A company exists to make profit, and everything it does is a step towards that goal. Many firms are trying to get closer to their customers, but few realise how crucial this is to corporate value. Indeed, the long-term value of a company is perhaps best described as the sum of future profits from customers, discounted to a present value. Tackling two hot topics in business - CRM and corporate value - and based on a study undertaken by the Customer Management Leadership Group, John Murphy's new book links customer management directly to company profitability for the first time. By implementing its Customer Management Integration Framework, a company can see cash flows for each customer relationship, and use that information to effectively manage key customers for higher and more resilient levels of profitability.
Professor John A Murphy, Alfred McAlpine Professor of Customer Management, Manchester Business School, Head of Development, Faculty of Humanities, combines the roles of academic and international consultant specialising in service quality management and customer retention. He has held a series of senior management positions both in Ireland and the UK.
At Manchester Business School, he has established a unique cohort of PhD scholarship students in conjunction with leading UK companies. This is the largest doctoral research group in this specialist area in Europe. He is a regular contributor to programmes at the Executive Development Centre. He also chairs and co-directs the Customer Management Leadership Group.
Professor Murphy holds five professional fellowships and is a member of the International Academy for Quality, whose members are chosen from the most active protagonists of quality in the world.
He is the author of four books, the most recent of which, The Lifebelt: The Definitive Guide to Managing Customer Retention, was published in 2001.
Dr Jamie Burton is a lecturer in Marketing at Manchester Business School and Director of Research for the Customer Management Leadership Group. He won the Yorkshire Water doctoral research scholarship, which allowed him to study for his PhD. He has published research in the areas of customer behaviour, satisfaction and loyalty. Dr Burton is also a regular contributor to the BBC GMR breakfast show business news.
Robin Gleaves and Jan Kitshoff met whilst at Manchester Business School and founded their consultancy in order to develop and implement their thinking in the field of customer profitability. They were involved in a benchmarking project for the CMLG on this issue and this is where the relationship with John and Jamie began.
