To find the most profitable customers in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) practice is an ongoing process where many companies fail to deliver the answer. This paper outlines various definitions of CRM, strategies, processes and the use of technology along with the various paradoxes that accompany Customer Relationship Management.
Defining CRM is not straight-forward as there are numerous definitions, taking three recent definitions the basic framework of CRM is, an overall process of building and maintaining profitable relationships by delivering customer satisfaction, customer value (Sen and Sinha, 2011) and enabling a firm to measure it’s customer equity as to improve the firm’s profitability (Fan and Ku, 2010). CRM is a
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According to Chan (2005), this is where all interactions should be tracked from distribution channels, sales and marketing, right through to the front of business service staff. As true feelings from customers can be captured through informal conversations with sales and service staff and using these inquiries can help build a customer’s profile. This is where the marketing concept is relevant, as to build these long-term, profitable relationships, the understanding of the customers’ needs is critical.
External knowledge sharing is very crucial in CRM for improving a company’s performance, for example the sharing of knowledge between an airline and a travel agency to purchase tickets. As well as the internal knowledge, for instance the sharing of knowledge within that travel agency. CRM is used within a social business like healthcare, financial services for the poor, or mission orientated business but these businesses are not measured on the profit made in a given period. With social businesses, fairness and trustworthiness is the goal (Gershoff et al., 2012).
For CRM to succeed within the hospitality and tourism it is thought that loyalty is vitally important and the longer the company keeps its customers, the more profit can be gained over a longer term (Kutner and Cripps, 1997; Gupta and Lehmann, 2003). Though Kumar and Rajan (2009) emphasise, “that managing customers for loyalty, however, does not amount to managing them for profitability. On the
CRM is a process that turns the customer’s data into customers’ loyalty through activities which is collecting customers’ data, analysing customer data and identify target customers, developing CRM through programs and implement CRM programs.
The most effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are deliberately designed to align and enhance the strategic initiatives and programs of a given business or enterprise. They must take into account customer preferences, needs and wants as well, and strive to create a foundation of shared information and insight over time There are a myriad of studies that show how effective CRM systems are in transforming businesses and making them more customer-centric, profitable and responsive to rapidly changing market requirements. The level of adoption and continued use of CRM systems also assures a company's culture stays agile enough to respond to changing market conditions while also keeping the level of expertise and knowledge about customers continually growing (Chen, Chiu, 2010). Having a single system of record pertaining to all customer interactions give companies a competitive advantage in that they have greater insight into how prospects make buying decisions (Wang, Feng, 2012). When implementing a CRM system there are five critical success factors that are essential to its success and these include cost, risk, scope, time, and quality. The most effective CRM implementations that deliver the greatest value balance all five of these factors and synchronize them together to create strategies that deliver consistently profitable results. These five critical success factors are essential
For most business owners, they would all be in agreement and say that the connection they have with their customers is very important to them because it decides if the business is going to be a great success, or if the business is going to take a nose-dive. As a result, of an increase in customer standards and financial difficulties most firms no matter how big they are, they are taking a second look and thinking about how technology can help them to develop healthier and stronger relationships, and how to capitalize on their business. The best way to handle this situation is to choose a good customer relationship management system this can help a business they can become more efficient while maximizing their productivity. However, CRM systems could only be used by enterprise organizations; that has all changed this system is now being used as an influential factor when determining how well an organization will do (Saab, 2011).
An effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program can be used to identify, retain, satisfy and obtain customers by using technology to optimize strategies for understanding customers’ needs to manage business interactions with current, former, and prospective customers. Additionally, CRM also enables companies to maximize internal, external, marketing and customer service operations to better address the needs of the customer building a better relationship with customers that a more profitable. (Ahmad & Buttle, 2001)
It is imperative to satisfy customers and give them an amazing experience at the company. While it cost less to sell to existing customers and companies can increase profit by selling to the same customers; if customers are satisfied, there is more chance they will come back for more services or products. Satisfied customers are a free marketing for the company. However, it is the opposite if customers are dissatisfied. Dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people about his or her experience (O’Brien, A & Marakas, G. 2004). If by any reason, representatives see that the customer is not satisfy, they should act fast and fix the problem. Furthermore, there is more chance for sale representatives to sell to an existing customer that to a new customer. A good strategy for customer retention is to reward good customers. Companies can easily do
Today, customer relationship management is very important to the business world. Most of the companies established a department and the programs to manage their relationship with the customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy which designed to help a company to understand and look forward to the needs of its potential and current customers (Anderson & Stang, 2000). Customer data is being collected in several different areas of the company, stored in a central database, analyzed, and distributed to key points (Anderson & Stang, 2000).The business world once was “product-centric”, the companies just provided what they could produce. However, it is now become “customer-centric”, they provide products and service
According to (FORMAN), “CRM is a business and technology discipline for coordinating all of the firm’s business process in sales marketing and services that involve its interactions with customers. CRM consolidate customer data from multiple sources and communication channels from to help firms identify profitable customers, acquire new customers , improve service and support , and target products and services more precisely to customer preference”.
In today’s competitive market, all customer facing organizations (including banks), have realized the importance of customer insight, to grow further. A good CRM strategy is a key factor to differentiate with competitors and create good branding among customer base. Any Bank that cannot leverage CRM, have failed to improve revenue and customer satisfaction.
Today, more and more companies find that cultivating customer loyalty is a key factor to achieve success. Customer relationship management (CRM) focuses on the relationship between customer and company. Due to this feature, many companies are trying to establish their own CRM system for helping them to connect new customers and boost old customers’ long-term loyalty. CRM systems include operations and analysis, and relationship marketing strategy and supporting, customer-centric business processes (Buttle 2004). With the development of information technology (IT), using CRM system
One of the most expensive and difficult tasks facing any business is acquiring new customers. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times as much as retaining an existing customer. Research has shown that 2% increase in customer retention can decrease costs by as much as 10% for a business. To retain current customers, businesses engage in relationship marketing strategies to continually attract repeat business. While both current and new customers must be acknowledged and respected, the ultimate goal is to turn every new customer into a returning customer.
Increased customer satisfaction as the CRM primary focus is for building the relationship of an enterprise with its customer base
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Customer relation management (CRM) is a cross functional enterprise system that computerizes numerous customers serving form in direct marketing, sales, customer service and accounting management. CRM allows a company to distinguish and focus on their best customer so that they can be held as a loyal customer for a longer period of time.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had
CRM is about the implementation of a specific technology solution project CRM is the implementation of an integrated series of customer-oriented technology solutions CRM is a holistic strategic approach to managing customer relationships in order to create
Customer relationship management (CRM) is widely implemented and centralized system which offers a place for interaction under a company. An employee can handle again the repeated problem which occurred in the past by re-investigate it. Besides, CRM provides a place to identify what customers wants. Employees can track customer’s expectation by their feedback and communication that can improve their buying experience and stay interact with customer in order to understand their true needs.CRM also has ability to let the company see the customer interaction in clear picture. Different customers from different segments require different products and services, but this complex situation can handle well by CRM. Furthermore, CRM provides quality and efficiency system in the company management that helps company achieves their success by building long-term customer relationship.