Lemon Laws.

Lemon Laws:

“Lemon” is a nick name for laws related to Cars and Machines.

Law Lemons are laws related to automobiles i.e., Cars. It is law by United States of America and it facilitates a solution for cars owners when machines to not satisfy to meet the required standards and minimum required criteria.

So these types of Machines are so called Lemons.  

Lemons Laws are not similar in every state.

It changes from state to State and may not cover used

Or hired vehicles.

Domains

Domains provide a position for persons all over and they business and company which they run to get registered a new web address.

It includes many things like starter web page, web address, forwarding facility is also provided by some domains.

People are also allowed to re-delegate or transfer their domain name if they wish to. Transfer of domain to a new holder also depends on creditability of domain and reliability of user. If the domain name is transferred then new holder of domain is solely responsible for managing it.

Love, Thanks Giving and Gift cards

Thanks Giving is a day when we pray to God for whatever we are and for everything he has Given Us. Love and Gifts are usually things which are memorised to express love. Gift cards are always used to make our girl smile. To keep her happy and always smiling. Flowers are used to make her cherished and keep her happy. Thanks Giving is celebrated only in some countries. It is harvest festival celebrated in USA and Canada. In USA, it is celebrated on end of November and in Canada it is celebrated on Second Monday of October. Thanks Giving was First celebrated in Florida in 1565 by  Robyn Gioia and Michael Gannon.

FOREX

Dealing in stocks in Indian market, especially in Mumbai is every minute scenario.Reliance is the head of all the companies in India. Share like RNRL, RPL,Reliance Power are the one which majority of people invest and trade in them on regular basis. 2009 stock market crunch was too terifying where Nifty crashed and Stock Index which rose to 21000 , came directly down at 9000. Huge losses all over and this price crunches led many people to leave stock markets. Reliance is considered as a stock belonging to A group. After a year finally in 2010 now market is improving and hope stock market will soon grow. Along with NASDAQ and many others.

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Bibliography

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Auh, S., Johnson, M.D., (2005), "Compatibility effects in evaluations of satisfaction and loyalty", Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 26, pp.35-57.

Babakus,  E., Eroglu,  S.,  Yavas,  U.,  (2004),  “Modeling  consumers’  choice  behavior: an application in banking”, Journal of Service Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 462-70.

Barnes, J., (2001), “Secrets of Customer Relationship Management: Its All About How You Make Them Feel”, Mc Graw Hill.

Bergeron, B., (2002), “Essentials of CRM - A Guide to CRM”, John Wileg & sons, Inc, New York.

Berry, L.L (1995), “Relationship marketing of services – growing interest, emerging perspectives”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23, No.4, pp.236-245.

Brown, S.A., (2000), “CRM: A strategic Imperative in the word of e-Business”, John Wileg & Sons Canada Ltd.

Butscher, S.A. (2002), “Customer Loyalty Programmes and Clubs”, Gower Publishing, Ltd.

Dyché, J. (2002), “The CRM Handbook: A Business Guide to Customer Relationship Management”, Addison-Wesley Professional, Massachusetts.

Fisher, C., (2004), “Researching and writing a dissertation for business students”, Pearson Education Edition.

Girishankar, S. (2000), “Companies want CRM tools to manage business relationships”, Information Week, No.17, pp.65.

Gummesson, E. (2004), "Return on relationships (ROR): the value of relationship marketing and CRM in business-to-business contexts", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol.19 No. 2, pp. 136-148.

Hennig-Thurau, T., Hansen, U. (2000), “Relationship Marketing: Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Customer Satisfaction and Customer”, Springer

Kaynak, E., Harcar, T.D., (2005), “American consumers’ attitudes towards commercial banks - A comparison of local and national bank customers by use of geo-demographic segmentation”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 73-89.

Kincaid, J.W. (2003), “Customer Relationship Management: Getting it Right!”, Prentice-Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. (2006), Marketing management (12th Ed.), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J., Wong, V. (2001), “Principles of Marketing”, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Kotorov R. P. (2002), "Ubiquitous organization: organizational design for e-CRM", Business Process Management Journal; Vol.8 No. 3, pp. 218-232.

