Does Your CRM System Put Customers First? (Part I)

I recently purchased a large appliance from a reputable, national retailer. Little did I know that I would become a first-hand case study for what happens when CRM systems rule the customer experience, and not the other way around.

In fairness, the overall experience I had was quite good. I shopped at two locations, neither of which were very busy. The first location featured an old-school salesman who I felt was trying way too hard to upsell me. It seemed like he cared about his commission way more than getting me the right device for my kitchen. When I told him that I needed to call my wife to confirm my choice of features, he urged me to call her right away, while he stood within earshot.

I checked out a second location, where the staff were a little more low-key, and they were more focused on clearing out some floor samples. I felt comfortable doing business with these folks, and preferred to order from them than from their online store. Unable to resist a real bargain, I picked out the perfect model right on the sales floor. And that's when the CRM mayhem began.

Actually selling me the fridge required entering my data into a monochrome CRM system that looked like it escaped the Eastern Bloc before the Wall fell. Because I had shopped with this chain before, they had a previous address for me on file. I have since moved, but the clerk had to force an error to create a new customer record for me. Not only does this seem a little inconvenient, it actually made me realize that there's no way for them to understand or leverage my long term relationship with their company. But it gets better, and I will tell you more about my experience tomorrow.