Over the past couple of decades, literature has repeatedly argued that businesses across all sectors will have to change their marketing approach, which should be carried out through relationships, networks, and interactions (Day 2000; Gröroos 2000a; Gummesson 1999; Hunt 2000; Peck et al. 1999; Webster 2000). Such approach to marketing is way dissimilar from those traditional ones of 4Ps. According to (Buttle 1996; Fornell 1992; Hillier 1999; Rust, Zahorik, and Keiningham 1996), the customer market is one among those markets which businesses need to give much importance, with research suggesting that customer retention leads to increased market share and bigger profits. Indeed, the need to better understand customer behavior cropped up and focus on those customers who can deliver long-term profits has modified how marketers view the world. In this respect, developing strong and long term relationships with customers has become crucial for the survival of businesses. Today, the outlook has changed from customer acquisition to retention. According to Tan et al. (2002 p.84), faced with widespread global-economic technological and cultural change, organisations around the world are seeking to enhance the value and profitability of their existing customer relationships, while putting in more efforts to attract new and profitable customers. Hence, in this marketing revolution and shift from a merely “Marketing” to a “Relationship Marketing” concept, arouse the notion of Customer Relationship Management or CRM as it is called. From then and till now, definitions of CRM were various.

 

In addition, many authors argue that there are even more recent changes in the global business marketplace with the emergence of new technologies and internet in particular. For the last part of the previous decade, e-marketers had the wind at their backs. The longevity of traditional ways of reaching customers was being called into question, and e-marketing was on the vanguard of change (Jeffrey Graham, 2000). De Ruyter et al. (2001, p. 186) argue that the next vista for organizations operating in virtual marketplaces will involve e-service, which they define as “. . . an interactive, content-centered and Internet-based customer service, driven by the customer and integrated with related organizational customer support processes and technologies with the goal of strengthening the customer-service provider relationship”. Thus, e-service is viewed as an emerging mechanism for achieving customer relationship management strategic outcomes. Jaakko Sinisalo et al.(2007) contest that as the internet is becoming more and more important in business life, many companies consider it as an opportunity to reduce customer-service costs, tighten customer relationships and most important, further personalize marketing services and enable mass customisation. Together with the creation of Sales Force Automation (SFA), where electronic methods were used to gather data and analyze customer information, the trend of the upcoming Internet can be seen as the foundation of what we know as eCRM today. The creative destruction of the new economy, which promises innovation in every upheaval, is challenging electronic marketers with a new discipline: (eCRM) electronic customer relationship management (Jeffrey Graham, 2000).

 

客戶關系管理（CRM）—Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

 

客戶關系管理的綜述—CRM Overview

 

Wilson, Daniel, & McDonald (2002 p.194) describe Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a management approach that enables businesses to identify, attract and increase retention of profitable customers by managing relationships with them. Similarly, Lewis (2001) states that CRM is a business strategy that means shifting focus from transaction margins and process efficiencies to customer retention and growth in customer lifetime value. A study by Reichheld (1996 cited Christopher Buil 2003, p.592) had shown that a small increase in retention (5%) can yield a 95% on the net present value delivered by customers.

 

CRM is also define as a long term business philosophy which enables companies to interact with customers, collecting, understanding and utilising customer information intelligently, treating customers differently and providing a higher level of service for an organisation's best customers; then using these two together to increase customer loyalty and profitability (Seybold, 2001; Strauß & Schoder, 2002, p. 81 f; Nairn, 2002). This is further supported by Wilde (2001) who asserts that CRM is designed to create a unified view of each customer and make this information available throughout an organisation so that processes from product/service development to delivering new services reflect the knowledge of each customer's history and what they want. In addition, Buttle (2003 p. 34) says that CRM is the core business strategy that integrates internal processes and functions, and external networks, to create and deliver value to targeted customers at a profit.

 

Moreover, Bose (2002, p.89) define CRM as “an integration of technologies and business processes”. A comprehensive definition of the concept is provided by Payne and Frow (2005, p.168): “CRM is a strategic approach which merges the potential of relationship marketing strategies and IT to create better shareholder value, through the development of profitable and long-term relationships with key customers, customer segments and other key stakeholders. CRM provides enhanced opportunities to use data and information to both understand customers and co-create value with them. This requires a cross-functional integration of processes, people, operations and marketing capabilities enabled through information, technology and applications”#p#分頁標題#e#

 

客戶關系管理的分類—CRM Classification

 

According to Xu and Walton (2005), the following three CRM categories proposed by Chaudhury and Kuiboer (2002) and Sap.com (2003):

 

Operational CRM

 

Analytical CRM

 

Collaborative CRM

 

Operational CRM

 

Customer data is collected through a range of touch points such as contact centre, contact management system, mail, fax, sales force, web, etc. The data is then stored and organized in a database, which is made available to users in all departments, allowing a complete and comprehensive tracking of information relating to any contact with customers. Consequently, personalise relationships with customers are built, enabling the organisational to broaden its response to the customers' requirements. (Xu & Walton, 2005)

 

分析型客戶關系管理—Analytical CRM

 

The data stored is then analysed through a range of analytical tools to generate customer profiles, identify behavior patterns, determine satisfaction level, and support customer segmentation. The information and knowledge acquired from the analytical CRM will help develop appropriate marketing and promotion strategies. This type of CRM is referred by Kotorov (2002) as a 360° view of the customer. Data warehousing and data mining solutions are typical analytical CRM systems. The outcome of the analysis is that customers are more effectively segmented and offered products and services that better fit their buying profiles.

