Category: Customer Relationship Management

Companies That Live and Breathe Their Customers

Analysis is the study of the ways people purchase decisions with regard to a product, service or organization. The most common approaches to customer behaviour are cognitive, behaviourist and psychodynamic. The cognitive approach to consumer behaviour emphases on information processing capabilities of consumers. According to this approach, the customer’s environment and social experience can provide them with processed information, in which the outcome results in individuals behaving in a certain way. Thus, information from external sources can impact customer manners in different ways. As for the behaviourist approach, it is more associated with external factors and events, yet customers may not be totally aware of the effect of the external environment. For example, practical application of this approach can be witnessed in Nescafe products, where its integrated marketing strategy raises certain patterns of behaviours amongst target customers, in which customers believe that a consumption of a cup of Nescafe in the morning is an essential. The third approach is the psychodynamic approach, which consists of all psychology theories that perceive human functioning according to the interaction of the person’s drivers and forces. In the field of customer behaviour, the psychodynamic approach is associated with the behavioural approach, however the psychodynamic covers greater scope than the latter (Dudovskiy, 2015).

The value-based segmentation is where the household is used as the unit of analysis in this approach. 9 profitability groups are resulted from base division, partitioned on visit frequency. In contrast with the value – based segmentation, this behavioural-based segmentation refers to the individual as the unit of analysis. In order to be involved in the base, a customer should have completed a purchase, has visited the stores twice at least and has purchased at least 5 items in the past year. In lifestyle-based segmentation, the individual is also used as the level of analysis. However, lifestyle segmentation systems depend on prior individual categorization and products they are expected to buy. Finally, the activity level based segmentation is applied where the analysis is applied at the individual level and takes a 15-month period to classify customers as ‘active’, ‘normal’ or ‘passive’ in terms of purchase and frequency (Cooil et al. 2007). Being orientated toward consumers is more than just delivering a successful product or operating a contact center. For the business it is a cultural way of life and influences everything from employee engagement to customer service.

Customer-centered businesses live and breathe their customers and have unforgettable experiences with a specific focus. They are creative, and they are doing good in the world. Such businesses are transforming their markets and are therefore met with success and sales increases. Brands with exemplary consumer service produce 5.7 times as much revenue as their rivals. Financial benefits and good customer-focused communities are created by businesses investing in customer service. Amazon as well as Zappos are excellent examples of customer-centric companies that have spent years building a community around the consumer and their needs. Their dedication to providing consumer service is real – in addition, if they do not fit into their consumer-centric culture, Zappos is willing to fire employees. There are many levels and dimensions in cultures which make them very resistant to change. Values which demonstrate enduring orientation are at the deepest levels. Customer-centered enterprises are kept together by a core principle that each decision starts with the consumer and anticipates opportunities for advantage. The standards that are common values regarding acceptable or desired actions are a more open level of a community. A growing practice within customer-centered organizations is that staff are supporters of customers (Shah, et al., 2006). Another distinctive quality forms the ability of the individual employee to exchange knowledge with his other compatriots, so that the whole organization is in a better position to meet the needs of the customer. Conversely, in many companies a damaging practice is that sales ‘own the customer,’ which significantly impedes exchange of knowledge. Customer-centered societies are further influenced by values, and people use mental models to make sense of a complex, fluctuating business fact. There are two distinctive assumptions within consumer-centered companies that knowledge comes from working with consumers and that customer loyalty is the secret to long-term profitability (Shah, et al., 2006).

Cultural change is the product of behavioral change. While culture is typically the most significant barrier to change, there is little proof that initiatives directed specifically at changing a culture are likely to succeed. Shift in culture is accomplished by changing behavior habits and helping workers understand how they benefit from the new behaviors and enhance performance. As in every change plan, there must be dedication, determination and constant contact from senior management to resolve the unavoidable impediments. But if there is a sense of urgency and a clear strategic argument the chances of success are greatly improved. Therefore, it is possible to consider change in the structure and processes of the company and base the benefits on metrics focusing on customers (Shah, et al., 2006).

An ideal customer-centric organization implies integration and coordination of all organizational operations to achieve superior customer satisfaction. This is as opposed to a traditional product-centered organization structured around functional silos and identified by product categories or type of product. These organizations are to have general managers and sales managers assigned to each type of company or general. As such, the organizational structure and personnel are ill dependent on the form of product(s) that are being manufactured and distributed (Shah, et al., 2006). There is still room for learning after setting up a customer-centered organization and quality improvement to maintain the performance success and strategic advantage achieved by customer centricity. The learning cycle and quality improvement will also drive creativity in customer-centered firms. Past research has shown that a customer-centered culture is more conducive to the innovativeness of a company in the entire business structure than in products or services alone (Shah, et al., 2006).

Customer relationship management (CRM) aims at increasing the sales of the organization by supporting customer satisfaction, which could be achieved through different strategies such as relationship marketing. Examples of customer retention practices:

1. Onboarding Program Onboarding. Program is a customer retention function that allows new customers to know how to use the product of service to be sell. A company representative teaches customers instead of learning alone and thus trainings are given upon the customer needs. This practice has poved to be time-efficient and goal achieving.
2. Customer Feedback Loop. The ideal way of improving the business and serving better products is obtaining the customer feedback which is to be shared with the rest of the organization. This loop offers a system of collecting, analyzing and distributing reviews and surveys of customers.
3. Communication Calendar. Proactivity with the team’s communication is a must, even if customers aren’t reaching out with feedback. Reestablishing the connection with customers who are recently not interacting is an efficient way to maintain a good relationship with the customers. A communication calendar has proved its efficiency through engaging customers and giving them opportunities to ‘upsell’ and ‘cross-sell’. This calendar tracks customer communication and is a good way to improve it.
4. Customer Loyalty Program. It is important to focus equally on customers who are about to churn and loyal customers as well. It is essential to maintain fairness in the effort given to loyal customers and people who don’t love the brand. This practice gives loyal customers a chance to get rewarded. The higher they interact with the brand, the more they get rewarded.
5. Customer Advisory Board. Because the most loyal customers are the most valuable ones, they are the ones who can make suggestions to improve the brand. Thus, creating a panel of loyal customers helps fine-tune products and service at the seller’s business.
6. Corporate Social Responsibility Program. The seller’s company does not just consist of its product or service. Customers pay enough attention to everything sold by the business to its target population. Any inconsistency noticed by the customers between what the company messages or delivers can make customers identify the ingenuity of the service (Shabana, 2013).

Added value is way to add customer experience but is not always about money and discounts. For example, if a product was not delivered on time, a customer may not be interested in future discounts or continue to purchase the product. What is added value? First off – it’s not always about money, or discounts. Of course, these do add value but they are far from the only way to add to a customer experience and sometimes won’t have the desired effect. Think about it, if you’ve had a bad experience as a customer – maybe a product hasn’t been delivered on time – a discount on a future purchase may not be that well received. Perhaps a simple message explaining the issue and providing an accurate update on the situation (and an apology) would be more valuable to you as a customer at that moment of time. Having said that, offering a discount or voucher will probably give your communications greater clout in certain circumstances. The key is knowing when what is more suitable. For example, in a recent Experian survey on personalisation we asked consumers how they felt about brands using their personal data to tailor their marketing. One of the most telling insights was that consumers were much more accepting of personalised communications on their birthdays if that data was used to add value and provide a benefit.

In that same survey on personalisation we asked people for the most acceptable uses of their personal data and the top responses were all instances of brands providing value to customers – but the definition of value differed depending on the customer’s situation. Other results included 27% of respondents being happy for their data to be used to provide information on products similar to past purchases and 21% saying they’d be happy for their data to be used for prompts for items that may need to be purchased on a regular basis. Clearly customers see these as valuable. So what is value?

In order to answer that question we have drawn up the below characteristics of value. We consider all of these are justifications for getting in touch. If you find yourself writing or building something that does not comprehensively tick at least one of these boxes then stop, you’re not adding value and you need to rethink why you’re doing it. Understanding your customer is the key to adding value In order to apply the correct value to the correct customer at the correct time you need to have a thorough understanding of your customers and a flexible approach to interacting with them. The ability to do that relies on having accurate data and having that data compiled so that you have a complete and robust view of each customer, plus the necessary tools and systems in place to implement your messages. You need to know your customers in order to add the relevant definition of value to improve their customer journey and experience. You should always look to add value because if you’re not, all you’re really doing is talking about yourself. Even your most loyal and valuable customer doesn’t want to hear you talking about yourself. They want to hear about themselves and all the great stuff they can have, do or get involved in. Being orientated toward consumers is more than just delivering a successful product or operating a contact center. For the business it is a cultural way of life and influences everything from employee engagement to customer service. Customer-centered businesses live and breathe their customers and have unforgettable experiences with a specific focus. They are creative, and they are doing good in the world (Gilliland, 2019). Such businesses are transforming their markets and are therefore met with success and sales increases. Brands with exemplary consumer service produce 5.7 times as much revenue as their rivals. Financial benefits and good customer-focused communities are created by businesses investing in customer service.

Netflix as the Main Original Content Creator

While Netflix has not yet fundamentally altered the face of television, it has certainly expanded the definition by offering creators a new playground in which to experiment and by pushing the boundaries of what is considered commonplace. Since its inception, Netflix has been changing the ways that viewers access, control, and watch television.

Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, Netflix began as a mail-order DVD service. Instead of going to a local store like Blockbuster, Netflix delivered entertainment right to your door. While Blockbuster offered customers the ability to obtain new releases on-demand, Netflix capitalized on a separate, undervalued part of the market. By appealing to the desires of customers who didn’t need their movies immediately but would prefer the convenience of delivery and the cost-effectiveness the company provided in comparison to Blockbuster, Netflix carved out its own share of the in-home entertainment market. Fast-forward two decades later, and Netflix is now a 21st-century staple. Ten years after delivering its billionth DVD, Netflix expanded into internet video-on-demand, which offered a revolutionary way of watching TV (CITE). Instead of airing episodes weekly, viewers could consume an entire season in one sitting, which has come to be understood as ‘binge-watching’.

However, while they were doing exceptionally well at the time, they quickly realized the limitations of the design of their platform. Because none of the content they were streaming belonged to Netflix, they were paying the original network for each show and movie, and there was no guarantee that they would have the rights to stream everything forever. One prominent, recent example of this is ‘The Office’, which used to be available on Netflix, but the liberties have recently been taken away, and now it can only be streamed on Hulu. In response to this curb, Netflix expanded from just a streaming platform to becoming the creator of original content.

The first attempt was the Netflix original series ‘House of Cards’, which passed with flying colors. This success was of no surprise to the company, as the show was entirely created out of data that indicated there would be a consistent, loyal audience for it. As suggested by this example, much of Netflix’s success derives from its ability to leverage big data. Before streaming services like Netflix, networks had a monopoly on television. In the words of Kevin Reilly, former chairman of Fox News, “if you wanted to do television, you were coming to network television first” (SSS: BDFE). Networks were the golden ticket to success. But the advent of Netflix allowed creators to sidestep the control and restrictions imposed by networks. ‘Traditional television’, which refers to linear platforms such as broadcast networks, basic cable channels, and premium cable networks, had to comply with specific rules and regulations. These linear platforms are restricting because their shows are distributed, often weekly, through time slots on a live schedule. Broadcasters are limited to a standard broadcast schedule that meets the needs of all of their viewers; thus, they cannot play 13 hours’ worth of one show as that would crowd out all of the network’s other programming for the day (SSS: BDFE). Structurally, television shows have to fit into precise 22- or 44-minute chunks, depending on whether the show will be broadcast in a 30-minute or 60-minute slot (CITE). Within these slots, the writer has to build in time to refresh viewers of plot elements from previous episodes aired a week prior, as well as time in the middle for commercials. Lastly, they also need to include ‘mini cliff-hangers’ to keep the audience on edge so they will be back for next week’s episode (SSS: BDFE). But before writers can even make it to this stage, they are required to have their pilot episodes approved. Television networks rely on pilot episodes to determine whether there is an audience for a show. Creating a pilot episode is not easy; not only are they expensive, but they also require the writers to introduce and develop the show’s characters, plot elements, and story arc in a 30- or 60-minute broadcast time slot (SSS: BDFE). If the network likes the pilot, they might initially order six to twelve episodes, but even then, there’s no guarantee that the series will go any further. The networks maintain control over shows, giving the creator’s little creative liberty, and if the show does not succeed off the bat, then they have no problem cutting it off.

Recently, Netflix conducted a study using its data to detail how long it takes audiences to get hooked to different shows. Certain shows, such as ‘Breaking Bad’, have a majority of its viewers hooked after two episodes, while ‘Arrow’ took around eight episodes to get the same results. If ‘Arrow’ was only given the chance to succeed in six episodes, it would not have made the cut, which represents a crushing blow for the manner in which Network Television packages its product; not a single show’s hook point was its pilot. These statistics suggest that networks’ dependence on pilots to predict a show’s future success can be a risky process, and that streaming services have a unique edge with viewers because of their ability to disseminate entire shows at once.

It is also important to note that not all content is created equally. Not only are Network television writers and producers limited by time constraints they are also regulated in terms of the actual substance of their shows. Series that air on cable television are held to traditional censorship guidelines, while content that streams online is, for all intents and purposes, a free for all. Streamed content may expose viewers to an explicit nudity or a gory bloody battle at any moment and it can be this risqué touch that draws us in.

As the number of avenues for programming has grown, creators have several distribution options, each offering varying degrees of creative freedom and autonomy. Programs aired on TV are regulated by industrial, organizational, and commercial factors that have a substantial impact on artistic freedom. The FCC has long regulated broadcast television, censoring any content it determines to be obscene, indecent, and profane. Although the Television Code of the National Association of Broadcasters has been dissolved, much of their regulations are set (such as the prohibition of profanity, drunkenness, and the irreverent portrayal of God), and continue to persist within the networks’ individual standards and practices departments, limiting to this day what can and cannot be shown on broadcast television. In 1996, government pressures resulted in the establishment of a content rating system, which grouped programs into categories that ranged from TV-Y (appropriate for all children) to TV-MA (mature audiences only). Basic cable, which is not subject to regulation from the FCC, is still restrained by guidelines and expectations.

Netflix, free of commercials and regulation, allows and even encourages nudity, profanity, and violence, often using these attributes as a way of differentiating itself from broadcast and basic cable. One component of streaming services’ branding is their tendency to push boundaries in ways that other networks cannot. Netflix’s approach to programming is to give virtually free reign to creators. Across broadcast, cable, and streaming, each network approaches the production of a series in a way that is unique to the preferences and priorities of that individual service (CITE). These methods and practices can have varying implications on the creative freedoms of their respective programs. Furthermore, no-ad breaks and binge-watching capabilities aren’t just making TV more convenient; they’re changing the ways television’s stories are told. Allowing viewers to watch one episode after the next with no interruption has given writers the liberty to do much more with their stories. With more time to spare, writers can develop characters on a deeper level, leaving viewers hooked long after they watch the last episode. Additionally, writers don’t have to worry about building up suspense before and after commercial breaks, but rather they get to leave their cliff-hangers for the last few seconds of the episode, tempting the viewer to continue watching the next episode, and the next, and the next. Because viewers can watch one episode after another, a higher degree of narrative complexity is achievable.

Additionally, not every show has to appeal to every subscriber. Because Netflix provides an on-demand streaming platform with a library of a plethora of different options, it can risk offending individual subscribers with the content in some of those options (SSS: BDFE). In the world of broadcast networks, you can deliver only one show at a time to your audience, so that show theoretically has to appeal to as many viewers as possible. Conversely, if a Netflix subscriber is turned off by a gruesome scene or an inappropriate comment, he or she can “choose from more than 100,000 hours of other Netflix content” (SSS: BDFE). To build its subscriber network, Netflix makes use of the ‘long tail’ theory by diversifying its portfolio and licensing a huge library of content that targets niche demands. Because of the wide array of options, each show can have more specialized markets with a distinct voice and a loyal fan-base instead of mass appeal. For decades, the ‘Big Three’ broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, dominated American television. During their reign, television was a mass medium; most programs aimed to appeal to the entire television audience. As the gamut of entertainment outlets has expanded, and barriers to entry have dwindled, the ways in which television audiences are divided, as well as how scripted series are created, distributed, and received has drastically changed. Consequently, Netflix commissions and delivers its scripted series to many different ‘small-but-loyal’ audiences. Netflix’s head of original content Cindy Holland stated, “I don’t think any genres are off-limits to us. We have a large subscriber base that consumes a wide variety of content…We hope to reach the entire subscriber base with at least one original series”. Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of the company, advances this concept of a boundless brand identity by insisting, “I’m not looking to find a single show to define Netflix. That’s almost the opposite of what we’re trying to do. Our brand is all about personalization”.

The goal is not to target one audience or one interest, but to allow each individual user to have the experience that he or she wants. As a result of taking place entirely on the Internet, Netflix streaming collects every viewing habit of a viewer and uses this online data to create the ultimate viewing experience. Utilizing data, Netflix has pushed this idea of personalization to the next level. Consumers want products that are easy to use and tailored to fit their personal preferences. Unlike the media moguls of the traditional entertainment industry dictating national tastes, with Netflix, the consumer is deciding “what they want, when they want it, and how they want it” just by using the platform. The more you watch, the more Netflix learns your tastes (Mcconnell, Jos ; Windsor, Ont). Netflix uses “what people watch, when they watch, how much do they watch, what time of day, on what device, what they watch (before or after) and on what profile” in order to determine what content to put in front of what person at what time (Mcconnell, Jos ; Windsor, Ont). Instead of relying on the general preferences of even the metrics people might choose, Netflix relies on the behavioral choices of users. While one might explain themselves as being an action film junkie, if he or she watches ‘The Notebook’ 5 times in one week, how much value does that statement hold?. Based on these viewing patterns, ‘everything is a recommendation’. Each individual has his or her own profile highlighting shows already watched as well as recommendations based on these preferences. Essentially, each person has a TV channel created just for him or her; no two Netflix profiles are the same. Netflix is, quite literally, a continuously learning machine. Not only has this data been integral in creating ideal user profiles, but it has also contributed to the success of original content by providing insight into what works and what does not in a show, so that they can continuously iterate within their constant cycles of content publishing.

Traditional entertainment authorities do not have the luxury of a direct relationship with their consumers. Nielsen ratings provide incumbent television networks with the general characteristics of viewers from company estimates and other surveys, but they rarely know who their viewers are as individuals; even if they do, there is no easy way for them to promote content directly to those consumers (SSS: BDFE). The closest networks can get to effectively targeting an audience for a new show is to promote it alongside a similar established show (SSS: BDFE). Since 1950, The Nielsen Company, a marketing research firm, has been measuring television audiences and tracking progressions in viewership over time. Programmers and advertisers have been using Nielsen ratings for decades to evaluate their successes and failures, as well as to observe significant trends and phenomena. However, as new technologies have emerged and viewing behavior has evolved, through concepts such as time-shifting and mobile viewing, a single airing is no longer representative of a show’s actual audience size. Instead, traditional entertainment authorities’ decisions are based on long-established patterns rather than direct insight, and typically, these conventions lead to unfavorable choices.

