Keep it simple: The secret of CRM success

NEWS One of the UK's largest high-street banks has launched a robust defence of customer relationship management (CRM), urging companies to "keep things simple" if they want to achieve success. Howard Silby, head of CRM at HBOS - the bank formed following the September 2001 merger between Halifax and Bank of Scotland - said he was "very optimistic about the role of CRM" despite research suggesting overall investment was on the wane. Forrester Research predicts that the total CRM market will fall by 5.4 per cent in 2002 to $43.8bn while fellow research house Gartner has forecast that more than half of all CRM projects will have failed by 2006 and that the majority of companies have underestimated costs by 40 to 75 per cent. "Part of the problem is that CRM means different things to different people," said Silby. "You need to assess what it means for your organisation. The pessimism exists because CRM typically meant very large software implementations. That kind of roll-out may still have a place, but not here." Silby recommends doing the simple things. "It's about a series of initiatives that will help our sales colleagues sell more but also ensure customers receive a better customer experience." "Typically large CRM projects are being derailed by rapidly changing economic conditions. Roll-outs that take six months or more are in danger of being overtaken." Silby was speaking as HBOS announced a deal with Unica to provide campaign-marketing software which will replace technology previously supplied by Cordiant and Exchange Applications. HBOS will use the Affinium suite. "Unica is but one component of our overall CRM programme," Silby said. "It's the only component where we've gone with a new technology provider. And that's because it provides a step change in our ability to effectively deliver marketing campaign management." Although he declined to go into the financial details of the Unica deal he said the bank had made a "significant one-off investment in CRM at the time of the merger", believed to be a multi-million pound figure. Epiphany is the bank's other CRM supplier although Silby added that he also relies on bespoke software "which is essential to deliver a sales process that has competitive edge".