CzOTO 2019, volume 1, issue 1, pp. 1004-1011 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) - PHILOSOPHY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE ENTERPRISE doi: 10.2478/czoto-2019-0127 Date of submission of the article to the Editor: 02/12/2018 Date of acceptance of the article by the Editor: 21/01/2019 Adam Idzikowski 1 – orcid id: 0000-0003-1178-8721 Piotr Kuryło 2 – orcid id: 0000-0001-9820-1254 Joanna Cyganiuk 2 –orcid id: 0000-0002-7279-0692 Marta Ryczko 3 1 Czestochowa University of Technology, Poland, adam.idzikowski@wz.pcz.pl 2 University of Zielona Gora, Poland 3 Jan Wyzykowski’s University, Poland Abstract: The article presents the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) philosophy. The principles of building the CRM strategy, enabling building and strengthening ties with the client (including ensuring its safety in relationship with a company), thanks to which the company can expect continuous sales, have been presented. Exemplary tools used in CRM (such as: call centre, contact centre, key account management) are listed and described. An attempt has been made to assess the cost-effectiveness of implementing the CRM philosophy in the enterprise based on the SWOT analysis. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of such an undertaking were analysed, and the results were presented in the summary and final conclusions. Keywords: CRM (Customer Relationship Management), call center, contact center, key account management, lead management, risks in relations with clients, customer safety 1. INTRODUCTION CRM is an abbreviation of the concept of Customer Relationship Management (Haenlein, 2017). CRM is the entire philosophy that combines a marketing concept with a business strategy on how to effectively manage customer relationships. The centre and also the object of interest is the client and their needs, including its safety in relationship with a company. According to Dr. Robert Shaw from Shaw Consulting, the author of the book "Measuring and Valuing Customer Relationships", CRM is “an interactive process of gaining an optimal balance between the organization's investments and the satisfaction of its clients in order to maximize profits” (www.czasnaebiznes.pl). The Main Statistical Office defines CRM as "Management methodology, which assumes the client being in the centre of business activities and is based on the intensive use of information technology to collect, combine, process and analyse customer information" (www.stat.gov.pl). CRM is a process that is constantly evolving and "requires abandoning the traditional business model focused