I’ve been to a few trade shows recently, and have browsed through the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) stands. From an outsider’s point of view, these systems seem to be progressing in leaps and bounds, with many reaching quite a mature level.

One question I’ve been asking the vendors: what information does your system provide frontline staff about the company’s product line? Let me explain this question further.

CRM systems are designed to capture a lot of information, and provide it to frontline staff in an easy-to-digest form, including:

• customer details
• transaction history
• sales opportunities
• cross-selling suggestions
• previous customer feedback

The goal of all this information is improve customer services, and at the end of the day, to increase sales. What seems to be missing is any sort of “knowledgebase” of corporate information.

This should provide details such as:

• key details on relevant products and services
• sales support materials
• important processes, policies and procedures
• answers to common customer questions

Now of course, this doesn’t necessarily have to be stored within the CRM system itself. An existing content management system would do the job as well, or better.

What I am saying is that this information needs to be integrated into a seamless interface, so that the frontline staffperson has the information they need to help the customer, or to answer their questions.

Perhaps I am just not using the right sort of language, because this concept seems to be a complete mystery to the sales reps that I’ve talked to at the trade shows…