Goodbye CRM, Hello Real-Time Customer Relations!

There, I said it! Goodbye CRM.

In today's fast-paced world everything is happening in real time: Customers are researching products and services, they are buying, they are experiencing your brand, and most importantly---they are telling friends and family about their experiences with your brand and your people.

It's no longer about who is in your database. It's about your customer, at every touch point, and whether or not you are giving them a "remarkable" experience. If it's remarkable, they will tell others to try you. If it's not, you lose.

So what does this mean?
Don't concentrate on databases. Concentrate on real people, real customers.
Give them remarkable experiences.
Forget traditional advertising. When is the last time you tracked an ad and said it converted to a sale?
But.....give one of your fans a remarkable experience and they WILL talk positively about you. It's happening every day --- word of mouth, on Twitter, on Facebook, on sites like Yelp, YouTube, etc.