I thought the issue of Marketing Week (dated 17th December) was an interesting read, namely because it was the last issue of the year AND decade! Reflecting back over the noughties there have been highs; such as more recognition for women in business and politics, but also lows with (the global recession obviously springing to mind).

I opened my copy of Marketing Week on the 18th December and I waited with bated breath to see what the predictions might be for 2010. As a sales professional, working for a new business agency, I have often found the predictions given by the magazine at the end of the year to be extremely useful when speaking to marketing prospects in January. Let’s face it, if you are going to call someone then you had better have done your research and being able to demonstrate forward insight really works with prospects.

Last year, ‘Marketing Week’ decided to opt out of a full-length feature giving an overview of the year and predictions for next. Instead, they focussed on a subject, which has been topical for some time – namely ‘the bruised relationship’ between marketers and procurement.

The article explains that ‘value’ will be the buzzword of 2010 as businesses continue to keep a close eye on budgets. This is something we can relate to as a business development agency when we speak to marketing prospects on the telephone. The message is clear, marketing spend is there but companies will have to ensure that they achieve good value for money when deciding which agency to appoint.

This year, procurement will play an increasing role in achieving good value for their business. This does not mean cutting costs but genuinely growing the business through a value added approach. It is true to say that marketers have tended to eye procurement through suspicious eyes in the past, but the need for both sides to work together is paramount. Also, an understanding of each other’s roles will go some way to achieving this.

I will certainly consider this argument and when I next get directed to a procurement department, rather than fearing that I won’t get anywhere, I will ask them what measures they are taking to ensure a good turnaround of agencies with the right experience.

We’d love to hear about your experiences with procurement departments.

I read an interesting article in Marketing Week on 3^rd December referring to the latest Marketing Trends Survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Specifically this feature concerns the investment that brand owners need to make (both in terms of their time when it comes to training and their money relating to technology) in order to meet their customer relationship management goals.

Keeping on top of CRM is no picnic: you might be a huge multinational with an entire department dedicated to tracking the ever-changing habits and needs of your customer base or a small agency relying on a package like ACT, but the quality of the data you get out will only ever be as good as the quality of data that gets captured in the first place – and this takes a lot of time and effort. It’s a bit like painting the Forth Bridge, although even that has an ending in sight now.

Let’s relate this issue to small to medium size agencies: you’ve got finite resources so it’s not always practical to have a data research team. Sure, you can buy data from numerous providers; but how often have you opened your data package expectantly, only to feel somewhat underwhelmed when you start using it? It’s a bit like an excitable child opening a present at Christmas only to find that the box contains an old Sega Master System rather than the latest Playstation 3.

Then there’s the whole issue of how to get your data working for you, as opposed to you working for it. There are plenty of contact management systems out there but if you don’t have the expertise to fully utilise them it’s fairly likely that you’ll be missing opportunities and therefore potentially losing money.

One of the key contributions to our own success as a company (and obviously this has come off the back of delivering results for our clients) has been the continued investment, maintenance and development of our CRM database. As a tool it is invaluable in helping to identify genuine opportunities for our clients and helping to win new business for ourselves.

Let’s be realistic – on any sizeable database you will never achieve 100% accuracy. There will always be a certain proportion of the information that has changed and not yet been recaptured. But if you have a whole group of business development professionals collectively updating the system from the information they are gathering with each call they make (somewhere in the region of 1000 calls each day between them) and this information is specifically focussed on gleaning new business opportunities above anything else, you soon start to separate the wheat from the chaff. Of course, it helps to have a tip-top system built specifically for your requirements – but if you’ve got it, why not flaunt it?

What are your views on the opportunity cost of CRM?