Build a detailed understanding of the issues around the 360-degree view of the customer prior to making commitments to build such a view.

Suppose an organization has been advised by its agency or technology supplier that it needs a 360-degree view of the customer in order to implement CRM activities. The reality might actually be entirely different, depending on factors such as industry sector, nature of customer base or nature of existing technology infrastructure. The point is that companies need to build the single view they need, and improve it over time as business requirements dictate. For example, a start-up e-bank sector might find it needs a complete view of its customers available in real time, and it might even find that this view is relatively easy to attain, as it has no legacy systems or unclear issues to resolve. Another organization that relies on an intermediary sales channel might find that while it desires a 360-degree view of the customer for market and customer analysis and planning, it does not immediately need to be in real time since it is being used in offline data mining.

So the 360-degree view is in fact a moving target, and the key is building an understanding of what is actually required by the organization, what can be done, and at what price. The end result is almost certainly different for every organization that goes through such an exercise.