Customer relationship management in business to business organizations

Abstract

Customer Relationship Management in Business to Business Organizations Businesses are in a constant race to increase profits, keep the current customers and gain or poach new ones, competing for customers on the globalised market like never before. One of the many sets of tools aimed at aiding the interaction between supplier and customer are the Customer Relationship Management methodologies. Customer Relationship Management is aimed at building strong long and term relationships that keep customers coming back repeatedly. It aims to help organizations build individual customer relationships in such a way that both the firm and the customer get the most out of the exchange, providing both parties with long term benefits. The purpose of this research is to provide a better knowledge of the use of Customer Relationship Management in Businesses to Business firms. To reach this understanding, the dissertation starts with three research questions based on this purpose on which theory is collected. The three areas of concern are objectives, strategy and measurement of Customer Relationship Management. Based on a detailed literature survey about these questions a frame of reference is chosen and used to collect information from two large firms, i.e. Property Development Company and IT Company. These companies were studied through case analysis and compared to each other and to theory. The Data collected from them was primarily attained through structured interviews. The finding indicates that much of the explored theory regarding Customer Relationship Management is true for the Business to Business sector.There are however a few areas in which the firms diverge from theory, specifically those relating to the usages of estimated values such as loyalty and satisfaction in customer evaluations. It was also found that there is a lack of research in the areas of evaluation Customer Relationship Management. Furthermore, the findings indicatethat Customer Relationship Management in Business to Business focuses on the organizational aspects of Customer Relationship Management, and a strong goal in business is to unlock the information the employees have and store it in a place the business can own.