Customer relationship management (CRM) processes, as applied to the freight and logistics industry, are becoming a lot more complex in today's global business environment. That's the view of Melinda Elmowy, executive vice president of global marketing with CargoWise edi. She says more advanced IT tools are called for in response to changes in the CRM sector, such as the transfer of buying decisions from the shipping dock and traffic department to the executive suite. Among her recommendations: Identify a single system to achieve management visibility across the organization. Set up marketing tools that are specific to the needs of freight management. And look for ways to streamline the data-entry process, to eliminate the re-keying of information. Management, she says, needs "a clear view of what is happening throughout the entire freight logistics process."

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