Strategic Focus - Customer Management - Assessing your position.

(From Post Magazine)

Byline: Chris Smith, director of customer, marketing & communications, UK

Customer management makes sound business sense, but there are differing views as to what it actually constitutes. Some see it as peripheral to their core business concerns, while others term it an expensive luxury to be indulged only in times of high profitability. Cynics say it is mumbo-jumbo spouted by consultants who are cushioned from the tough realities of commercial life by fat fees and a lack of anything better to do. Then there are those who believe it is of pivotal importance to any organisation wanting to remain a potent force in the business landscape.

Most of the insurance industry agrees with the final suggestion, at least in public. But what of the decisions made and actions taken in the privacy of the office? Do they concur and does customer management actually inform the way businesses are run?

The insurance industry is not known for its sparkling customer management record. Even now, with fresh new companies, new management teams, new ambitions and new tactics, it is often a by-word for obscurity, impenetrability and remoteness. There are many complex industries but none seems as inherently complicated as insurance.

All in the eye

While these may be perceptions rather than reality (in most cases), perceptions do count. Frequently, customers view the insurance industry as …