One characteristic that separates Netflix and other streaming services from traditional television outlets is that their series are delivered exclusively over the Internet, giving streaming networks access to vast amounts of data on viewing behaviors and trends that can be used to inform programming decisions. Because other networks rely on third-party platforms for mass distribution, they do not have the same level of access to data collection. In 2013, Netflix became the first streaming service to be nominated and win a Primetime Emmy Award for its web-only original series, ‘House of Cards’. This consequently shook up of the entertainment industry, but this win came as no surprise to the company. Before even seeing a single episode of House of Cards, Netflix committed to two seasons—or 26 episodes—of the show. They did so without hesitation, claiming, “We know what people watch on Netflix, and we’re able with a high degree of confidence to understand how big a likely audience is for a given show based on people’s viewing habits”. Netflix originals are not tailored to a demographic the way Network TV operates, but rather are based around what you supposedly want. So, if you’re not happy with the most recent series of ’Orange Is The New Black’, then arguably, you’ve only got yourself to blame really.

The key to streaming success is identifying overlapping patterns of data. Utilizing data, analysts can identify whether audiences might exist for a combination of a producer, their writing style, a particular genre, specific cast, or some other trait of the show. It is not a matter of merely identifying people who have watched a specific show or enjoy a particular actor, but rather ‘to figure out what everybody who liked ’Benjamin Button’, ‘Seven’, ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Social Network’ has in common. It’s that they love David Fincher’s style of storytelling … .You look at Kevin Spacey fans, and then you say, ‘How about people who love political thrillers?’ We went back and pulled all the political thrillers people have watched and rated highly. So you’ve got all these populations, and right, where they overlap in the middle, is the low-hanging fruit. If we can get the show in front of these people, they will watch it and love it’. (NETFLIX PRIZE). Big data has not only helped shape content to embody audience preferences, but it has also informed the most effective means for marketing this content. Once Netflix has learned customers’ preferences, they market products directly to customers on the basis of this data, giving them a distinct edge over networks that rely on drawn out timescales and third-party insights. Not only can Netflix directly measure the effectiveness of different promotional strategies, they can also design specific promotional campaigns for different types of customers (SSS: BDFE). For example, before releasing ‘House of Cards’, they created multiple trailers for the show. One featured Kevin Spacey (for subscribers who had likes Spacey’s movies); another featured the shows female characters (for subscribers who looks movies with strong female leads); yet another focused on the cinematic nuances of the show (for subscribers who had liked Fincher’s movies) to ensure they attracted all possible target audiences. Through their inherent flexibility, control of their content, and innovations in the viewer experience, Netflix has carved out a more than significant stake in television and movie consumption. While there will likely always be a sect of the market that yearns for the classic movie theatre experience or genuinely enjoys having their Tuesday nights dedicated to their favorite show, Netflix has provided a much sought after outlet for those who prefer refreshing, personalized content viewed on their own schedule.

Having evolved in a near parallel manner to their clientele’s demands, Netflix has been able to keep up and at times outpace competitors and their own viewers, which explains much of how and why they have seen continued growth over the past decade despite turning the company’s mission statement on its head. While the market will continue to evolve with the introductions of new streaming services and innovations in the market, Netflix will almost certainly be right in step with its new competition, as it is important to remember that Netflix’s success is not predicated on capitalizing on any singular trend, but rather on their ability to effectively adapt and iterate continuously. For these reasons, it is hard to foresee a scenario in the near future in which Netflix is overrun or outdone by any one competitor. More often than not, it is Netflix setting the tone for the competition.

Customer Relationship Management for Luxury Brands Using Prada as an Example

Intoduction

Prada is one of the most leading luxury brands in the world and is an Italian brand known as Fratelli Prada. This luxury Brand Company was started operating in 1913 by founder Mario Prada in Milan, Italy by selling luxury and sophisticated goods such as handbags, shoe, and luxury accessories. Mario believes that women should not have a role in business until his daughter took the helm of Prada as his successor and run the business for 20 years.

In 1970’s, the granddaughter of Mario Prada, Miuccia Prada took over the business and make a waterproof backpacks out of Pocone, a nylon fabric. She met her husband, Patrizio Bertelli an Italian who had a leather business and joined the company soon. They turned the label towards haute couture and internationalization. Miuccia inherited the agency in 1978 through which time income have been up to U.S. $450,000.With Bertelli alongside her as commercial enterprise manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity in the company’s designs. She would go on to comprise her ideas into the house of Prada that would trade it and expanded their business across continental Europe.

In 1990s, Prada was become one of the most influential fashion houses. Later Miuccia launched a brand for younger consumer with her nickname as Miu Miu. In 2000s, Prada company revenue increased to US$5 billion till 2010. Prada clothing became available to purchase via online for first time through Net A Porter . They did host a seasonal runaway show on the international fashion in Milan in 1988 and 1983. In 2019, Prada runaway show was shown in New York City at Prada New York’s headquarters.

Prada have 618 over boutiques worldwide and their products increased from handbags to clothing, cosmetics, fashion accessories, watches and perfumes. Prada also have subsidiaries brands such as Church’s, Luna Rossa and Fondazione Prada. Besides that, Prada luxury brand consumer could purchase via online, www.prada.com. Prada create a collection which have high quality, new materials for each new collection with innovative design and fabrics.

Definition of Customer Relationship Management

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) literature recognizes the long-run value of potential and current customers. Increased revenues, profits, and shareholder value are the result of marketing activities directed toward developing, maintaining, and enhancing successful company customer relationships. These activities require an in-depth understanding of the underlying sources of value that the firm both derives from customers, as well as delivers to customers. CRM principles provide a strategic and tactical focus for identifying and realizing sources of value for the customer and the firm and can guide five key organizational processes: making strategic choices, creating value for customers, customer acquisition, customer retention, service quality and loyalty or rewards programme.

The various definitions by the pundits of CRM show how the CRM paradigm is being interpreted and explained. We reproduce below some of these definitions: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy to select and manage customers to optimize long-term value. CRM requires a customer –centric philosophy and culture to support effective marketing, sales and service processes. CRM applications can enable effective customer relationship management, provided that an enterprise has the right leadership, strategy, and culture. CRM extends the concept of selling from a discrete act performed by a salesperson to a continual process involving every person in the company. It is the art/science of gathering and using information about your customers to build customer loyalty and increase customer value. With the current state of information technology, and high customer service expectations, it’s practically impossible to consider these process issues without addressing technology, but it’s important to remember that customer human relationship are the ultimate driving force. CRM is about developing and implementing business strategies and supporting technologies that close the gaps between an organization’s current and potential performance in customer acquisition, growth, and retention. What does it do for an organization? CRM Improves Return on Assets. The asset in this case is the customer and potential customer base.

A close look at the definitions reveals that the business strategy, business process and technology are the common factors. CRM illustrates the changing role that information technology is increasingly assuming in the world of business and the global economy at large. The use of technology is steadily shifting away from its past focus on the products and services and the efficiency gains they offer. Rather, organizations are perceiving technology as a merging of products and services that seamlessly enable new approaches to business activities and redefine how people work and interact with each other. In the future we can expect to see less clearly defined distinctions between what we today consider ‘products’ and ‘services’

The idea behind customer relationship management is to have a single, enterprise view of the customer for the purpose of cultivating high –quality relationship that lead to improved loyalty and profits. This means being able to identify all the products, services, and intermediary relationship that customers have with the organization, as well as knowing all the interactions that have taken place between the customer and the company since the start of the relationship. It means being able to maintain consistency of experience for the customer through all forms of interaction (such as inquiry, order, delivery, and service).

Luxury brands have so far been reluctant to adopt any of the classical tools of mass marketing. One of these is customer relationship management (CRM). Prestigious brands are, however, now starting to examine the benefit of the ‘lifelong customer value ’approach, beyond building the social prestige of their names. Competition has got stronger and more complex. Premium brands have worked on their products and image, and have given birth to ‘new luxury’ – which now threatens traditional luxury’s image and legitimacy, or at least blurs its boundaries. Classic luxury brands have grown a lot themselves. They are now selling evergrowing product arrays on a worldwide scale, and brands can have a tough time controlling their image, or even their distribution. Heavy licensing leading to less control over their distribution channels can damage their image in the long run. Last but not least, customers have changed. The development of ‘new money’ as well as new buying habits (for example, ‘trading-up’) makes it more difficult for brands to address new, chameleon-like customers. Even the customers who love luxury now split their expenses between a growing number of brands, which can be luxury and non-luxury brands, or even mass-market brands such as Zara, Mango and so on. Thus advantages of CRM help the business to be prior to the customer.

Discussion of Advantages of CRM

CRM helps turn your company into informational organization. The more you know about your customers, the better you’ll be able to provide them documented, and recorded. To do this, you need to move beyond the sticky notes and disorganized filing cabinets, and start using advanced organizational technology that with the kind of positive experience that really pays off. Everything that they do, and every interaction they have with your organization, needs to be identified, can not only accurately quantify and categorize data for easy future reference, but can also make that data available across departments. Thanks to CRM, this all becomes a possibility; it allows you to store a vast list of customers and any important information regarding them. Access to their file is even more convenient than before, due to the cloud. So no matter who it is that is helping the customer in question, they’ll have the same actionable data instantly available. This will result in less wasted time for clients and employees. For example, Prada consumers can access to Prada digital technology or online to view or to purchase the product.

