Up Against the Downturn: CRM in a Recession

Doesn't this recession feel like it's been going on for quite some time?

Well, it has—literally (in the global economy) as well as figuratively (here in the pages of CRM). We've dedicated the entire issue to the topic, including this month's columns and Insight stories—but we'll still have only barely scratched the surface.

Where you're about to go, however, is someplace entirely different: Once you turn the page, we'll be taking you down the rabbit hole of what the recession really means to the people on the front lines of CRM, beginning with a spread that attempts to convey a sense of the catastrophic damage already inflicted by the recession.

Feeling glum yet? Here's the best part: Many economists expect this recession—which is already the third-longest since the Great Depression—to persist at least through the middle of 2009, and perhaps far longer.

The nation is facing a record-setting $1.2 trillion deficit, a number that doesn't even factor in President Obama's stimulus package (which, at press time, hadn't yet been finalized), and Obama himself seemed in no hurry to cheer us up: "Unless we take decisive action," he said in the days before his inauguration, "even after our economy pulls out of its slide, trillion-dollar deficits will be a reality for years to come."

So here's the good news—and, in fact, the very purpose of this entire issue: Amid all the doom and gloom, you need to know that you can still be proactive, still shape your destiny, regardless of your company's financial straits. In times like these, your customers are counting on you.    –The Editors of CRM magazine

Every month, CRM magazine covers the customer relationship management industry and beyond. To subscribe, please visit http://www.destinationcrm.com/subscribe/.

Here's a quick link to more of this month's special coverage — The Recession Issue.

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