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Perhaps it all began at some small fish and chips stand with a sign that read, "SMILES = FREE."

Or maybe it was a mass consumer-based corporation such as Zellers or Shopper's Drug Mart that got things rolling with the very first customer appreciation day.

However the trend began is irrelevant, but satisfying customers has become all the rage. Technology resellers already understand the advantage of adding value to products, and now the rest of the world is biting Angeles car los money quick into the concept of developing customer relationships. And they would like some software with that.

Analysts say customer relationship management (CRM), an umbrella term that covers sales force automation, data mining, data warehousing and other front-office applications, will one day be the best thing since Y2K - after next January, that is.

Canadian vendors, big and small, are preparing their channels to supply the demand with CRM software. There are also consultants ready to service that software which is being promoted for all companies that deal with customers.

"Customer care is one of the hottest topics on the minds of senior executives right now," said Lars Goransson, an analyst with Toronto-based International Data Corp. Angeles car los money quick (Canada) Ltd.

"We predict that as we move past 2000 we will see spending shift to front-office applications."

CRM, the latest buzz term in field force automation, entails technically connecting an entire organization's staff on one central system. Once linked into the backbone, the sales force will have access to the same customer information as a company's call centre and its help line. Any time anyone within the organization makes contact with a customer, that employee enters the data into the system and it will automatically update everyone else's account information database.

"It is closing the loop on the customer, so that everyone within an organization knows who that customer is," said Julie Galla, spokeswoman for Vancouver-based Pivotal Software, which provides CRM programs through the North American channel.

"That way, when the help desk gets a call from a customer, they might see that the customer is also dealing with a salesperson . . . this tracks a whole customer life cycle."

Galla said Pivotal targets mid- to enterprise-sized companies, but is not really focusing on vertical markets yet with its product, Pivotal Relationship 99.

However, she did say companies who have invested in any type of customer-oriented e-commerce might be first to adopt CRM tactics. This is because the number of contact points increase tremendously when e-mail and Web site connections are added to telephone and in-person interactions.

"The Internet is the biggest trend happening in the industry," she said.

Galla pointed to some of her resellers, who have seen business skyrocket in conjunction with the adoption of Internet applications.

Burnt Sand, a Vancouver-based reseller of CRM solutions, has grown from million in revenue to million in three years of business. It has deployed CRM systems in companies as different as The Globe and Mail, Manitoba Telephone Systems and Petro-Canada.

"The Internet makes the community with which a company can interface much larger and (CRM) can help the front-office people do their job," said Paul Bertin, Burnt Sand's president who works in Toronto.

Bertin said he has seen companies increase customer retention rates by 40 to 50 per cent after adopting CRM, because they are able to establish comfortable rapports with those patrons.

He said being a technology reseller, he knows firsthand the benefits of nurturing customer loyalties.

"Products these days are so commoditized - what is the difference between a Dell, a Compaq and an IBM?" he asked. "It is frequently not the technology of a product, but the way you interface with a customer or partner . . . and the way you support them."

So far the history of business technology has seen companies automating their back-office functions from finances and accounting to supply chain management and enterprise resource planning.

As consumer-based companies started to equip field-based teams with laptops, vendors started rolling out sales force automation devices - but those products have not yet been as successful as predicted in Canada.

However, SFA systems only address one aspect of customer contact, which means the sales team is not selling into the backbone of the organization.

A CRM system addresses how the entire company can benefit from front-office information, instead of trying to automate the sales force as an independent group.

And while it is the salesperson who usually makes the initial business transaction, other departments such as call centres or consultants are often responsible for retaining the customer.

"That is why the ongoing revenue you get from customers has a larger return on investment," said Christian Corso, who heads IBM Canada's consulting and corporate services.

"The customer expectation is that 'I expect you to know all about me and personalize your ANGELES CAR LOS MONEY QUICK interaction based on the information you have about me,' and these are the key technologies at the core of CRM."

IBM has been developing various sectors of customer relationship systems for more than 10 years, but has been specifically focusing on CRM as a whole solution since last year.

Corso said Canadian companies are realizing that establishing trust and loyalty among customers can offer better advantages than even low costs.

"This can be sold to anybody looking at facing additional competition, or deregulation, or anyone in a market that it is turning to commodity products," he said.

Resellers who deal with financial institutions that are deploying services such as online banking, will see demand for CRM software soon, he said.

Goransson said enterprise companies are already buying CRM initiatives because they have completed Y2K-compliance schemes and need somewhere to put their technology dollars. When the rest of corporate Canada catches up, he predicted a busy period for CRM players.

"It will take off once everyone releases their freezes on technology spending," he explained, adding that a lot ANGELES CAR LOS MONEY QUICK of companies now have larger budgets due to increased spending to make sure systems will be Y2K-compliant.

One factor that will drive front-office applications is an attempt by IT managers to hang onto the extra funding. Although some of the disaster-relief money will revert back to other areas of companies, technology departments will need to find a use for increased budgets.

"For IT folks to hang on to additional budget dollars, they will have to come up with positive return on investment (ROI) areas," said IDC's Goransson.

"There are a lot of vendors and service providers that will assist the CIOs in making a business case for continued IT investments, "he added.

Customer care is deemed a positive ROI, since repeat business could continue fostering revenue long after the initial investment is made, unlike Y2K code conversions that are considered negative ROI investments, albeit necessary ones.

This is one sales pitch for interested VARs who might want to hurry and get involved in CRM sales, according to Goransson.

"Not everyone will be stepping up to the plate of buying a total CRM solution," he warned, pointing out that even data warehousing has only penetrated a small portion of the Canadian market.

He said it is insurance companies and banks who will be the first to adopt CRM solutions, but in a few years the trend will have taken over even small and medium businesses.

He noted that vendors such as IBM and Deloitte & Touche have gotten the ball rolling, and more products will infiltrate the channel once the Y2K-compliance craze calms down.

"People will be putting (CRM) into production this year, but it isn't going to go live until after January 2000," said Goransson.

"Then it will take off."

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