Customer relationship management

Abstract: Businesses are in a constant race to increase profits, keep current
customers and gain or poach new ones, competing for customers on a
globalised market like never before. One of the many sets of tools aimed at
aiding the interaction between supplier and customer is customer
relationship management(CRM). CRM is aimed at building strong, long-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 thesis is to
provide a better understanding of the use of CRM in B2B firms. To reach
this understanding the thesis starts with three research questions that
focus the objectives of CRM, CRM strategies, and how CRM is measured. Using
these three questions as a guide to the literature review for this study, a
frame of reference is developed and used to collect data from two large
firms operating from Sweden, Haldex and Nefab. 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 findings indicate that much of the explored theory regarding CRM is
true for the B2B sector. There are however a few areas in which the firms
diverge from theory, specifically those relating to the usage 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 of
CRM. Furthermore the findings indicates that CRM in B2B settings focuses on
the organizational aspects of CRM, and a strong goal for businesses is to
unlock the information the employees have and store it in a place the
business can own and find use of.