Abstract:

Companies today are acutely aware of the tremendous benefits associated with understanding customers. Many have embraced customer relationship management (CRM) to achieve this understanding. Thus, companies have invested in customer-facing software applications with the hope of facilitating better service and more efficient interaction with all customers. Unfortunately, these applications have often been implemented as independent, unintegrated solutions. As a result, the expected and desired results have not occurred. The primary reason is that the emphasis has been in developing the essential organizational structure and technical architecture for CRM - rather than focusing on the customer to develop and enhance competitive advantage.