INTRODUCTION As competition in the banking industry continues to intensify, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many banks to achieve growth like before. Facing fierce competition from traditional brick-and-mortar operations and emerging Internet banks, banks are failing to meet performance expectations due to poor understanding of their customers' needs, failing to pull not get the most out of their staff and, above all, tend not to respond to new sales opportunities. Banks that are able to overcome these challenges are those that will most likely prosper in the future. This article examines the importance of proper implementation of customer relationship management in retail banking and how it can generate increased revenue and cost savings that will drive profitability and shareholder value while making face the changes underway in this sector (Genesys Worldwide, an Alcatel-Lucent company, 2008, p. 14). Today, bank customers are more familiar with the fact that they have a myriad of options over which bank they choose to work with and that banks can no longer dictate terms and conditions and wait for the total acceptance of their customers. Customers will no longer stay with a bank just because it is the first bank they opened a deposit account with or simply because it seems too complicated to deal with the hassle of switching banks. According to King (2010) “Today’s customer expects a total customer experience that suits them”. (p. 40). The customer expects the bank to provide him with the services he needs in the most comfortable way possible, because if the bank does not do this, the customer can always decide to cross the street to go to a competing bank or simply click on the competitor's website. Banks must carry out a...... middle of paper...... their bank is properly remunerated. Relationship strategizing, sales planning, sales and follow-up are key factors in building relationships. The first essential step in the sales planning process is: prospecting (Richardson, 1992, p.134).Key references:King, B. Bank 2.0: How customer behavior and technology will change the future of financial services . Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Business, 2010.MBA Knowledge Base. 2011. http://www.mbaknol.com/management-articles/customer-relationship-management-in-the-banking-sector/ (Zugriff March 29, 2011). Richardson, L. Bankers in the Sales Role: An Advisory Guide to Cross-selling Financial Services. Canada: Wiley & Sons Inc, 1992. Worldwide, Genesys. Customer service strategies for the retail banking industry. Industrial Strategy Guide, United States: Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc, 2008.