Scribd
Upload
624 views

Use Case Study

A Failed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System: General Motors Acceptance Corp. Commercial Mortgage (GMACCM)

Uploaded by

Dustin Shepherd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
624 views

Use Case Study

A Failed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System: General Motors Acceptance Corp. Commercial Mortgage (GMACCM)

Uploaded by

Dustin Shepherd
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Jessica Buttimer

HCI 450: Assign. 1


Usability Case Study
01/20/2003

A Failed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System:


General Motors Acceptance Corp. Commercial Mortgage (GMACCM)
Summary

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) community is currently in an uproar about a


recent study showing that 55% to 75% of all CRM initiatives fail to meet objectives. (Buss)
However, as the industry continues to grow at a rate of 40% each year, it is clear that CRM
professionals are not suffering. (Davis) Rather, the true victims are customers and employees
who are forced to interact with a plethora of bad systems. A look into the failed CRM
implementation of GMAC Commercial Mortgage points to usability as a key point of failure.

Since its inception in 1994, General Motors Acceptance Corp Commercial Mortgage
(GMACCM) has become a leader in business real-estate loans with a mortgage portfolio totaling
more than $151 billion. (Hess) State-of-the-art technology systems have allowed GMACCM to
quickly build business without significant increases in staff, keeping costs per loan service well
below the industry average. (Hess) Adoption of the latest technology has clearly given
GMACCM the competitive advantage. However, GMACCMs 1999 Customer Relationship
Management implementation created more problems than solutions.

When GMACCM began its own CRM initiative in 1999, their goals were to increase automation,
efficiency, and the amount of borrower information available to call-center staff. Unfortunately,
the goals of the users were never explored. In fact, the consultants failed to define who the users

Jessica Buttimer
HCI 450: Assign. 1
Usability Case Study
01/20/2003

of the system would be. Given the complexity of GMACCMs customer base, skipping this first
step of design methodology proved to be quite a costly mistake.

PricewaterhouseCoopers consultants commissioned for the project decided to meet business


needs by installing an automated voice-response system. Customers seeking loan information
were expected to call an 800 number and use the phone keypad to enter their account number. If
the customer needed to speak with a service representative, the system assumed the user would
know which department to request. Unfortunately, the consultants never verified that the
existing structure of GMACCMs customer support area conformed to the users mental model.

Resulting Problems
Implementing a CRM solution without clearly defining the characteristics, needs, and goals of
the intended user resulted in customer attrition, wasted financial resources, and lost
opportunities. According to Mike Lipson, an executive vice president of GMACCM, When we
fired it up, we found that 99% of our customers literally were hitting zero so they could talk
directly to a live operator. While a customer might be willing to punch through a whole bunch
of numbers, like for an American Express Gold Card, when he was calling about a commercial
loan, he wasnt willing to do the same. (Buss) Customers were clearly furious with the new
system. Lipson went on to say that internal loan officers complained of losing deals because of
the poor service provided. (Buss)

Jessica Buttimer
HCI 450: Assign. 1
Usability Case Study
01/20/2003

Though GMACCM representatives declined to comment on the cost of the system, author Dale
Buss notes that many CRM implementations involve seven-figure investments. (Buss)
However, the cost of implementation barely scratches at the surface of the losses likely suffered
by GMACCM. To truly assess the damage, one would have to quantify the costs of losing
frustrated customers and employees, persuading customers to return, rebuilding trust, and
replacing the failed system. Also difficult to quantify is the cost of opportunities lost while the
system was being developed, implemented, and replaced.

Conclusions
From the available information, a lack of design methodology is clearly to blame for
GMACCMs failed CRM initiative. Had the consultants at PricewaterhouseCoopers
implemented just a few steps of a user-centered design methodology, this fiasco could have been
avoided at a number of points. User analysis, task analysis, and iterative design and testing are
just a few of the techniques that should have been employed.

First, the users of the system should have been clearly identified. GMACCMs customer base is
quite diverse and includes CEOs to accounts-payable clerks calling with questions on loans that
range from $100,000 to $1.6 billion. (Buss) The failed system treated all users equally, without
consideration for their differing goals and service level requirements.

Second, a basic task analysis would have revealed the range of mental models, tasks, and
information needed by the various users of the system. Consultants failed to explore this issue

Jessica Buttimer
HCI 450: Assign. 1
Usability Case Study
01/20/2003

and instead assumed that the existing structure of GMACCMs customer relations department
would meet user expectations, which it obviously did not do.

Finally, had a simple user test or pilot of the system been conducted, the consultants would have
discovered that a large percentage of users would choose to bypass their state-of-the-art system
in favor of talking to a live person. Instead, no testing was performed and it wasnt until the
system was live, that it became clear that it was really a dud.

URL Sources
Buss, Dale. "CRM horror stories: GMACCM spills the beans over failed CRM."
SearchCRM.com 26 Nov. 2002
<http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid11_gci865340,00.html?Ex
clusive=True >
Davis, Randy. A Shocking, but True, View of CRM. RealMarket.com 21 Sept. 2001
< http://www.realmarket.com/required/required092101.html >
Hess, Ed. Unlock Legacy Data: Having problems integrating your legacy systems with ebusiness apps? Follow GMAC Commercial Mortgage's path, and you can have the best
of both worlds. Integrated Solutions Aug. 2002
< http://www.integratedsolutionsmag.com/articles/2002_08/020801.htm >

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy