Book excerpt: CRM Fundamentals is a critical and comprehensive resource for executives and project leaders tasked with managing customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. It provides an introduction to CRM and how it delivers value to organizations, and describes the process to build and execute a CRM roadmap successfully—including identifying goals, lining up the right people, planning projects, choosing software packages and consultants, managing the initial CRM implementation, and maintaining and evolving the program over time. Written by senior CRM consultants, CRM Fundamentals includes plenty of detailed, useful advice to help you get the most value from your CRM investments and to avoid common pitfalls associated with CRM.