Prerequisites for Customer Orientation

Abstract

A highly competitive global market means numerous opportunities as well as numerous threats and challenges.
Products become increasingly indistinguishable. Companies need therefore to develop concepts and strategies
for relationships with their customer. For this purpose, a comprehensive consideration is necessary. The shift
from transaction marketing to relation marketing already took place, and the focus is on the customer. Customer
relationship management seems to provide possible solutions for competitive markets. The CRM hype is
ongoing even though failing CRM implementation rates of up to 75 percent are reported. One of the success
factors for CRM implementation is orientation toward the customer. Customer orientation requires various
different measures like change management, cross functional collaboration, process management, employee
commitment and the support as well as the encouragement from the owners or investors of a company. Internal
marketing is necessary to convince employees to switch from functional to cross functional thinking. Customer
orientation is a strategy, a journey and a long-term undertaking and requires continuous review and
improvement. This paper provides a comprehensive insight on necessary factors for customer orientation.