CRM is a business philosophy focused on developing long-term relationships with valuable customers through open communication and feedback. CRM aims to identify and satisfy customer needs better than competitors to create value for both the customer and company. Successful CRM is built on trust and delivering value over various stages, from initial interactions to institutionalized partnerships.

1. Customer Relationship
Management

2. Why CRM
Define CRM
Understand the importance of CRM
Explain the determinants of CRM and key stages in its
development
Benefits

3. Define CRM
CRM is “the development and maintenance of mutually
beneficial
long-term relationships with strategically significant
customers”
(Buttle, 2000)
CRM is “an IT enhanced value process, which
identifies, develops,
integrates and focuses the various competencies of the
firm to the
‘voice’ of the customer in order to deliver long-term
superior
customer value, at a profit to well identified existing
and potential
customers”.
(Plakoyiannaki and Tzokas, 2001)

4. Understand the Importance
of CRM
CRM is a business philosophy based on upon individual customers
and customised products and services supported by open lines
of communication and feedback from the participating firms that
mutually benefit both buying and selling organisations.
The buying and selling firms enter into a “learning relationship”,
with the customer being willing to collaborate with the seller and
grow as a loyal customer. In return,, the seller works to maximize
the value of the relationship for the customer’s benefit.
In short, CRM provides selling organisations with the platform
to obtain a competitive advantage by embracing customer needs
and building value-driven long-term relationships.

5. CRM Determinants
Trust
The willingness to rely on the ability, integrity, and motivation of
one company to serve the needs of the other company as agreed
upon implicitly and explicitly.
Value
The ability of a selling organisation to satisfy the needs of the
customer at a comparatively lower cost or higher benefit than
that offered by competitors and measured in monetary,
temporal, functional and psychological terms.

6. CRM Determinants
In addition to trust and value, salespeople must:
Understand customer needs and problems;
Meet their commitments;
Provide superior after sales support;
Make sure that the customer is always told the truth
(must be honest); and
Have a passionate interest in establishing and retaining a long-
term relationship (e.g., have long-term perspective).

7. Stages in the Development
of CRM
Stages in the development of a Customer Relationship
The Pre-relationship Stage
The event that triggers a buyer to seek a new business partner.
The Early Stage
Experience is accumulated between the buyer and seller although a great
degree of uncertainty and distance exists.
The Development Stage
Increased levels of transactions lead to a higher degree of commitment and
the distance is reduced to a social exchange.
The Long-term Stage
Characterised by the companies’ mutual importance to each other.
The Final Stage
The interaction between the companies becomes institutionalized.

8. Summary
CRM is a new business philosophy based on trust and value;
The core function of CRM is the value creation process;
Customer relationships develop over time;
The role of global salespeople in the process is that of both relationship builders and
relationship promoters;
The basic premise of CRM is to offer superior value to customers in an effort to turn
prospects into customers, customers into loyal customers, and loyal customers into
partners