September 1, 2008
By Lauren McKay,

The 2008 CRM Market Awards: Influential Leaders -- Kevin Bandy

The Rethinker:
Kevin Bandy
Partner & manager of directory sales and marketing transformation
Accenture

Seeing the bigger picture is a struggle for many companies—how to rise above and truly see the competitive landscape. When they decide they can’t gain that perspective on their own, that’s where consultancies come in. For Accenture, a leader in the Consultancies category of this year’s Market Awards, viewing the industry in both global scale and reach is a priority. Kevin Bandy, a partner with the firm’s CRM service line, is hardly new to global operations, and, unlike many consultants, he knows what it’s like on the front lines, having operated an outsourcing company for Fortune 500 organizations. He recognizes the value of the emerging market.

Bandy’s vision is particularly helpful for high-tech companies eager to expand. He understands sales operations—and knows what’s wrong with them: “Many sales organizations are not designed to achieve and then sustain high performance,” he recently wrote. “Their quarterly perspective means they are focused mostly on today’s situation, instead of making a substantive contribution to the growth strategies they hear coming from their executive suite.”

What CRM users need, he says, is a new approach, a new way of thinking—and his new approach to CRM consulting may change the playing field forever. At the core of the approach is the conviction that the biggest driver of growth and success is not operational efficiency—the stated goal of many consultancy engagements—but customer centricity. The consultant’s client needs to be able to know the impact of an initiative before it even gets under way, and Bandy developed a system that can play the “what if?” game to predict the future.

The key to success? Bandy makes it sound simple: “Put the customer first, successfully equip employees with the right tools and messages, and mine their customer databases to drive profitability.” But sometimes the simple answer is the hardest of all.

For the rest of our 2008 Influential Leaders, click here.

To view the rest of the 2008 CRM Market Awards, click here.

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