Abstract

Background: The success of CRM initiative in any firm depends greatly on the implementation strategy. Customer relationship management is a key strategy that most firms adopt in their customer management with the intention to enhance their performance and improve loyalty which is by focusing on customers through identification of their needs and strive daily to ensure that those needs are met for their satisfaction in order to achieve a sustainable win-win business-customer relationship. The purpose of this study is to bring to the fall the issues of CRM, the implementation process and success factors of CRM strategy. Methodology: Resource based view was used to considered the success framework of CRM strategy. The study was exploratory with the intention to uncover the themes and variables related to addressing the issues associated with CRM and the possible implementation process. A Qualitative methodology was adopted using an unstructured (semi structured) interview method with open questions to garner information from 2 employees each that are known as CRM/IT experts and having good practical knowledge of CRM usage in five selected FMCG firms that have adopted CRM strategy. Lastly, thematic content analysis was used to determine the themes and their related questions centering on CRM issues, Implementation and success factors. Result: This study concludes that CRM implementation strategy play a vital role in enhancing the growth of an organization economically. It also posit that appropriate implementation strategy of the CRM and e-CRM will help to improve all other component of the CRM, it will also proliferate the technological inclination and adaptability of employees within the organization and as well help in fostering collective mindset and team work within the firm.

1. Introduction

Sales of ice in the Eskimo are possible through a dynamic marketing strategy, which is the corner stone of every successful industry. The industrialization which evolves after the World War II saw a tremendous increase in productivities of various commodities that necessitated the need for consumers to keep every producing firm in the industry alive. Customer in economic term is regarded as the bedrock of the going concern concept of accounting principle, which state that the accounting document of a firm is a continuous one that has no ending as long as the firm exists. This assertion, therefore suggest that customers are the reason for the existence of a firm in any industry. The quest to gather customers as much as possible for the profitability and continuous presence of a firm evolve advertising of the company’s product in various manners. Critical evaluation of various advertising method suggest that there is need for a channel through which customers can be acquired/gather and retain for the consumption of the firm’s products, which in turn increase sales and profitability of the company. Customers acquisition and retention is key for the survival of any organization hence the strategy known as CRM which is a medium of acquiring customers for a firm, keeping the customer within the firm productivity via provision of satisfactory commodity which in turn increase the profitability ratio of the firm and help the firm to survive in a competing industry. The objective of CRM is to create a customer oriented organization that maximizes customer value and long term organizational profitability through realization of mutual beneficial, durable relationships with customers ^{1, 2, 3}.

The increasing rate of FMCG due to the improve technology has made the marketing world to be a survival of the fittest. Therefore, every organization who quest to remain in the industry require a strategic implementation of a good CRM which will determine the future of such organization. Kordilapoor et al, ⁴ posit that “the success of a business ultimately resides in the carefully maintain and groomed connection that businesses establish with their customers”, hence the initiative of a good CRM strategy has been given more attention in most organization due to the intensity of competition with the intention of closing the gap between customers and the organization. Successful implementation of a good CRM with strategic marketing techniques which integrate all members of staff of an organization with the customer, even to the top level management (i.e. CEO, the board of directors etc.) has brought many firms to limelight. The CRM has become a livewire which transmit the sense of direction of what to produce (taste and fashion) to meet consumer’s satisfaction and help maximize profit which is the motive of every business organization. The introduction of CRM technology has caused obvious and continuous changes in the marketing world which have equally resulted in changes in marketing activities through effective customer management to gain their loyalty through cohesive relationship management by gathering information about their customers and create loyalty programs to build lasting relationships ⁵. No doubt that the proliferation of internet gadgets and development of IT has shifted the traditional CRM to eCRM therefore eCRM is a strategy that utilize technology device such as computer, tablet, mobile phone and the internet to perform the function of the conventional CRM which has tremendously improved the impact of the CRM in an organization. Although the CRM is seen as a very useful tool of marketing but inappropriate implementation can pose a serious setback to its usefulness hence the work of Light, B ⁶ posit that “firms should critically understand the theoretical and practical implications of the business perspective of CRM before adopting the project”. This research work intends to examine the major components of the CRM (People, Technology and Process) in relation to the understanding of an organization towards its strategy of implementation. The employee-customer rapport is also pertinent to the success of the strategy because employees help to build and manage organization customers as they are responsible for the translation of the firm strategy to the customers to ensure proper implementation therefore the importance of their rapport with the customers cannot be overemphasized. Literally, this study aim at assessing the challenges of poor implementation of the CRM, the understanding and supports of employees towards the CRM strategy in the organization, the quality of employees–customer rapport and the impact of the CRM to the overall growth of the business

