Customer relationship management (CRM) practices in Venezuelan firms: A study of cases

Based on five case studies, this article analyzed the customer relationship management (CRM) practices, and the state of their adoption, in five big companies which operate in Venezuelan market. It is an exploratory study in which, by means of structured interviews to managers of the different firms, the practices followed by the organizations for the adoption, implantation and use of CRM are evaluated. In the work the following aspects are discussed: definition of CRM in the company, motivation for its implementation, reaches, objetives pursued, criteria of selection of the technology, strategic and operative impact, evaluation of the experience and expectations to future. In all the studied cases the initial motivation to undertake a CRM project had to do with objectives of improvement in the management of the relations with the client, in the search to generate relations of greater aggregation of value. Sector specificities are observed, in particular with regard to the segmentation and to the nature of the relation with the clients as well as to the criteria to select the technology supplier. Between the lessons learned by the companies through the adoption, implementation and use of the CRM, emphasize the recognition of the failure when trying to undertake projects of wide reach and the necessity to cover the different CRM levels by stages, in agreement with the organization's priorities. All the managers interviewed consider that the development of a CRM strategy was a right decision, although, in general, still is soon for evaluating the impact in the competitive advantages of the firms.