Heard and Overheard

"CRM gave us a single tool, a single interface, and a unified front for customer service." --Aaron Bean, manager of technical services and employee solutions, Cherokee Nations Enterprises "Data quality isn't sexy or glamorous, so it doesn't get the investment it deserves." --Eric Schmitt, senior analyst, Forrester Research
"I don't think that it's a vendor's responsibility to deliver campaign ROI. It's a company's responsibility to be able to do that." --Cristene Gonzalez Wertz, director, Fair Isaac "A lot of companies' customer data is housed in one area, and transactional data is housed at the POS system. It would be great if we could do a better job of linking customer information to transactional information." --Alton Adams, managing partner, Accenture's customer insight domain "When you ask marketers about their biggest pain point it's all about, How do I establish a closer connection to my customer? When you ask them how much technology could help with those problems, they rightly think that technology could help an awful lot and that's what marketing automation is all about." --Elana Anderson, senior analyst, Forrester Research "Good customer service is nice, but it's not a relationship." --Martha Rogers, Ph.D., partner, Peppers & Rogers Group "We have often found that a CRM project can [only] be considered a success at the end of the engagement--many years after the initiative is completed, and the customer can be self-sufficient after the consulting company has left." --Afzal Jessa, senior manager, communications, content, and utilities practice, BearingPoint