In other to achieve the objective of the study, the research work will be guided by the below questions:

1. What are the key implementation processes of CRM strategy?

2. What is the impact of employee-customer rapport on CRM success?

3. What are the unexpected issues of CRM militating against the success of the strategy in an organization?

2. Literature Review

Economics scholars have postulated that production is incomplete until the goods produced get to the final consumers therefore, marketing strategy is the medium through which produced commodity get to the consumers. The quest for organization profitability depend majorly on the fundamental principles of marketing her product to the customers who are the cornerstone for the survival of any firm which will determine the extent to which the product meets the customer satisfaction with respect to marginal demand. Thus, CRM becomes an irresistible tool of marketing. The conception of CRM can be traced back to the 80’s from the contact management strategy where every customer that comes in contact with the firm have their data collected, stored and analyze for better service delivery. The contact marketing started from SFA (Sales Force Automation) where sales representatives are mandated to collect customer data in form of address and phone number daily to track their customers’ activities. Subsequently, the business practice gave birth to relationship marketing while the inclusion of technology led to the birth of CRM.

CRM strategy is designed to help an organization manage their customers efficiently which help organizations to get acquainted with their customers through improved interaction and analyzing their individual needs and/or critics towards the production for an appropriate attention to enhance profitability ⁷. The advent of ICT digitalized the traditional method of collecting, storing and analyzing customer’s data with the use of technology-based devices such as computer system, tablet, mobile phones etc., which is the shift from CRM to eCRM.

Many journals have been published and various researches have been conducted to under-study the implementation strategy, challenges and success factors of CRM. According to Chen & Popovich, ² “CRM is not a concept that is really new but rather due to current development and advances in information and enterprise software technology”, it has assumed practical importance. The business approach of eCRM uses the latest information technologies to maintain intense communication with customers, as well as to gather and utilize data regarding their needs and desires ⁸ to generate sales, assist marketing through data sharing tools and accurate information processing ^{2, 9}. Payne & Frow ¹⁰ explain the strategic perspective of CRM which seeks to build and manage long-term relationships to create shareholder value and help the firm to achieve growth by identifying potential customers then to the acquisition stage, then to the retention stage through series of loyalty scheme for a long-term value creation. It is important to state that the CRM system has failed in some cases in delivering the expected objective to the firm due to various factors ranging from the implementation processes, employee-rapports, to the dynamic improvement in the global market due to improving technology on daily basis ¹¹ hence the work of Aheame et al., ¹² define CRM in relation with the organization sales force role “as the process of capturing customer information and developing an appropriate strategy in consultation with the salesperson in order to optimize sales performance” to indicate that the success of CRM cannot be achieve without the express impact of the salespersons. Equally, Cao & Gruca, ¹³ stated that “successful CRM begins with the acquisition of the right customers” which explains the strategy of implementing a good CRM.

