In its self-described “trailblazing” report about ROI for CRM,Meridien Research (www.meridienresearch.com)revealed, “Human psychology is slow to accept change, and it maytake considerable effort to get customers to behave differently.”While this isn't new or trailblazing, what does turn heads is theirdiscovery-or assertion-that CRM investments can be measured.

The report cites no significant slowdown in CRM spendingalthough many companies that invested heavily in CRM solutions arewondering where the money went. But Meridien's ROI analysis-whichtakes into account intangibles and assumption, risk, andtiming-indicates these same companies are rethinking the waythey've applied CRM tech and are now targeting product enhancementand customer service cost reduction.

Not afraid of delving into corporate philosophy, Meridiensuggests customer behavior, not products or services, determines acompany's shareholder value. If you buy into that, you should agreethat CRM strategy involves influencing that behavior. Apparently,CRM's conceptual applications are as diversely complex as itspractical uses-especially if you agree with Meridien in that CRM“becomes an investment in targeting the right type of customer,getting those customers to adopt a specific set of beliefs andconsequent behaviors, and retaining those customers throughout thelifetime of their profitability.”

“Some might argue that there's nothing new here,” the reportreveals. But further reading sheds some light: “…for many, it wasurgency and a process that made it easier to buy CRM than to planfor it. Many are still waiting for software to produce thebenefits.”

Perhaps “look before you leap” says it all.