Hi Jason, While I glad you liked the piece, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable writing it, given that I've had to take a company that I truly like and respect to task for something I found disrespectful to the industry that afforded your company the stage to be successful.

Now to your comments:

First, this isn't a piece about customer strategy - its about what I think is RightNow's flawed rebranding strategy. This most certainly isn't an attempt to "reinvigorate" the "customer strategy topic." That hasn't needed reinvigoration. Its needed action on what to do, not what to call it.

Second, who would possibly disagree that customers can call CRM or customer experience strategies whatever they want? You'd have to be pretty ridiculous to disagree with the fact that they do that. But to think that the difference between customer experience, and Social CRM and customer centric business strategy is "neither here nor there" is wrong. If there was no difference, why is RightNow so adamant on rebranding themselves around customer experience and distancing themselves from CRM. The differences between CRM and customer experience are neither here nor there, aren't they? As I stated as late as last week in PGreenblog, businesses call what they do around customers whatever they want. But to craft the programs they need to engage those customers they need varying components. When they look for at least the technology solution, they need someplace to go to look that's they know they can get that component, regardless of what they call it at their business.

What do I mean?

For example, some folks might call where they purchase food, a grocery store. Others might call it a food store. Others might call it a produce center. Some might get it at Whole Foods, others at Krogers and others at Costco. But guess what? All of them are still buying food at a store, regardless of what they call that kind of store at their house. They go to the place where they know they can get the food. CRM, as something that helps meet business operational requirements or Social CRM which adds the successful interaction and experiential pieces to CRM is what they look at when they need to meet whatever it is they call their customer centered business requirements. While each company might call it something different, they might buy salesforce.com for SFA or customer service; they might buy Oracle on Demand for Marketing, RightNow for customer service, etc. Because CRM is the place to look. And the industry to go get it from. That's why those customers have spent $9.38 billion this year in CRM software alone, according to Gartner.

Third, I've always noticed that vendors have this habit of calling on the holy shrine of customers, particularly "their" customers as their way of dismissing something that they don't want to answer. So let me do the honors.

Of course you exist to serve your customers. You're a business. All businesses do that well or not as well. RightNow is a company that happens to do it well and as you well know, I think that your use of customer success managers is something for the entire CRM industry to model themselves after. But that wasn't the issue I was raising. I'm not trying to stir debate. This isn't a matter of "us insiders." Its kind of insulting to think you think what I'm doing is "the debate going on here is great for industry insiders...." I'm not debating on behalf of some industry insider thing. This isn't an "industry game." I'm raising an issue that I and others think affects you as a company.

Fourth, You claim that "whether it is labeled customer experience, social CRM CRM X.0....or something else is really neither here or there." If that were true, why rebrand if its all "neither here nor there"? You answer that yourself by saying calling what you have a customer experience suite (Cx) has proven "greatly simplifying for (your) clients...." So it isn't just "neither here nor there." I guess it matters. Because even though your customers may call it what they want but they do need to be able to find the answers to their questions and the solutions to making their job easier somewhere - and they need to have a place to look - and it has to have a name - and that name has to distinguish it from other possible places to go - and within that name - which I think is CRM - because that is long established as the place to look - you as a company have to distinguish yourself. Which is why you rebranded despite the fact that customers "don't care." Right?

So please don't make this "good piece" into something it isn't. This is a post that said very simply you're a good company with a very good product and very good people who made a mistake that should be corrected. Now that I've said that its up to you to do whatever you want. Its your company. But don't try to turn this into some stupid insider discussion that no one outside the inside cares about. That would be as Michael Krigsman calls it "disingenuous" and I find somewhat dismissive and insulting. I know you don't mean it to be, so please take it for whatever you will and hopefully, us insiders and the customers will see some changes. My only objection is not that you need to rebrand - but that you are being disrespectful to the CRM industry and the millions who either serve it or use it and the industry that gave you the location to be as successful as you have. My only objective has been to get you to simply stop being disrespectful by trying to claim something that's just not the case.