CRM Software Helps Companies Navigate the Expectation Economy

For the past year or so, marketers have buzzed about a phenomenon that the editors of Trendwatching have dubbed "The Expectation Economy." According to their description of the trend, easy access to the Internet has accelerated consumers' expectations of companies, regardless of the size of their purchases or the depth of their relationship. Until recently, CRM software thrived mainly in offices where sales professionals relied on relationship marketing to land "big fish." In the Expectation Economy, CRM software has become essential—even for mom and pop operations.

Consumers are better connected to each other than ever before, and purchasing decisions no longer hinge on the quality of a product alone. The story behind the product and the story about purchasing and using a product have become essential to a consumer's overall experience. Well-informed consumers use magazines, blogs, and bulletin boards to learn as much as possible about what to expect from a vendor before making a purchase. Likewise, the same consumers use blogs, e-mail, and social media to share their experiences with others, helping to set expectations for other prospective customers. Companies that plug their CRM software into this firehose of information can learn how to reshape their offerings to fit the enhanced expectations of informed, highly critical audiences.

Using CRM software to reset expectations goes beyond responding to the kind of product failure that sends customers into an online rampage. Effectively managing customer expectations requires companies to know:

• where they get their information about purchasing decisions,
• how advertising and marketing shape their opinions,
• how past experiences with products and services shape future expectations,
• how likely customers are to share both positive and negative experiences with their social network.

Loyalty programs, feedback surveys, and social media monitoring are just the beginning for companies that commit CRM software and other resources to matching consumers' expectations. While "having conversations with customers" might sound too simplistic, many of today's most successful companies share the ultimate goal of using CRM software to recreate the intimate relationships between buyers and sellers from a century ago.