Guest Blogger and 1to1 Customer Champion Art Hall: The Bank Bailout Plan and CRM 2.0
The financial markets have been taking a beating, so, unfortunately, many people have been left with no jobs. In the month of November alone nearly 600,000 Americans lost their jobs. Last week a major financial institution announced the slashing of 35,000 jobs, leaving more Americans unemployed, depressed, and afraid. What a way to celebrate the holiday season!
The Bank Bailout plan negotiated by the Bush administration is intended to revive our sagging economy, albeit with little to no success. However, a Texas Congressman is challenging Congress and the White House to develop a plan that will shift the control from the government to decide how the bailout funds should be used to stimulate the economy to the American taxpayers, who are in the best position to use the funds in a way to jumpstart a sagging economy.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), a member of the conservative House Republican Study Committee, proposes to use the $350 billion left of the $700 billion bank bailout to fund a two-month tax holiday that would put money in the hands of the American taxpayer. In other words, Mr. Gohmert's proposed plan would allow an American taxpayer to not pay federal or FICA taxes for the first two months of 2009. For the average American family earning $50,000 a year, about $2,000 would go into the pockets of American taxpayers to be used however they want.
Whether we agree with Mr. Gohmert's proposed plan or not, the thinking is one of the core principles of CRM 2.0: cede control of the customer experience from the internally focused and myopic thinking of corporate executives that leaves customer input and feedback out of the conversation to an externally focused view where the customer is empowered to contribute to designing the customer experience, underpinned with tools and a corporate culture that would allow customers to cocreate with the company they are doing business with. This is a fundamental shift that companies must make to remain highly relevant and competitive in today's global economy.
CRM as we know it is not going to cut it -- I am still amazed that many of us still associate CRM with technology -- it is almost two decades and many of us still just don't get it. Customers are scarce assets and if we don't allow today's customers to contribute to designing their experience, companies will have mixed results very much like the current bailout plan. The heart of Mr. Gohmert's plan is on the American taxpayer; the heart of CRM 2.0 is on the customer.
I am not sure if Mr. Gohmert's bailout plan will be approved; I am sure there are holes in it just like the current bailout plan. Either way, I like the fact he is thinking about the best interest of citizens and that warrants a Christmas card.
Does anyone have his address?
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Art Hall is currently senior contact center delivery executive and CRM practitioner for Alvarez & Marsal. Read about Art's 1to1 Customer Champion approach to customer strategy.
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