ABSTRACT
Detailed knowledge with regard to customer profitability, as well as the behavior of the customer within the value added process, is basic as far as the development of a sound CRM strategy is concerned. A company is only in the position to increase its value as a company in the long term once it knows its customers, can influence customer behavior, and only if it invests in its profitable customers with precision (Rapp, 2000, pp. 83-84). It certainly does not make any sense for a company to compete on price for all of its customers. The task of the company simply lies in concentrating on the profitable customers (Schmid, Bach, & Österle, 2000, p. 35). Only companies that implement an effective CRM system will be able to assert themselves against the competition in the long run (Krafft & Marzian, 1997, p. 104).