Levesque, T., McDougall, G.H., (1996), “Determinants of customer satisfaction in retail banking”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 7, pp. 12-20.

Molina, A., Martin-Consuegra, D., Esteban, Á. (2007), "Relational benefits and customer satisfaction in retail banking", International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 25 No.4, pp.253-71.

Parasuraman, A., Berry, L.L., Zeithaml, V.A., (1991), “Understanding customer expectations of service”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 39-48.

Parvatiyar, A., Sheth, J.N. (2001), “Customer relationship management: emerging practice, process, and discipline”, Journal of Economic & Social Research, Vol. 3 No.2, pp.1-34.

Payne, A., Frow, P., (2005), "A Strategic Framework for Customer Relationship Management", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 69 No. 4, pp. 167-176.

Porter, M.E. (1980), “Competitive Strategy”, Free Press

Reichheld, F.F., Sasser, W.E. (1990), “Zero defections: quality comes to services”, Harvard Business Review.

Reynolds, J. (2002), “A Practical Guide to CRM”, CMP Books, NY.

Roig, J.C.F.R., Garcia, J.S., Tena, M.A.M., Monzonis, J.L., (2006), “Customer perceived value in banking services”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 266-83.

Saunders, M., Lewis P. and Thornhill, A., (2007), “Research Methods for Business Students”, Pitman Publishing.

Sharp, D.E. (2002), “Customer Relationship Management Systems Handbook”, CRC Press

Swift, R.S. (2001), “Accelerating Customer Relationships Using CRM and Relationship Technologies”, Prentice-Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Tamminga, P., O'Halloran, P. (2000), “Finding the real value in CRM: leveraging IT solutions through the customer driven approach”, Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 13, No.10, pp.4-11.

Trepper, C. (2000), “Match your CRM tool to your business model”, Information Week, No.15 May, pp.74-6.

Van Bennekom, F.C., Blaisdell, M. (2000), “How broad how deep: lessons from a CRM implementation”, Cutter IT Journal, Vol. 13, No.10, pp.12-16.

Xu, M., Walton, J., (2005), "Gaining customer knowledge through analytical CRM", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol.105 No.7, pp. 955-971.

Xu, Y., Yen, D., Lin, B., Chou, D. (2002), “Adopting customer relationship management technology”, Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 102, No.8, pp.442-52.

Zineldin, M. (2000), TRM, Studentliteratur, Lund, Sweden.

Zineldin, M., (1995), “Bank-company interaction, and relationships: some empirical evidence”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 30-40.

Zineldin, M., (1996), “Bank strategic positioning and some determinants of bank selection”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 14, No. 6, pp. 12-22.

Zineldin, M., (2005), “Quality and customer relationship management (CRM) as competitive strategy in the Swedish banking industry”, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 329-44.

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Research method:

Research strategy: There is a choice of six Research- strategies from which the researcher can choose any.  These are Survey, Case Study, Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Action research and experiment (Saunders et al., 2007). The researcher has decided to adopt the survey strategy, since this method is recommended when it is impossible to target the entire universe (Fisher, 2004). Apart from that, this is a convenient and easy method and does not require too much of time or money.  In any case, the restraints of time and money available to the researcher compel him to use the survey method as part of his research strategy.

Sampling: Two important sources will be tapped for collecting the primary data.  These would be employees handling the CRM processes of the banks, and the customers.  Non-random snowball sampling method will be used for selecting the sample of employees.  The respondents would be asked to give reference of the bank officers in other banks.  Researcher proposes to interview at least five offices from different banks.  The managerial level employees of both the nationalized and the private sector banks, particularly those involved with the implementation of CRM practices will be used as the sample unit.

Customers will form the second source of primary data. Customers will be surveyed with the intention of determining their appreciation of the CRM activities and how they influence the customers’ level of satisfaction.  Customers of five different banks in Mumbai will be approached for the purpose of the survey. These customers will be approached right at the entrance of the bank’s branch. Sample will be selected on the basis of non random purposive sampling technique.

