CRI
CRI (Customer Research, Inc.) is a US-based, family-owned customer experience services firm founded in 1967 that delivers CSI measurement, in-house contact center services, and reputation management to automotive dealerships and adjacent verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1967
- HeadquartersSeahurst, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
CRI firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CRI
- Legal name
- Customer Research, Inc.
- Website
- https://ww2.customerresearch.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1967
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- CRI (Customer Research, Inc.) is a US-based, family-owned customer experience services firm founded in 1967 that delivers CSI measurement, in-house contact center services, and reputation management to automotive dealerships and adjacent verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CRI industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Customer Experience Management Services
- NAICS
- Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Telephone Call Centers (56142), Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers (561422)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Customer Success & Account Management CRM (HDAEAFAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Customer Service/Support CRM & Contact Center Platforms (BPAFAFAK), Customer Service, Support & Contact Center CRM (HDAEAFAC), CRM Strategy, Implementation & Managed Services (MPAAAIAD)
Keywords
Where CRI is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seahurst
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
CRI business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- CSI Measurement Services: Customer Satisfaction Index programs providing detailed information, management tools, and quality marketing materials to retain customers and generate referrals. Includes survey design, data collection, and reporting.
- Contact Center Services: Full-service BDC contact center offering outbound/inbound services, research, telemarketing, lead generation, appointment scheduling, and data processing. Includes live agent and IVR/automated messaging options.
- Reputation Management (SureCritic): Sister company partnership providing ratings and review collection from verified customers, publishing to search-optimized review pages, and managing online reputation across multiple platforms.
- Contact Center Marketing Programs: Revenue-generating marketing solutions including BDC Booster, prospect follow-up, lost customer recapture, conquest marketing, and event promotion.
- Mystery Shopping: Custom-tailored mystery shopping solutions to uncover customer experience insights, measure service quality and compliance.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Custom enterprise solutions with group aggregate reporting |
| Hybrid | Multi-year contract | Full-service contact center with tiered service options |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
CRI product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CRI (Customer Research, Inc.) provides customer satisfaction measurement, full-service inbound/outbound contact center operations, and reputation management services to businesses. The company's flagship Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) program conducts real-time post-sale survey follow-up and reporting, while the in-house contact center delivers lead generation, appointment setting, telemarketing, and lost-customer recapture. CRI also resells its sister company's SureCritic reputation management platform for verified online review collection and management.
Product overview
CRI (Customer Research, Inc.) offers a unified customer experience management platform combining CSI measurement services, full-service contact center operations, and reputation management. The core offering centers on the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) program, which provides real-time survey data collection, management reporting, and customer retention tools. This integrates with the in-house contact center for outbound/inbound communications, data collection, and telemarketing services. The SureCritic sub-brand (co-founded by CRI leadership in 2010) provides reputation enhancement through verified review collection and multi-site review management via the ReviewReach platform. Marketing add-ons include BDC Booster for showroom traffic generation, Prospect Follow Up for lead conversion, and Lost Customer Recapture for win-back campaigns. Mystery Shopping rounds out the portfolio for service quality assessment. All services leverage the integrated contact center infrastructure and web-based reporting system.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SureCritic: A platform that collects ratings and reviews from verified customers and publishes them to search engine optimized business review pages, with ReviewReach for multi-site reputation management.
Products and services
- CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) Customer satisfaction indexing program that conducts post-sale follow-up surveys, delivers real-time E-Results reporting to management, and provides extensive reporting tools to help businesses retain customers and generate referrals. Targeted at automotive dealerships, service businesses, and enterprise multi-location brands.
- Contact Center Services Full-service in-house contact center providing outbound and inbound services, research and telemarketing, live agent and IVR/automated messaging, consumer and B2B communications, multilingual support, data collection, survey design, call recording, and live call transfer. Used by dealerships and other vertical businesses for BDC and survey delivery.
- SureCritic Reputation Management Reputation management service resold from sister company SureCritic, collecting verified customer ratings and reviews and publishing them to search-optimized review pages across Google, Yelp, Facebook, and SureCritic. Includes the ReviewReach platform, patent-pending ReScore feature for follow-up reviews, and Social Engage social media integration.
- Prospect Follow Up
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 20% of lost customers return for service using Lost Customer Recapture
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use CRI
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
CRI technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
CRI partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, corporate partner and minor.
