CRM 'shines in customer retention' (03/02/2010)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions are most effective when they are used in customer retention schemes, it has been suggested.

This comes after a recent report from IT research firm Gartner found that users of CRM solutions were utilising the software more to enhance customer satisfaction than in efforts to attract new customers.

Joshua Weinberger, managing editor of CRM magazine, said: "I'd like to believe CRM software fared relatively better because companies finally realised that retaining customers is far more cost effective than landing new ones.

"The software itself is only one part of Customer Relationship Management, and it's the people and processes - the planners and the workflows - that can prepare any enterprise for its reaction to a bad situation. Having a trained and capable staff, ready to field customer complaints and sudden shifts in sales projections, is always the key - and CRM can certainly help in that regard."

Gartner's report also projected a growth of 0.7 per cent in CRM software revenues in 2010 from 2009 figures.

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