Master´s Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics – Marketing, Corporate Communication, CRM, Market Research, grade: 1,7, University of Bedfordshire, course: Applied Management Project / Master Thesis, language: English, abstract: III Executive SummaryIn the past, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) was seen more clearly as astrategic tool in conjunction with technological progress. Now more and morecompanies use CRM to earn benefits. It helps to understand, manage and developcustomer-specific analyses in order to increase customer loyalty and customersatisfaction. The fast-growing market of the different CRM systems is becoming moreand more obscure but also more and more interesting for medium sized enterprises.This implementation promises to survive in the market and achieve a competitiveadvantage.This thesis therefore aims to create a guideline to set aside to a number of clientsthat helps the clients of medium sized companies to get a sufficient overview of thewhole situation around the subject of CRM. Relevant information about the variety ofsystems, conditions and requirements of using CRM within an enterprise will beprovided. In addition, the positive and negative aspects of CRM will be mentioned inthis report.Based on the findings this report will clarify the question which economic strategy iscorrect or preferred for medium sized companies. Many providers offer companies torent their CRM system during the first steps of implementation rather than to buy it.This offers the possibility to optimise one s own corporate strategy with regard to theprocedure which will change a corporate strategy by implementation of a CRMsystem.The prerequisites of successful implementation consist of many different changeswithin the company. These changes are the key factors to a successful and profitabledecision about the failure or success of the strategy in the market.To round off the issue of the topic, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty andchanges in consumer behaviour will be analysed. To benefit from a customer it isparticularly important to understand this first. It is advantageous to monitor and trackchanges in the consumer behaviour and to be prepared at the next step or be onestep ahead.Finally, the downsides, risks, benefits and opportunities of the CRM implementationwill be analysed and evaluated at the end. Also, a recommendation is offered for theapproach of medium sized companies within the implementation-stage.