It was in the beginnings of the year 2000 when there arose a new concept that soon was erected within a period of fashion: CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or management of the relations with the client. Nevertheless, this concept most that an innovation is a natural evolution of another concept much assumed inside the ambience of the marketing: the relational marketing.

What has facilitated enormously this evolution has been the sophistication of the technology dedicated to the storage and analysis of the information of the clients impelled, undoubtedly, by the new technologies.

But we have neither to confuse nor identify CRM with technology; undoubtedly it is a very important part that the CRM but not the only thing shapes. CRM is especially a strategy of marketing destined to construct proactivamente a preference in the consumers for a certain company, which produces logically a major fidelización and as a result a major economic benefit.

In the end, the Home target of the CRM consists of constructing lasting relations by means of the comprehension of the needs and individual preferences and this way of adding value to the company and to the client. It is to achieve that the clients are faithful. He supposes that to know them, to know who are, what his tastes, his preferences are, this way, to be able to offer them what they want, when they want it and as they want it.

Therefore, the CRM supposes a strategic orientation of the company it was doing the client. It is a question neither of implanting a certain technology nor to create a department for it, but it must of implying each of the workpeople of the company with independence of the role that it redeems in her. This orientation completely centred on the client is necessary that it rests on three fundamental props:

• Technology. The technology CRM has to be capable of gathering all the information arisen from the relation with the client with independence of the channel where it has taken place: e-mail, force of sales, Internet, phone, etc. and to analyze it this way to know his needs and to be able to satisfy them. Although there is different the hardware that are part of the technological solution, two are those who acquire vital importance: Byline Warehouse and Byline Mining. The Byline Warehouse is a store where there integrates all the available internal and external information of the client. It is the most suitable technological solution to gather and to treat the necessary operative information of the clients with the target that the company develops marketing performances. The information is organized of historical form and is designed to facilitate the processes of consultation faced to the business needs.
  It is necessary to bear in mind that the Byline Warehouse needs for an ideal development of the processes the modeling of the information. Thus causal relations are established between the information with a target of predetermined business. One of the most effective technological hardware and that contribute a big extra cost to this information development in the Byline Mining. This technology is based on the application of analytical and statistical skills to a population of information registered in the Byline Warehouse. In figurative sense it is the mine where all the information of the clients remains situated. The purpose of the Byline Mining is to obtain standards of behavior between certain concepts of information of the clients. Between others we will be able to foresee the demand, analyze the products portfolio, do a prices / discounts simulation, do a campaigns simulation or investigate and segment markets.
• Processes. The processes also have to be faced to satisfy with the maximum rapidity the needs of the clients. This implies, in most of the occasions, changing them, that is to say, to change the way of doing the things in order to improve the service to the clients.
• Human resources. The persons of the company are, in the end, the key of any strategy of CRM. It is the part that determines his success or his defeat and it is not possible to undervalue. It is fundamental that know the project, to solve his fears, his fears, his doubts before his implantation. We have to make them see the importance but, especially, form in this new service culture the client to them. These three pieces of the gear assembly shape the base of any strategy CRM. If during the whole implantation process we forget some of them we will be exposed to the defeat.

8.1. Answers to the Home questions of the CRM

Concerning this concept and his implementation in the companies there have been committed serious errors of base motivated Homely by his ignorance, hence we have considered to be interesting to give answer to the Home questions that has the market raised at present.

A) What benefits are obtained on having applied the CRM?

The benefits are based Homely on the fact of the client being faced and to try to have a personalized dealing, marketing one to one, with each of them according to his needs, tastes, preferences, habits of buy... On having managed to extract party to this tool, what we obtain is to be able to manage the client of personalized form and focus the company on the securing of client's quota and clients' profitability versus market share.

The important thing of using well a CRM is that we manage to turn information into information, and then this information in knowledge, what contributes a big value for any company. 

B) How has the application of the CRM influenced the competitive advantage of the company?

The competitive advantage of a company must not be based on his CRM, since that would mean that any other rival company that was making use of his CRM of more efficient form would clean this one out of the market. It is necessary to bear in mind that the system CRM is subcontracted usually, therefore, if my competitive advantage was residing in him it would be extracting out of my company what separates me from the rest.

What if it is possible to say is that the CRM is a way but not an end in itself, that is to say, is a way to optimize the portfolio and the dealing with my clients, to promote them and to obtain a high satisfaction grade.

C) What targets do they wish to reach the companies with the application of the CRM?  

Homely what is claimed is to raise the grade of satisfaction of the client, and to manage to retain it and to make it faithful across a personalized dealing and adapting our products and services to what this one demands. From a managerial point of view it re-spills that in major benefits to the results account.

Also thanks to this tool what we achieve is to know the value that every client has for the company and according to it to give the dealing that each one deserves. 

D) To what type of clients is the application CRM destined?

To all. We think that the CRM is the computer application in itself who allows us to manage the clients, but it is not like that, the CRM is a philosophy of company faced to the client. It is necessary to bear in mind that to a company with a high portfolio of clients, for example 25.000, it is impossible to be able to manage the same one of individualized form if it is not provided with the necessary technology to him. On the other hand, any quarter shop can carry out politics CRM knowing the tastes of each of the clients and giving each one a personalized dealing. That the shopkeeper knows your name, your preferences and tastes and is capable of adapting the product or services added to it it is a philosophy CRM.

E) What extra cost is received by the clients on whom this tool is focused?

That receive a personalized dealing and that the offers that receive on the part of the company are adapted to his needs, tastes, preferences, and even the services added like delivery, financing, etc. adapt themselves to the requisites that in other occasions the client has already requested. Finally the adaptation and personalización to the client.

F) Into how many stages or processes does the cycle of the CRM split?

Criterion unanimity does not exist but we aim at 10 stages:

• To put in order the information. The updated database, quality of information.
• To extend the vision of the client. Value gone on from every client and to foresee his future value .
• To hire dates yonky. An information analyst with experience.
• To analyze the clients' database.
• To define the metric ones, to fix the targets and to know the restrictions.
• To automate the activity multi-channel of campaigns. All the contact means with the client integrated in the CRM.
• To make a will, to analyze and to make a will again. To control and to improve those processes that they trump.
• To optimize the decisions. That we are capable of taking decisions of an enormous quantity of information of the client.
• To calculate the comeback... constantly. As we assign resources to the project must know the comeback of the investment that we obtain.
• «Operacionalizar« everything previous. Process reengineering, investment in technology and specialists' hiring.