Mobile customer relationship management: an exploratory analysis of Italian applications

摘要

Purpose - The paper's aims are to estimate the size of the Italian market for mobile customerrnrelationship management (mCRM) services and to try to evaluate some benefits that can be obtainedrnthrough the use of mCRM applications by companies.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The research involved a census of mCRM applications in orderrnto construct a typology of mCRM applications being used and the analysis of some case studies tornassess the impact of such applications on the perspective adopted by the company. This second phaserninvolved interviews with managers of the companies.rnFindings - In 2005, 1,077 mCRM services were used by 405 companies in Italy. The main benefitsrnfound were the improvement of customer satisfaction, an increase in the efficiency of internalrnprocesses and an increase in revenue.rnResearch limitations/implications - The present research considers only Italian services basedrnon data and not on voice. Future research will be required to investigate end-user needs and wantsrn(which are not treated in this paper) and to make a comparison between the Italian market and otherrnmarkets.rnPractical implications - This research is the first step towards the generation of a systematicrnstudy of mCRM applications and their future development. The hope is that other companies couldrnbenefit from the use of these kinds of technologies.rnOriginality/value - The present research focuses upon companies that give a strategic role to theirrnrelationship with customers. The results provide a systematic typology of current services for thoserncompanies that do not know about opportunities offered by the mobile channel.