With the advent of customer relationship management
(CRM), much has been written and much remains to be written on this subject,
which superficially seems straightforward, but appears more complex when
looking below the surface. From what appears to be an extension of
knowing the customer before developing the offering, the management of
the relationship has grown into a multi-billion dollar business.
The crux of the issue are the number of failures reported in the literature
and trade press surrounding the management of the relationship. Begging
the issue is: What is being managed and how is it being managed?
If one looks closely at CRM from both a technical
and marketing viewpoint, one will quickly observe that CRM begins from
the inside looking out, rather than the outside looking in. That
is, the starting point is how can I (IT or marketing) manage the relationship
to generate more business. Not what does the customer want in a relationship,
or, even more succinctly, can I even develop a relationship. If one
were to honestly examine the potential for relationship building, one would
quickly see that in a large number of cases, there is little, or no possibility
of building a relationship. One, in fact, should be content to build
brand equity as a best-case scenario.
The research issue, across boundaries, to be
examined is whether there is an opportunity for developing a true customer
relationship. First, and foremost, the customer assessment and transactional
situation must be examined for true relationship building. If no,
then brand equity building is the answer. If yes, then the researcher
must determine the direct and indirect components in building the relationship.
Direct components include: value, quality, consistency, packaging and imagery.
Indirect components include: communication, trust, caring, and involvement.
Further a field, but contributors to potential relationship building are:
stage in the life cycle, nature of the offering, folklore, belonging, and
experience. While the above list is not meant to be inclusive, it
presents an initial step in a relationship "audit" process. If a
relationship can be built, then it is imperative to determine those components
and qualities that the customer is seeking in a relationship.
CRM has heretofore really been relationship
selling or relationship marketing: unidirectional in nature and aimed
at increasing sales or top-line growth. To truly develop and manage
a "relationship," the ground must be fertile and the customer must want
a relationship to develop. Once it has been established that there
is a true foundation for relationship building, the researcher must then
determine what it is that the customer desires in the relationship as well
as the IT manager or marketer.
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