Your time is valuable, but so is your customers’ time. And, should your customers experience a problem that needs resolution, they’re going to be unhappy unless that problem can be taken care of quickly. With CRM, as soon as a customer contacts your company, your representatives will be able to retrieve all available activity concerning past purchases, preferences, and anything else that might assist them in finding a solution. In many cases, your more experienced representatives, armed with past information and history, will be able to locate a solution within the first few minutes, thanks to an accessible database of potential issues. And, should a solution not be readily apparent, then bringing in other representatives, or even crowdsourcing for answers through customer portals, is a simple matter. With CRM, customer support becomes a walk in the park. For Example, Prada consumer can go to the boutiques or walk to any Prada fashion show to have a picture what kind of seasonal design or fashion will be released to be more up to date.

Customers who develop a relationship with you will share their opinions more often. After all, if they trust you, they will expect you to listen to them. This will motivate them to tell you about opportunities they see for improving your products or services. This customer feedback can be invaluable. And if you act on it, you prove to customers that you really do listen. That can raise their opinions of you to even greater heights. People trust the opinions of friends and family members more than any form of advertising. If you get a customer like your brand enoughto recommend it to others, you’ve just recruited a marketer more effective than anyone on your staffand you don’t even have to pay them.

Discussion on Disadvantages of CRM in Business

If it’s a small business, the issues of training aren’t so much pronounced. Nonetheless, the large companies will be required to roll out training sessions for the workers. For CRM of larger scale, this will mean appointing professional to conduct the training. In many occasions, training deprives the company the time required for enhancing productivity, so this is quite a disadvantage for new CRM applications. Additionally, the CRM training is usually different for the staff and managers because a good number of these applications have specialized features and functions for executive and managers. What’s more, these additional features also require training. It should be known that the training session can be short (take a few hours) or even longer, taking several days. For example, Prada need to give their employees training phase with the new systemwhich can took a lot of time and the employee’s must know progress of Prada Company in and out.

The essence of luxury is privileged one-toone relationships. The proper database is a prerequisite for such relationships. How then to create a really perfect database? This is a painstaking task, which must be undertaken at a worldwide level. In luxury, a client’s name should never be misspelled. The implications are that the database system should be able to read many alphabets (Cyrillic, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and so on). There is a need to check for each fi rst name, in the home country, whether it is male or female. For instance, Andrea can be either one, depending on the country of origin. Of course, the database should also be very sensitive and reactive. It should give qualitative information about the person. Such information can be inferred from the most recent purchases, or from the attendance at a PR event. It must be updated to match the client ’ s latest changes in location or in lifestyle.

Conclusion

The luxury brands of Prada are one of the world leaders in design, production and distributing of the products internationally. Luxury products give the consumer the satisfaction not only for owning the expensive products but all create value to purchase this brand again because of the high quality and good relationship. Although Prada has some challenges to their customer relationship management, they can overcome these challenges and can improve the existing customer strategies by improving their training and avoiding zero default database. As a General Manager of luxury brand opinion,Prada could develop and maintain their existing customer relationship strategies by improving more in their business strategies and to get more profit in future.

The key to giving customers satisfaction on our products and services by using customer relationship management. The relationships that you cultivate with your customer base will determine your company’s level of success. And, as with any important relationship, its level of success will depend heavily upon how well you know one another. But unlike most personal relationships, the company-customer relationship is one that may feel a bit lopsided. After all, most clients don’t have to work very hard to learn about your business; everything that they might want to know is likely readily available. However, for a company to gather information on its customers to better facilitate a working relationship can be a difficult task. And the importance of customer data doesn’t end once it’s been collected; keeping accurate and accessible records of customer transactions, preferences, needs, and concerns can easily mean the difference between a relationship that profits both parties and one that leaves everyone feeling unfulfilled.

All in all, specific CRM can allow luxury brands to address the capital issue of customer retention. But it can also have collateral, positive effects such as new customer recruitment. Luxury brands that have succeeded in making their customers feel like they are part of a family (or at least of a selective club) are able to turn them into ambassadors or even into recruiters. Indeed, word of mouth and co-optation have always been important drivers of customer canvassing for luxury brands. Organizing special events and allowing ‘high’ and ‘elite’ customers to invite friends and relatives can be a good way to trigger co-optation. For instance, Mont Blanc created its ‘Circle of Muses’ in 2005, thanks to which its current female customers can invite their female friends to come to special evenings where they can learn more about jewelry in general, or at least experience the brand and its universe for the fi rst time. In the end, real and sincere customer centricity seems to be the perfect way to take up the initial challenge of developing one’s business while maintaining, or even reinforcing, one’s brand identity.

Strengths and Weaknesses of HUCAPADJ’s Customer Relationship Management

HUCAPADJ is a service business that offers haircuts for various reasons and occasions. It is a barbershop that has been active for the past 4 years and earns an estimated amount of Php 400,000.00 per month. The business intends to purchase or develop Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and develop and implement a customer service training program.

The customer service program of HUCAPADJ Barber Shop is notable and efficiently presented for it comprises of a brief but concise customer service strategies, realistic points for the measurement of success, and an ideal prediction of oppositions towards challenges: however, it still needs enhancement and minor revisions in certain areas.

The customer service program of HUCAPADJ is well-constructed in view of the fact that it comprises of a brief but concise customer service strategies that manifest business’ goals and objective. One of which of is establishing online membership of customers and loyalty cards, hotline for reservations or appointments, and the development of ZOHO Software that includes business applications, accounting, market research, and information technology.

According to Charles (2018), settling service issue is the extensive objective of customer service, which includes improving the customer experience and results in increased customer loyalty. In order to achieve success in any organization, demand for a strong outlook and implemented strategy for customer service must be considered a critical component (Lotich, 2016). Measuring and tracking financial performance, production, and labor helps in determining the probability of success in a business (Ashe-Edmunds, n.d.).

The program developed by HUCAPADJ acknowledged pragmatic measurement of success that presents customer retention rate, feasible salary increase, and generated target profit. It showcased key performance indicator that translates to understanding a company’s progress (Smith, 2017). Quantifying the average number of customers per barber accumulated a specific and realistic point towards measuring the advancement of the business towards growth in profit and sales. Moreover, the business presented and exemplified an ideal prediction of oppositions towards challenges to be faced during the implementation of the program. The generated factors such as competition in pricing, supply shortage, duplication of services being offered, and shortage of workers are specified in accordance with the possible circumstance the company may encounter. According to Info entrepreneurs (2009), as a business expands, different problems arise that demands different solutions. The anticipated challenges showcased scenarios that may occur thus the company overlooked not only its overall success but the challenges it may experience.

Despite these strengths, the customer service program needs enhancement. First, the analyzation of the back-up plan that was limited only to the software and the program of the company. There are more relevant factors that are need of recognition if ever the business ceases to function. Any business is impacted by many internal and external factors wherein some, unfortunately, is beyond your control (Ruthnam, 2018). Second, the allocated time frame is in need of or required an extension to indicate accuracy and observe overall consistency. Businesses should view customer service as a long-term strategy alongside other business functions. In order to attain outstanding customer service, commitment and eagerness over an extended period is requisite (Tschohl, 2013). Lastly, the financial perspective notably the relationship between the strategy and budget implemented for the articulated training programs and the improbable software (ZOHO) prices. The cost or amount allocated for the development of ‘Zoho’ Software application is not enough for the overall construction. According to Thumbtack Editiors (2017), developing software would require a large amount of investment in a company, the cost for a simple mobile application with limited features often costs $20,000 and $80,000. With this in mind, the amount stated by the developers, which was Php 800 per month, is insufficient and impracticable.

eBay and the Big Data Tools

Business organizations across the world today are keen to leverage maximum technological advantages and benefits due to the increasing use and applications of modern internet based technologies and devices by consumers globally. Exponential rise in the applications of technology across all industries and societies has revolutionized the way people communicate and think consequently generating a lasting impact on their life styles. Consumers today are keen to explore millions of products on the internet that they intent to purchase. IT revolution has transformed people’s lifestyles to such an extent that almost anything can be executed or accomplished instantly with the aid of advanced IT tools and technologies. People today can perform variety of tasks online including booking a flight, making a hotel reservation, buying any products, ordering food, buying medicine, etc. This rapid transformation from conventional to modernized ways of doing business has significantly changed and improved people’s lifestyles thus creating tremendous scope, and opportunities for modern businesses to sustain and grow consistently. This is mainly because considering the tremendous popularity and applicability of internet and IOT among people, modern businesses intend to operate with broader and deeper perspectives and goals aspiring to dominate entire regions, continents, and even the world using cost effective, widely popular, and globally accessible IT tools.

This report is developed to provide valuable insights on a leading e-commerce enterprise EBay that has successfully leveraged advanced IT tools and business analytics for improvising its business performance. The report shall provide varied aspects of the business and the technologies it employs to maximize its performance and productivity.

The Case Study Organization

EBay is a globally renowned e-commerce business operating over the virtual platform and serving billions of consumers across the world. With worldwide reachability, the enterprise has emerged as a highly successful e-business across all continents and is particularly known to provide various quality products of consumer interest at highly economical prices. The company, mainly operating online, employs state of the art IT infrastructure, advanced business intelligence tools, and effective marketing and business strategies aimed to attract, satisfy, retain, and win consumer loyalty to ensure sustainable business success and competitive advantage (Mishra, 2010).

