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CRM Workshop Data Yields Surprising Results
By Josh Krist, Content Manager, SalesLobby.com

Survey data gathered a pair of CRM workshops in September show, among other interesting findings, that only a little less than half of the attendees have segmented their customers. But, a quarter of them report that they're in the process of segmenting their customers.

The San Francisco and New York workshops were put on by Quaero () and sponsored by The Direct Marketing Association (). There will be another CRM workshop Nov. 1-3 in Chicago. To register, please go to .

Overall there were 53 participants in the two workshops, and 31 participants completed the surveys.

"Through case study, group work, and demonstrations this seminar gave me the tools I needed to present a tight customer strategy, solid business case and step-by-step process for implementing CRM,” said Paul Johnson, director of direct marketing, Sierra Software/Havas Interactive.

The percentages listed below are based on the 31 people who completed the survey. Some of the percentages do not add up to 100 percent because participants could choose more than one answer for a given question or could choose not to answer a question.

Results:

What is your job function?
45.16% Technical - SAS/SQL programmer, campaign management, or statistical analysis
22.58% Technical - ETL coding, database administration, tool integration
64.52% Technical leadership - planning, management
6.45% Marketing - report generation, campaign planning
0.00% Internet Marketing - web personalization, email campaign mgt.
9.68% Marketing leadership - planning, management
9.68% Business leadership - planning, management
12.90% None of the above
How would you categorize your company’s business model?
12.90% BtoB
51.61% BtoC
35.48% Both
How would you categorize your company?
0.00% Internet only company
9.68% Internet and Storefront
74.19% Storefront only
How would you rank your company's CRM expertise?
25.81% None
19.35% Understand direct marketing
9.68% Understand analysis and segmentation
25.81% Understand customer databases
19.35% Industry leaders with 5+ years experience
How would you rank your personal CRM experience?
25.81% None
22.58% Understand direct marketing
25.81% Understand analysis and segmentation
16.13% Understand customer databases
6.45% Industry leaders with 5+ years experience
What types of CRM decisions are you responsible for at your company?
22.58% Purchasing software
12.90% Implementing software
61.29% Managing marketing campaigns
51.61% Running marketing campaigns
38.71% Managing analytics
19.35% Running analytics
51.61% Overall CRM strategy
3.23% Other
How are customer relationships managed in your organization today?
22.58% Centralized: all customer contact goes through a single business unit
74.19% Decentralized: multiple business units can have inbound/outbound customer contact simultaneously
How does your organization define the customer?
35.48% Choose one
45.16% Computer generated customer ID
16.13% Tax Identification Number or Social Security Number associated with the customer
48.39% Account number or other identifier issued by company
51.61% No customer definition
22.58% Not sure
What types of customer information do you capture today?
74.19% Purchases
32.26% Dialogue (surveys, etc.)
51.61% Demographics (surveys or purchased info.)
25.81% Credit Bureau information
22.58% Clickstream (Web behavior)
48.39% Direct marketing responses
6.45% Human Resources
9.68% None
3.23% Not sure
What types of marketing campaigns are you currently executing?
41.94% Loyalty
54.84% Retention
35.48% Attrition
51.61% Cross sell/Upsell
6.45% None
Through which channels are you executing them?
41.94% Email
38.71% Web
70.97% Direct Mail
45.16% Call Center
16.13% Sales Force Automation

How do you customize/personalize your services to customers?

How do you measure and improve your marketing campaigns?
35.48% Use control groups
19.35% Test multiple cells
19.35% Follow-up campaigns
12.90% Roll-outs to high performers
19.35% None of the above
22.58% No measurement currently
Do you have a corporate privacy statement?
61.29% Yes
12.90% No
16.13% Working on it
Do you have rules for communicating with the customer? (i.e. how many times in a year you can communicate with a customer?)
29.03% Yes
41.94% No
19.35% Working on it
How does your business examine and analyze customer information?
51.61% Segmentation
32.26% Predictive modeling
16.13% Clickstream analysis
22.58% Market basket analysis
19.35% Not sure
Have you segmented your customers?
48.39% Yes
22.58% No
25.81% Working on it

Josh Krist is SalesLobby.com's content manager and has worked as a journalist in the United States, Israel, and France. Contact him at (480) 998-9644, or .