6. Conclusion Somewhere along the turn of the twentieth century, buyers and sellers lost their intimate relationships. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, sellers knew their customers, many times by name, and generally understood their needs. Mass production built a wall between buyers and sellers where the main concept was to find customers for standardized products. Customers are more empowered today than ever before and the Internet is accelerating the trend toward greater
customer empowerment. CRM applications attempt to focus on the customer first, specifically one customer at a time, to build a long-lasting mutually beneficial relationship.