EBay has over 180 million buyers and sellers on its online platform and the data generated by its users is vast and complex that needs to be managed efficiently and promptly. Employing advanced data storage and business analytics tools such as Apache HADOOP that can store vast quantities of user generated data through a network of robust computers meant for real time information processing and analysis. EBay’s search engine optimization tools, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), HADOOP clusters, and advanced predictive tools are capable of appropriately storing very large volume of user generating information, present most relevant data for consumer search and increase the chances of sales, and also aptly forecast about sales of items based on past consumer behavior and purchase habits says EBay’s Vice President Hugh Williams (Lui, 2012). Advanced software applications embedded on the platform immensely enhance user experience on the site as loads of user friendly and easy to navigate tools has been incorporated by EBay.

Organizational Goals, Policies, and Operations

EBay being a pioneer in e-commerce industry aims to deliver quality products at highly economical prices to ensure every community globally is equally benefitted by its marketing endeavors and business practices. EBay’s high goals and business objectives resulted in adoption of state of the art IT technology and tools such as Big Data. A unique suite of business relevant technologies and tools such as HADOOP, Map Reduce, Business analytics and predictive tools has tremendously boosted EBay’s performance and productivity. With a goal to maximize business profitability by multiplying consumer volume globally the company also aspires to transform its business practices into 100 percent eco-friendly and renewable energy backed business by the year 2025. This is extremely important today as modern businesses are compelled to act in the best interest of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept in order to reduce their adverse impacts on society and foster a greener environment (EBay progress update, 2017). Thus, the primary goal of EBay is to foster a highly reliable and sophisticated IT backed business environment that nurtures consumer relationships, ensures customer loyalty, and builds brand recognition and reputation worldwide.

EBay policies are primarily meant to protect buyers and sellers interest and to ensure a safer and highly professional business environment. Management of EBay platform is highly efficient and professional due to adoption of advanced IT tools and technologies that not only safeguard stakeholder interests but also ensure a completely transparent, fair, and impartial business environment. Some of the important policies involving IT infrastructure implemented by EBay include:

1. Any seller found to be engaged in any act that directly or indirectly violates the business interest, harms stakeholder interest or exhibits any kind of unprofessionalism would be barred from using the platform.
2. Buyers and sellers must always adhere to EBay’s standard policies when engaged in any dealing or transactions through EBay.
3. Auctioning on the EBay must be fair, in-discriminatory, and as per the imposed code of conduct and business ethics by EBay.
4. Any dispute arising among any parties engaged with the business shall be promptly resolved by the EBay management.
5. No stakeholders shall ever be tolerated for misconduct, discrimination on any grounds, fraudulent acts on the platform, or harm to the business or interest of any parties involved (Buying practices policy, 2019).

EBay’s CRM and unique set of tools and technologies meant to enhance user interaction with the company has certainly played a significant role in ensuring a secured, user friendly, fair, and mutually advantageous business association. Effective business tools such as market works software for managing auctions, Meridian app for auto calculation of shipment and invoices, Tera Peak for average price calculation, Vendio for aiding sellers to start their business on EBay, etc. immensely aid amateur buyers and sellers to efficiently perform varied business functions on EBay, a technological boon to EBayers.

EBay operations strategy involves a comprehensive framework of varied effective and appropriate business strategies aimed at delivering competitive business advantage to consumers thus ensuring lasting satisfaction, loyal relationship with business, and desired business advantage for the involved parties. For example, improved quality management by the use of advanced IT tools and strategies ensures better quality of products and services thus providing customer satisfaction and ensuring consumer loyalty. This is achieved through enhanced communication, responsiveness, transparency, and fairness between customers and the business using user-friendly CRM and IT tools. Process and capacity design segment of operations management ensures improved process efficiency and effectiveness thus optimizing various business resources such as data acquisition, data storage centers, business analytics, predictive tools, etc. Similarly, EBay’s operations management aims to optimize varied critical business processes including supply chain management, inventory management, scheduling, maintenance, design of goods and services, and so on employing state of the art IT technologies and dedicated CRMs for the business, clients, stakeholders management (Sherman, 2017).

Software Requirements for EBay

The following are some of the most important software requirements EBay employs that mainly includes state of the art IT infrastructure, marketing tools, and big data technologies:

1. CRM- refers to Customer Relationship Management, an integration of varied tools meant for ensuring efficient and convenient consumer- business communication and lasting relationship with company’s existing and prospective consumers.
2. Apache Hadoop- refers to a highly complex and comprehensive framework of data storage technology that stores vast amounts of user generated data and concurrently processes such complex information in real time.
3. Big Data supply management and logistics tool- intended to improve supply chain management by aptly forecasting demand and ensuring adequate supply of stock.
4. Big Data shopper analysis tool- it is intended to analyze buyer behavior and consumption pattern and forecast most likely products to be needed or preferred by a buyer (Osman, 2019).
5. WibiData Tool- being a web analytics tool allows EBay provides real time real time response to user based on their behavior. It aids immensely in generating right suggestions to consumers and in right decision making (Rodrigus, 2012).
6. Secured Payment Gateway tools- intended to process user transactions in a protected virtual environment to ensure consumer interest is protected at all costs.
7. Turbo Lister- meant for customizing and bulk posting for sellers.
8. Auction Stealer- for auto bidding on the site.
9. Typo Tracker- for finding the right auctions against misspelt titles (Herber, 2018).
10. Silent Sniper- auto placement of bid just before auction ending.
11. JBidwatcher- monitoring bidding activities.
12. BidBurglar- placing bids just before it ends.
13. Powersnipe- place bids in the very last moments of auction.
14. Sitepal- add speaking animations to your seller page.
15. Auctionblox- single tool to manage all auctions on EBay.
16. EBay sidebar tool- to get notifications directly on desktop.
17. Spoonfeeder- to build an attractive seller site with colorful templetes, photos, etc.
18. EBay sales reports- track and monitor sales performance.
19. Imageshack- for storing images and reusing for future listings on EBay.
20. Pro Stores- ebay store customization tool with built in shop cart integration.
21. Vendio- for optimizing sales on the site and improving listing performances.
22. Reliabid- tool that eliminates non-paying bidders thus ensuring fairness on EBay.
23. Endicia- for printing, paying, and managing shipment right from desktop.
24. Zoovy- for efficient management of billing, inventory, and shipment (Herber, 2018).
25. Snapchat- for real time support chat on the site.
26. Instamail- for real time communication with EBay support with built in attachment feature.
27. Auction wizard 2000- software for managing and listings and stores at the same time.
28. StoreCheck- tools to navigate a specific vendor’s store and view relevant products or items.
29. AuctionInc- an useful software tool for checking rates of leading courier partners.
30. Square Trade- a very useful tool for managing user freed backs, resolve disputes, and improve sales performances.
31. Auction Username- tool for finding unregistered usenames.
32. AutionHawk- useful software for tracking sales performances, managing inventory, image storing, and more (Herber, 2018).
33. M-commerce application- dedicated mobile based platform for users to perform variety of functions including buying, selling, bidding, transacting, etc.

Potential Stakeholders

Stakeholders can be defined as individuals that contribute in the growth and success of an organization and whose interests are directly and indirectly affected by the performance and productivity of the business. A business may consist of various stakeholders that contribute, get involved, invest, or seek employment with an enterprise for personnel or professional advantage. In context to EBay, various stakeholders can be identified that possess an interest and are directly and indirectly concerned with the quality, performance, and profitability of the enterprise. The following are the stakeholders of EBay:

• Employees- these are the human resources employed by the business that contribute their services for the growth and success of the business and who actively utilize key IT resources employed by the business. Their requirements relate to consistent learning and development by the use of advanced IT systems, growth in career, and competitive compensations. Developing and implementation of appropriate software for EBay falls in their role as every application listed herein relates to this group of stakeholders.
• Consumers- these are the targeted audiences that the business intends to market its products and services to. Being a global business giant, EBay has billions of consumers worldwide that actively participate in the business impacting on its performance and productivity. Every consumer employs IT tools to buy or sell their products on EBay thus deriving Big Data advantage. Most of the tools embedded on the EBay platforms and listed herein relate to buyers and are meant for buyer convenience.
• Sellers- users that are engaged for selling their products on EBay. Majority of requirements concerning auction software and apps listed above relates to this group of stakeholders as they are the ones that auction their items on the platform. Thus, building a user friendly and convenience site with appropriate tools is essential for fostering a long term relationship.
• Suppliers- these stakeholders form the backbone of any business as they are the ones that bridge the gap between business and its consumers. Thus, EBay suppliers actively influence EBay’s business performance and are extensively influenced by company’s IT strategies and advanced marketing tools. Requirements relates to competitive rates for supplies and cordial business association.
• Regulators- entities that impact the business by imposition of laws and regulations such as local governmental bodies. Their interest lies in sustainable and lawful business practices of the enterprise.
• Competitors- entities that are severely impacted by the company’s performance operating amid a highly competitive business environment (ebay Essay – 1006 Words, 2019).
• Community- people or citizens that are influenced or affected by company’s operations, marketing strategies, offerings, products and services, etc. Requirements mainly concerns CSR to be observed by the enterprise.

