CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND
MOBILE DEVICES
A Surevy of Customer Relationship Management Projects
in German-speaking Europe
Rebecca Bulander
Pforzheim University, Tiefenbronnerstr. 65, 75175 Pforzheim, Germany
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management, CRM, IT, CRM systems, CRM projects, Mobile devices, Mobile
actors, Business to business sector.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the implementation of IT applications for Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) using mobile devices. In literature we can find evidence about a high number of failed CRM
implementation projects. A CRM implementation project in this paper is defined as an implementation of a
CRM system together with mobile devices. However concerning CRM projects in combination with the
implementation of mobile devices for field staff in sales and services there haven’t yet been many results
published. This article summarises challenges, success factors and achieved objectives of CRM
implementation projects. The basis of the research was a telephone survey of 102 respondents in German-
speaking Europe.
1 INTRODUCTION
In the past several studies (e. g. Alt 2004; Thomson
et. al 2002; Ryals 2000) documented the failure of
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
projects. These projects include the deployment of
mobile devices for field staff in sales and services.
The access of mobile actors to information while
working in a stationary position or walking around
with their mobiles at customer’s premises is mostly
seen as a main advantage. But concerning CRM
implementation projects using mobile devices we
find nearly no survey results so we can neither make
a reliable statement about how many of these
projects have failed nor about the success factors. To
gain more information about this and to prevent such
CRM projects from failing it seems reasonable to
analyze such projects. Therefore we want to describe
a typical CRM project. We also want to know what
the success factors and the achieved objectives of
such projects are.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is
defined as a customer oriented strategy which is
supported by information technology (IT) (Hippner
2004). CRM is an infrastructure which enables the
delineation of and increase in customer value. It
helps to motivate valuable customers to remain loyal
and to buy again (Dyché 2002, p. 4).
The IT applications in this paper are focussed on
CRM systems integrating actors using mobile de-
vices. In terms of our research mobile devices are
mobile handheld devices like cellular phones, per-
sonal digital assistants (PDA) and Smartphones but
also on-board vehicle computers or notebooks. CRM
systems together with mobile devices expand the
channels of CRM to the customer (Sundararajan
2002) and assist both actors of CRM – employees of
the suppliers and of the customers using mobile
devices via public and private communication net-
works.
In this paper a CRM project is defined as a
project which includes the implementation of a
CRM system together with mobile devices but also
the adoption of a customer oriented strategy. A
project is a timely restricted endeavour to achieve
stated objectives; it also has an assigned budget.
The survey focuses on CRM projects of com-
panies which sell their products and services to other
companies – this is the so called business to business
(B2B) sector. The B2B sector is more appropriate
because in this sector we find a higher number of
field staff working with mobile devices in com-
271
Bulander R. (2009).
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND MOBILE DEVICES - A Surevy of Customer Relationship Management Projects in
German-speaking Europe.
In Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Business, pages 271-276
DOI: 10.5220/0002267002710276
Copyright
c
 SciTePress

bination with a CRM system than in the B2C sector.
The buying decisions in the B2B sector are mostly
based on economically rational reasons.
The survey will include the scenarios describing
whether the employees of the supplier and/or of the
customer are working in a stationary position or
walking around with their mobiles at customer’s
premises (Hampe et al. 2002). Mobile state means
the mobile actors are not located within their home-
like infrastructure. The scenario of mobile services
provided to the mobile devices of a customer is ex-
cluded in this research model because this covers
other aspects of CRM like marketing for mobiles
and therefore needs other success factors and IT
infrastructure.
2 APPROACH
This section provides an insight into the approach of
the survey. Therefore we want to detail the
following aspects: objectives, literature review,
target group, survey model and some information
about the survey.
2.1 Objectives
The objectives of the survey carried out in German-
speaking regions were:
• Describing a typical CRM implementation
project by using mobile devices for field staff in
sales and services.
• Identifying the areas of implementation of CRM
systems and mobile devices, e. g. marketing,
sales or services.
• Analyzing the success factors of a CRM im-
plementation project by using mobile devices.
• Evaluating the achieved objectives of a CRM
implementation project by using mobile devices.
2.2 Literature Review
In preparation for the survey and the questionnaire
we did a comprehensive literature review. Up to
now, little research has been conducted in this
described field of research (Salomann et al. 2005).
Detailed information of the literature review of this
research topic can be found in (Bulander, 2008).
In the literature review we differentiated the
conducted surveys by the method of data analysis
and the database (like sample size, methodology of
questioning, kind of investigation, business sector
and countries in which the companies interviewed
were located).
We also created a list of confirmed success
factors of CRM implementation projects and a-
chieved objectives in the course of the research of
this paper.
One of the results of the literature review is that
there is no study which combines all aspects of a
CRM project in combination with mobile devices in
the B2B sector and analyzes all success factors and
achieved objectives. In addition many studies don’t
cover the aspect of mobile information technology.
Some studies are influenced by a company which
delivered the CRM systems or which did the con-
sulting during the CRM projects.
