Customer Relationship Management (CRM) promises to create value for a company through a software-supported customer focus of its entire business system. But the urgent question of CRM's impact on the bottom line is still open. This study, focused on mySAP CRM users in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, produces quantitative evidence of such an impact. It is more than a survey, as cash-flow return on investment (CFROI), the net present value, and the break-even period result from individually crafted, comparable business cases for all participants. These financial decision criteria are founded on a solid and detailed analysis of operational improvements through using CRM. The main results are provided by sector; and many of the potential »factors of CRM success« are tested.

The author is a professor at Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences and a management consultant. He specializes in management, marketing, and e-business. Before becoming a professor, he worked from 1994-2000 with McKinsey & Company, Inc., a leading international management consultancy. Therein he focused on information technology, telecommunications, and multimedia. He has many years of project experience in assessing the profitability of IT investments and optimizing the management of IT project portfolios.