The Eternal Medievel Cheese Shop of CRM

I originally told this allegory to a conference on CRM back in the early days of the Internet. It was then on my original web site for many years. So many people have mentioned it to me since then that I thought I'd 'blog it' here.

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There are many, many definitions of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Our favorite is described by a story about a Medieval cheese shop.

A long, long time a go, there was a cheese shop deep in the heart of England.

A certain customer always came in on Tuesday mornings, and bought a round of his favorite blue cheese.

One week, the customer didn't arrive until the afternoon of the next day. On entering, the shopkeeper greeted him, saying "I was wondering what happened to you. I put a piece of your favorite cheese aside & saved it for you."

That simple story encapsulates so much about the value of CRM. The customer felt valued, appreciated, understood, and special. Why would he ever go to another cheese shop!

The challenge for today's retailers is to replicate that level of service, when you are dealing with tens of thousands, or even millions of customers.

Technology alone can't provide the solution. But technology can enable your company to become customer-centric, and deliver this level of service.