Kordalipoor et al., ⁴ argue that CRM “is the creation of a long-term, mutually beneficial business relationship between an organization and its customers” which advance from the traditional method of marketing to relationship marketing because the firm strives always to know and retain all their profitable customers to improve customer loyalty and retention, and to provide a quick response to customer requests ¹⁴ therefore, CRM does not only look at the process of selling a particular commodity for just a moment, its looks into the philosophy of creating a mutual relationship between the seller and the buyer to enable continuous sales of the same commodity to the same customer. No gainsaying that the existence of any organization is a function of an availability of customer to purchase her product, it is therefore necessary that the organization marketing arms have a beneficial relationship with customers, which can only be achieved through the implementation of CRM and eCRM in a strategic manner that will yield expected result and facilitate increased sales and profitability.

The increasing rate of competition necessitates strategic implementation of CRM as customers tend to be interested in a new product therefore, the relationship establish using appropriate CRM will enable marketers to know the need, taste, and fashion of interest to customer, this will in turn assist in retaining of the customers against competitors.

3. CRM and eCRM

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) or consumers packaged goods (CPG) companies are fast growing all over the world. Competitive production leading to a high ratio of supply to demand has necessitated the need for a firm to establish a direct line of communication, close contact of assessing customer’s need and retaining of customers for continuous patronage and partnering to maximize organization profitability. In recent time, customers are seen as the major determinant of the progressive success of a firm because they decide what to produce, when to produce and for whom to produce. Sequel to the aforementioned, customer needs to be given adequate attention in production line. The CRM is a strategy through which customer relationship is embedded in the organization management such that the customer being the livewire of the firm are maintain and retain for a lifelong business. The CRM is an integrating media which speaks directly to all departments in a firm and deliver the image of the firm to the customer hence Paliouras & Siakas, ¹⁵ explain that CRM helps the organization address customers uniqueness for increase loyalty. The shifts from the traditional commerce to E-commerce have a corresponding effect on the CRM by creating the eCRM for mining customer data through the use of internet and software for the firm as it entails the using of modern information technology in mining customer’s data, and keeping them within the organization. In this era of technology and innovation, one step ahead the competitor could mean success, and a new customer management concept could help the enterprise to take the winning step therefore the practice and philosophy of CRM has gain more relevance.

4. Research Design and Methodology

The chosen methodology is qualitative with respect to the research questions hence data was extracted from a sample of 10 employees with good knowledge of IT/CRM applicability using a semi structured interview method in selected 5 FMCG firms based on their personal experience with the CRM strategy. Such idea was adopted to establish their understanding and impact of employee-customers rapports, their understanding of the term CRM and eCRM, CRM related issues and the key implementation process for the success of the strategy therefore the research work examined the Implementation, Issues and Success Factors of a CRM.

Qualitative From the sampling structure, the interview was narrowed to a total of 10 samples with two representatives each from the selected 5 FMCG firms located in a key business area in Lagos, Nigeria that is currently using CRM strategy for operation therefore the study focused on one (1) sales operative or CRM end users and also one (1) senior manager in each of the 5 FMCG firms where all participants were carefully selected from the lots of users and with a minimum experience of 3-5years in the usage of information technology either hardware or software to manage customers and below are the firms size.

The purpose of selecting the above 5 firms is because they are key players in their various sectors with products that are known in the market and their route to market is retail and consumer driven to remain relevant in the minds of their customers.

Data analysis is a strategy that provides an answer to a research question and equally exposes the relationship between the variables extracted from the in-depth interview and content analysis deals with numbers and it is consistent with the philosophical and methodological assumptions ¹⁶ as it is an inductive approach which involves identifying themes and categories that ‘emerge from the data collected ¹⁷ hence Stefan et al, ¹⁸ argue that “content analysis will always be used if communicative content is of greatest importance”. The tool allowed for extracting the important part of the text or transcript before analyzing it to avoid mere opinion and reduce guesswork in research work. It also helped to analyse actual data without any predetermined idea as textual data will be collected from the in-depth interview of the ten employees in the five different FMCG that have experience in CRM initiative.

