New initiative by AARM

AARM, an international organization that focuses on best practices in CRM, today announced the formation of a Customer Equity Initiative. AARM president Robert T. Stacey stated a lofty goal for the creation: “This initiative is designed to help companies in any field … learn how to optimize their business practices to deliver what today’s customers’ value and accrue customer equity.”

More specifically, the initiative promotes business practices that lead to sustainable win-win-win business relationships where customers, employees and companies get what they value: the quasi-mythical land in the end-game where all three parties win. Initiative program director Dr. John I. Todor got further to the heart of the matter in saying that “In today’s business climate, gaining and sustaining profitability is a battle for customer mindshare. Winning mindshare is about customers, their desires and emotions.”

The Customer Equity Initiative, then, is designed to help companies address these challenges. As customers shift their focus from the product to the experience associated with it, the imperative states that companies must realign their strategies to deliver engaging customer experiences or face assimilation. For most companies, resistance is not quite futile but does require a major transformation that includes changing their use of customers, employees, policies and practices to align them with the new mission.

The mission statement for the Customer Equity Initiative is “to provide the knowledge tolls and forum for companies to make a successful transition and reap the long-term benefits of customer equity.” Founded in 1995, AARM is an organization and network of business associates and executives specializing in CRM and related subject areas.