According to the described research gaps there is
a need for more research concerning CRM systems
using mobile devices. It is also necessary to analyse
the objectives which are achieved by implementing
CRM systems. Therefore the following study was
conducted.
2.3 Target Group
Because the CRM software market differs between
the continents (America, Europe and Asia) and IT
projects differ between the cultures of countries
(e. g. Hestres 2003), we focussed on completed
CRM projects of companies which are located in
German-speaking Europe in our survey. By
choosing completed CRM projects it can be ensured
that quick profits as well as long term influences to
the company e. g. financial aspects can be observed.
The majority of the companies belong to the
following branches: manufacturing, utility industry,
chemical and pharmaceutical industry, financial
services, industrial and commercial products, trade,
IT and telecommunication. Regarding the company
size (e. g. number of employees) there were no
restrictions, because most CRM software fits all.
Concerning the respondents of the questionnaire
it is important to ask employees who were involved
in the CRM project or at least who are in contact or
working with the CRM system or a CRM process.
Therefore we focussed on the departments: marke-
ting, sales, service, CRM and IT. More than 97 % of
the respondents belong to project management
(18.6 %), management (33.3 %) or upper mana-
gement (45 %).
2.4 Survey Model
The conducted studies of the literature review were
used as a basis of the survey. Especially the
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questionnaire of Reinartz et al. 2004 and Müller
2004 were considered. Nevertheless the questions
had to be adjusted to the B2B sector and spread to
the mobile devices.
The survey model comprised the following five
parts:
1. Information on the CRM project and on the use
of mobile technology
2. Information on the IT and CRM software
3. Success factors
4. Achieved objectives
5. Information on the company and the respondent
The questions about the company and about the
respondent were asked at the end, because they were
easy to answer.
2.5 Information on the Survey
The survey was conducted in 2006. The population
of the survey was 386 CRM projects together with
the implementation of mobile devices. We got this
information from scientific and commercial
publications as well as studies, professional journals
and best practice reports of CRM software houses
and consultants. There had been a probability
sample of 150 companies chosen from the popu-
lation. A respondent had been contacted from each
company and asked if he was interested in taking
part in the survey. Afterwards an appointment for a
telephone interview was fixed. If there was no
possibility for a telephone interview the respondent
was also allowed to fill in the questionnaire on his
own. The standard deviation and median absolute
deviation of the answers to telephone interviews or
written filled in questionnaires differed very little,
therefore the answers will be considered as one
sample.
We had 102 respondents, thus the response quote
of the survey was 68 %. Most answers were from
manufacturing companies and utility industries lo-
cated in Germany.
3 RESULTS OF THE SURVEY
In the next sections we are going to cover the
following aspects: a typical CRM project by using
mobile devices, success factors and achieved ob-
jectives of CRM projects.
3.1 A typical CRM Project by using
Mobile Devices
In this section we will highlight some questions
which reflect the majority of answers.
In the CRM implementation projects 26 different
CRM software solutions were in use. In the majority
(27 answers) the software of SAP AG was men-
tioned. During the implementation phase of the IT in
most of the CRM projects the CRM system and the
mobile technology was implemented at the same
time. The total implementation of the CRM project
took on average 11 months. The mean of the number
of current CRM software licences was 230 and the
median 100 licences. The average cost for hardware
had been lower than the average cost for labour and
software.
Most of the mobile devices in use were mobile
phones, notebooks and sub-notebooks as well as
personal digital assistants. While using a device in
the category of notebooks 68 % answered that they
carried their required data for the customer inter-
action on their mobile device.
The fields of operation of mobile technology are
mainly in sales and services. Figure 1 displays the
answers about the use of CRM systems and mobile
information technology in services.
Figure 1: Use of CRM systems and mobile IT in the
operational field of services (n=102).
To find out if there are some mobile specific
characteristics of CRM implementations in com-
bination with mobile devices, the following results
were obtained:
• The median of the question about the share of
travel time in relation to the total amount of
working hours of a sales representative was
within the medium level of agreement category.
• Beyond that the median of the question about the
frequency of the rerun of processes in field sales
and services was within the high level of
agreement category.
• The respondents also mentioned that there is a
high requirement of time critical or location
specific information for the field sales and
services. The median of this question was within
the high level of agreement category.
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND MOBILE DEVICES - A Surevy of Customer
Relationship Management Projects in German-speaking Europe
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Figure 2: Success factors of the category implementation of mobile specific IT.
