Another ZDNet list

ZDNet’s got another list you might want to have a look at. Headily titled, “10 things you should know about customer relationship management,” it manages to encompass some good material on the fundamentals.

Article author Tom Mochal wrote the piece – which delivers pretty much what its Spartan title indicates – in order to “help you gain an understanding of what a CRM initiative will entail, such as the necessity of managing culture change, the timeframe required to adopt a CRM mindset, and the importance of a 360 degree view of the customer.”

The Chump won’t take too much time with the details (you can check out the piece itself here), but we’ll sneak you the titles of the top ten:

1. CRM implementations focus on gaining and leveraging a keen understanding of the customer.

2. CRM is a mindset and a philosophy.

3. The implementation of CRM in your organization needs to be viewed as a culture change initiative.

4. CRM implementations don’t happen overnight.

5. A good CRM implementation provides a 360 degree view of the customer.

6. CRM requires customer analysis.

7. CRM solutions can be finely tuned to optimize the timing of sales.

8. Functions across your entire organization may be candidates for CRM.

9. Resistance to CRM culture change can mean failure.

10. You need to tread carefully when collecting customer data.

Along with more extensive explanation for each of these glittering generalities, Mochal also provides a helpful case study of a successful CRM implementation. Mochal writes of the unnamed firm’s CRM implementation from the first-person perspective. His own CV consists of stints at “a software company in Atlanta,” Coca-Cola Company, Eastman Kodak and Cap Gemini America, so perhaps you can suss out just which company he’s discussing…