Four CRM questions to ask yourself during the holidays

It's always fun to see the flood of articles this time of year about the holidays. "Is Your CRM Ready for Christmas?" the headlines knowingly ask.

"Are You Facing a Christmas E-Commerce Customer Experience Crisis?"

"The Holidays: Will You Survive? Will Your Family Survive?"

OK, I stole that last one from comedian Tom Kenny. But here's the point: Every year, especially in the B2C space, the holidays are viewed by some (many of whom are in the media) as a sort of mini-Y2K crisis: Things have changed! Have you changed enough to cope - or will there be a CRM meltdown that drags your business into the abyss?

The first point that needs to be made here is that these articles, which usually turn up right after Thanksgiving, are too late to be of any practical use. By Black Friday, any problems that exist will most likely have been exposed by the most sensitive and accurate measurement system there is - your customers. Panic is not a real option, regardless of what the media says.

What the holidays really represent is the ultimate laboratory to examine your business and all the aspects of it that contact the customer. Think of it as the world's most effective stress-testing. You should examine your operations closely, take notes, and change things to meet changing conditions as fast as possible, wherever possible. In other words, the holidays should be like the rest of the year - except more and faster.

Where should you start looking? Well, here are a few areas to keep an eye on during the holidays and immediate-post holidays:
1. Are your marketing efforts resulting in sales?
2. Are you listening and responding effectively?
3. Does service engage only with the customers?
4. Is your IT organisation prepared to cope with spikes in usage?

Read the full article on E-Commerce Times / CRM Buyer here.