When is it time to bring in a CRM Consultant?
If ecommerce teams woke up and thought ‘I know, we need a CRM Consultant, let’s find one today’ then I’d be rich! Joking aside, it’s normally when something isn’t quite right, and often it’s not clear what that is.
Email revenue might be plateauing. Flows are firing but no longer improving (or perhaps not being looked at at all). Campaigns go out like clockwork, but performance isn’t what it was last year. Your segmentation… well, you’re not sure if it’s quite right or you’re over or under-targeting people.
Most in-house CRM teams are excellent at execution. After all, they know the brand super well. Where things get stuck is usually not the amount of effort, but perspective.
A CRM consultant typically becomes a useful person to call upon when:
The team is too close to the work to see what’s missing
Priorities are unclear or competing
There’s no benchmark for “good” beyond your own account
Strategy has become reactive rather than something intentional
It’s not about replacing the team, but rather it’s about clarity and a rational external perspective
What a consultant actually changes
It tends to be one or more of the following:
Reframing lifecycle strategy
Quickly identifying gaps in revenue opportunity
Fixing segmentation, targeting and suppression logic
Improving deliverability and sending strategy
Helping prioritise what not to do
Often the biggest impact is simply knowing where not to focus. Because I’ve seen it all!
If you’re uncertain, or your CRM programme isn’t performing at the level it used to, then perhaps it’s time to chat.
