CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
MANAGEMENT (CRM)

The biggest challenge facing retailers and service providers is developing and retaining loyal customers. The so-called "Market Butterflies" who flit from one store to another have become the norm, not the exception. Most companies continue to search for marketing tools that deliver measurable results. Many have turned to CRM, methods by which enterprises manage their relationships to help instill some degree of customer loyalty and, therefore, customer retention.

Increasing revenues is the route most enterprises view as the shortest path to increased profitability. For service industries with proportionally high fixed costs, any opportunity to sell unused capacity - vacant hotel rooms, empty restaurant tables, quiet service bays, etc. - will directly affect profits. While advertising has traditionally been the most common method for increasing sales, it often comes with limitations and undesired consequences:

• Lead times for print or broadcast advertising discourages use in short term situations
• Competitors tracking an advertising strategy can respond in kind
• Businesses frequently find it difficult if not impossible to correlate advertising expenditures with specific customer behaviors

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