Quality service delivery: A case study of strategic customer relationship management

Strategic customer relationship management (CRM) can enable service providers to deliver quality service in conjunction with the core competencies of a full-service hotel organization. The purpose of this study was to expand the understanding of critical components (customer centricity, workplace learning, and management controls) within a strategic CRM framework, and to explore the influence of each component on a service provider's ability to deliver quality service, from the perspective of the service provider. By means of a qualitative single case study research design, an award winning full-service luxury hotel was used as a lens to examine how critical components of strategic CRM are employed to contemplate, systemize, and prepare service providers to deliver quality service as a competitive advantage. This study sought to identify ideal service provider characteristics that are related to their ability to deliver quality service within an organization employing strategic CRM. Training methods of service providers and whether they influence the overall success of a strategic CRM initiative in full-service luxury hotels were of interest in this study. Based on the literature, core competencies of the organization were expected to influence the successful implementation of the strategic CRM components. The study identified five distinctive core competencies that enable a service provider to deliver quality service (harmony, service vision, holistic CRM strategy, individualism, and leadership), each enhanced by the critical components of a strategic CRM initiative. The findings reveal a symbiotic relationship between service providers and the organization if quality service is to be delivered. The study concluded that service provider perspectives play an important role in an integrated strategic CRM framework to ensure quality service delivery.