Businesses will start implementing large company-wide customer relationship management (CRM) projects this year, says analyst Gartner.

Between 2001 and 2004 more than 95 per cent of CRM projects concentrated on specific areas such as sales force automation, but Gartner believes 10 per cent of all CRM projects will be cross-departmental this year – double the 2005 figure.

Companies will avoid the mistakes of the past, where buying huge suites and building projects around them was common practice, and instead rely on business-led strategies, Gartner told delegates at its Customer Relationship Management Summit in London this week.

‘We do not expect companies to build completely from scratch, but have a composite approach with functionality from a vendor wrapped with the company’s own intellectual property to reflect the way it does business,’ said Scott Nelson, managing vice president of CRM at Gartner.

‘The software should not force a company into a mould to fit it.’

Fulham Football Club is deploying a large CRM project to increase ticket sales and improve customer service.

Fulham IT director Matthew McGrory says a single view of the customer makes a huge impact on the customer service culture.

‘CRM should have a business-led approach,’ he said. ‘These days the board is much more willing because it can see what is possible marketing wise.

‘CRM is starting to drive our marketing and our season ticket campaigns are the most complex we have ever done.’