PGreenblog: CRM Cheeseheads

Vinnie Mirchandani did a piece on his blog deal architect a few days ago on the National Football League and technological innovation, a really well done bit o' work. What makes the NFL interesting is that they scarf up technology like its --- candy (no, not that other stuff that the players get accused of using at parties). Ironically, one of the paradigm successes in customer relationship management in the sports world is an organization that did it and has done it for years without technology, showing you the roots of what CRM really is. Which organization, you ask, puzzled, yet curious about how I'm gonna answer?

The Green Bay Packers

But how is that you say? Take a look.

This is a truly fascinating story and history. Here is an organization that created exactly the kind of CRM "experience" that most companies dream of - without any software that I know of. Unless it existed in 1919.

What each of us tries to do is not just have an experience but an ongoing remembered sense of the experience that is emotionally satisfying in oh so many ways. So it can't be momentary. "Remember when..." and a big smile is a set of responses from a customer devoutly to be wished for by a company engaged in a CRM initiative. To have this reinforced continuously ultimately means a business success for the company because the customer not only has a great experience but continuously fond memories of that experience.

This is what the Green Bay Packers have achieved in Green Bay. Each citizen feels like they have a share in the control of the fate of the Packers. They know the players personally. They are involved in the future of the team with anticipation, the present passionately and the past warmly. This is reinforced by the activity of the Packers both on and off the field so that even in bad years, the off the field Packers are providing wonderful emotionally powerful sets of "experiences." The team is iconic, the players human and the citizens of Green Bay proud. I've been there and seen it - actually FELT it in the air on Packer Sunday when a game is about to go at Lambeau Field. There is tailgating going on in strip mall parking lots 10 miles from the stadium all across Green Bay. The whole town is involved in the fate of the team that day and will replay that fate throughout the weeks of the season each and every day. Obsessed? Yes - but in a way that is wonderful. They live life and control how they interact with this highly accessible team that participates with them in the community and they love the experiences they have as fans and citizens.

And, as you can see in the last slide, the Packers really make money. This is a business value proposition that not only works but exceeds mere business value - the paradigm "CRM experience" And they didn't even have to buy the software.