Analyzing qualitative data leads to a result that is unique therefore this research work employs a thematic content analysis which allows for detailed analysis of data postulated by Nystedt et al., 2008. Thematic content analysis helps researchers to group phenomenon and classify data into constituent and recurrent theme. This as well aids the synthesizing processing of categories theme for appropriate comparison. This analysis involves the systematic reading and listening to transcripts of data collected or recording during interviews section with various participants in a research work. Being a qualitative study, comparison of information was not base on hypothetical variable. Data analyzed are sorted from participant as primary data with no secondary data interference. The interview was conducted with 10 customer servicing employees with good experience in CRM tool with respondents of 2 in each of the 5 FMCG companies. 10 scripts were used for each of the interviewees for the in-depth interview which amounted to a total of 100 scripts that was analyzed using content analysis technique as the interview topics was centered on CRM knowledge, CRM issues, customer rapports and implementation

Thematic content analysis explores the theme relating to the implementation, issues regarding CRM and e-CRM strategy and success factors. These themes were analyzed and grouped in the interview question which is related to studied research topic which is shown in the below Table 1 below.

5. Themes And Related Question of Interview

Review of the various responses from participants selected from the 5 FMCG companies that participated in this research work is being summarized with few of the response being analyse below.The concepts of response of each participant are put together under this analysis, therefore it is the collective notion portrayed by all participant. This section also combine the response of both the management team member and the sales representative, however, it is pertinent to note that the sales representative is often refer to as ‘employee’ in this study.

The CRM is an embodiment of the company, it determine virtually all that need to be done on daily basis. It is the compass that directs all activities within the organization from the level of procurement of raw materials to the final stage of getting it across to the final consumer. The level of technology in place has ease management and it helps to facilitate accuracy and effectiveness of our employees. The CRM no doubt is seen beyond just a technological tool as far as our organization is concern. Although, necessary adjustment are being put in place as a measure of upgrading toward the dynamic market whenever there is need to do so.

The experience gathered from the implementation of the CRM over the years at different level of management and marketing within various organizations is an intrinsic asset. The CRM and eCRM has drastically luminate the minds of many from the conventional theoretical approached to the marketing world. It has tremendously polished our career and as well brought many organizations to limelight by virtue of the level of input every experienced person contribute toward the achievement of the organization goal and the success of the CRM.

The implementation process of the CRM has being so tasking and demanding. Just as it is difficult to integrate human activities to the real life application of it, it is rigorous to get people on the job specification and infuse their activities within the concept of the CRM. The implementation of the CRM require “on the job and off the job training” for the desired goal of the organization to be achieved... By” on the job, this means that employees are continually trained to undergo the true concept of the CRM and not a mere assumption of what to be done.

Organization has encountered various challenges during the implementation of the CRM ranging from employees training and understanding of the system concept to the challenges of the software design for the management of the system. The participating firm narrated various challenges, one of the interviewee state as follows “the support of the management determine the success factor of implementing the CRM since some critical aspect of the CRM such as financing, tools & devices selection and training of employees are decision to be taken by the management team”.

The CRM has come to stay and totally replace the obsolete traditional customers’ relationship management, the eCRM which follow recent technology and trending devices system also ease the CRM features and includes additional features. This is the collective assertion of all interviewee in this research work

Various study on the CRM mostly focus on the effect of the CRM in enhancing the firm profitability, but not much has been done on the implementation strategy, success factors and emerging issues with the CRM system. This study therefore attends to survey the issues emanating from the implementation strategy of the CRM and also look into various factors that influence the success of the implementation strategy. This study shows that the CRM and e-CRM is not just a tool in an organization but a necessary phenomenon that determine the sustainability of existence of a firm in the industry and a determinant factor of achieving competitive edge among counterpart. The study also shows that CRM is positively and significantly related to performance of a firm profitability and popularity of product and services of the firm and this is confirmed by the high recorded performance levels within the sampled FMCG companies studied. No doubt e-CRM has recently experienced a considerable boom primarily because of its advantages as the first is reflected in lower transaction costs in ensuring easy access to the global market, greater flexibility in product offerings. However, organizations are not encouraged to depend solely on the e-CRM; the understanding of people’s effort on the performance of the CRM is highly recommended.

