Why CRM?

The costs associated with finding new customers mean that every existing customer could
be important.

CRM can be achieved by:

 finding out about your customers' purchasing habits, opinions and preferences
 profiling individuals and groups to market more effectively and increase sales
 changing the way you operate to improve customer service and marketing

Benefiting from CRM is not just a question of buying the right software. You must also adapt
your business to the needs of your customers.

CRM: What are the benefits?

 Develop better communication channels
 Collect vital data, like customer details and order histories
 Create detailed profiles such as customer preferences
 Deliver instant, company-wide access to customer histories
 Identify new selling opportunities

How can you measure CRM benefits?

CRM benefits can be measured and quantified. Using CRM applications can lead to increases in
revenue from:
 A higher percentage of cross-selling due to offering a single point of contact with your
company
 More success in attracting new customers and closing deals faster, through quicker and
more efficient responses to customer leads and customer information
 Simplification of marketing and sales processes by understanding customer needs
 Better customer service - through improved responsiveness and understanding that builds
customer loyalty and decreases customer "churn"
Customers' expectations
Rule No 1 - You cannot assume that you know what a customer's expectations are ... You must
ask.
Rule No 2 - Customer expectations will constantly change so they must be determined on an on-
going basis.
The expectations of different customers for the same product or service will vary according to:
 social and demographic factors
 economic situation
 educational standards
 competitor products
 experience

Therefore, given all these variable factors, it is no surprise that one size certainly does not fit all.
Ask your customers what is important to them. Find out why your customers do business with
you.
 price
 Quality
 product
 location
 customer service

When you ask you might discover some factors that you'd perhaps never even considered, for
example:
 health and safety support
 systems compatibility
 contract structure
 distribution flexibility
 technical support
 troubleshooting and problem-solving, to name just a few

What service features will keep your customers loyal to you? Find out.

 
Characteristics of excellent CRM
The following characteristics are associated with delivery of excellent CRM:
 reliability
 responsiveness
 accessibility
 safety
 courtesy
 consideration
 communication
 recognising the customer
 competence

Features of good CRM

The old viewpoint in industry was: 'Here's what we can make - who wants to buy our product?'
The new viewpoint in industry is:
 'what exactly do our customers want and need?' and
 'what do we need to do to be able to produce and deliver it to our customers?'

This is a significant change of paradigm and a quantum leap in terms of how we look at our
business activity.

Benefits of effective CRM

There are significant business benefits which accrue from an effective, integrated Customer
Relationship Management approach. These include:
 reduced costs, because the right things are being done (ie., effective and efficient
operation)
 increased customer satisfaction, because they are getting exactly what they want (ie.,
exceeding expectations)
 ensuring that the focus of the organization is external
 growth in numbers of customers
 maximisation of opportunities (eg., increased services, referrals, etc.)
 increased access to a source of market and competitor information
 highlighting poor operational processes
 long term profitability and sustainability

Various Benefits of a CRM system

CRM is more than just the next wave of computer-aided marketing, it's a way of doing business. If
this does not make sense to you, please (re)read the section on the Customer Relationship
Management definition. 

Shared or distributed data

As companies realize that customer relationships are happening on many levels (not just through
customer service or a web presence), they start to understand the need for sharing all available data
throughout the organization.

Cost reduction
A strong point in Customer Relationship Management is that it is making the customer a partner in
your business, not just a subject. As customers are doing their own order entry, and are empowered
to find the info they need to come to a buy decision, less order entry and customer support staff is
needed.

1. Better Customer Service

All data concerning interactions with customers is centralized. The customer service
department can greatly benefit from this, because they have all the information they need at
their fingertips. No need to guess, no need to ask the customer for the N-th time.
2. Increased Customer Satisfaction
In my opinion, the term satisfaction is a contaminated. Many companies think that if
customers are satisfied that this is a good predictor for repeat business. However, this is not
the case. Only delighted customers have a great level of loyalty.
3. Better Customer Retention
If a CRM system can help to enchant customers, this will increase customer loyalty,
and they will keep coming back to buy again and again, hence customer retention.
4. Loyal customers
Need I say more? Q.E.D.
5. More repeat business
The repeat business is coming from the delighted customers, who are turned from
doubting clients into loyal advocates.
6. More new business
If you are delivering the ultimate customer experience, this will seed the word-of-mouth
buzz, which will spawn more new business.
7. More Profit!
More business at lower cost equals more profit.
 Types /variation

