Modern customer relationship management systems straddle multiple departments, professions, and channels and there is no shortage of things to measure. But—as the aphorism goes, not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.
Metrics are not essential in and of themselves: the real issue is that companies do not think them through in the context of customer-facing initiatives. As it happens, metrics are only relevant in relation to a strategy that one is trying to execute. And so, there is much more to metrics than meets the eye and getting the wrong metrics in place may well have pernicious effects.
Sales, marketing, and service—utilizing a whole range of different operational metrics— are most often associated with CRM systems. More recently, companies have expanded outside-of-business measurements to incorporate Voice of the Customer feedback and social media metrics. This said, it remains that the four essential steps are to
Define and quantify business goals;
Formulate CRM strategies and tactics;
Establish appropriate CRM measures; and
Link CRM goals, strategies, and metrics.
From there, it is clear that any number of changes might be triggered by the introduction of CRM system in an organization. Change, per se, is not of the essence: rather, it must be change that connect to what a company's theory of the business, as Peter Drucker called it.
PS: The Perils of Performance Management, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239823667_The_Perils_of_Performance_Measurement, and A Primer on Intellectual Capital, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266232464_A_Primer_on_Intellectual_Capital, may be of interest. To note, the second draw attention to and invites measurement of relational capital (relationships), that some deem fundamental to CRM.
E-CRM is not restricted to only operates on internet but it goes beyond web to devices like, PDAs, mobile phones, land line phones, pagers, WAP phones and set-top TV boxes. It increased the way of communication to the customers by integrating its services to several other mentioned devices or medium. The modern version of shopping of early shop-keeper shifts smoothly from store, to web, to any device and enabling itself to serve possibly anywhere to the customers.
Companies with useful customer information have competitive edge over factors of production like labor, capital and technology and it make company to formulate effective strategies that provide value to its customers in today’s surplus ridden economy. Useful customer information and strong relationship have become rare factors. Companies that collect and organize data regarding customers and use them effectively to build and maintain the trusted relationship ultimately win the competition in the marketplace. E-CRM technology is a long term strategic investment is neither flexible for continuous rollout for E-CRM functionality nor its cost effective. Although, the five engine based comprehensive software platform, which includes customer database, analysis and segmentation, personalization, transaction and promotion engines can establish fundamentals to gain competitive advantage.