Information Masters: Secrets of the Customer Race

...Less than five percent of the world's firms achieve the fullpotential of their customer relationship initiatives.... The restare caught in its paradox... The core message of Information Masters is simply thatthe frenzied race back to customers is being won by those who havedeveloped a broad and deep customer information competency. Thewinners have accomplished this by balancing technology withinvestments in the predominantly "non-technological" determinantsof customer information competency - people skills, processes,organization structure, culture, leadership, and informationitself."You might think it's lack of technology that accounts for yourinability to forge stronger, more rational and cohesiverelationships with your customers, but John McKean's excellentstudy shows that technology is likely to be the least of yourworries. Information competency is the result of the people youhave in place, the processes they follow, the culture of your firm,and many things other than technology. Don't start your journeytoward CRM without reading this book!"—Don Peppers, co-author, The One to One Fieldbook:The Complete Toolkit for Implementing a 1to1 Marketing Program(Doubleday, 1999)"Managing customer relationships is too important to be left tothe technologists to figure out. McKean has nailed it when heforces you to consider and evaluate the other 'stuff' - people,processes, and culture, and, by the way, the data itself is awfullyimportant."—John Peterson, AT&T Vice President, DatabaseMarketing"Gaining competitive advantage from information is not as much atechnological challenge as it is about people, culture, andleadership. John illustrates and quantifies a better way to buildan information advantage to serve both customers andshareholders."—David Overton, Vice President, Merchandise Planning,Sears"Getting closer to customers is a business imperative - but it'sall too easy to become seduced by the latest technology promisesand consultancy mantras. John McKean offers an invaluable insightinto the real drivers of success which organizations serious aboutCRM must put in place."—Robert Wyllie, BA (Hons) APMI, Group DatabaseMarketing, Scottish Widows"The revolution in information technology is undermining manytraditional business models and creating untold confusion. But inconfusion lies opportunity. McKean shows how to see past themesmerizing advances in computers and communications to create acoherent business strategy that draws on both technological andnon-technological capabilities."—Professor Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MITProgram on Electronic Commerce and Marketing, MIT Sloan School ofManagement"One of the greatest business challenges is not the mastery ofnew technologies, but the creation of a culture able to keep paceand grasp the opportunities these technologies present. This isnowhere better illustrated than in John McKean's pursuit andexploration of that enigma, the profitable customer, through hisbook Information Masters."—Trevor Dukes, Business Systems, W H Smith"In the first decade of the new millennium, customer informationcompetency will be understood as one of the great differentiatorsbetween 'great' and 'mediocre' organizations; John McKean's bookidentifies the characteristics of those organizations that possesscustomer information competency and he provides a roadmap for firmsseeking to achieve it. For information-based organizations, readingthis book will not only save needless expense, but it will helpimprove overall focus, marketing productivity, and profit."—James Bauer, Vice President, National ConsumerServices, Chase Manhattan Bank"McKean's landmark book offers the best insights I've seen intoour biggest challenges for building profitable customerrelationships in the digital age . the non-technologicalones."—Glen Kaiser, Director of Marketing and InformationSystems, AT&T WorldNet