 

合作型客戶關系管理—Collaborative CRM

 

The CRM systems are integrated with enterprise-wide systems to allow greater responsiveness to customers throughout the supply chain (Kracklauer and Mills, 2004). A CRM can be extended to incorporate employees, suppliers, or partners. Collaborative CRM systems manage and synchronize customer interaction points and communication channels (e.g. telephone, e-mail, and the web).” (Adebanjo, 2003; Geib et al., 2006)

 

電子客戶關系管理的崛起—Rise of e-CRM

 

“eCRM will be the difference between winners and losers in the e-business world of the 21st Century.” - Alex Brown, Equity Research, November 1999

 

Electronic Customer Relationship Management (eCRM) has become the latest paradigm in the world of Customer Relationship Management with the rapid growth of IT. Bannon (2001) suggest that there has been an enormous increase of eCRM practices since the mid 1990s; eCRM is gaining on importance as businesses take to the web. Kelly et al. (2003), denote that one of the most talked about topics of the new millennium, eCRM has become the number one focus as today's competitive markets are getting more saturated and competitive.

 

Electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) emerges from the Internet and web technology to assist the implementation of CRM within organizations which focusing on communications between organizations and their customers via Internet or web-based systems. Many businesses now believe that information technology deployment which supports and cultivates one-to-one relationships with customers is one of the most important fundamental means for the creation of competitive advantage.

 

There are millions of internet users, and day by day, this number is ever growing. Mr. Prashant Kumar, chief executive officer of media specialist Universal McCann, says that:

 

“...people connect and communicate in new ways across a multitude of new and uncontrolled channels. There are mostly youngsters who make up the group that are using the Internet widely and these people will be the key decision-makers for 90% of brands in the next 10 to 20 years.”

 

Thus, the popularity and growing penetration of the Internet have made online media an inevitable and essential part in many companies' marketing plans, making eCRM a requirement for survival, not just a competitive advantage. Channels, through which companies can communicate with its customers, are growing at a fast pace, and as a result, getting their time and attention has turned into a major challenge. One of the reasons eCRM is so popular nowadays is that digital channels can create unique and positive customer experiences (Nenad Jukic et al. 2003).

 

什么是電子客戶關系管理—What is e-CRM? A definition

 

客戶關系管理在電子商務中的運用—CRM in e-business

 

Most companies now have online CRM capabilities on their web sites which incorporates technology into consumer services and also provides cost controlled purchasing. As a result many companies take on different programs or strategies to capture more customers. These strategies could include integrated fuel credit cards, personalized services, and so on. Another example is the banking industry (Business Development Unica Corporation, 2006). Almost all banks offer online banking and in each of these web sites, we normally see a rich format of graphical and media contextual format that are designed to please the customers' eyes. These web sites offer customers access to their account anytime they wish. Besides online banking, the banks also offer other information such as credit rating reports, promotional rates for credit cards, personal loans, mortgage, etc. Online banking customers find this very useful. The banks on the other hand, track the web sites that their customers are visiting and use this information to improve customer service. Nowadays, many banks offer CRM on their web site (Beasty, 2006). Interactive voice response technology is another enhancer for CRM in e-business. It can mimic most actions of live agents such as identifying customers by name, asking for identification verification, speaking in any languages, or connecting to a live agent when appropriate. This new technology can even allow call centers to contact their customers more frequently to offer new services and improve the relationship between the companies and their customer (Lubben, 2006). Based on the stored information, CRM can also be automated to respond to customers in terms of offering special discounts according to the customers' needs. With the rapid development of technology, CRM has become a centralized document repository that allows organizations to profile and manage their customers' documents while it is fully integrated with the companies' business system. It gives the capability for customer service staff and their customers to secure access and collaborate over those documents, whether synchronously or asynchronously. It also gives management the ability to apply business rules and processes to those documents in order to achieve greater efficiency and accuracy. Finally, it creates triggers and events to those documents that would enable decision makers to make better decisions and develop better knowledge management capabilities (Hicks, 2006).

 

電子商務在移動商務中的運用(無線CRM)—CRM in m-business (wireless CRM)

 

Besides the traditional click-and-mortar, many e-businesses are implementing wireless CRM applications. This idea is based on the fact that employees carry a mobile device everywhere they go. Mobility implies portability; therefore, employees can initiate a real-time contact with other systems from wherever they happen to be if they can connect to a wireless network. This characteristic breaks the barriers of geography and time, which is often a constraint for many organizations. The value-added attributes that drive the development of m-business (mobile business) include the following:

 

Ubiquity. The availability of any products or services at any location at any given time.

Convenience. Users can operate the wireless devices in any environments.

Instant connectivity. Connections are available quickly and easily at anytime and anywhere.

 

Personalization. The ability to customize the information to the customers.

Localization of products and services. Knowing the exact locations of the customers to offer product or services information is the key factors to success.

 

As for consumers, they are in the middle of a boom in cellular phone use. Cellular phones have become means of immediate communication; they are both efficient and convenient. As such, this is one of the potential market channels that companies should focus on. The SMS is, in many ways, more practical communication method. In Europe and Asia, SMS has become a primary form of communication. Consumers in the USA are now catching up with this trend. About 2/3 of Americans have subscribed to mobile phone services, and 72 percent of these use SMS text messaging (Springer, 2006). As e-business gives organizations competitive advantage, m-business promises plenty of opportunity in the future. Wireless changes the way organizations and customers interact with each other. Instead of being constrained to a wired internet, wireless offers instant response to both parties.