For our February issue on CRM in a recession, I had the opportunity to speak with Bruce Temkin, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. One point he emphasized was that if you’re going to cut your budget or staff, make sure it’s not executed haphazardly.

Sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s done more often than not. When companies are struggling with identifying areas to save money, many risk simply trimming “across the board,” Temkin says. “[They] get rid of all this stuff that’s going on, don’t invest in anything new and end up making a set of decisions that are inconsistent with any real strategy other than cutting costs,” he says. If that continues to be the company’s primary main motivation, the repercussions will be slightly (ok, severely) more painful. “It almost guarantees you a downward spiral, and you’re not in any position to come out of the recession with any positive momentum,” Temkin says.

So if you’ve been reading/watching/listening to the news, you’ll notice companies are certainly making some cuts to their employee base. Online retailer Zappos, for instance, cut 8 percent of its employees in November (but don’t worry, they’re standing by free shipping and free, 365-day returns) and just today, AT&T announced that it’s letting 12,000 employees go (or 4 percent).

Yet, despite these cuts, companies seem cognizant of Temkin’s advice:

Zappos has made a name for itself in the retail space — Its “Free Shipping & Free 365 Day Returns” is certainly a key differentiator and a core part of the company’s commitment to “unrelenting customer service.”

American Express released a statement at the end of October delineating its plan to “produce cost benefits of approximately $1.8 billion in 2009.” But of the cuts they are making, the company said it’s only focusing on areas that “do not interact directly with customers.”

AT&T’s 12,000-employee reduction is certainly no small number; but the company says that even so, it will continue to add jobs in wireless, video, and broadband “to meet consumer demand.”

Bottom line — don’t cut where you are/might/will be making the much needed dollars. Note the common theme, as well: all of them require astute attention to the customer.