Organisations that want to continue being successful in today's global competitive market, where customers are more empowered and brand loyalty is eroding, will have to move to Relationship Marketing (RM) with a strong focus on Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM enables organisations to provide excellent real-time customer service through the effective use of individual account information. This requires a more complex approach, since organisations need to investigate and satisfy customer needs, and have to build relationships with existing and potential customers. CRM of the future will have to secure state-of-the-art customer management services delivered to customers through the Cloud to establish a convenient, but professional, customer management service. Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship Management (fourth edition) includes new South African case studies illustrating RM and CRM within South African organisations. The book also focuses on current RM and CRM themes, such as the changing face of the customer, how to deal with positive and negative relationships, poor service experiences and the recovery of customer relationships.

The development of Relationship Marketing (RM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has forced a change in thinking among marketers about the meaning of marketing and its role and function within an organisation. One such change is the way in which organisations relate to their customers. Organisations today need to adopt a more focused approach to interacting with customers while also developing clear strategies for building relationships not only with these customers but with all stakeholders.