It's an electronic twist on that old adage that the customer should be king. Critics, however, say CRM is being overhyped by vendors and can create false expectations if not implemented properly. Leading U.S.-based CRM vendors are even more optimistic. Big companies in the region, particularly telecoms and banks, that had been assured captive markets now are facing deregulation and stiff competition from experienced multinational corporations. Unless companies in Asia respond and react in an equally savvy way, they are going to fall behind, they are going to lose their customers.
Companies also are aware it costs much more to win a new customer than to retain an old one.
But for too many Asian companies, CRM is just the latest fad in information technology, and they are rushing to buy new software without making more vital changes in their corporate cultures, says Neil McMurchy, research director for Gartner Asia Pacific in Australia. CRM is a heart bypass, not cosmetic surgery. Too often, he says, the management structures of Asian companies are autocratic and hierarchical, and executives find it difficult to really bow to the concerns of their customers. It's something companies should think hard about before they rush out to buy fancy new CRM systems. Japan's Sega Corp. has scrapped its Dreamcast video console after four years of losses.