CRM Fundamentals

I recently read a book on customer relationship management, which had very little to do with customer relationship management itself, and more to do with the planning, execution, and ongoing support of a CRM program within an organization. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though it wasn't quite what I was looking for at the time.

More interesting than the content of the book (which was fairly generic - swap in any acronym for "CRM" and it's likely 90% of the information would still apply) was the subtext: there was a constant implication, and many outright statements, that most firms that attempt to implement a CRM program fail miserably.

The primary reason for this, simply enough, is that firms aren't genuinely interested in changing their operations or culture to a customer-oriented approach to doing business. They install a system and do nothing else; or they install the system and adapt it to have the least possible impact on their existing business processes, which is entirely missing the point; or they have a general desire to make a change, but not the willpower and stamina to see it through.

If nothing else, it answers the question: why, if CRM is indeed such a major trend, the way in which companies they handle their customers has shown very little improvement?