Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system: The challenges involved

CRM systems offer companies a unique ability to manage their customers more effectively. There is a wealth of benefits to CRM both internally and externally, and if used correctly they can grow a company’s customer base and profits. Despite this, the implementations of these systems have a high rate of failure, with companies often spending large amounts of money without gaining anything other than an internal reporting tool. This chapter looks at the reasons behind these failures, looking at previous case studies, theories and problems to decipher the main issues. The authors then uses a recent CRM implementation case study to see how these issues relate to a real life scenario. The research concludes with a ten-step plan to ensure future practitioners success. This chapter explores the research gathered from the literature, along with the detail from primary interviews to offer a unique overview into CRM implementations.