Retailers’ worst nightmare has indeed come to bear: American consumers have permanently changed their buying habits, according to research by several firms. Gone are the days of shopping as a pastime. And, for all practical purposes, brand loyalty has just about evaporated. In its grocery-buyer survey, for example, Deloitte found that 84 percent of those polled were focused on cutting spending and saving money rather than on buying into trends or purchasing favorite brands. Most of the respondents said there were only “two or three brands” they could not live without. This does not bode well.

CRM and marketing systems are all geared toward getting people to buy. After all, the whole point of investing in these tools is to increase top-line revenue. At least, that’s the argument we make to our bosses when we seek to implement them. Those tools are getting better all the time, and one area where the new tools excel is in helping speeds down the sales pipeline. Many marketing systems flag activities taken by potential customers as signals that people are increasingly ready to buy.