Data collection: The researcher proposes to collect both the primary data as well as the secondary data for this study. Two sources will be tapped for primary data.  For this purpose a structure questionnaire will be prepared for obtaining the responses of the customers.  The employees of the banks will be interviewed on the basis of an interview schedule.  Both open-ended and closing questions will be included in the same.  The questionnaire and interview schedule will be completed by the researcher on the basis of the responses given by the customer and the bank offices.  Various books, reports, magazines and journals will be studied for collecting the secondary data, since secondary data refers to published or collected for published information collected for purposes other than the current research. 

Data analysis: Quantitative data collected from the survey of the customers will be analyzed by tabulating the data, while no statistical method will be used for analyzing the qualitative data collected through the interviews of the bank officers. 

Validity and reliability: The researchers will perform some specialized tasks to enhance the reliability of the data.  First, the researcher will pilot test the questionnaire drafted for the customers with a selected few of them.  This will enable the researcher to identify any flaws in the questionnaire which can be rectified before using the questionnaire for a debate data collection.  This will ensure that information collected is of good quality.  The data will be collected personally by the researcher and this will also contributes to enhancing its reliability.  The different banks in various parts of Mumbai will be approached by the researcher to contact researchers from as diverse background as possible.  This is done to improve the validity of the data. 

Access: Primary date will be collected from two sources.  Interviews will be conducted on the managerial level staff of banks.  Some of the research is relatives are working in different banks, which will enable him to access these banks.  The researcher proposes to cut back these offices to apprise them of the objectives and intentions of the study and to set up appointments for the interviews.  After the interview is over the respondents will be asked for further references.  This will facilitate his access to required number of bank officers. The researcher will contact the customers when they approach the bank.  There will be an introduction letter attached to the questionnaire to explain the objectives of the research.  

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Management and marketing strategy is particularly targeted towards attaining a competitive edge in the marketplace (Kotler et al., 2001). This enables the organization to offer outstanding quality and value to the customers vis-à-vis the offerings of the competitors.  According to Porter (1980), competitive advantage can be acquired in two ways.  It could be either through identifying a cost effective supply source or by packaging the service offerings and an irresistible manner.  This requires out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the service provider so that its presence can be felt in the market as well as provides its scope and opportunity to grow better than its competitors.  It is paramount for the banks to understand it is not possible for a single bank to offer the total and complete range of products and services and achieve the highest rank for all customers.  This appreciation has compared to the banks to present innovative concepts for acquiring the competitive edge as well as for enhancing the quality of their products and services (Zineldin, 1996).

Traditional banking systems have passed through a stable market scenario for a long time.  However, the aggressive competitive setup of the market has shaken the banks out of their complacence.  Ultimately, as suggested by Zineldin (1995), trends indicate that as a result of intense competition and new legislations, the intra-country dealings of the traditional banking organizations have been severely hit by the non-banking organizations which have joined the fray.  It is evident that competition would be a key factor affecting survival in the market. Banks have increasingly realized that maintaining their position and more importantly surviving the competition is the key to ensuring their continuous run of profitability and its basic existence.  However, the competitive environment does not threaten them since they are aware that most of the new entrants are vulnerable to competition and maybe by wiped out from the market soon.

It is important to understand the determinants of quality before evaluating relationships in the context of quality, positioning and productivity (Zineldin, 2000). It stands to reason than that the intangible dimensions of service quality can be enhanced only by incurring higher expenses.  Even then it is likely that service quality may not be clearly perceptible due to the lack of definition of the intangible aspects of service.  This is the cause of concern for many banks.

This underscores the fact that only an experience can make it possible to appreciate quality. Customer relations and quality are the two significant elements which can put any business in a tight spot when it comes to the question of measuring their economic and business impact (Trepper, 2000).  It is possible to address the issue of evaluation by adding tangible attributes to dimensions like competitive positioning, client relationship and quality.  Positioning refers to the various dimensions aimed at addressing the expectations and requirements of the consumers accompanied by a range and quality of services in the competitive marketing.

