During the last few years, the topic of
customer relationship management (CRM) has
emerged as one of the most important areas in
marketing and in the overall management of the firm.
Numerous articles have been published that point to the
importance of maintaining long-term relationships with
customers in business-to-business (B2B) markets. The
basic idea behind CRM is that if a seller can create a
strong and trusting relationship with its buyers, then
these buyers are more likely to perceive value in the
relationship and may create a long-term revenue stream
for the seller. The buyer also benefits because of the
seller’s earnest attempts to satisfy the needs of the
buyer by becoming a dependable and high-quality
supplier. Companies now recognize that CRM can
contribute to a value-creation strategy because of the
advantages associated with being a trusted participant
in the network or set of strategic alliances that are
maintained in a CRM relationship (Morgan and Hunt,
1994; Morris, Brunyee, and Page, 1998). As a result,
the use of CRM strategies and tactics now serve as one
of the major driving forces behind many companies’
efforts to create superior value for their customers and
generate a long-term revenue stream for themselves.
(Kothandaraman and Wilson, 2000; Ulaga and
Chacour, 2000). Since the creation of a superior value
for customers is needed to generate and maintain a
sustainable competitive advantage (Slater, 1996), many
companies now view their CRM activities as an
important part of their arsenal of competitive weapons.