Be honest: why are you implementing CRM? To make relationships smoother, which serves both you and the customer, or to make transactions smoother, which serves just you?

Customers know the difference, says JC Quintana. He is author of CRM to the People; also Speaking Frankly About Customer Relationship Management, and the upcoming Serious Relationships: The 7 Elements of Successful Business Relationships due out in June.

JC is the founder and president of the Corporate Relationship Group, which helps companies resolve business relationship challenges; and before launching his company, was the Global Head of Customer Strategy Innovation with Hewlett Packard. Most recently, he delivered the customer keynote at eXtreme Lisbon, and he’s here to tell us more about customer strategies:

• How the term CRM has become a technology, not a practice
• How Microsoft with Dynamics 365 balances outcomes with functionality
• Why relationships are about human needs – which requires an experience staging that must happen before a relationship begins
• A customer relationship is still the goal; but staging the relationship to succeed is customer experience
• How functionality, accessibility and emotional connection define an experience
• How a CX assessment is the new measure of customer sentiment – but is it enough?
• How to leverage CRM to deliver CX and stronger customer relationships.