 Sales force automation

This allows sales representatives to pursue more clients in a shorter amount of time than
would otherwise be possible
 Marketing
CRM systems for marketing help the enterprise identify and target potential clients and
generate qualified leads for the sales team. A key marketing capability is tracking and
measuring multichannel campaigns, including email, search, social media, telephone and
direct mail. Metrics monitored include clicks, responses, leads, deals, and revenue.
 Customer Service and Support
Recognizing that service is an important differentiator, organizations are increasingly turning
to technology platforms to help them improve their clients’ experience while aiming to
increase efficiency and minimize costs.
 Analytics
Relevant analytics capabilities are often interwoven into applications for sales, marketing,
and service. Sales analytics let companies monitor and understand client actions and
preferences, through sales forecasting and data quality.
 Integrated/Collaborative
Departments within enterprises — especially large enterprises — tend to function with little
collaboration.[7] More recently, the development and adoption of these tools and services
have fostered greater fluidity and cooperation among sales, service, and marketing.
 Small Business
Basic client service can be accomplished by a contact manager system, an integrated solution
that lets organizations and individuals efficiently track and record interactions, including
emails, documents, jobs, faxes, scheduling, and more. These tools usually focus on accounts
rather than individual contacts
 Social Media
Customers can now research companies online and then ask for recommendations through
social media channels, making their buying decision without contacting the company.
  Non-profit and Membership-based

Systems for non-profit and membership-based organizations help track constituents and their involvement in the

organization. Capabilities typically include tracking the following: fund-raising, demographics, membership levels,

membership directories, volunteering and communications with individuals.

Implementation
Implementation Issues

 Poor planning:

 Poor integration:

 Toward a solution

How to implement CRM

The implementation of a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy is
best treated as a six-stage process, moving from collecting information about your customers and
processing it to using that information to improve your marketing and the customer experience.

Stage 1 - Collecting information

Stage 2 - Storing information
Stage 3 - Accessing information
Stage 4 - Analysing customer behaviour
Stage 5 - Marketing more effectively
Stage 6 - Enhancing the customer experience

Potential drawbacks of CRM

 lack of commitment :
There could be a lack of commitment from people within the company to the
implementation of a CRM solution. Adapting to a customer-focused approach may require a
cultural change.

 Poor communication :
 Poor communication can prevent buy-in. In order to make CRM work, all the relevant
people in your business must know what information you need and how to use it.

 Weak leadership :
Weak leadership could cause problems for any CRM implementation plan. The onus is on
management to lead by example and push for a customer focus on every project.

 complete solution :
Trying to implement CRM as a complete solution in one go is a tempting but risky strategy.

 Data protection :
You must also ensure you comply with the eight principles of the Data Protection Act that
govern the processing of information on living, identifiable individuals. For more
information, see our guide on how to comply with data protection legislation.

 Adopting rigid rules :

Avoid adopting rigid rules which cannot be changed. Rules should be flexible to allow the
needs of individual customers to be met.

Aspects of a Customer Relationship Management Definition

In my opinion, the Customer Relationship Management definition entails the following:

1. Know your CUSTOMER, his needs, wants and motives

2. Appreciate the length, width and depth of the RELATIONSHIP between the customer and your
organization
3. Proper MANAGEMENT of all interactions with the customer

 Know your Customer

 Appreciate the relationship

 Manage the interactions

INTRODUCTION - CRM

CRM is indeed one of the most important factors in the business equation. It is through the
customers that sales and profits generated, the business direction is aligned and new
opportunities evolved.

Customers are purchasers of goods and services which the company sells, and can be both
internal and external. Internal customers could be end users of products and services from a
different division within the same company, and external customers could be those from a
different company, within the same state, country, or international customers.

The ways of tracking and handling internal, local and international customers vary, and each
must be handled in ways which best optimize business growth.

The Customer Relation module is developed to keep all

considerations in mind, and helps the company structurally
tracks, monitors and develop the most optimum delivery
and contact path for each group of customers, all in an
automated and structured manner.

