Is CRM the same as CEM?

Posted June 27, 2007 10:29:26 AM

Chris Graham has an article on CIO Today that I have a slight argument with -- mainly because it crosses for me an important distinction. Is CRM the same as CEM?

Chris writes:

So the CRM becomes CEM, a Customer Experience Management system. The technology needs to be facilitating, responsive, manageable and easy to maintain.
There is a relationship between CRM and CEM, but CRM does NOT become CEM. They are different. Those of us who care deeply about customer experience marketing do not need to carry the negative baggage of CRM.

CRM is technology-driven. It is all about sales force and marketing automation and has a history of being an inward-looking analytical approach. CRM is littered with expensive failures because many clients saw it as a technology silver bullet. The failure is that it never changed how the company communicated and served the customer. The measure is how efficiently the company uses customer information to achieve corporate goals.

CEM is more of a cultural shift that is assisted by technology ... it is a dynamic way of communicating and serving customers by creating distinctive customer experiences. It is centered around innovation, process, messaging, and customer service to deliver a consistent, valued experience for the customer at every point where the company and the customer come together. The measure is how many customers would refer the company to their friends or associates -- that is, how many customers are raving, addicted advocates who actually help you grow your business.
The single view of the customer is a central technology to both CRM and CEM. A lot of CEM occurs in the contact center, where technology is focused on helping customer service agents respond faster and better to deliver a great customer experience.

Given my focus on the importance of providing customers with unique, valued and consistently delivered experiences, CRM cannot possibly become CEM. They are different and they serve different needs.