CRM and Market Communications

Markets are conversations among many players. So says the Cluetrain Manifesto. First published online and then as a book, The Cluetrain Manifesto (see 95 Theses ) is an apocalyptic warning. Things are unraveling. Systems are broken. The Internet has unleashed long-term trends that will assert themselves.

Cluetrain has nailed 95 theses to the door. Here are a few that caught my attention:

3. "Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice."
12. "There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone." (Customer Satisfaction Studies may in fact be an effective way of getting such feedback).
27. "By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, [companies] build walls to keep markets at bay."

On CustomerThink.com, Thompson (2007, p 2) says we need to become customer-centric by understanding customers and giving them "what they want." I think this could be the 96th thesis.

References
Thompson , B. (Jan. 22, 2007). Why "CRM" Must Die for Customer-Centric Business To Thrive. CustomerThink Corp. Retrieved on September 8, 2009 from www.customerthink.com.