The relationship between the implementation of the CRM and e-CRM with the organizational goal and achievement cannot be overemphasized as this study shows that a good implementation strategy is vital to the output of the entire system. It suggest that needful attention and proper consideration should be accorded to the implementation process of the CRM and e-CRM by ensuring that all necessary parameters to the attaining and retaining of customers for a long term loyalty and business benefit are well integrated. The study emphasized on appropriate implementation strategy that befits a particular firm, it suggests that the CRM should be well understood by all staffs within a firm so that everyone can complement each other in attaining the desired organizational goal therefore the CRM should be infused in a manner that shows flexibility and adaptability to market trends and economical in nature. The input of employees toward the attainment of the CRM benefit was also postulated in this study. Customers rapport that enhance their loyalty is carried out by the employees, this is well established by the quality of training and orientations received towards the CRM and e-CRM strategy as on the job and off the job training have a significant impact on the CRM output.

This study, enunciate issues associated with the CRM which are embodiment of the implementation and the success factors. The five FMCG companies that participated in the study are those that have cognizance experience with the CRM for a minimum of three years. The participants narrated their encounter with the CRM itself and customer which include individual and corporate customer with one issue and the other. This aid individual firm to make necessary adjustment on the implementation strategy and profound solution to issues militating against the success of the CRM within the firm. Since the CRM is design in a way to facilitate sales and improve customers loyalty, this core objective of the CRM must be infused into the functionality of the e-CRM as well and also in the daily organizational routine. This study established the need for firm to encourage and schedule training and retraining for all the staffs in the organization centering on the fundamentals of the CRM and e-CRM. Most importantly, those directly concern with the use of the CRM should be rigorously trained for quality output and better performance. Human relationship techniques, which directly related to the people’s component of the CRM, should be given proper attention as this will assist the employees on customer rapport that will in turn improve the customers’ loyalty and will guarantee the long term relationship of the concern customer with the firm. Since the quality of technology put in place to usher the execution of the CRM/e-CRM strategy is of great importance. This study derived that quality of the technology put in place to monitor the affairs of CRM will greatly influence the performance of the system; this will in turn boost the level of rapport between the customers and the employees. It will also bridge the distance between the customers and the top level managers of the firms. For instance, one of the participant explained that the technology employed by the firm makes it easier for the organization to monitor the transaction of each employee with their customers without the knowledge of the employee, that is, a top level manager can get across to a customer and ask about the satisfaction of her product and the level of demand since the CRM is centralized such that every transaction with customers are easily track and monitored. It as well aid the performance of the employees by meeting the target set by the management for each employees on daily basis. It is also important to state that training of employees on ICT gadget on routine basis is pertinent to their performance on the CRM as this will help to improve their utility skills of technology.

Conclusively, the CRM has been made up of good implementation strategy coupled with issues surrounding the phenomenon in determining the success factors. These are what firms should understand and align properly for the benefit of the organization and improve sales which will also increase the profitability rate of the firm. Customer loyalty and retaining of customer for continuous patronage should be the underlying principle of implementing a good CRM strategy.

