Blog: Jill Dyche

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Black Handbags, Safe Sex, and Software. We Are Not Amused.

In which Jill watches a CRM sales guy push the envelope.

Last year we were working with a client and watched a well-intentioned account rep try to sell some CRM software. To call this guy enthusiastic would be like calling the Queen of England well-groomed. The rep just didn’t take no for an answer. (I understand the word “no” doesn’t sit well with the Queen either.)

Having encountered at turns passive behavior and rejection from the company’s IT management, the account rep turned to the business and began selling hard into the marketing organization. He used all the right buzzwords to get the CMO’s attention. The CMO asked me what I thought, and I told her that she should ask the CIO whether there were any incumbent CRM capabilities that resembled what the rep had been pitching.

Turns out there are three incumbent capabilities. That’s another way of saying that this company has acquired software from three other vendors to solve the same problem. That’s another way of saying that the company has done a pretty poor job communicating between organizations. That’s another way of saying the company has over-invested in software.

It’s like having three black handbags. Although they’re all black, each black bag ideally serves a different purpose. One bag is great for daytime, accommodating a lovely leather wallet in British tan, a cosmetics case, and a Burberry umbrella. Another roomier bag can accommodate a flask of Boodle’s and an ample Corgi. And a smaller bag can fit a wad of Euros, a pack of Rothman’s, and a condom. (Her Majesty believes in safe sex.)

But if each black bag has the same dimensions, looks the same, and matches the same pair of sensible black shoes, what’s the point? So it goes with software—the more you buy, the more diverse and mature your capabilities should be. Every BI, CRM, master data management, or data quality software purchase should drive some sort of improvement, be it in reporting sophistication, data accuracy, sales uplift, or customer satisfaction.

Upon learning that some of her IT budget allocation had paid for redundant software, the CMO called the CIO and uttered a much more colorful version of Queen Victoria’s famous pronouncement, “We are not amused.”

Technorati tags: business/IT alignment, software investment, business intelligence, data quality

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