References

1. Buying practices policy. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/buying-practices-policy?id=4374
2. Ebay Progress Update, 2017. Retrieved from https://static.ebayinc.com/assets/Uploads/Documents/eBay-Impact-2017-Progress-Update.pdf ebay Essay – 1006 Words. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.studymode.com/essays/Ebay-39399052.html
3. Herber, P. (2018). EBAY TOOLBOX: 50+ Tools for eBay Buyers and Sellers. Retrieved from https://mashable.com/2007/08/01/ebay-toolbox/?europe=true#2ZC3fA16OuqK
4. Lui, S. (2012). How Ebay uses big data to make you buy more | ZDNet. Retrieved from https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-ebay-uses-big-data-to-make-you-buy-more
5. Mishra, M. (2010). Why is eBay the Most Successful Online Auction? Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 10(9), pp.62-65 Retrieved from https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume10/10-Why-is-eBay-the-Most-Successful-Online-Auction.pdf
6. Osman, M. (2019). Using Ecommerce Big Data to Build Personalized Experiences in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-big-data/#how-to-use-big-data-for-ecommerce-business-success
7. Rodrigus, T 2012,10 Emerging Technologies for Big Data. Tech Republic. Retrieved on 25 January, 2015 from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/big-data-analytics/10-emerging-technologies-for-big-data/
8. SHERMAN, M. (2017). eBay Inc.’s Operations Management: 10 Decision Areas & Productivity – Panmore Institute. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/ebay-inc-operations-management-10-decision-areas-productivity

Electronic Customer Relationship Management: Critical Analysis

Introduction

Electronic Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM) is perceived as a major paradigm shift from the traditional customer relationship management approach to the application of internet-based technologies in achieving customer relationship management objectives. The use of E-CRM system enables traditional physical customer proximity to be substituted by digital proximity.

E-CRM has become the latest paradigm in the world of customer relationship management. It is becoming more and more necessary as businesses take to the web. No longer can web-enabled companies rely on the traditional brick-and-mortar strategies that have taken them to where they are today. Such organizations have to evolve with the market instead of behind it. The mantra of customer being the king, although used for a long time, has not been put into action until recent time. Customers were not treated with dignity by most organisations. It has been said, therefore, that only organisations that identify the power of customers and satisfy their needs will move towards sustainability. It is important also to acknowledge the fact that for effective management and growth of an organization in any sector, whether banking, insurance, tourism, engineering, entertainment, etc, there has to be a conscious effort by the management towards making it customer-oriented (Murphy 2000).

E-CRM according to Karimi, Somers & Gupta (2001) is about identifying organizational best customers and enhancing their value by effectively satisfying and keeping them, using internet base approach. As a business philosophy, e-customer relationship management is seen to be firmly rooted in the concept of relationship marketing, which is aimed at improving long-run profitability by shifting from transaction-based marketing to customer retention through effective management of customer relationships. Company relationship with customers can be greatly improved by employing information technology, which can facilitate and enhance customer relationship in various ways but mainly enables companies to attain customization, which is the essence of a customer-centric organization.

Since the internet continues to be more relevant in business life, many organizations see it as an opportunity to lower customer-service costs, hence customer relationship and further personalize marketing messages and mass customization. In line with the development of Sales Force Automation (SFA), where electronic methods were used to gather data and analyze customer information, the trend of the upcoming internet will be taken as the foundation of what we see today as E-CRM. Therefore, E-CRM is an integrated online sales, marketing and service strategy that are used to identify, attract and retain an organization’s customers. It describes improved and increased communication between the organization and its clients by creating and enhancing customer interaction through innovative technology. E-CRM software provides profiles and histories of each interaction the organization has with its customers, making it an important tool for all small and medium businesses. According to Kotler & Keller (2006), business managers of today are living in challenging times. Business targets had never been stiffer, work pressure and managing the complexities of competition is keeping them on their toes all the time. Today, success or failure of a business is dependent on the organization’s ability to be flexible and respond to the external changing environment. Only those who are able to adapt to the changes and those who are able to assimilate and learn from tomorrow’s technology will be able to run the race. Digital technology has changed the rules of business game.

Today, companies have realized that customers are the life blood of the business; business survival is largely depended on the customers. The realization of this fact has made it possible for companies to have a better chance to outperform competition. Customers are therefore, better satisfied through a competitive superior products and services beyond their expectation. Satisfying the customer eventually graduate into a relationship where the company sees the customer as part of the business and business decision-making by continuously seeking customers opinion. Kotler & Keller (2006) opine that marketers must connect with customers, informing, engaging and may be energizing them in the process.

Having every detail of organisation’s customers gave birth to the marketing concept known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Customer relationship management as improvement upon the data base marketing of 1980’s, which was simply a catch phrase to define the practice of setting up customer service groups to speak individually to all of a company’s customers. The early 2000s was therefore, advances in E-Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM), which also became popular at this period.

The integration of e-marketing in customer relationship management brought about what is contemporarily known as Electronic Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM).

Meaning and Definitions of E-Customer Relationship Management

Electronic Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM) involves the integration of web channels into the overall enterprise CRM strategy with the goal of driving consistency within all channels relative to sales, Customer Service and Support (CSS) and marketing initiatives. E-customer relationship has revolutionized the practice of business. Physical stores are now struggling with on-line start-ups, traditional bricks and mortar organisations now fight for customers with online or virtual companies, airline tickets could now be purchased from the convenience of your home. The explosion in information allowed customers to compare prices and features of goods and services across multiple providers. In this case, customer service is seen as the only differentiating factor for the firms’ survival (Greenberg 2010). The advent of e-CRM application was the first big step toward providing better support to the strategic business customers.

Businesses that strategize and implement e-CRM solution are able to align their processes around technology to effectively deliver seamless, high quality customer experience across all channels. It can be seen today that customers sometimes prefer to make their purchases online, even when they can do so using the traditional means. These customers are utilizing the advantages inherent in on-line purchases. The organisation having identified this trend, should device means toward ensuring that these customers are satisfactorily attended to if the organisation wishes to remain in business. Every business manager should be able to adjust to any new trend in business. The organisation can only retain these online customers through effective management of the customers. The customers want nothing, but the best from the organisation. These customers could also be retained through provision of high quality products, reasonable prices, effective promotional activities, packaging, effective distribution, among other marketing efforts. As posited by Raphael (2003), an effective E-CRM system tracks a customer’s history through multiple channels in real time, creates and maintains an analytical database, and optimizes a customer’s relation in the three aspects of attraction, expansion and maintenance.

Also, according to Fairhurst (2012), a typical E-CRM strategy involves collecting customer information, transaction history and product information, click stream and contents information. It then analysis the customer characteristics to give a transactional analysis consisting of the customer’s profile and transactional history, and an activity analysis consisting of exploratory activities showing the customer’s navigation, shopping cart, shopping pattern and more.

We will at this point give selected definitions of E-CRM as offered by the experts

Scullin & Romano (2004), defined E-CRM as activities to manage customer relationship by using the internet, web browsers, or other electronic touch points. The challenge here is to offer communication and information on the right topic, in the right amount and at the right time that fits the customer’s specific needs.

In the views of Anon (2002), E-CRM includes standard customer relationship management activities that deal with the net environment. It concerns all forms of managing relationship with customers using information technology (IT). Compared to the traditional customer relationship management, the integrated information for e-customer relationship management intra organisational collaboration can be more efficient to communicate with customers.

Romano (2001), sees E-CRM as concerned with attracting and keeping economically valuable customers and eliminating less profitable ones. Chen (2003), define E-CRM as the integration of information technological based facilities and platforms to identify a company’s best customers and maximizing the value from them by satisfying and retaining them. According to Lee-Kelly (2003), E-CRM is referred to as the marketing activities, tools and techniques through the internet, which are capable to build and enhance relationship between organization and customers. It is the unification of traditional CRM with e-business market place applications.

In our own view, we see E-CRM as the efforts to utilize the managerial functions (planning, controlling, organizing, and directing) in securing solution to the needs of the organisation’s on-line client, often designed to identify, satisfy and retain the customer.

Benefits of E-Customer Relationship Management

The benefits of E-Customer Relationship Management as listed by Payne & Ballantyne (2009) include:

1. Growth in number of customers
2. Increased business revenue
3. Matching the customers’ behaviour with suitable offers
4. Improved customers relations, service, and support
5. Long term profitability and sustainability
6. Increased access to a source of market competitor information
7. Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty
8. Greater efficiency and cost reduction
9. Highlighting poor operational processes
10. Maximization of opportunities

Considerations for the Implementation of E-CRM System

The following considerations should serve as guide:

1. Define Customer Relationships: Generate a list of key aspects of the customer relationships and the relevance of these relationships to the business.
2. Get a Plan: Generate a broad relationship management programme that can be customized to smaller customer segments.
3. Focus on Customers: The focus should be on the customer, not the technology. Any technology should have specific benefits in making customers’ lives easier by improving support, lowering their administrative costs, or giving them reasons to shift more businesses to the company.
4. Save Money: Focus on aspects of the business that can add meaning to the bottom line. Whether it is through cutting costs or increasing revenue, every capacity implemented should have a direct measurable impact on the bottom line.
5. Service and Support: By tracking and measuring the dimensions of the relationship, organizations can identify their strengths and weaknesses in the relationship management programme and continually fine tune them, based on ongoing feedback from customers.

Customer Relationship Management in Automobile Industry: Analytical Essay

Abstract

The concept and impact of Customer Relationship Management is helpful for growth and gaining more attention in present and future business world. Through Customer Relationship Management companies are focusing on retaining their legal customers and also focus on gaining new customers.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Customer Relationship Management on loyalty of customers and retention of customers for the long time which gives benefit to the enterprise to face the competition with their competitors and earn more profit. Through this paper we understand the effects of Customer Relationship Management practices used by automobile dealers in Ranchi.

