Customer Relationship Management in a Digital World: Profiling Best in Class Companies

Objectives. The present paper aims to identify current patterns of CRM implementation among companies in order to investigate whether Best in class companies display higher economic performance and different characteristics with respect to other companies. Methodology. An online cross-industry survey was conducted on managers belonging to more than 1000 Italian companies. A total of 127 complete answers were collected. Cluster analysis on variables and subsequently on the 127 companies was applied to identify patterns of CRM implementation. Inference testing was then run to profile companies. Findings. The segmentation on CRM implementation we conducted reveals the presence of two groups of companies. “Best in class” companies show higher economic performance, higher levels of CRM-compatible organizational alignment and longer previous experience with e-CRM than the other group, namely “Low performers”. Industry type, company size and main business area (B2C vs B2B) have been found to not significantly differ between the two identified clusters. Research limits. Insights from the present study are correlational. The study has been conducted on a convenience sample of Italian companies. Practical implications. CRM has not been fully adopted by the majority of Italian companies. Profit and performance gains might be made by companies willing to step up their CRM implementation. Results encourage CRM adoption by small companies that might be hindered from adopting CRM systems by the perception of lacking supposed enabling conditions such as size. Originality of the study. To our knowledge, this is the first study that attempts to identify and to profile CRM implementation patterns in a world and business environment that is transformed fast by the digital revolution.