Various researches have shown that the implantation stage of the entire system is critical to the success factor and also vital in determining the effectiveness of the major component of the CRM. The implementation strategy employ in the deployment//evolvement of the CRM in an organization is directly proportional to the result it yield on the output basis; this is deduced from the collection and summarization of the five FMCG that participated in this study. The interviewees emphasized on the implementation strategy as a major success factor of the CRM. It was established that the critical role of decision making of the management team should take to consideration the input of employees who are most on the field and directly relate to customers. Feedback and challenges experience from dealing with customer should be carefully addressed in the implementation of a new strategy or modification of an existing CRM system. It is also important that the management team and every staffs of an organization are committed to the implementation process of the CRM; it should not be seen as the affairs of only the employees/ marketing team. Appropriate and seasonal training/workshop shop should be organized to inform all concern about any modification made, the dynamism of the CRM due to market trend and technological advancement especially with the eCRM. Rajinishi et al ¹⁹ posit that ‘successful implementation of the CRM system will contribute to the organization in terms of improved sales, market share profitability, customer satisfaction and reduce customer service cost and time’. The implementation strategy suggests appropriate alignment of the CRM component which is people, process and technology. Since the CRM possess great influence on the firms’ turnover and profitability, appropriate funding should be considered to achieve the organizational desire goal and meet up with the competitive marketing globe. The implementation strategy of the CRM determines the extent at which the objective of the CRM will be achieved by the firm. This study established that the success of the CRM in an organization and the ability of firm to overcome challenges/ issues arising with the CRM depend majorly on the implementation strategy. The consideration of various inputs such as the customers’ need, market trend, and employees input and technological advancement on the society will help to facilitate good implantation and predict the success level of the CRM in the organization.

The issues with the CRM vary for firm to firm. However, most problems emanating from the CRM are traceable to the implementation strategy. Rajnish et al., ¹⁹ argue that “successful implementation of the CRM system can contribute to the organization in terms of improved sales, market share profitability, customer satisfaction and reduced customer turnover, service cost and time”. The issues of CRM strategy can be analyzed from two major perspectives, which are analytical and operational. The analytical issues with the CRM discussed the planning, process, and implementation of the CRM strategy as a factor that mitigates the achievement of its goal if not properly handled, while the operational perspective addresses issues cornering the software that is needed for the proper functioning of the strategy. Nevertheless, there are some issues aside from the implementation such as the customer’s relationship by employees and appropriate handling of the CRM system by the employees. Kennedy et al., ²⁰ stated that “there are important issues in achieving CRM success such as strategic, organizational and technological issues”. People are responsible for the process and usage of the technology to interact with the customers. Goldenberg, ²¹ stresses the need for efficient integration of people, technology and process for its success. Ironically, this aspect is poorly attended to in the past; therefore, it is critical we recognize human and organizational aspect in our communication with customers For instance, one of the interviewees narrated a situation whereby the interpersonal relation of an employee has been very helpful on the level of his sales turnover and meeting up the target given by the firm, however this report on the CRM system is very poor. Appropriate documentation of customer’s data as deem necessary is paramount to the organization CRM system structure hence Kordalipoor et al., ⁴ stated that “the success of a business ultimately resides in the carefully maintained and groomed connections that businesses establish with their customers”. Another issue with some organization is related to high cost of maintenance of the CRM system due to advancement in technological gadget. In order to resolve this, a good market survey and feasibility study should be conducted so as to reach out for alternative means of meeting customers demand and providing reward for loyalty to gain reasonable edge with competitors. Some organization implement route structure to the CRM system features which help to track employees movement and reporting hour with the aid of GPS, it really go a long way in helping the organization to have quick access and centralize relationship with their customers since everybody concern can get any information about a particular customer at any given time, this become an issue to organization who could not afford the cost of implementing such in their CRM system. Technology cannot operate itself hence the need to recognize the important role employee and managers’ plays for the success of the initiative because the technical know-how of the employee is key to the success of the initiative. The information age suggest that adequate training should be given to all concerns with the use of the CRM within an organization so that the. Another issues with the CRM discovered within this study is the ability of customer retention; some firm were able to acquire numerous customers data through the CRM and eCRM but were unable to keep them for long term business benefit. This is due to the inability of the firm being able to network their employees appropriately such that once the employee resign the customer is also lost. The costs of data management also impede some of the sample firm in this study to keep data of customers for a longer time. The CRM concept strongly requires appropriate attention. Tanveer ²² postulates that e-CRM platform provides support to valuable customers to remain loyal, since information stored in the e-CRM database assists an organization to look at the actual cost of attracting and retaining customers. The firm can also access new international customers and seize valuable data essential to the firm’s competitiveness and market share ²³. Review of active and dormant customer on routine is also a contributive factors militating against customer retention for firms who fail to conduct the routine check as deemed necessary

