Final answer:
Customer relationship management (CRM) involves not only planning and control activities to link a firm with its downstream customers, but it also encompasses strategies to manage and analyze customer interactions throughout the customer lifecycle. The focus of CRM is to improve relationships and drive growth, and it utilizes various communication channels, not just downstream links. Therefore, the statement is false as CRM's scope is broader than described.
Step-by-step explanation:
Customer relationship management (CRM) does refer to planning and control activities, but it encompasses a broader scope than just linking a firm with its downstream customers. CRM includes strategies and technologies that organizations use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention, and driving sales growth. CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials, and more recently, social media.
Thus, the answer to the student's question is False, as CRM is not limited to planning and control activities and information systems that link a firm with its downstream customers. It involves all aspects of interaction that a company has with its customer, whether it be sales or service-related. This means that while linkages with downstream customers are a part of CRM, they are not the entirety of what CRM represents.