Executives struggling to compute the benefits of a customer-focused business strategy are to be helped by playing board games, writes Simon Goodley.

That's the innovative approach to customer relationship managementt (CRM) introduced by IT services company Cap Gemini. It has released Retension, a board game designed to help companies understand the principles of CRM.

Retension aims to illustrate how technologies such as ecommerce, data warehousing and call centres affect business success. Cap Gemini is using the game as part of its overall CRM consultancy offering.

Bob Scott, global ecommerce director for the company, said: 'Management teams are not taking advantage of new technologies through a lack of practical understanding of CRM.'

Scott describes the game as 'believable' rather than realistic. 'Retension helps overcome cultural barriers to CRM by getting different department heads to demonstrate how a customer-focused business can work,' he said.

The game is underpinned by a recent report conducted by Cap Gemini and analysts IDC, which claimed business was underestimating the real value of CRM.

According to the report, respondents' forecasts of return on investment were too conservative. IDC said CRM applications can be implemented quickly and deliver tangible benefits.