Customer Relationship Management: Getting It Right!

4.1. Merging CRM and the Internet

In Chapter 1, we discussed many of the changes in the marketplace and the impact of those changes on business success. The Internet has certainly been one major source of change. Now that customers are so much more in control, the importance of building strong customer relationships has greatly increased. This impacts all companies, no matter which value discipline they focus on. CRM impacts both operational excellence (using information and automation to improve performance and reducing the cost of providing products and services to customers) and customer intimacy (to improve customer experience and build loyalty). But even for companies focused on product superiority, the Internet has raised the bar for what ...