CRM Implementation: A Descriptive Study of the Service Industry in Pakistan

Abstract

In service industries, the customer relationship has become a core issue for achieving competitive advantage. The firms prefer to invest in the technology based Customer Relationship Management (CRM). However, mere implementing the CRM applications does not itself ensure success until the consequent factors of the CRM are considered by the enterprises concerned. This study provides the descriptive analysis of the CRM implementation and two important factors: customer knowledge and customization. The aim is to analyze the degree to which service firms utilize CRM technology, customize services and store customer knowledge. The results show that CRM application is extensively used in the firms who store and manage customer knowledge. This helps in increasing organizational performance. However, customization is not always the practice of the service firms.