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Brief Literature Review

It is evident that the aggressive environment of contemporary competition requires organizations to ensure the satisfaction of its customers through extraordinary quality products and services.  Keeping in view the intense competition regarding economic services, it stands to reason that quality is the leveraging factor.  Banks are faced with immense challenges regarding the handling and management of service quality.  With this perspective, it is widely being accepted that relationship marketing has the potential of addressing the various value propositions and can enable the banks to add greater value for satisfying the needs of the customers (Roig et al., 2006).

Molina et al. (2007) argued that it is important to understand the customer’s perspective regarding relationships.  Customers bear no critical relationship with the organization as a whole.  Nevertheless, customer has certain attachments with the different individuals involved in the service organization (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2005). Therefore, banks can successfully fulfill the requirements and the demands of his customers through the staff members interacting with such customers.  Kaynak and Harcar (2005) emphasize that customer’s interactions with the employees of the bank survey as the basis for evaluating the bank on the whole. Hence, characteristics of the employees like their amiability, skills, knowledge, conviviality and sensitivity serve as the basis for creating a positive opinion about the services provided by the employees of the organization (Bergeron, 2000).

Clearly, this is a relevant factor for emphasizing on planning and strategizing in the context of relationship management in order to address the aspirations of the customers.  It is imperative for the companies to understand the requirements and expectations of its customers and to do the very best for delivering maximum value to the targeted customers.  The most important question, therefore, is what system can be employed to provide maximum value to the customer? Ultimately, value is based on the perception of the customers regarding their dilemmas and personal judgments in the context of the products and services offered by the (Reynolds, 2002). Therefore, a retail bank can enhance the quality of its services by clearly understanding and appreciating the perceptions and values of the customers.  There is no doubt that determining the values of the customers in the context of service industry is not easy since these values are a multi-dimensional, intricate and intangible (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1991). Moreover, customers may consider financial services belonging to the group of risky services (Babakus et al., 2004).

The apprehensions of the customers regarding the safety of their money raise the question of financial safety. Thus, the researcher would like to keep this in perspective while determining the objective of the research which is to identify the basic intentions and values of consumers in the context of services provided by retail banks, particularly with regard to their responsible management of customer finances.  Their perspectives, outlooks, interactions, opinions and expectations would be considered for determining the money related objectives and values. 

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Important Definitions:

Kotler and Keller (2006) state that marketing has been defined by the American Marketing Association as "an entire gamut of organizational systems entailing the development, communication and delivery of value to the customers and for manipulating customer relationships for the ultimate benefit of organization and its various stakeholders ".

According to Gummesson (2004), relationship marketing (RM) can be defined as "an organizational function meant to initiate, maintain, improve and conclude relationships with customers and stakeholders where necessary so as to maximize the organizational profit and in keeping with the objectives of all relevant parties in a system of mutually beneficial exchange and keeping of promises". Zineldin (2005) also added that RM appreciates the fact that a steady base of customers is the most significant asset for any organization, since acquiring new customers is costlier than maintaining the existing ones.  Concentrating on developing long-term associations with customers spells ultimate success for business.  Therefore, customer relationships form the crux of RM.

Van Bennekom and Blaisdell (2000) state that RM literature is replete with information indicating that technology affects the possibility of enhancing the efficiency of different channels through reduction in cost, and helping in establishing more significant and profitable new relationships amongst the various channel partners. Tamminga and O'Halloran (2000) further recommend employing information technology and other non-IT mediums like physical dealings in equal measure to develop fruitful relationships with customers, considering that customers are open to various mediums in their interactions with vendors like face-to-face interactions, telephone, kiosks and other advanced systems like Internet.  Clearly, any one of these mediums alone or in combination can be selected for building a relationship with a customer.  This allows for customer interaction with the service providers in their preferred ways, since interactions will encourage the customers to build a stronger bond with the service provider – a basic requirement for competitive success of the company in the current business environment (Swift, 2001).

Information technology, particularly the Internet, is widely accepted as a medium for facilitating communication and interaction, thereby making it the most appropriate medium for the management of relationships (Parvatiyar and Sheth, 2001). Berry (1995) contend that a continuous system of interactions and communication can be established through Internet, and therefore, Internet facilitates implementing the CRM systems successfully.

