A Host Of Opinions On Hosted CRM

Customer Inter@ction Solutions, May 2005 by Tehrani, Rich

The most difficult part of my job is trying to communicate with all the companies with which I would like to speak on a daily basis. A case in point is Siebel, which recently brought on board George Shaheen as its new CEO. Siebel has had some financial challenges as of late and, as a result, Shaheen was asked to take the reins of the company and lead the CRM behemoth to success.

When I first heard about the personnel change, I decided I wanted to interview George Shaheen. I came up with some pretty good questions. I imagined my feature story surrounded by comments from Salesforce.com, one of Siebel's biggest competitors, as well as a company called Contactual (formerly White Pajama).

My plan was perfect (so I thought). I would have Siebels positive comments, balanced by perhaps contrasting opinions ofSalesforce.com. I would seek out the viewpoint of Contactual, a company that focuses on hosted contact center solutions and whose services often coexist with those of Siebel and Salesforce.com. I saw my story really coming together.

Of course, Murphy's Law dictates that the perfect story will never be perfect and, in this case, Siebel told me that George Shaheen was not available for comment. I was shocked most companies parade their CEOs in front of the media like a stuffed turkey float on Thanksgiving. Not only did Siebel personnel decline my request for access to Shaheen, they did not offer me an alternative Siebel employee to answer my questions. A bit of digging showed that Shaheen was busy putting together a turnaround plan that was due about week after I asked for his comments. I guess everyone has their priorities.

As the saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. But how do you interview someone without his or her assistance? I imagine that if book authors can write unauthorized autobiographies, perhaps I can write the world's first unauthorized interview. The idea might fly, and I figured if I could submit the story late enough, my editors would have to accept the story "as is" and not question my brilliant (or crazy?) scheme. [Editor's note: Fat chance, Rich.]

That said, following are many of the questions I sent Shaheen. I wrote the answers, too, but that's beside the point.

RT: Rumors of your retirement are filling the pages of other magazines, yet you are obviously not retired. Do you care to comment?

RT: When I saw the opportunity to lead Siebel, I decided it was a challenge worth taking. I never formally announced my retirement, and Rich, you should know better than to believe what you read in supermarket tabloids.

RT: Why are you the right person for this job?

RT: Having led one of the largest consulting companies in the world (Arthur Anderson Consulting/Accenture), I have seen many Siebel implementations from the standpoint of the consultant/integrator. This unique experience will help me as I map out a strategy to help Siebel grow into the future.

RT: I loved your past company, Webvan, and although it was a dotcom casualty, what experience did you bring to your new position from the now-defunct online delivery company?

RT: Leading Webvan was a great experience, but like so many good ideas, the environment did not allow for our Internet delivery company to be successful. My experience in building up that company so rapidly will allow me to react just as quickly as I take the reins of Siebel. I believe speed and rapid response to changing market conditions will be the difference between success and failure in the market.

RT: You have the ability to sell software, services and a combination of both. Why is this a strength and, honestly, why is this a weakness?

RT: Being flexible enough to serve the diverse needs of our customers is the reason we chose the hosted and inhouse strategy. Simply stated, some customers require hosted solutions, others require software and those in a third category require both. By having a more complete menu of choices, we feel we are in a great position to serve our customers' needs. There is no weakness in a strategy that allows us to meet the needs of our customers, regardless of what those needs are.

RT: Integration cost and hassle were a few of the reasons many companies gave up on CRM. Are times different now?

RT: Yes. We are always working to simplify CRM implementations. Newer technologies and experience allow us to achieve greater results in less time than ever before.

RT: Are you shifting focus to business intelligence or is CRM still a viable business?

RT: We see synergies between the two, and the BI market has tremendous potential for growth.

RT: In your opinion, what is the state of customer service and relationships in the U.S.?

RT: Customer service levels can always improve, and we are in the business of helping companies provide increasingly better service.

RT: What keeps you up at night?

RT: I often worry that someone will write an unauthorized interview with me that is astonishingly accurate.

RT: What will we remember you for at Siebel, assuming you do retire one day?