For Customer Relationship Management automobile sectors using various types of software or scheme which is helpful to acquire new customers, retain current customers and grow relationship with an industry’s existing customers. An increased competition from the local as well as foreign companies in market has resulted in increased customer demand & expectation. Customer service & CRM are important in this new environment. Successful implementations of CRM produces focus on understanding the needs & desires of customers and placing them at the heart of business by integrating with the organization’s strategy, people, technology & business process. Thus CRM helps automobile dealers to forecast business and increase the reputation through excellent customer approaches. CRM also helps dealers for revenue & enables information sharing through excellent practices.

Keywords: Customer relationship management, CRM in automobile industry, Service quality, Hero MotoCorp, CRM software.

Introduction

Automobile sector is offering a variety of services to make stronger the economy of the country. The role Customer Relationship Management in the Automobile industry is one of the most crucial constitutions. Automobile is to be considered as the industry of industries. In the present competitive scenario the Automobile sector, specially the two wheeler sector is growing exponentially, this results a huge market for maintenance of two-wheeler. Today the companies have realized the importance of having the authorized after-sales service network and moreover the Automobile companies do not considered after-sales service as a cost any more. Indications are that the unorganized segment is favoured for servicing as opposed to company authorized segment of the after-sales service sector. The research tries to acquire understanding on the current use and role of Customer Relationship Management in the two-wheeler industry with specific regard to the sales and after-sales service area and also tries to find the reasons as to why customers prefer to choose the unorganized ones for the after-sale service of their two-wheelers. Also the research has formulated and suggested Customer Relationship Management strategies to be followed by the two-wheeler companies, which would allow the two-wheeler companies to capture the untapped customers for after-sales service.

Customer Relationship Management deals with the connection between the firm and its clients. Customer knowledge is helpful for managing customer relationship. Knowledge management and customer relationship management are coordinated toward improving and constantly conveying great administrations and services to clients. To see more in Customer Relationship Management, we initially required to comprehend three parts which are customer, relationship and their management. Holding, expanding and retaining customers is a basic part of the dynamic business. Now quality of services and customer loyalty are focused by the automobile industry for maintaining strong relationship with their customer through customer relationship management.

Customer relationship management

Customer relationship Management (CRM) is a broadly actualized strategy for dealing with an organization’s collaboration with clients, customers, and deals outline. Customer relationship management is a procedures, practices, and innovations that organizations use to manage and examine client connections and information all through the customers lifecycle, with the objective of improving business associations and relationship with clients .One significant part of the CRM approach is the frameworks of CRM that gather data from a scope of various correspondence stations, including an organization’s site, phone, email, live visit, showcasing materials, web-based social networking, and all the more as indicated by promoting angles CRM

is viewed as a business system that can maximize the productivity, profitability and incomes for an organization just as consumer loyalty by arranging around segmentation of customers. As it

very well may be seen, it is significant for companies to appropriately comprehend the CRM procedure so as to effectively and adopt it accordance with their particular needs.

Literature review

Curry and Kkolou (2004) refers to the major benefits and reason for adoption of CRM which include: customers from the competition will come to prefer your organization; a simplified, customer-focused internal organization will simplify the infrastructure, shrinking the workflow and eliminating non-productive information flow; and profits will increase from more/more satisfied customers and a more compact, focused company2.

Abhijeet sing and Brijesh kumar (2011) in this journal and his opinion hero Honda motors ltd is most important program called life with the passport to relationship with customer an objectives to create an innovations and environment for interaction between Hero Honda Motors and its customers. Members of the program are given a magnetic card in which all the information is stored and this card is swiped when using3.

Gordon Fullertiion (2006) in this newspaper “Putting relationship in customer relationship management” that his study of the Hero Honda bike is a classical example of this CRM program. In this consider and provide the value of customer firm and develop that the level product and brand of the customers satisfaction’s on this oriented program4.

The objective of the research study

The present study aims at attaining the following objectives:-

1. To examine the essential dimension of service quality and its effect on Customer Relationship Management on automobile services.
2. To assess the awareness of Customer Relationship Management in automobile sector.
3. To evaluate the effectiveness of complaint request management of automobile sector.
4. To study the factors that increase lifetime value of individual customer through Customer Relationship Management.
5. To study the existence and nature of impact of customer as a whole on customer satisfaction.

Customer Relationship Management in Automobile Industry

In the present business condition, rivalry in Automobile industry is expanded rapidly. It is important for Automobile Industry to discover or know more and more about their present and planned customers. Customer Relationship Management Practices are currently utilized by all vehicle sellers in day by day benefits. New current innovation and technology is utilized in Customer Relationship Management for offering quality types of assistance to customers. Customer Relationship Management offers different services like

• Communication
• Consulting
• Database construction
• Strategic planning
• Customer segmentation
• After-sales services
• Call center
• Grievance handling etc.

Customer Relationship Management strategy are used by all Automobile sellers for customer-centric. For keeping up position in the market they provided qualitative services to their customers. Customer Relationship Management practices catches the demand of customers. So Customer Relationship Management are helpful for the automobile dealers to forecast business and it also increase the reputation with excellent customer approaches. Likewise, Customer Relationship Management helps the sellers for income generation and empowers sharing of data through fantastic practices.

With empowering creative product, pricing and streamlining customer communication, automobile sector encourage strong customer loyalty, high customer satisfaction and consolidation of their customer relationship management. Further, this methodology can help automobile industry to expand income per client as well as consumer loyalty and satisfactions. Customer Relationship Management is a successful medium to upgrade customer relationship and furthermore to give the capacity to manage client data and information more adequately and productively.

Customer Relationship Management in automobile sector refers to mutual benefit condition between automobile dealers and existing and potential customers. Following are the major steps involved in building a better customer automobile dealer relationship.

• Knowing the customer.
• Presenting the banker’s efficiency.
• Understanding and meeting the needs of the customers.
• Follow up.1

It has to be noted that since the last five years the focus of the sales services company is strongly on customer relationship management.

A progressive trend in Customer Relationship Management has been observed and is expected to continue for the next coming years. At the basic level of customer relationship one can find options to make complaints, service request and written complaints. Automobile industries preferred to get more structured information from their customers through forms or complaints and later on the same is organized. This provides an opportunity to an automated system to response to customer demands and needs. The data is collected and used for the future purpose and to build the relationship and to give personalized support to the customer. Today, customers have more power in deciding their choice of two-wheeler industry. Consequently, keep existing customers, as well as attracting new one is a critical concern for automobile dealers. Customer satisfaction is an important variable in evaluation on control in automobile marketing management. Poor customer satisfaction will lead to a decline in customer loyalty, and given the extended offering from competitors and customer can easily switch the two-wheeler industry.

One of the automobile dealers greatest assets to their knowledge of their customers. Automobile dealers can use this assets and turn it into key competitive advantage by retaining the customers who represent the highest lifetime value and profitability.

Service quality in Automobile Sector:

The rise of worldwide marketers to set up a competitive advantage dependent on service quality greatness inside developing markets to impact of natural elements upon customer behavior. Automobile industries are thinking about improving service quality as an apparatus for retention of clients and keep up client devotion. Administration quality in Automobile division is centered on the customer recognition in unwavering quality, affirmation, responsiveness, sympathy and physical assets.

Administration process execution of the Automobile divisions ought to be estimated constantly to accomplish competitive advantage and this is possible through giving greatness services. The service must fulfill quality guidelines that additionally help in client maintenance if there should arise an occurrence of service disappointment. The Automobile area ought to understand the complaints of their client’s through different service recovery techniques. It is required for the

Automobile segment to recognize the effect of service failure and customer relationship and fulfillment for the survival, achievement, development and prosperity of the Automobile sector. The real victory of the Automobile area depends on the indent of loyal customers, which is clearly a result of value in the service provided.

In contrast to great quality, which can be estimated with some objectivity, service quality is theoretical and elusive. The features of such as inseparability of production and consumption, intangibility, and heterogeneity make measurement of quality a very complex issue. Automobile sector should keep and grow long term relations with the customer and it avoid numerous issues and improves association’s performance, and furthermore focus client needs and service quality may result about customer retention. Improved service quality will result in consumer satisfaction.

CRM Software

Due to the innovation progression and technology advancement, to execute CRM companies are using various software programs.CRM software are kind of software that makes provision to handle all the raw data of customer in a desired usable form. Organizations opt for the software as per their needs and their objective. Thus the choice of the program is essentially depends on understanding the following criteria-

• Features refer to how better the program co-ordinates with all applications (ex. Outlook, Gmail, etc.) and which information to access. It runs each and every aspect of information regarding alerts, to-do list which further controls the mobile access.
• Contact information ranking highlights the program’s ability to store sort of details for each prospect. Managers need is to get the clients data or information rapidly and whenever as in the present period, the business is fast paced.
• Marketing and Sales tools are helpful to control over all the information and knowledge in regards to the customers and keep the current customers and helps further in increasing new ones.
• Facilitation in use is about the functioning. A well maintained program will be simple to operate and quickly provide the data required.
• Help and support pinpoints the kind of support system that developer of software provides for the product.

For smooth functioning of strategy the companies installed and used various types of software to maintain CRM. Top 20 CRM software are Salesforce, Zoho, Act! , Microsoft Dynamics, Hub spot, Sap, Maximize ,Infusion soft, Oracle, Sage, Pipedrive, Apptivo, Sugar CRM, Sales boom, Base, Bpm Online, Blaze desk, Nimble, Commence, Really Simple Systems.

