As we enter the 21st century, the new economy is becoming increasingly customer-centric. Building long-term, loyal relationships with customers is the key to profitability.

Although one-to-one relationships are not new to business, new technologies, in particular the computer and the Internet, along with the growth of e-commerce, have made one-to-one connections between vendor and consumer once again possible. Over the past decade, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become the bridge by which vendors get, keep, and grow customers.

In turn, these relationships translate into increasing Return on Investment (ROI). For some companies, however, the failure to integrate strategy with technology has resulted in unfocused and expensive CRM applications with negligible ROI.

In the new customer-centric economy, “get, keep, grow” is gaining a broader, more dedicated audience among top executives, and the levels of corporate investment, as shown in this report, promise a profound shift in corporate culture.

Brief History of Customer Relationships

The concept of one-to-one marketing is not new to American business. In fact, one-to-one relationships were prevalent during the early colonial period. It was commonplace to have direct contact with the person with whom one was doing business. As a result, specific bonds of trust were established between farmers, traders, merchants, shopkeepers and artisans and their customers.

This changed over the course of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Several new technologies permanently altered the old economic landscape: railroads, steam ships, cable cars, the telegraph, and the telephone. Urban centers grew at phenomenal rates, a long-distance economy grew, and in some ways, the familiar, one-to-one nature of commerce diminished.

These new modes of transportation, communication, and the quick access to information had a dramatic impact on the American social and commercial landscape. Not only did different groups relate to one another for the first time, but also the ways in which people related and communicated changed.