Adopting customer relationship management technology Yurong Xu Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA David C. Yen Department of DSC & MIS, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA Binshan Lin Department of Management and Marketing, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA David C. Chou Department of Finance & CIS, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA 1. Introduction Customer relationship marketing CRM) became the number one focus when today's competitive markets were getting more saturated and competitive. Now the marketing model is changing from the product-centered stage to the customer-centered stage. Customers are demanding a different relationship with suppliers than the traditional sales model. The new database technologies enable people get the knowledge of who the customers are, what they bought and when they bought, and even predictions based on the historical behavior. Now more than ever, the ability to understand and manage a close relationship with the customer is central to delivering these business goals. This is the ultimate challenge for marketing in any business. CRM helps deliver customer centric relationships. Successful companies in the future will use customer information wisely to build relationships with their customers, on the level that the customer wants and will work towards developing a long-term relationship through retaining customers by delivering delighted customers. The focus of CRM increased companies' abilities to understand the customers' current needs, what they have done in the past,andwhattheyplantodointhefutureto meet their own objectives. The goal is to improve the customer's experience of how they interact with us, which hopefully, in turn, creates more satisfaction, which yields more loyalty, which, ideally, yields more sales of products and services. The central database within CRM is available for everybodyintheenterprise.Byaccessingthe central customer database, everybody in the enterprise can know each individual customer, in order to achieve that ``experience'', so they will not get lost. However, the issue arises of how to apply this state-of-art technology. It might simply be a waste of money when companies install it before they are really ready for that. This paper begins with the basic concepts of CRM, reviews the history and the evolution of CRM, and addresses the characteristics of CRM. Then it explores the various involvements of CRM application at different levels from the managerial level, to end-users and the macro-environment around it. Then it comes to the pros and cons of CRM application, etc. The major purpose of this paper is to seek the best way to fit CRM applications into the business environment and trying to avoid any waste. 2. CRM: an overview 2.1. Definition of CRM CRM is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. A company might build a database about its customers that depicts relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly, could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. CRM is also defined as an all-embracing approach, which seamlessly integrates sales, customer service, marketing, field support The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm [ 442 ] Industrial Management & Data Systems 102/8 [2002] 442±452 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0263-5577] [DOI 10.1108/02635570210445871] Keywords Supply chain management, Business-to-business marketing, Relationship marketing, Customer orientation, Customer service Abstract Now customer relationship marketing CRM) solutions might be the hottest topic in business world. CRM impelled the growth of both B2B and B2C markets. But the issue is how to apply the cutting-edge CRM solutions. Do people really understand what CRM is and why they should install CRM? The mistaken concept of CRM may have disastrous effects on the company. This paper begins with the basic concepts of CRM, elaborates the characteristics, reviews its brief history and addresses the current status of CRM. Then it develops the extended concepts of CRM from micro- and macro- perspectives. In the ``Implementation and tips'' section, it concludes the proper steps to approach CRM and how to bear a right attitude towards CRM solutions. Related Government rules are also covered.