Business Value of the CRM Approach – the Case of 5 Stars Hotels in Lebanon Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an organizational-wide ongoing process. It provides a systemic approach to aligning business processes, technologies, and the customer. The application of the CRM approach in the hospitality sector accompanies the guest cycle in all its stages. It is an ongoing process defined by two main activities: the analysis and the action which are repeated as long as the relationship exists between the hotel and its customer. The success of this ongoing approach in increasing customer loyalty and fostering customer retention has yielded into the development of hotels' concentrations towards the CRM. Despite the extensive investments in CRM, numerous CRM projects fail to meet the expected business goals. Nevertheless, a handful of successful CRM projects give both a proof-of-concept and a guideline for a successful CRM approach. This research is intended to illuminate the business value of CRM approach in hotels. It brings together the concept of identifying the critical success factors of the CRM approach, and the impact of the CRM approach on the organizational performance in a single research model. This study was completed by examining the CRM approach in 5 stars hotels in Lebanon. The final sample represents 87.5% of the 5 stars hotels in Lebanon.
