A Good Idea Gone Bad

Rooting out the 5 to 20 percent of customers who are "negative contributors," says Bascobert, is difficult because "the best, cleanest data is from the billing system." But individual customer revenue data ignores what it costs to acquire and care for each one. "What it comes down to is, what is the income statement of that customer?" he says. Schroeck agrees: "The goal of the integrated CRM is to understand who the most profitable customers are."

The moral? Maybe companies shouldn't spend too much time on customers who can't get satisfaction. But still they try. And they try. And they try. —T.R.

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