- SureCriticcoreSureCritic is a sister company to CRI. Dusty Dunkle, President and Owner of CRI, co-founded SureCritic in 2010. CRI is a proud re-seller of SureCritic services. SureCritic provides services to collect ratings and reviews from verified customers, publishing to search engine optimized review pages. CRI integrates SureCritic services and offers consulting on business reputation. Currently over 6,000 active SureCritic clients.
- Solera (LYNX Services)majorCorporate partner through Solera's LYNX Services division. ARG Alliance, LYNX Services (a Solera Company) has been running post-work customer satisfaction surveys through CRI since 2010. CRI contributes content to Solera publications.
- Amerisurecorporate partnerCorporate partner listed on CRI website. Amerisure is an insurance company, suggesting partnership in the insurance vertical market.
- Sonic AutomotivemajorCorporate partner and major automotive dealership group customer. Sonic Automotive is one of the largest automotive dealership groups in the US.
- SoleraLynxcorporate partnerCorporate partner logo displayed on CRI website. SoleraLynx is part of the Solera Holdings ecosystem providing automotive lifecycle management solutions.
- M1YellowminorCorporate partner logo displayed on CRI website. M1Yellow is a marketing/lead generation partner.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
CRI competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Service Management Group (SMG): SMG is a customer experience management provider specializing in Customer Satisfaction Index measurement, mystery shopping, and employee engagement for automotive retail and other verticals — directly overlapping CRI's CSI and mystery shopping core.
- MaritzCX: MaritzCX designs and runs customer experience measurement, loyalty, and contact center programs for automotive and other verticals — directly comparable to CRI's managed CSI plus contact center offering.
- Birdeye: Birdeye is a reputation management and customer engagement platform collecting reviews across Google, Facebook, and other sites — a near direct competitor to CRI's sister brand SureCritic.
- Podium: Podium is a customer interaction and review management platform widely adopted by auto dealers and SMBs; directly competes with SureCritic for in-store review generation and customer messaging.
- Reputation.com: Reputation.com is a comprehensive reputation management platform with review generation, listings, and social engagement — directly comparable to SureCritic's review and social feature set.
Broad incumbents
- Qualtrics: Qualtrics is a broad enterprise CX and survey platform used for customer satisfaction, NPS, and experience management — overlaps with CRI's CSI measurement capability as a larger, more general-purpose incumbent.
- West Technology Group (Intrado): West/Intrado operates a large-scale contact center and customer communication business; overlaps with CRI's outbound/inbound teleservices and IVR capabilities from a much broader portfolio.
- Teleperformance: Teleperformance is a global BPO and contact center operator offering outsourced sales, service, and CX programs — large incumbent competitor to CRI's contact center marketing programs.
Regional players
- DealerSocket (Solera): DealerSocket provides CRM, marketing, and customer engagement tools specifically for automotive dealers; serves the same dealer customer base as CRI but via integrated software rather than managed services.
Emerging players
- CallSource / CallTrackingMetrics: CallSource and CallTrackingMetrics provide call intelligence, lead attribution, and BDC analytics for auto dealers — partial overlap with CRI's contact center and BDC Booster marketing analytics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
CRI social profiles
Digital presenceCRI financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CRI leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
CRI subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
CRI funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CRI M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CRI
What does CRI do?
CRI (Customer Research, Inc.) provides customer satisfaction measurement, full-service inbound/outbound contact center operations, and reputation management services to businesses. The company's flagship Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) program conducts real-time post-sale survey follow-up and reporting, while the in-house contact center delivers lead generation, appointment setting, telemarketing, and lost-customer recapture. CRI also resells its sister company's SureCritic reputation management platform for verified online review collection and management.
Is CRI a public or private company?
CRI is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was CRI founded?
CRI was founded in 1967. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is CRI based?
CRI is headquartered in Seahurst, United States, in the North America region.
How does CRI make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. CSI Measurement Services are the primary driver. The others are contact Center Services, reputation Management (SureCritic), contact Center Marketing Programs and mystery Shopping.
Who are CRI's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Service Management Group (SMG), MaritzCX, Birdeye, Podium and Reputation.com. Broad incumbents are Qualtrics, West Technology Group (Intrado) and Teleperformance. DealerSocket (Solera) is listed as a regional player. CallSource / CallTrackingMetrics is listed as an emerging player.
Does CRI have an API?
No public API is recorded for CRI.
What industry is CRI in?
CRI's product category is Customer Experience Management Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEAFAD, Customer Success & Account Management CRM, with a secondary code of BPAFAFAK, Customer Service/Support CRM & Contact Center Platforms. Its NAICS code is 541910.