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. If your company can be known among potential customers for having detailed CRM solutions that are as unique as the customers needs, then I can guarantee that your customer base will increase, as will you bottom line.
This level of detail in your CRM solutions does not mean that there are not certain best practices, and that consultants specializing in CRM solutions cannot add value to your business. Rather, the opposite is true. Being able to analyze a customer to find their needs is a distinct skill, and using best practices or consultants to improve this skill can be valuable to your business. Being able to generate good CRM solutions for each of your key customers is a valuable asset to your company, one that will help ensure your continued success.