Editing Customer relationship management (section)

==Criticism==
{{see also|Anonymization|Customer rights}}
Companies face large challenges when trying to implement CRM systems. Consumer companies frequently manage their customer relationships haphazardly and unprofitably.<ref>{{Cite web|title = CRM and ERP: What's The Difference?|url = http://www.crmswitch.com/crm-value/understanding-crm-erp/|website = CRM Switch| date=8 August 2013 |access-date = 26 November 2015}}</ref> They may not effectively or adequately use their connections with their customers, due to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of a CRM system's analysis. Clients may be treated like an exchange party, rather than a unique individual, due to, occasionally, a lack of a bridge between the CRM data and the CRM analysis output. Many studies show that customers are frequently frustrated by a company's inability to meet their relationship expectations, and on the other side, companies do not always know how to translate the data they have gained from CRM software into a feasible action plan.<ref name="Avery-2014a"/> In 2003, a [[Gartner]] report estimated that more than $2 billion had been spent on software that was not being used. According to CSO Insights, less than 40 percent of 1,275 participating companies had end-user adoption rates above 90 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Demystifying CRM Adoption Rates|url = http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Columns-Departments/Reality-Check/Demystifying-CRM-Adoption-Rates-42496.aspx|website = CRM Magazine|date = 1 July 2006|access-date = 22 November 2015}}</ref> Many corporations only use CRM systems on a partial or fragmented basis.<ref>It's all about the Customer, Stupid – The Importance of Customer-Centric Partners.{{full citation needed|date=July 2024}}</ref> In a 2007 survey from the UK, four-fifths of senior executives reported that their biggest challenge is getting their staff to use the systems they had installed. Forty-three percent of respondents said they use less than half the functionality of their existing systems.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dickie |first=Jim |date=2006-07-01 |title=Demystifying CRM Adoption Rates |url=https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Columns-Departments/Reality-Check/Demystifying-CRM-Adoption-Rates-42496.aspx |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=Destination CRM}}</ref> However, market research regarding consumers' preferences may increase the adoption of CRM among developing countries' consumers.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Joachim |first=David |title=CRM tools improve access, usability |magazine=B to B |volume=87 |issue=3 |date=11 March 2002}}</ref>

[[Data collection|Collection]] of customer data such as [[personally identifiable information]] must strictly obey [[customer privacy]] [[privacy law|laws]], which often requires extra expenditures on legal support.

Part of the paradox with CRM stems from the challenge of determining exactly what CRM is and what it can do for a company.<ref>{{cite journal|title=From customer relationship management to customer-managed relationship: unraveling the paradox with a co-creative perspective|year=2003|journal=Marketing Intelligence & Planning|volume=21|issue=1|pages=51–60|doi=10.1108/02634500310458153|first1=Monica|last1=Law|first2=Theresa|last2=Lau|first3=Y.H.|last3=Wong|hdl=10397/60525}}</ref> The CRM paradox, also referred to as the "dark side of CRM",<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1108/07363761311290812|title = The dark side of CRM: Advantaged and disadvantaged customers|journal = Journal of Consumer Marketing|volume = 30|pages = 17–30|year = 2013|last1 = Nguyen|first1 = Bang|last2 = Simkin|first2 = Lyndon|url = https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/21171/1/Chapter%209%20-%2010%20Dec%202014%20-%20ANA-ACT%5B1%5D.pdf}}</ref> may entail favoritism and differential treatment of some customers. This can happen because a business prioritizes customers who are more profitable, more relationship-orientated or tend to have increased loyalty to the company. Although focusing on such customers by itself is not a bad thing, it can leave other customers feeling left out and alienated potentially decreasing profits because of it.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nguyen |first1=B. |last2=Lee-Wingate |first2=S. N. |last3=Simkin |first3=L. |year=2014 |title=The customer relationship management paradox: Five steps to create a fairer organisation |journal=Social Business |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=207–230 |doi=10.1362/204440814X14103454934177|url=https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/files/22425011/Binder1.pdf }}
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CRM technologies can easily become ineffective if there is no proper management, and they are not implemented correctly. The data sets must also be connected, distributed, and organized properly so that the users can access the information that they need quickly and easily. Research studies also show that customers are increasingly becoming dissatisfied with contact center experiences due to lags and wait times. They also request and demand multiple channels of communication with a company, and these channels must transfer information seamlessly. Therefore, it is increasingly important for companies to deliver a cross-channel customer experience that can be both consistent as well as reliable.<ref name="SearchCRM-2015"/>