Strategic Readiness for CRM Process Management: the Case of Business Service Companies in Bulgaria

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) represents an iterative process aimed at improving interactions with customers and balancing companies’ client portfolio. From the viewpoint of organizational measures taken, the key factors that influence the effectiveness of this process can be divided into: sharing of fundamental principles for managing customer relationships; accurate positioning of the particular CRM components; acknowledgment of the interdependencies between various stages of the CRM process. This allows identifying CRM components crucial to the management of the process of interaction with customers. The article explores the individual components of the CRM process, the latter being a premise on which adequate management of customer relationships is built. The paper proposes a methodology for assessment of the different components of the CRM process. It looks at the results from a study on the strategic readiness of companies, engaged in business services from four different sectors in Bulgaria, to manage their customer relationships. The empirical research is limited to investigation of the CRM vision and CRM base of the aforementioned companies. For the purposes of the study the researchers have collected and processed data in corporate areas as: management principles; practices for analysis and assessment of clients; corporate and organizational culture; customer databases management. The results serve as basis for inferences in the context of development of CRM practices for the business services sector.