Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) System
What is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system? Not only is there little agreement
on what it really stands for, there is even less agreement on what constitutes a CRM system, how
it should be used, the potential of profitability gain, the impact on customer loyalty, the costs
involved, the personnel needed, and the training needed for the CRM personnel. CRM system
characteristics are not limited to the CRM products and tools that are currently available in the
market, and CRM is certainly not a technique or methodology. There is every reason to believe
that the boundaries described for CRM in this topic will be constantly enlarging in the coming
years (see Section 2.2 “Anatomy of a CRM System”).
2.1 introduction to Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) Systems
Notwithstanding all these caveats, a CRM system could be defined reasonably as follows:
A
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System is a suite of pre-engineered, ready-to-
implement, integrated application modules that focus on automating and optimizing all
customer-centric and customer-responsive functions—sales, marketing, service, and support—
of an enterprise and possessing the flexibility for configuring, customizing, and personalizing
dynamically the delivered functionality of the package, through any channel of interaction,
to suit even the specific requirements of an individual customer. CRM enables an enterprise
to operate as a relationship-based, information-driven, integrated, enterprise-wide, process-
oriented, real-time, and intelligent customer-centric and customer-responsive enterprise.
CRM System applications provide the framework for executing the best practices in
customer-facing activities; it provides a common platform for customer communication and inter-
action. The use of CRM System applications helps in improving customer responsiveness and also
provides a comprehensive view of the entire Customer Life Cycle. With reference to Figure 1.2,
67
