is an experienced CRM and board advisor. He worked with IBM for many years and now provides independent advice for many large organisations on systems implementation and related change issues. Merlin Stoneis a leading author and advisor on CRM programme management and implementation. He is Professor of Marketing at Bristol Business School and a Director of Yuksel Ekinciis a Reader in Marketing at Business School in Oxford Brookes University. He specialised in customer satisfaction measurement, quantitative data analysis and user satisfaction with CRM systems.Abstract Although customer relationship management (CRM) has been one of the fastest growing businesses of the new millennium, critics point to the high failure rate of the CRM projects as evidenced by commercial market studies. The purpose of the study is to investigate success and failures of CRM system implementations. We found that the scope, size, complexity and duration of the CRM projects seem to vary quite signifi cantly across fi rms. Poor planning, lack of clear objectives and not recognising the need for business change are the key reasons for CRM failures.

to recruit new customers, sell more to existing customers, support customer service operations and retain customers. This meant bringing data from various systems together, adding new and relevant customer data. These data are typically sourced from several operational or product systems, as well as from marketing, sales and service systems. So interdepartmental systems evolved, with interfaces between them. The last few Why data quality has become a big issue in managing customers In many companies, customer data were originally collected and managed departmentally-and in some they still are. Companies have been collecting customer data for years, usually for customer administration. In the 1980s, some larger companies started to collect more customer data and use them for what was then called database marketing

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operational, analytical and customer contact applications and databases) were rarely designed to work together and the data they collect and use are not normally collected, structured or quality-assessed for the CRM purposes for which they are eventually used. Financial services and other companies around the world face these data quality and integration issues. This case study describes a real (but anonymous) US financial services project, BUSINESS BACKGROUND: ACHIEVING RETURN ON INVESTMENT FROM CRM PROJECTS The authors' research shows that customer relationship management (CRM) projects can achieve higher rates of return by work on data quality. Existing and new data need to be integrated and shared, with updates synchronised among many different systems. These systems (including

PurposeThere has been an increasing application of remote technology to customer service. This research, from business‐to‐business financial services, seeks to gain insight and understanding into how the supplier/customer relationship and account management are impacted.Design/methodology/approachTaking a realism approach, the qualitative research in this study was based on gaining access to experts, suppliers and customers who had direct experience of the subject area.FindingsThree levels of account management are identified in the paper: transactional, operational and strategic. The service offered at all levels often requires close and intensive cooperation on both sides, but increasingly it has been centralised and automated. Key account management is practised as an integrative relationship function, but it has limitations and by definition it is not available to all customers.Research limitations/implicationsThis exploratory research suggests a number of factors that may impact on the effectiveness of remote servicing. Understanding the relationship impact of remote servicing may be enhanced by recognising the appropriate levels and types of service for each situation. Further research is needed in this area.Practical implicationsManagers need to carefully consider the transactional, operational and strategic implications of applying new technologies to managing interactions with customers. A better understanding of these may help in justifying the expense of relational efforts in account servicing.Originality/valueIn providing contextually rich data from a sector that is utilising technology as part of a strategy to centralise and automate many aspects of customer service this research explores some important aspects of remote servicing.