Integrated Data Technology

The devil is in the details, the saying goes. When it comes to B2B selling, the dollars are also in the details. That's something I learned many years ago while writing about the reseller channel. Back in 2000, the Internet caused significant disruptions of traditional reseller relationships, because many large technology vendors expected online sales to eliminate the need for resellers. They tried to sell direct, but failed to grasp the value that resellers provided to their end-user customers. So in 2000 and 2001, they tried to win back their jilted resellers.

Each dollar spent on CRM yields $5.60 in benefits, according to a recent report. Though the findings are interesting, the methodology is questionable. The 70 participating companies were customers of a firm that had been profiled in case studies, meaning that they were not necessarily typical CRM users. Still, it's worth noting that the companies that contributed to the numbers were embodying a trait of successful CRM users simply by engaging with the firm and seeking an outsider's viewpoint of their CRM activities. That trait could be described colloquially as "stick-to-itiveness."