Patent ID: 7844552

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for implementing a customer relationship management system to provide consistent information over a plurality of different customer contact channels, the method comprising the steps of: providing a computer having at least one memory and at least one processor, the at least one processor being configured to carry out the following steps: establishing a plurality of different customer contact channels within the customer relationship management system, the plurality of different customer contact channels including at least a Web site, a retail outlet, a wholesale outlet, and a telephone center; associating a customer relationship management application with each of said plurality of customer contact channels, each customer relationship management application being designed either for authorized business personnel or for customer access; providing a shared software agent sharing graphical and data management functionality among customer relationship management applications associated with the plurality of customer contact channels respectively, information stored in the shared software agent being accessible simultaneously and independently by each customer relationship management application so that consistent information is provided over each of the plurality of different customer contact channels; and accessing the shared software agent from each customer relationship management application, each customer relationship management application being associated with a different customer contact channel, said shared software agent independently performs at least one data management task and displays at least one visual element within a graphical user interface of each said accessing customer relationship management application.