The primary Customer Relation modules which are

important in all types of business includes
- Customer Information System
- Marketing
- Sales
- Order Fulfillment
- Returns & Claims
- Report & Survey

Each of these modules work coherently to handle, store,  

feedback and manage all customers’ accounts
automatically. The system inherently automates and Modules of CRM
governs the overall customer relation operations
structurally.

1. MARKETING

The Marketing process is in effect the front door to any business organization. This Marketing
module guides and automates the process of sustaining existing customers, developing new
customers/markets, surveys, follow-up, meeting customers, etc. It uses the customer
information system for analyzing and maintaining existing customers, and also stores records of
potential customers, the demographics of potential markets, and survey analysis results.
Coupled with the Marketing Calendar, his module enables close follow-up for each customer
every time, and together with the personal information profile, arms marketing personal with
the leverage of the most up to date customer information, accessible with a touch of a button.
Potential customers are also alerted with reminders set for follow up. The system ensures that
NO potential business is left un-explored. Enquiries can be automatically replied with an
interim message, followed by a formal reply by marketing personnel.
The typical sub-modules included within this module are:
- Marketing Calendar
- Customer Trigger System
- Reminder System
- Field Reporting
- Marketing Analysis
- Promotion & Feedback Analysis
- Customer Account Information
- Order Management

2. CUSTOMER INFORMATION SYSTEM

The Customer Information System is common to all types of business organizations, whether in
the manufacturing, service, trading, food industry, or community sector.
This information primarily contains customer contact information, company profile, personal
profile, historical queries, events, business dealings, feedbacks, etc. The sub-modules attached
includes:
- Company Information
- Contacts Information
- Transaction & Queries
- Event Log & Trigger
- Category & Profile

3. SALES

The Sales process ensures all parts ordered, arrive at the customer site at the correct time, with
the correct quality, mix and correct cost. This system also addresses any customer enquiry,
provides tracking information for customer and schedules.
Using information of customers from the Customer Information System and Marketing
analysis, reports and other information; this Sales module automatically tracks and triggers
personnel for follow up, generates the required paperwork, and can report periodically on
performances.
The typical sub-modules included are:
- Acknowledgement system
- Distribution System
- Trader / 3rd Party
- Customer Enquiry Support System
- Escalation / Cancellation
- Trafficking & Packaging
- Freight / Insurance / Warehousing
- Tax & Clearance
- Order Processing
 4. ORDER FULFILLMENT

The Order Fulfillment process is the process of scheduling and planning for the delivery of goods and
services to the customer. This system obtains information from the Customer Information, Marketing,
Shipping, system constraints, stocks, and other inputs in order to start a Lot/Form flow. The method and
schedule for delivery is predetermined by the system, given the various inputs, constraints, stocks,
personnel, etc. This system is designed to trigger for automated close-loop follow-up, in order to ensure
all orders are fulfilled within the specified pre-defined window times. This system will also trigger other
sub-modules for acknowledgement, feedback, transportation, delivery methods, etc.
The typical sub-modules included are:
- Delivery Configuration
- Distribution Channel
- Constraint Management
- Scheduling & Planning
- Acknowledgement
5. RETURNS & CLAIMS

The Returns & Claims module addresses the product or services returns and claims, due to error in quality,
quantity, mix, unsatisfactory or wrong services, damages, shelf
life expired, product discontinued etc.
The system provides the supervisor information of events, orders, etc; and also provides a feedback to the
organization as to all claims request from customers. Where rectifications or repairs need to be made, this
system will route products or services through the correct configuration model and re-initiate the supply
chain. Where replacement parts needs to be delivered, the system will route request accordingly with
different priorities. This system is integral in the process of customer satisfaction. The typical sub-modules
included are:
- Claims Form
- Returns Form
- Defect Tracking
- Product Expiry / Discontinued
- Stock Rotation
- Reclassification
- Re-order Form

6. REPORT & SURVEY

The Report & Survey module provides the feedback mechanism as to the performance of not only the
whole customer relation, but also the business in general. This module includes automated feedback
forms, survey results, custom “report-cards”, delivery & performance reports, auditable event records;
as a means for management of customer relation strategic decision making. The typical sub-modules
included are:
- Customer Audit / Feedback
- Internal Supply Report
- External Survey Report
- Event Chain Report