We will look first at the way markets are changing, and why the focus of leading companies is on the consumer. We will ask what Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and electronic CRM (e-CRM) are and examine their value, and indeed, whether they work. We will consider whether or not they are for everyone. We will then look at the implementation of CRM, what can go wrong, and the extent to which CRM techniques have been adopted.
We will reflect on the best ways to manager a customer relationship and establish the golden rules of CRM. Finally, CRM is compared to electronic CRM, leading to an analysis of the role, fit, and competencies that are necessary to succeed in this role. Once upon a time it was possible to create a great brand, with a good product offering, and as long as no nasty competition came along, you could 46 THE promote your product to stimulate sales, but you did not have to worry much about the customer. American circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum relied on the premise that "there's a sucker born every minute". Once his show was over, he did not expect his customer to come back, and a new sucker had to be recruited. However, in today's business environment, retaining customers is crucial to a company s success. Even as recently as the 1990s the customer did not used to be viewed as a stockholder, he was not considered to be involved in the process, and therefore, there was no need for a Relationship Marketer function. Companies invested to some extent in database management systems, but any interaction with the consumer was a by-product of collecting the figures.