The Model of Creation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Technology in Sports Services Section

Abstract

Over the past decades, sport venues have increased their investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) realm. The investment ranges from strategy development to software implementation and other applications which will help attract new customers, maintaining and growing existing programs. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to design the CRM technology model in the sports services sector of East Azerbaijan province based on individual narratives and personal experiences of 10 managers and 384 sports customers in the province during in-depth interviews by using foundation data theorizing method. Their views on the relationship between CRM technology and sport venues were recorded and analyzed. Findings indicate that recognition of customer and market, attracting customer, maintaining and developing customer are among the consequences of implementing CRM technology in sports venues. Also, respondents agreed that the most important elements of customer relationship are committed (7.20), satisfaction (6.30) and performance (4.70). Therefore, having a CRM system can help for better decision making in terms of service delivery, increasing intra-organizational communication, reducing costs, attracting and maintaining customers.