The relationship between the CRM and eCRM implementation with the issues arising for its execution of plans with the CRM is the success factor. Plakoyiannaki & Tzokas, ²⁴ posited that “customer relationship management provides an actual platform for the operational manifestation of relationship marketing”. Success factors are what determine the output of a good CRM system, this in turn determine the level of productivity, profitability and recognition of the firm in the global market. It as well enhances the image of the firm towards her customers. Esteves & Pastor ²⁵ “identified success factors as the limited number of areas that are when proven okay will successfully enhance the competitive performance of an organization. This study discovered that the factors that enhance the success of the CRM system are tangible factors and intangible factors. The tangible factors refer to the technology put in place to administer the CRM and most especially the eCRM. For instance one of the participant of this research explain that his organization deploy mobile gadget to all employees who are directly concern with the use of the CRM within the organization, this is used to report all transaction at the point of sales and record customer satisfaction/complain immediately, the management team also receive this information automatedly which enhances swift response to customer query and decision making within the organization, the device also help to measure the efficiency of employees and the effectiveness of the CRM strategy. This implies that there tangible component of the CRM which help to determine the success level of the CRM. There is a correlation with the work of Rajinish et al., ¹⁹ which state that “successful implementation of the CRM system can contribute to the organization in terms of improving sales, market share profitability, customer satisfaction and service cost”. The aspect of the technology put in place in the implementation process of the CRM is a tangible success factor of the CRM. Good CRM strategies require updated technology for the firm to meet target which the intangible aspects refer to the abstract feature of the CRM. This includes the quality of training given to the employees concern with the CRM as the employees and customers are seen as the ‘people’ component of the CRM that need to be given quality attention. Training the employees on the job and off the job (see appendix) facilitate efficiency and improve delivery of the employees. Knowing what to do makes getting it done easier and reduce error in duties. Another intangible success factor of the CRM is the methodology put in place to achieve the organizational goal. This as well refers to the process of operation within a firm. One of the interviewee posit that his organization is improving sales and output due to the machinery put in place, he said “the process of operation here is really helping to meet up with new innovation on the CRM system, our mode of operation make is easy to achieve success on the CRM and everyone feels successful on his/her duties”. Therefore the process of implementing the CRM strategy contribute immensely to the success of the system, a good strategy that is not well implemented or miss track during implementation process tend to lose out its good features and disdain success. Nevertheless, there are some factors that should be considered in the implementation of a successful CRM, these include information quality, system quality, customer service quality, top management support, and technological readiness, key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management and technological-based CRM ^{4, 26}. Conclusively, the three main components of the CRM and eCRM which are (People, Process and Technology) determine the success factor of the implementation.

6. Conclusion

The rate of competition in the global market necessitates an organization to become customer centric and remain customer centric if it is to make headway. Organization must be responsive to the customers, and also provide customers not only with what they need, want, value and desire but also anticipate the needs, wants, and desires of the customers, and be prepared to deliver before the customers even know of it. This study discussed the implementation strategy, issues and success factors of the CRM and e-CRM in an expository pattern as a qualitative study. The implementation strategy of a good CRM and e-CRM is a major determinant of the success of the entire system. Implementation of the CRM strategy suggests the impact of the CRM on the customers and on the profitability ratio of the organization. Thus, the implementation plan and strategy must be given adequate attention in an organization hence the need to integrate all stakeholders of the CRM and align customers to fit into the system. The implementation of the CRM should be holistic in nature such that the firm can infuse all members of staffs from the top level management to the low level management. The study suggest adequate and seasoned training for all stakeholders of the CRM especially the employees who are directly involved with relating the CRM to the customers. The goal of the CRM to acquire and retain customer for continuous patronage of the firms’ product and services must be clearly understood while the use of incentives and motivation for CRM benefit should be geared toward increase sales and profitability of the firm. The e-CRM on the other hand, should be understood as the modern procedure of customer acquisition and retention. Since e-CRM involve the use of information technology gadget/devices in executing the function of a traditional CRM, the objective of the CRM must be well integrated to the technology chosen by the organization and expertise training must be given to employees in alluring manner that makes it effortless and achievable. The implementation of the CRM strategy requires commitment and input from all members of staffs and is grounded on the understanding of the system by the employees in achieving the organizational goal.