Among the various definitions of CRM, the one given by Payne and Frow (2005) is most appropriate for addressing the objectives of this dissertation:

"CRM refers to methodologies and strategies employed to enhance the value for the shareholders by forging suitable relationships with important customers and customer segments.  CRM presents the ultimate system of developing relationship marketing using information technology to establish enduring relationships with various stakeholders including customers.  CRM offers greater scope for acquiring significant information about customers so as to involve them in the process of creating value for all concerned.  This can essentially be done through integrating cross-functional systems, human resources, functions and marketing proficiencies through the use of information and technology and its appropriate applications.''

Sharp (2002) present a popular classification of CRM systems highlighting three important categories:

•      Operational CRM systems, which are designed to enhance the effectiveness of CRM processes and offer solutions for greater automation of sales force, marketing structure and for call centers for enhancing the effectiveness of customer interactions.

•      Analytical CRM systems entail processes for controlling and assessing information about customers in order to better understand their requirements and behavior.  Perfect examples of analytical CRM systems are data warehousing and data mining solutions.

•      Collaborative CRM systems are involved with the management and integrating the various interaction points and channels of communication with the customer e.g. through telephone, e-mail or via the web.

According to Xu and Walton (2005), the fourth category of classification can be e-CRM which has been put forth by Sap.com (2003) and has been defined as:

“An Internet oriented process for integrating customer relationships through different channels of communication, business functions and stakeholders.  E-CRM, therefore, facilitates ordering through Internet, e-mails, and a database of information that can be employed for profiling customers, designing customized services and generating automatic feedback to the e-mail, and automatic assistance”.

The contention put forth by Xu and Walton (2005) is that the CRM systems that many organizations have adopted require operational applications like in the case of contact centers, marketing and sales have grown from on the basis of limited information about the customers which has been collected through the currently applied CRM processes.  They also been believes that organizations do not fully understand the analytical implications of CRM.

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Area of interest:

The researcher has chosen the banking industry as his area of interest. Banking industry provides the structure for an economy and its activities and programs influence the overall economy, not just of the country but of other countries as well.  Banks are striving hard to acquire new customers, for which they are developing and offering newer concepts.  Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are being rapidly employed to ensure that there is no loss of existing customers while attempting to lure new customers. The researcher has tried to study the combination of banking and CRM. The researcher’s focus is to examine how the banks in the developing economies like India are embracing the CRM technologies. 

Aim of the Research:

This research intends to suggest the principles that a bank can successfully employ to enhance customer satisfaction and reach its ultimate objectives.

Research questions:

The research questions are:

i.      Which CRM practices do the Indian banks employ?

ii.    Which of the CRM practices adopted by Indian banks can be regarded as most appropriate?

iii.   Which packages of products and services can be offered by the banks to develop and maintain relationship with high-value customers?

iv.   How can the banking organization enhance its profitability while retaining an edge over its competitors by ensuring satisfaction for its customers?

v.    What is the relation between CRM and Profits?

Research gap:

Various researchers have conducted studies to examine the application of CRM systems in banking industry.  These have most often been done in the context of UK and USA.  There have been very few studies in the context of developing economies such as Malaysia and China.  This researcher faced immense difficulties when dealing with the subject in the Indian context.  Therefore, the researcher would like his study to be used to fill the gap in the research literature.  

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Rationale of the Research:

According to Babakus et al., (2004), the banking industry has undergone massive transformation in the past one or two decades.  The range of banking services have extended from traditional services to services that extend beyond banking functions.  These include packages relating to loans, insurance and mortgages along with financial and corporate consultancy services, etc. The banks are making strident efforts to maximize the customer base (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2005).  Employees are trained to understand and collect information about their customers through their dealings so that strong relations with clients can be forged for the ultimate profitability of the bank.

As per Kaynak and Harcar (2005) banks are making intense efforts to boost their sales environment so that they can attract customers and services in large droves.  For instance, a client who has employed five new sales officers may request for the issue of five new corporate banking cards.  The corporate card department of the bank can offer other services like car finance etc. while it is processing the request.  At the moment, there is possibility of banks making such offers. 

