“What is my Job as a CRM Consultant?” This is a problematic question to answer, mainly because there is no single definition as to what a CRM consultant actually is; and I often give different answers to different people depending what they can understand!

Most of us consider CRM developers as CRM Consultants, people that customise and develop CRM systems. These developers generally work for a CRM vendor or implementation organization; most of them specialize in a particular CRM technology. This is the first step where any good CRM Consultant begins with.

CRM Analysts are also at times considered as CRM Consultants however they are not the technical guys. They work for a CRM Vendor or an implementation company but might not be limited to a single CRM technology.

CRM Strategists – these folks are a very distinct from above two. Their focus is more on the CRM concept and not on the technology; helping their clients with the strategy of gaining, retaining and growing their customer base. The distinction is that CRM technology may or may not play a role in their engagements. Strategists tend to work for management consultancies rather than vendors and implementers.

And  then there are independent CRM Consultants that take care of everything and give an end to end solution for your organization. An ethical CRM consultant would give you a vendor-neutral advice on CRM technology strategy, selection and implementation issues. Like an architect that gives an honest opinion between client and the builder, being neutral to both; an independent CRM Consultant does the same. These consultants work for small and medium businesses or work part time with strategic consultancies.

Independent CRM Consultant’s work is difficult than it seems. Right from vendor evaluation to support of CRM technology comes under the purview of an Independent CRM consultant. I shall discuss this the greater details in my future posts.

If one wants to become an independent CRM consultant, then one has get started from the step 1 and get involved in a lot of CRM implementations and work with a wide range of CRM technologies. And because it is difficult to achieve, the independent CRM consultant species remains a rare one.