Two examples from our consulting experience may help as you think about your own customers. Consumer Product Contact Center. Sonjia manages a consumer product call center for a food manufacturing company. Her group responds to the 800# calls and e-mail requests offered by product users. Sonjia knows that her customers often choose these products because these are the brands their mothers and grandmothers used. She also knows that most of them don t even think about her or her group... until they have a product question or concern. In the event there is a problem with a cake mix, cereal, or other product, the members of Sonjia s team need to obtain product codes from the customer. Beyond resolving problems and answering questions, the 800# call or e-mail contact is a great opportunity to reinforce customer loyalty and gather more information about this new generation of users. Therefore, Sonjia is clear that for her team CRM has to: Create a sense of relationship and reinforce brand loyalty with customers who seldom contact the company directly. Quickly and effectively turn around a product problem or concern. Gather product code information so that the potential impact of problems and concerns on other customers those who don t make direct contact can be assessed and corrections and improvements can be made.