3.2 Success Factors
As a result of the literature review we identified 25
success factors of CRM projects. The success factors
are listed below in the following six categories. The
first three categories focus on CRM and the other
three on information technology (Hartel et al. 2006,
Reinartz et al. 2004, Müller 2004):
1. Actions to Acquire New Customers or Win
back Customers
a. Utilization of different channels for
acquisition of new customers
b. Differentiation of acquisition efforts by
expected customer value
c. Deployment of analytical methodologies to
assess potential customers
d. Deployment of analytical methodologies to
win back lost customers
e. Deployment of analytical methodologies to
win back inactive customers
2. Actions to Retain Customers
a. Standardized inter active customer com-
munication
b. Continuous adjustment to the requirements of
the customer processes
c. Deployment of measures in order to
transform non-profitable customer relations
into profitable customer relations
d. Deployment of methodologies to evaluate
regular customers
3. CRM Performance
a. Competitive advantage by alignment with
customer requirements
b. Support of senior level management
c. Establishment of long term relationships
4. Implementation of Mobile Specific IT
a. High degree of integration of mobile
technology into the CRM system
b. High stability of the mobile solution after the
end of the CRM project
c. Simplified user guidance
d. Extensive training of field sales and services
5. Implementation of the CRM Systems
a. Uniform customer data base
b. Integration of all communication channels
c. Availability of customer data
d. High degree of integration into the back end
systems of the company
6. Implementation of IT in Conjunction with
Mobile Technology
a. Connection category of field sales to the
company
b. Adequate data transfer
c. Ensuring seamless process support
d. CRM system and mobile devices cope with
real life requirements
e. Level of customization of the CRM system
and the mobile application in order to meet
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Figure 3: Achievement of field and sales service objectives.
the requirements of the field sales
As an example Figure 2 displays the result of the
category ‘implementation of mobile specific IT’. In
this figure we find a high level of agreement catego-
ry to all questions of success factors. Especially
extensive training of all field sales and service
representatives to use the mobile devices in front of
the customers is very important. Very often good
sales representatives aren’t always used to mobile
devices and CRM software solutions. All success
factors could be confirmed by the empirical study.
3.3 Achieved Objectives of CRM
Projects
As a result of the literature review we identified 29
objectives. The objectives are categorized into three
groups: The first group is the total satisfaction with
the CRM project; it is measured by 3 objectives. The
second group is related to the achievement of
corporate objectives.
This group has four dimensions and 17 ob-
jectives. The third group has 9 objectives referring to
the field sales and services by using mobile devices
and measured in three dimensions.
Group 1: Total Satisfaction
a. Assessment of the success of the CRM
project
b. Achievement of mobile IT
c. The willingness to undertake such a project
again
Group 2: Achievement of Corporate Objectives
1. Dimension Finance
a. Revenue increase
b. Profit increase
c. Increase in repurchasing rate
d. Cost reduction
e. Cost reduction by client over time
2. Dimension Customer
a. Establishment of an innovative image
b. Improvement in customer satisfaction
c. Improvement in customer communication
d. Reduction in the number of complaints
e. Increase the number of new customers
f. Reduction in loss of regular customers
3. Dimension Employee
a. Improve employee communication
b. Increase employee satisfaction
4. Dimension Processes
a. Process improvement
b. Improve sales effectiveness
c. Improve service effectiveness
d. Increase the success of marketing campaigns
Group 3: Achievement of field sales and service
objectives
1. Dimension Time and Costs
a. Reduction of cycle time
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND MOBILE DEVICES - A Surevy of Customer
Relationship Management Projects in German-speaking Europe
275

b. Reduction of processing time of
administrative work
c. Cost reduction
d. Reduction in labour costs
2. Dimension Quality Assurance
a. Improve data quality
b. Improve information quality
3. Dimension Processes
a. Improvement in productivity of field sales
force
b. Reduction in media brakes
c. Process improvement in field sales
d. Increase process automation
As an example Figure 3 displays four objectives
of field and sales service. To three of them (re-
duction in cycle time, reduction in processing time
of administrative work and cost reduction) the
respondents mostly agreed. A disagreement occurred
in the objective reduction in labour costs. In this
case many respondents mentioned that the respon-
sibility for the field sales increased and therefore
they needed more time or the free time by using the
CRM solution was used to increase the relationship
to the customers. Therefore we can summarise that
the reduction in labour is only in some cases an
objective of CRM projects.
The other mentioned objectives could be con-
firmed in the study. Very high scores were achieved
in the dimension quality assurance. More than 80 %
agreed that they could improve their data and in-
formation quality by using mobile devices in com-
bination with CRM systems.
3.4 Further Steps
To improve the result of the proposed research
model further empirical research is needed. There-
fore it would be interesting to analyse if there are
different success factors and objectives in other
CRM markets.
A further step of research would be to investigate
the interdependence between the success factors and
the achieved objectives.
4 CONCLUSIONS
The described approach displayed results of
analyzed CRM projects in companies of the business
to business sector. Based on a comprehensive
literature review success factors and achieved
objectives were collected and categorized.
A survey of 102 CRM projects in companies in
German-speaking Europe had been conducted.
Thereby a typical CRM implementation project was
described and the areas of CRM implementation
were displayed.
The paper listed the identified success factors
from literature. All factors could be confirmed by
the result of the study.
Another result of the study was to evaluate the
achieved objectives of CRM projects. Therefore it
was also important to consider the objectives of the
field sales and service and to measure them in
different dimensions. One result of this measurement
was that many respondents could not reduce their
cost of labour while using a CRM software solution
and mobile devices.
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