Date of Award

Spring 1-1-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS)

First Advisor

Terry Dennis

Second Advisor

Tom Farrell

Third Advisor

Ronghua Shan

Abstract

Building Customer Relationships Through CRM Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 1s an important business concept currently being discussed in small, medium, and large enterprises in the world today. The staggering growth of this new Internet market place is making prices transparent. Customers have the opportunity to select from different brands of products and are demanding five-star customer services. This puts greater emphasis on customer satisfaction and retention. CRM is not a product, nor is it a technology. It is a business philosophy that touches upon many independent departments of the organization. CRM is a concept that requires a new customer-centric business model, which must be supported by a set of applications integrated to the front- and back-end processes. These coordinated applications can be customized to ensure a more satisfactory customer experience and relationship and thereby reduce the period of ROI on applications. There is no doubt that an organization's applications are among its greatest assets and, therefore, must be carefully managed. Cultivating and retaining customers is now recognized as being essential for further success with both current and prospective customers. Statistics show that it costs up to 10 times as much to attract a new customer as to retain a current one, so firms should invest in strategies to retain existing customers. Investing in strategies to provide increased customer satisfaction and improved relationships has a direct impact on customer loyalty and, therefore, on the bottom line - profit. CRM addresses the sales, marketing, and service activities of an organization. These customer touch-points must be managed to provide an enhanced customer relationship. Currently, no CRM package offers all the major functions that an organization would require. Some of the applications that are now being used already have CRM functions added, but what is required is an extensive customization and/or integration to provide a CRM features for small-sized organizations.

Comments

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