It's enough already. How much more can we expect employees to take. They've been restructured, reorganized and reengineered. They've been downsized, delayered, and diversified. They have been asked to do more with less. Then, they are told they have to put on a happy face for customers, vendors and partners.

It really is asking a lot of them. So you try various incentive programs, contests, and anything else you can think of to motivate them and boost their productivity. Yet, it doesn't quite work as well as you thought or hoped for. It seems that there is really not much more you can do to them to get performance and productivity up inside your company.

Except one thing.

YOU CAN RE-ENERGIZE YOUR CORPORATION WITH CRM.

I bet you never thought of CRM as a motivating force for your employees. After all, CRM is supposed to be all about technology, or getting closer to the customer, or keeping track of as much data and information on the customer as possible. All this is true, yet CRM can be a powerful motivator for high performance. You just have to let it work for you.

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. Do your employees come to work every day expecting to do a poor job or make mistakes when it comes to customer interactions?

2. Do your employees need rewards and incentives to participate in programs and events outside of work that they truly enjoy, especially those that help other people?
3. Do your employees really want to be stressed out about their jobs and the relationships they form because of their jobs?

Your answers to these questions (all your answers should be NO) will put you on the right path to re-energizing your corporation with CRM.

First, people come to work motivated to do a good job. They bring their minds, hearts and egos with them and they certainly wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their self-esteem. That's why they want to continuously and consistently perform well, meet and exceed the company's and customers' expectations, and get better at what they do. They realize mistakes are a part of learning and performing. But, they don't come to work to deliberately make mistakes.

Increase the energy level in your company by celebrating the wins and successes, and also the mistakes and failures. When your employees believe that they can fail without fear, and use that failure as a learning experience for future performances, they will be more motivated to perform well.

How is it that employees who seem to drag themselves through the workday, trying not to do anything wrong, while having "no life" in their eyes, suddenly spring to life and find the energy, motivation and stamina to play in a recreational athletic league, do things with their families, or go exercise? It's because they are having fun doing these things; they are in control of their own behaviors; and they gain intrinsic satisfaction from their performances.

They don't need any external rewards or incentives to "play" at these activities. If they get them, fine. If not, they'll still be motivated to perform well for the fun of it, the intrinsic satisfaction of the performance itself, and for the self-derived psychological benefits that they will receive. Which, by the way, only they can define.

And what does any of this have to do with CRM? Glad you asked.

CRM and Performance: A Unique Perspective

Making CRM work is the lifeblood of any organization. Every company requires a positive relationship with its customers, vendors and partners. As I've said in previous articles, you must focus on the R in CRM so you build great customer Relationships. Yet, building and maintaining these relationships can be very stressful.

Just think of any long-term relationship that you are in now. You must work at it, contribute to it and make adjustments during it to make it work over time. And you continue to do so. Why? Because you see a better future by having that relationship than be being without it.

Promote CRM in your company by giving people a big picture of their intra- and inter-company relationships. Help people see how their efforts will make the company and its customer relationships stronger. Let them know the positive impact of their work. Don't just give them reports (text on a page or spreadsheets) to convey this information. Pay attention to how the brain truly works. It works and thinks in pictures, for the most part.

Change your reports to visual dashboards. Give your people the big picture at a glance. Many CRM software programs are incorporating dashboards in their report modules. Just as CEO's and CFO's are getting financial dashboards from their accounting systems, sales and marketing teams must get their dashboards from their CRM software. The visual presentation is easier to understand, it gives a broader and clearer picture of the sales and marketing situation, and it motivates people to "get their numbers up" because performance is there for all to see.

CRM and the Positive Work Environment

So, how do you get people to bring a high energy level to work and to elevate their performances through CRM? In addition to giving them visuals (such as dashboards) on how they are doing, you provide them with a work environment that promotes these seven things:

MOTIVATION - Ask them what motivates them. Find out what turns them on about their job and working with customers. Find out what motivates them outside of work when they are with other people and see if you can re-create similar relationship conditions at work. Give them a chance to express themselves. Provide the environment where their intrinsic motivation can flourish. Give them the information they require to relate best to customers.

APPRECIATION - This is the primary need that every person has. Show employees you appreciate their efforts. Recognize their good work in as many ways possible. Tell them repeatedly that you appreciate what they do. You'll find that a simple "thank you" goes a long way. People like to be noticed, and when you show you appreciate your employees, you're noticing them.

And, a secondary benefit is that you build their self-esteem and self confidence. The result is a more motivated and productive employee. You can use CRM as an E (employee) RM tool. You can also use CRM to show your customers you appreciate them, which will improve the relationship between customers and employees and motivate both parties.

COMMUNICATION - Keep all lines of communication open with your employees. Let them know everything that is going on in the company in as many ways as possible. Use verbal communications, meetings, e-mail, hallway discussions, telephone conversations, and anything else to keep them informed. Use the CRM program as a two-way communication channel. It should be used for more than just tracking customer information.

INFORMATION - Information is power, only if your employees have it and know what to do with it. Use your communications to provide all the necessary information to help employees stay in the loop, to perform better at their jobs, and to help the company grow.

One type of information that is critical to energizing employees is timely feedback. Provide that feedback as information on a job well done or how to improve for a future job. Document what has been done for every customer in the CRM program and give all employees access to that information.

EDUCATION - If your company thinks education and training employees is too costly, what is the price of ignorance? When you educate your staff, you're showing them that you care about their growth and development. They will reciprocate by putting that education to work for you and producing more.

You wouldn't want your doctor, who may have graduated medical school in 1965, to never have continued his or her education. Why would you want your employees to be working with outdated skill sets? Teach them so they can teach themselves and teach others. Keep updating their skills as the CRM program evolves. Help them get better at building and maintaining relationships. Is there a way for you to link your CRM program with your training or online education programs? (Just a thought.)

EMPOWERMENT - This is the total freedom for an employee to do what he or she thinks is best, right, and most productive in any given situation that involves other employees or customers. It requires an environment that allows performance without fear. There are no repercussions for mistakes.

Empowered employees act like owners, so they won't do anything that would jeopardize your company. Give them the freedom to act, and they will be energized and motivated by the control they have over their own performances. Also, give them the information they require that is in your CRM system and they will go beyond expectations to serve, satisfy and maintain customers.

INSPIRATION - You and your managers must be an inspiration to your employees. Be a coach, a cheerleader and a supporter. Walk all your talks. Let your actions speak louder than your words. Inspire them to achieve greatness and reward them for those achievements in ways that they want to be rewarded. Use your CRM system to document these achievements. Do the same things for your customers. The results will be positively dramatic.

These seven strategies will help you RE-Energize your corporation very quickly. Instead of people who appear to be dull, "lifeless" and unmotivated, implement these 7 strategies and you will unleash the desire, the commitment and the enthusiasm that is "asleep" inside them. When your company is re-energized using the power or CRM, your people will take you to new heights. You'll no longer need to restructure, reorganize or reengineer.

RE-ENERGIZATION IS THE FUTURE. MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW!

Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D. is the President of Gerson Goodson, Inc., a Clearwater-based marketing consulting firm specializing in customer relationship management, sales performance improvement and employee development and retention. The company works with clients to develop relationship marketing programs that increase sales while simultaneously retaining profitable customers through the creation of a powerful CRM strategy. Company: Gerson Goodson, Inc.