Seth Godin, marketing and neo-logism guru, dashes off a quick post noting the death of CRM (Client Relationship Management) at the hands of Disney’s Destinations Marketing department. From Disney Seth heard: "CMR is our version of CRM – just a slight nuance regarding our
philosophy that our guests invite us into their lives and ultimately
manage our presence/relationship with them."
How this new? So far it appears that Disney is doing it by offering more choices and more options for the customer to explore. Of course, now you practically need special training to know all the options available to you as a customer. Just look at the many ticket options to Walt Disney World as one example.
As a guest how do you want to manage your relationship with Disney? Would you like a personal relationship page where you can manage all your many contacts with the company and its many divisions? How about a personal history if your shopping habits at Disney Stores and Themeparks with notifications of similar items coming into stock? Track and review upcoming film releases, play along and win chances for behind the scenes peeks at upcoming attractions? Would you like to see photos of your last visit to the themeparks or photos of changes since you last visited (Disney does this already).
I’d really like a customer loyalty program that’s not tied to a Disney branded Visa card. How about some flex resorts that can be value priced in the off season and bulk up with amenities during the busy season for moderate pricing. How about a dining reservation system for locals who don’t plan to eat 6 months in advance. Those are the sorts of relationships I’m looking for.
“CMR is our version of CRM – just a slight nuance regarding our philosophy that our guests invite us into their lives and ultimately manage our presence/relationship with them”
When someone in authority says something like this, you know that the whole enterprise is in deep deep trouble.
Actually, as with most things that catch Godin’s ear or eye, the change is simply a semantic one. What Godin hopes is that it truly marks a change in attitude towards the managed customer relationship, but really it’s a name change, that’s all. Much like a half decade ago when it seemed like every “Customer Service” department was become a “Customer Relationship Management” department. Semantics.
Good management doesn’t need jargon, doesn’t need extra sematical flourishes. Those things disguise are generally disguises for ideas that are either stale or trivial.
A good example of clear management communication would be, “Quality is a great business plan” said recently by someone else in authority at Disney.
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