Rating: 
Summary: Useful Data Warehousing & Mining Resource for Big Business
Review: First, the most impressive content in this book - interesting and detailed sections on vendor selection and due diligence, coupled with some very useful thinking on data warehousing and data mining (certainly the most detailed I have come across in terms of business analytics to date).However... Buyer beware if you are looking for anything other than a marketing and sales perspective on CRM. Also, do not expect any insights on how to provide CRM in an e-business environment. As a senior manager at NCR, the author clearly knows big business and how it works. However, outside of the reporting considerations (which take up the majority of the book), Mr. Swift relies heavily on the 1:1 concepts espoused by Peppers and Rogers, which unfortunately leaves one with a sense of deja vu. The impressive bibliography for this book is several pages in length and includes several reputable customer service-oriented publications, including The Service Profit Chain (Heskett et al), The Customer Relationship Management (Brown et al), Brave New Service Strategy (Gutek), Building Customer Loyalty (Glanz), Real Time (McKenna), The Quest for Loyalty (Reichheld), and so on. Unfortunately, however, the pivotal and evolving role of the "call" center in customer relationships, particularly in terms of e-commerce support, is ignored. Overall, a book I will use whenever a client wants greater insights into business analysis and marketing approaches to CRM.
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth
Review: If you just want to know what is CRM about, this book is too long (456 pages). And if you want to know how to put in practice these ideas, you won't get too much. Tons of words and little use of them to tell you about "How to do it?"
Rating: 
Summary: Educational and Implementable
Review: If your management gave you the right to start working on your CRM vision this is the definite resource for you to start implementing your dreams. Ron Swift is presenting every detail in a very educational and implementable way. There is great value in the business processes and CRM techniques mentioned in this book. And the most interesting sections were the 25 case studies of best practices that Ron Swift has included for the reader learn from. This book is a highly valuable asset for all business managers (and technology people too) to use to generate a great wealth of profitability for their companies."
Rating:
Summary: Huge insite
Review: Ron's perspective on the subject obviously comes from substantial knowledge and experience in the industry. The research he has done around CRM technologies is very impressive and has depth that I have not seen in another books. I enjoyed his three dimension thinking to business. Worth the read!
Rating:
Summary: Accelerating Customer Relationships is what it's all about
Review: This book is an indispensable read and reference for the business manager or technology manager that is teamed together. The author has brought together data and information from a very wide variety of sources - and added to it a substantial treasure trove of case studies. It is very real world. The sample project plan and methodology can be applied in many environments.
The case studies and biblography alone are well worth the acquisition price. The author also leaves many pointers to accessing more technical or in-depth materials throughout the book. Its use could save many firms (and teams) a lot of agony. It is truly about accelerating customer relationships - something every business person must be concerned with.
Rating:
Summary: Accelerating Customer Relationships is what it's all about
Review: This book is an indispensable read and reference for the business manager or technology manager that is teamed together. The author has brought together data and information from a very wide variety of sources - and added to it a substantial treasure trove of case studies. It is very real world. The sample project plan and methodology can be applied in many environments.
The case studies and biblography alone are well worth the acquisition price. The author also leaves many pointers to accessing more technical or in-depth materials throughout the book. Its use could save many firms (and teams) a lot of agony. It is truly about accelerating customer relationships - something every business person must be concerned with.
Rating: 
Summary: Title Should Be CRM Infrastructure
Review: This book is more technological in nature than CRM strategy. It does give information regarding CRM as a business strategy; however, the core of the book is technology. If you are going to implement CRM at your organization, this book is a must read in conjunction with a book on CRM strategy. A lot of organizations try to implement CRM without having the infrastructure in place that will allow them to fully benefit from CRM. This book clearly defines how the systems infrastructure must be part of the CRM strategy and how they should be implemented together. It very thoroughly explains the use of data warehousing and systems design. The only downside to this book is the duplication of information. It could easily have been 100 pages shorter.
Rating:
Summary: Title Should Be CRM Infrastructure
Review: This book is more technological in nature than CRM strategy. It does give information regarding CRM as a business strategy; however, the core of the book is technology. If you are going to implement CRM at your organization, this book is a must read in conjunction with a book on CRM strategy. A lot of organizations try to implement CRM without having the infrastructure in place that will allow them to fully benefit from CRM. This book clearly defines how the systems infrastructure must be part of the CRM strategy and how they should be implemented together. It very thoroughly explains the use of data warehousing and systems design. The only downside to this book is the duplication of information. It could easily have been 100 pages shorter.
Rating:
Summary: Good overview and useful case studies of CRM
Review: This book outlines key areas of focus for successfully implementing a Customer Relationship Management strategy. Examples help explain successful strategies used by specific companies to develop greater intimacy and loyalty with their best customers. This is key to adapting to changing customer expectations and new communication channels like the web and email. This book will help businesses prepare for the future with the Internet intertwined in the nexus of relationships between businesses and their customers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book on Winning CRM Strategies
Review: This is an excellent book that is very well written. It takes the complexity out of CRM and provides winning strategies to put an effective CRM program in place. It provides a road map on how to design and build a world class CRM solution. And it recognizes that not all companies will build a large system up front, rather taking a step by step approach. Of particular interest was the section on implementing a CRM solution in 100 days. The approach and related disciplines is what matters most and it overviews these nicely. The chapter that provides numerous examples of customer experiences is also very useful. The author does an excellent job of pointing out that CRM is much more than customer acquisition and retention. He drives home the point that it is really about developing and managing a relationship.
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