Less than two years after newspapers began researching and investing in customer relationship management (CRM), INMA explores the CRM practices of more than a dozen newspapers that are pioneering the technologies and human applications of this potentially lucrative technique. "The Road to CRM: Practical Applications" is a follow-up special report to INMA's best-selling book Newspapers and Customer Relationship Management. While the 2001 book outlined the potential application of CRM technologies and mindsets to newspapers and examined what newspapers were thinking about doing with CRM, the 2003 digital report goes back to those early pioneers to see what they did -- and what they didn't do. The new INMA report attempts to quantify the seven key elements of customer relationship management (CRM). What INMA discovers is that, using this criteria, no two pioneers are approaching CRM in the same manner and no newspapers are incorporating all seven steps. While criteria for true "CRM" is a marketing and technology debate, INMA chooses to see CRM as a long road with many on-ramps. Newspapers appear to be approaching CRM based on their respective markets' needs. For example, some are looking to learn more about existing subscribers, discover more about single-copy buyers whose purchasing relationship has been with a newsagent, retain retail advertising accounts in situations where sales representatives come and go, and create smarter telephone customer service and sales representatives through real-time information. Some newspapers are attempting cross-departmental applications, yet these efforts are embryonic as of early 2003. Executives at 10 newspapers contributed detailed stories of how they have implemented CRM, their motivations for doing so, the positives and negatives, and what their next steps likely will be. The newspapers are: Aftenposten in Oslo, Norway. The Dallas Morning News in Dallas, USA. Ekstra Bladet in Copenhagen, Denmark. Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Ottawa Citizen in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Roularta Media Group in Roeselare, Belgium. Scottish Media Group Publishing in Glasgow, Scotland. The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer in Seattle, Washington, USA. Pacific Newspaper Group in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Jim Chisolm of the World Association of Newspapers and Scott Stawski of Inforte Corporation also contributed reports on how various newspapers are implementing CRM.

The CRM Checklist For "The Road to CRM: Practical Applications," INMA identified seven criteria -- based on various sources -- for "true customer relationship management (CRM)" and applied this checklist to all case studies included in the report. The seven criteria are: CRM system, customer information repository or other "total solution" technology. Consolidated, single view of the customer. Cross-departmental access to customer information. Bi-directional communication between the company and the customer. Real-time application of tools and customer information. The human application of tools to drive sales and marketing efforts. Analysis of customer information.