There are various issues arising from the implementation of the CRM and e-CRM. The issue of e-CRM has increasingly become the identification of the success of the CRM implementation it allows organizations to obtain the maximum value from their e-business investment. The issues of CRM and e-CRM strategy can be analyzed from two major perspectives, which are analytical and operational. The analytical issue of the CRM discussed the planning, process, and implementation of the CRM strategy as a factor that mitigates the achievement of its goal if not properly handled, while the operational perspective addresses issues cornering the software that is needed for the proper functioning of the strategy. This study categorized the issues into three which are: people, process and technology. The three categories are the major component of the CRM. Issues arising from any of the component of the CRM will definitely affect the performance and success of the entire system. This study therefore, recommends that proper attention should be accorded to the component of the CRM in all cases. The understanding of these components as major constraint will assist the firm in decision taken on the CRM and also increase competitive edge in the global market.

Firms are encouraged to set appropriate perspective toward the market trends and the dynamism pattern of customers. The need to understand customers’ perspective and opinion is vital in achieving the desire goal of the CRM. The change in technology device and improvement of the internet should be explored positively by firm towards enhancement of the e-CRM functionalities. It is pertinent to state that proper management of the e-CRM will reduce the cost of maintaining the traditional CRM and also admit more customers to the firms’ through the internet facilities. It will also help the firm to ensure adequate and optimal performance of employees if all necessary parameter are put in place to explore the available communication technology in today’s world. This study emphasized on the need for firms to pay needful attention to human-ware in appropriation to the level of attention given to software and hardware to explore the utilities of technology as regards the CRM and e-CRM. All level of managements within a firm is expected to participate actively in the maintenance of the CRM and e-CRM. Policy makers in an organization are to make representative decision that favors the improvement on the CRM performance within the firm. The rising number of FMCG companies in the globe present more threat to incumbent ones and customers are being shared, therefore firms that want to remain in market must understand it is survival of the fittest, while the fittest are those who are able to acquire and retain customers for long term business benefit.

Additionally, the success factors of the CRM correlate with the issues emerging from the entire system. Success factors are what determine the output of a good CRM system, this in turn determine the level of productivity, profitability and recognition of the firm in the global market. The implementation strategy is an enormous success determinant of the CRM. Thus, this study discovered that the factors that enhance the success of the CRM system are tangible factors and intangible factors. The tangible factors refer to the technology put in place to administer the CRM and most especially the e-CRM while the intangible aspects refer to the abstract feature of the CRM. The impact of the implementation plan and strategy of the CRM also serve as success factor of the entire system. Therefore, firms are encouraged to always look inward while maneuvering on the success determinant of the CRM to enhance performance. FMCG(s) are indulged to critically observe the tangible as well as the intangible factors of success determinant of the CRM as this may render every good efforts put in place during the implementation strategy and plan of the CRM futile. As discussed earlier, all features of both the tangible and intangible factors of the entire CRM system should be holistically diagnosed and accord with needful and sustainable action that will fix the issues with the CRM. The cost of ensuring adequacy in the CRM system should be profitable to the firms, thus, input of the CRM user within an organization will fitting in address the various issues arising from the implementation strategy and adjusting the success factors of the CRM in a benefitting manner that improve customers loyalty to the organization. Informal media may be used in addressing issues within an organization and customers to foster relationship marketing which is the core features of the CRM.

References