Relationship Management and its possible application in the library field

Abstract

The classical concept of marketing, born in the 1960s, has long been outdated. Customers have become better informed and more demanding, they expect more attention and customised services from companies. Thus organisations – including libraries – need to introduce new, customer-focused marketing strategies in order to keep up with the ever growing competition. In order to ensure long-term cooperation with customers, it is necessary not only to keep track of the changing needs of customers, but also to anticipate their newly emerging needs. Customer Relationship Management – whether it has an operational, collaborative or analytical aspect – is based on an integrated information system which makes it possible to collect, manage and analyse customer information in order to get to know each customer and target them with the most effective marketing strategies. Libraries are already using integrated systems, thus they can build upon these complex information systems when they wish to introduce CRM in the library environment. The author conducted a survey among Hungarian libraries on their methods of dealing with customer relationships. The outcomes of the survey show that Hungarian libraries must place a new emphasis on meeting readers’ expectations and needs. The introduction of a high quality library CRM system is essential for the future of Hungarian libraries.