Your company just bought a shiny new CRM. Great! Now, who drives it?
Effective customer relationship management (CRM) is a cornerstone of marketing success. At the core of this is the CRM product owner — a pivotal role that orchestrates the intersection of technology, customer insights and strategy. But what makes a CRM product owner truly exceptional?
Top-tier CRM product owners possess these three essential traits: relentless curiosity, a passion for problem-solving and a deep understanding of business needs.
1. Relentlessly curious
A truly effective CRM product owner is fueled by relentless curiosity. This trait is crucial because the CRM landscape constantly evolves, with new features and capabilities emerging regularly. A curious mindset drives the product owner to explore these new opportunities and new ways to apply these features.
A lack of curiosity fosters complacency and stagnancy — the last thing you want in marketing CRM product owners. You want ideas coming from this role proactively.
Curiosity goes hand-in-hand with a commitment to lifelong learning. The best CRM product owners continuously educate themselves through courses, industry events and research. This ongoing education keeps them up to date on the latest trends and technologies, enabling them to make informed decisions that benefit the organization.
2. The love for problem-solving
Effective CRM product owners thrive on solving complex challenges. They approach problems with innovative thinking, devising creative solutions that help empower the team, generate opportunities and move the needle. This trait is essential because CRMs require customization based on the organization and goals.
There is a never-ending supply of “problems” to be solved with CRMs. If the product owner doesn’t enjoy rolling up their sleeves and diving into these problems, burnout is lurking around the corner and the CRM problems will pile up.
Effective collaboration is critical for problem-solving. Having the right tools can make all the difference. Whiteboard tools like Miro are invaluable for mapping complex workflows and fostering collaboration among team members. They allow teams to organize and brainstorm ideas visually, facilitating a more structured approach to tackling CRM challenges.
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3. Deep understanding of business needs
An exceptional CRM product owner must deeply understand their company’s business needs. This trait ensures that the CRM marketing strategy aligns with overarching business objectives, creating a cohesive and effective approach between marketing, sales and other departments.
For example, a product owner would need to understand the organization’s customer segments and how marketing will impact those segments, and then ultimately report on performance. They would need to be able to translate this information into creating customer segments, appropriate workflows to manage them and ways to report performance.
Effective communication and collaboration with stakeholders are crucial for CRM success. A CRM product owner must be adept at managing relationships with various stakeholders, from marketing and sales teams to IT and leadership.
Part of the fun of collaborating with multiple stakeholders is learning their communication styles and how to speak their language. Some may be more analytical, others more direct and some more relationship-focused. Brush up on personality assessment tools, such as DISC, to better communicate and collaborate with stakeholders.
Technical acumen is a bonus, not a requirement
Having a technical edge can benefit a CRM product owner and the organization. Technical knowledge can speed up conversations, strategy and technical problem-solving internally. However, for many CRM accounts, there are more business decisions than day-to-day technical adjustments and decisions.
A company can always hire a technical consultant or agency to support integrations, roadmaps and other technical aspects as needed.
Examples of technical support could include API implementation, and figuring out what third-party tools should be used to complement your CRM or initial IT configuration.
Collaborating with technical experts
Recognizing the limits of technical knowledge and when to bring in technical consultants is essential for implementing complex CRM features and ensuring system stability. Incorrect configurations can be costly and cause headaches down the road.
A CRM product owner should foster strong relationships with technical experts, facilitating clear communication and ensuring that technical decisions align with business goals. This lets them leverage technical expertise without compromising their primary responsibilities.
Risk of IT leading CRM decisions
It’s important to highlight the potential risk of IT leading CRM decisions. While technical teams are crucial for implementation and support, the strategic direction of the CRM should be guided by those who understand customer needs and business objectives. If IT leads without this perspective, the CRM system may become overly complex or misaligned with business goals.
The intersection of traits
The true power of a CRM product owner lies in the intersection of curiosity, problem-solving and business acumen. These traits collectively enable the CRM product owner to explore new opportunities, develop innovative solutions and align CRM strategies with business objectives.
The presence of these three core traits can significantly outweigh the absence of other skills, which can be acquired over time through a well-structured development plan.
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