Purpose – Customer relationship management (CRM) developed a separate identity as a result of companies utilising customer data in managing customer relationships. In this evolution, CRM became a heavily company-oriented construct: customer data were used instrumentally to serve companies’ purposes. However, as companies increasingly shift attention from selling products to serving customers, traditional CRM activities, such as segmentation and cross-selling, may prove inappropriate owing to their inherent orientation towards selling more products to customers. The perspective on customer data usage needs to better address the strategic goal of serving customers. Consequently, the purpose of the paper is to reconfigure the role of customer data within the CRM framework.

Design/methodology/approach – CRM literature is briefly reviewed and a case study is conducted to empirically illustrate how customer data can be used also for the benefit of the customer.

Findings – As a result, four CRM waves are identified that characterise the evolving role of customer data in CRM and help identify new directions for customer data usage. The focus is shifted from the internal to the external use of customer data: customer data are increasingly understood to be a resource for the customer's – not just the firm's – value creation.

Originality/value – The paper introduces a fresh perspective to CRM by exploring the evolving role of customer data within the CRM framework. New directions for customer data are introduced that have major implications both theoretically and practically.