Factors associated with success and failure in CRM system use : A case study of the sales department in a B2B company

Due to the constant change of technology, companies’ battle to win customers becomes more and more intense. Maintaining customers and building long-term relationships is becoming more and more important and the customer relationship management (CRM) concept has evolved as a strategy rather than just a technological system. With an efficient CRM strategy and CRM system the company can learn which customers to keep, put more focus on and develop further relationship with and which ones to cut loose (Mendoza et al., 2006). Sales and sales management are often critical personnel in an organization, because they are in charge of selling goods and services that generate the revenues and cash flows that support the firms’ existence (Wagner & Zubey, 2007). This thesis focuses on how an organization can motivate stakeholders of the CRM system, within the sales department, to improve the usage, taking in consideration critical success factors (CSFs). To develop an understanding of the barriers that might influence the use of the CRM system and the CSFs that have been considered to motivate the stakeholders of the system, a case study was made at Strålfors Svenska AB. Interviews were held with the sales managers and the sales personnel to learn about the expectations of the CRM system use and about the actual use. The results have lead us to the following conclusions; for the CRM system to be successful and to motivate the CRM stakeholders, the following factors are critical; top management involvement, clear communication of goals and objectives, integration between departments in the organization, sales staff commitment and involvement, education, feedback and evaluation.