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Can SMBs expect similar rewards? SMB decision makers 

certainly think so. According to Gartner, the CRM market for

SMBs will grow 28% per year through 2008.

2

Research 

indicates that the objectives of these investments focus on

customers. Aberdeen Group reported that boosting customer

satisfaction and revenue is the number one issue on the

minds of SMBs. Recent research by Cisco, Microsoft and GCR

(formerly Gartner Customer Research) found similar trends.

According to the study, SMBs’ top business priorities are to

increase customer satisfaction and to lift sales and top-line

growth by expanding their share of wallet with current cus-

tomers and acquiring new, high-profit customers. The key to

achieving these goals is to deliver companywide access to

360-degree customer views. This enables frontline employees

and management to work together to acquire, grow and

retain customers and increase profitability.

3

Organization-wide customer focus... 360-degree customer

views... Objectives like these represent new ground for many

SMBs. Historically, several challenges kept SMB’s CRM plans in

check. The first is limited resources. Only enterprise-sized com-

panies with deep pockets, more staff and ample time could

take on broad, customer-focused initiatives. In other cases, data

silos, poor integration or low adoption were to blame. All 

combined, these challenges blocked SMBs from becoming 

customer centric.Visibility into customer information was limit-

ed, employees were unable to collaborate around customers,

and managers could not get the insight needed to make cus-

tomer centricity a reality.

This must change if SMBs are to survive, much less grow.

Traditionally,SMBs compete by taking advantage of their size to

meet customers’ needs quickly and with a personal touch. It’s

allowed them to stay one step ahead of lumbering, impersonal

enterprises. It has also helped them to retain a core set of long-

standing, high-value customers. But these advantages are fad-

ing, and fast.“Enterprises are finally getting CRM right, making

customer centricity mission critical for SMBs,”says Carroll.“They

must build 360-degree customer views and deliver a superior

customer experience. Otherwise, they run the risk of losing cus-

tomers to large enterprises able to back up their wide array of

products and services with personalized support.”

©2006 Peppers & Rogers Group. All rights reserved. Peppers & Rogers Group is a division of Carlson Marketing.

The Customer-Centric SMB: Increasing Profitability by Focusing on Customers

WHITE PAPER   2006

4

The Challenges Facing SMBs

How are companies capitalizing on the customer-centric

opportunity? By managing the customer experience.

According to Peppers & Rogers Group,

the customer experience represents all

of an individual customer’s interactions

with a company and its brand over time.

Customers view a company as a single

entity, not as a collection of departments

or offices. Regardless of where (channel),

when (across the entire customer lifecy-

cle) or with whom (sales, marketing,

service, billing, management, etc.) an

interaction occurs, the customer expects

that interaction to pick up exactly where

the last one left off. (Refer to chart on page 3) “It has to be a

seamless experience, which requires employees to have

access to customer information up front,” says Carroll. “They

must be able to identify the value and needs of a customer

and deliver the best response, whether it’s fast resolution of a 

service issue, follow-up to a marketing campaign, cross-sell,

up-sell, etc.”

Managing customer experiences to

build profitable relationships is the

path to differentiation and growth.

The payoffs are well documented. For

instance, a recent, multi-industry study

by The Wharton School found that

reducing customer attrition by 5 to

10% could increase annual profits by

as much as 75%. A 2005 Accenture

study on the impact of customer rela-

tionships on company performance

found that 38% of the difference in shareholder value

between high- and low-performing companies is directly

linked to the ability to enhance customer loyalty.