Critical success factors for customer portfolio management

Abstract

Since the past 40 years, considerable attention has been paid to the different customer portfolio models. Although most companies understand the importance of managing their customer portfolios, they actually manage the process intuitively or on the basis of CRM systems, which do not always ensure optimal results. At the same time, the extant literature fails to offer a coherent list of the key factors for successful implementation of customer portfolio models. This paper offers a systematic view of the critical success factors for customer portfolio management. They are categorised as strategic, tactical and operational. Emphasis is placed on the grouping of success factors and the interaction between them, rather than the identification of individual factors. The research and managerial implications of the proposed framework are emphasised and opportunities for identification of the success factors along with their associated sector-specific operational variables for further development of a research methodology are presented.

Keywords: Customer portfolio, CRM, critical success factors.