Nextera Unveils Integrated CRM Strategy
LEXINGTON, MA–Nextera Enterprises Inc., a management consulting firm, unveiled a
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiative they say will “integrate its deep
competencies in market and channel strategy and human capital management with
cutting-edge technology solutions to address the business world’s most pressing CRM
needs.” The firm also announced that Renetta Haas, a former partner at Ernst & Young,
will lead the company’s new CRM Solutions Group.
Nextera says its 40-plus-years of experience in sales-force effectiveness, compensation
and rewards, organizational strategies and change management will help solve what it sees
as the major problem of CRM implementations: failure to understand sales force needs,
motivations and processes.
“The world has changed — with new sales channels, the speed and transparency of
information, the shifting of power to the customer — and relationship management systems
have not kept pace,” said David Schneider, Nextera’s president and chief executive
officer. “CRM is not just about technology — it’s a discipline and a process,
encompassing the people who do the work and how the work is done; anything and anyone
that touches your customers.”
Schneider says the “CRM-in-a-box” approach doesn’t work because they don’t deal with
organizations impacts or the “human side” of the business. “If a CRM system is not
supported by management, if it is not clearly defined in job roles, if people are not
incented to use the system, if they don’t see the value or benefit of it — your CRM
effort is simply going to fail,” he said.
Nextera says its integrated approach to CRM includes:
–Assessing and uncovering the potential value and impact of CRM
solutions on the business;
–Developing effective “approach to market” strategies designed to take
full advantage of CRM;
–Defining and implementing CRM in the roles of all customer facing
employees;
–Aligning the sales force through compensation and rewards strategies
around the CRM solution;
–Integrating e-CRM technologies into existing organizational structures
and processes; and
–Creating appropriate employee communication and leadership
initiatives to ensure the new processes are implemented and adopted
across the organization.
“As someone who has been involved in the CRM arena for many years, I am excited to be
with a firm that is delivering CRM solutions designed from the client’s perspective,”
said Renetta Haas, who has been appointed to lead Nextera’s CRM practice. “We believe
that the market is tired of cookie-cutter CRM tools, and that individual clients
increasingly will demand CRM solutions that deliver on promised results.”
Haas says the potential benefits of CRM are still enormous and the
failure of so many CRM projects in the past offers tremendous opportunities for firms
like Nextera with multi-disciplinary solutions.
Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.