Customer centricity wins when it comes to CRM

Outstanding customer strategies produce impressive business results for the 2010 Gartner and 1to1 Media CRM Award winners in EMEA and APAC

Savvy companies know that the most basic driver of value in a business is customers. These organisations employ strategies aimed at building customer value and, as a result, build organisational value, as well. "Products don't pay us money. Neither do brands or marketing campaigns or stores. Only customers generate revenue, by definition," says Martha Rogers, founding partner of Peppers & Rogers Group."Companies that have performed the best in the downturn are the ones that deliberately build the value of the company the only way any company can:  by building the value of the customer base."

Through a joint awards programme, 1to1 Media and Gartner spotlight excellence among organisations that take this approach and have significantly improved their business performance. The 2010 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards honour exceptional results in four categories: Customer Experience, Efficiency, Enterprisewide CRM, and Growth. 

A panel of judges that includes Gartner analysts and other industry experts reviews the nominations and selects the winners in each category. This year's judges include Gartner's Johan Jacobs, research director, Gareth Herschel, research director, and Matthew Goldman, research vice president. Also judging are Maryellen Abreu, director of global technical support for iRobot, Brent Leary, cofounder and partner of CRM Essentials, Ingrid C. Lindberg, chief customer experience officer at CIGNA, and Stuart Roesel, director of customer loyalty and retention for Earthlink.  

The 2010 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards, EMEA/APAC winners are:

• Customer Experience: Photobox Ltd from the UK
• Efficiency: Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe
• Enterprisewide CRM: DNV Business Assurance, a division of Det Norske Veritas
• Growth: Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank)

"By honouring these winners, we acknowledge the efforts it takes to create the best experience a customer can have," says Jacobs, who is also chair of the awards for Gartner. "These awards are recognition of the winners' achievements, and will stand as best practices for others to follow."