However, in the backdrop of cut-throat competition in the banking industry, it is likely that banks and other firms would be required to come up with interesting groups of ideas to enhance the scope for customer interaction (Levesque and McDougall, 1996).  This would enable the bank to create more valuable relationships with their customers, which can help the bank to increase their operations and maximize their profitability merely by offering clusters of services to a few customers and also by cross-selling that products and services.  Clearly, it stands to reason that the various departments can enjoy the economic benefits of using common assets, reduced sales cost and ultimately lowering the possibility of risky transactions (Molina et al., 2007).

Definitely, as per Roig et al. (2006), it has not been a piece of cake for banks to hugely alter the system of customer relations and the support functions.  It is a constant effort for the banks to keep improving their systems.  Evidently, developing the most perfect system of customer relationship management would require intense modifications in the existing systems of sales and marketing, management of database and support structures along with other systems and procedures of the organization. 

The obstacles faced by the banks in implementing the desired systems will be studied in the rest of this project.  The systems of collecting, managing and exploiting information have been specifically studied.  

CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Research topic:

To determine the CRM practices adopted by Indian banks to retain existing customers and attract new customers.

Background of the Research:

Barnes (2001) believes that never before has the customer been wooed with such passion.  Rapid globalization, deregulation and diversification have created the perfect backdrop for intense competition, and the hard realities of marketing are driving the companies to focus more on customers rather than products.  Butscher (2002) believes that the reasons for the present focus of marketing on issues like customer relationship management (CRM) and customer retention are competitive prices, absence of unnecessary regulation and the fickle sense of loyalty amongst customers. 

Xu et al. (2002) asserted that approaches like CRM with their intense focus on customer are the new mantra for contemporary businesses.  Indeed, software relating to CRM is the most sought after solution for 21^st business century business requirements (Auh and Johnson, 2005). It is evident from the Siebel Systems' bold prediction (See Table 1.1) that CRM is the new buzzword considering that over the next decade businesses would be spending five times more on customer oriented technology solutions than in the previous decade (emarketer.com, 2005).

Table 1.1. Cumulative Spending on Customer Facing Solutions Worldwide, 1998-2014

 

Babakus et al. (2004) suggests that organizations are being compelled towards adopting technologies like CRM in order to augment their customer retention levels, enhance the satisfaction level of the customers, create better value customers, to derive the most strategic business advantage from CRM systems and to entice new customers.  The survey conducted by Sweet (2001-4) between 2001 and 2004 has highlighted the above factors.  It also underscored the fact that three factors out of the listed five are more important than the other two.  Clearly, it indicates that managers are convinced about the economics of retaining customers than about attracting new ones.

Furthermore, Aldlaigan and Buttle (2005) argued that CRM systems like contact management/ call centers/ data warehousing/ portals/ workflow/ business process management are the popular choices for retention of existing customers and development of new ones.

Therefore, CRM refers to a system for gathering information about customers, to underline their important characteristics, and to design strategic marketing programs on the basis of the information about these characteristics (Dyché, 2002). Kincaid (2003) believes that the term CRM refers to the software, systems and methods of employing Internet options to leverage and manipulate information about the customer to augment the satisfaction of the customers while making sure that the customers return to the organization for further interactions and contribute towards the profitability of the organization (Hennig-Thurau and Hansen, 2000).

According to Girishankar (2000), CRM entails acquiring, analyzing and applying information about the customers in order to generate more business effectively.  This is also called Analytical CRM, and Kotorov (2002) believes it offers a complete perspective about the customer i.e. a 360° view. Researchers are convinced that the CRM can be made more analytical. For example, Brown (2000) recommends that CRM systems involve features like e-mail, online purchase and creating database of information relating to the customer profile in order to provide customized services.  Xu et al. (2002) assert that the organizations can enjoy advanced technologies provided by the CRM software to understand the customer behavior so that it can communicate its marketing messages, tailor-made to the requirements of the customers.  Clearly, analytical CRM must entail segmenting and profiling customers in a manner that can help to determine customers who are strategically important for the organization in terms of their cost, value and volume.  In other words, it must be capable of developing suitable strategies of marketing and promotion according to the segments, thereby enhancing the segment’s customer profitability (Xu & Walton, 2005).