Hero MotoCorp

Hero MotoCorp Ltd., officially Hero Honda, is an Indian scooter and bike maker situated in New Delhi, India. The organization is the biggest bike manufacrurer on the planet, and furthermore in India, where it has a share of the overall industry of about 46% in the two wheeler category. The 2006 forbes list of the 200 world’s most respected companies has hero Honda Motors positioned at 108. On 31st March 2013, the market capitalization of the organization was Rs.30,800 crore(US$4.5 billion).

Hero Honda began its works in 1984 as a joint endeavor between hero cycles (now and again called legend gathering, not to be mistaken for the Hero Group nourishment organization of Switzerland) of India and Honda of Japan. In 2010, when Honda chose to move out of the joint endeavor, Hero group purchased the shares held by Honda and concentrated on its altogether owned subsidiary, Honda motorcycle and scooter India (HMSI).In June 2012, Hero MotoCorp affirmed a proposal to consolidate the venture arm its parent Hero Investment Pvt. Ltd. with the automaker. This choice came year and a half after its split from Hero Honda.

A joint endeavor between the Hero Motor Company was set up in 1984 as the hero Honda motors limited at Dharuhara, India.The name of the company was changed from hero Honda motors limited to Hero MotoCorp limited on 29th July 2011. Hero MotoCorp has five assembling offices based at Dharuhera, Gurgaon, Neemrana, Haridwar, and Halol under green field arrange.

Hero MotoCorp Customer Relationship Management softwares :

Hero generally uses two of the software applications-

1. a. Hero Connect:

Hero Connect is basically for the billings purpose and for the date of manufactured of vehicles and its parts too, stock maintenance.

1. b. Ninja Customer Relationship Management:

• Ninja CRM is the main software on which Hero MotoCorp works to maintain their Customer Relationship Management.
• Ninja CRM is a Customer Relationship Management solution for business wanting to increase productivity, sales and offers customers a personalized service.
• Ninja CRM is a great way for business to keep all customer communication in one place and extend their market reach whilst again reducing the need for duplicate data entry. It is simple, yet powerful and seamlessly integrates with your existing accounting software.

Findings

The paper shows the effect of various elements of customer relationship management. From the investigation, it is reasoned that customer works and guarantees are reliable. Customers are satisfied through the automobile services provider. So the automobile industry needs to give more significance to the variable which can build customer loyalty.

From this investigation, it is analyzed that the greater part of the clients are happy with the services given by the organization and so they will be loyal and faithful customers and they will be retained for the longer period of time. This shows that customer retention and customer loyalty are based on customer satisfaction.

Suggestions

The automobile industry will gather more data from customers to improve connection between them. There is a rivalry in automobile industry so it is significant to find the future needs and desires of the customers and to execute new services.

Conclusion

This topic is undertaken to study because it is helpful to find degree of relationship with their customer. Majority of clients are happy with the services given by automobile industry specially Hero MotoCorp. Customer relationship management is significant, client is the king in the market and holding them in this competitive world is more significant. By legitimate examination company can offer better service and keep up a decent customer relationship.

Reference

1. Alexandra Tthussy and Langdon Morris, Business Today, 2 January 2005
2. Curry, A., Kkolou, E, 2004, “Evaluating CRM to contribute to TQM improvement; a cross-case comparison, TQM magazine, vol. 16 No.5 pp. 314-324
3. Abijeeth Sing and Brijesh Kumar,. 2011, “Art of motorcycle maintenance,” new York bantam book.
4. Gordon Fullerton, 2006, “Putting relationship in customer relationship management,” International Journal of marketing, vol. XI No. 4. pp.14-15.
5. https://www.themanager.org/2015/01/customer-perception/
6. https://quizlet.com/20474097/marketing-chapter-1-flash-cards/
7. https://projectclue.com/business-administration/project-topics-materials-for-undergraduate-students/the-impact-of-customer-relationship-management-on-organization-a-case-study-of-dangote-flour-mill-kano

Effect of Customer Relationship Management Adoption in Business: Analytical Essay

U.Zeynep Ata and Aysegual Toker from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey have done research regarding ‘The effect of customer relationship management adoption in business- to business markets. In this research, they investigate the effect of customer relationship management practices on customer satisfaction and firm performance in business-to-business markets. They make effort on this research due to customer relationship management is still in novelty and boost the improvements of practice customer relationship management in organization.

This research article aims to explain the response of customer relationship management adoption in business to business organization through a proposed conceptual model. Furthermore make an attempt to evaluate relationship between customer relationship management adoption, customer satisfaction, and organization-related performance out come and also examine the business-to-business market.

Value is one of major part in relationship marketing. Adding value to a product or service can be boost customer satisfaction. Its improved customer relations just because author identifies customer relationship management as one of the factor affecting for relationship marketing success. Relationship-building programmers are depended on technologies such as customer relationship management. Through the customer relationship management organization can gain two insight one of behavior of individual customer and other one is data concerning in those customers.

According to authors past research paper analysis, it’s describe all organization are depend on customer satisfaction and it’s linked with customer relationship management. When organization are keep good customer relationship management its help to increase better customer satisfaction, increased plant revenue, reduced labor cost and engendering lead time, increase product quality, they apply different metrics for different industry to know whether the relationship is business to business or business to customer and other organizational characteristics.

In this research paper there are three main constructs have been conceptualized. Customer–centric management, customer relationship management organization and operational customer relationship management. These three construct can be used to measure customer satisfaction.

Segmentation, customization, differentiation, customer valuation, customer knowledge management are the modes of customer-centric management, and organizational structure, organizational commitment, employee performance modes going under customer relationship management organization. Customer relationship management technology usage, order handling, complaint handling, pre/post sales interaction, marketing process are the modes of operational customer relationship management. Organizational performance can be measured by mode of marketing performance and financial performance. Customer satisfaction and organizational performance are variable of environmental dynamism and competition.

This research paper pose the hypotheses to investigate, the possible link between customer relationship management adoption, customer satisfaction, and organizational performance.

This research article used questionnaire as a data collection mechanism. The data was collected by using two channels. A hard copy version and online version applied to the same questionnaire. The total sample size is 113 Turkish business-to-business firms.

After analyzing of data the results indicate that customer relationship management adoption and organizational performance support the hypothesis and furthermore customer relationship management adoption support the organizational marketing performance.

As a research findings indicate that a significant relationship is present between customer relationship management adoption and customer satisfaction and its supporting hypothesis. Its show the greater extent of customer relationship management and adoption, it increase organization marketing performance however similar performance cannot be achieve for customer relationship adoption and organizational financial performance. Also environmental dynamism and competition was found to have negative effect on the relationship bet ween customer satisfaction and organizational performance.

As a conclusion this research article investigates fundamental theoretical and pragmatic issues regarding to customer relationship management adoption in business market. Main purpose of this study is test to customer relationship management performance link for business-to-business settings. After analyzed the data the author assume customer relationship management is not only customer satisfaction it also help to organizational performance.

The multiple regression analysis show that the three dimension of customer relationship management adoption (customer-centric management, operational customer relationship management, customer relationship management organization) but the two dimension are mostly affected. Customer centric management and operational customer relationship have impacted. Customer relationship management organization does not involved.

Customer relationship management organization dimension modes like organizational structure, organizational commitment, and employee performance was not involved customer satisfaction and business-to-business organization.

Managers should focus on customer relationship management and it gives positive results. The results show that customer relationship management can influence positive effect to both customer satisfaction and organizational performance. Customer relationship management adoption can affect an organization’s marketing performance but cannot influence the financial performance.

Author highlight customer relationship management is major factor for business performance in business to business organization as well. Environmental dynamism and competition has become negative moderating effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and organization performance.

A phase-specific analysis of negotiation styles

Melanie preuss from universitat Potsdam, Potsdam Germany and per van der wijst from Tilburg University, tlburg, the netherland has daone research regarding the phase-specific analysis of negotiation styles.

Negotiations play an essential role in industrial markets because it is an essential factor for the allocation of resource between buying and selling firms. Negotiation can contribute significantly to company profitability.

This research paper investigate whether negotiators stick to one single negotiation style or whether their style differ during the negotiation process and author seek to identify different combination of phase –specific negotiation style and investigate the relationship between these combination and negotiation performance and satisfaction.

The following are research problem base for this research paper.

1. Do negotiation styles vary between negotiation phases If it holds true that negotiation styles vary between negotiation phases, it is necessary to examine in a more detailed way how they are applied
2. Are there distinct negotiation style patterns that depend on negotiation phases? If there are, then insights about the effects of these so-called phase-specific negotiation style patterns on negotiation performance (effectiveness and efficiency) and on negotiators’ satisfaction provide a deeper understanding about their characteristics and consequences.
3. How do distinct phase-specific negotiation style patterns impact negotiation’s effectiveness and efficiency? Despite some findings about the impact of single negotiation styles and static style patterns on negotiators’ satisfaction, there are no insights as to whether distinct phase-specific patterns influence the satisfaction level., who have examined negotiation satisfaction, there is a positive relationship between the use of a coordinative negotiation behavior and the opponent’s satisfaction with the negotiation process, and they confirm the prior results of Graham and Campbell et al.
4. How do distinct phase-specific negotiation style patterns impact negotiators’ satisfaction with the relationship to the counterpart? As a data collection method author conducted large online negotiation study and selected 259 students they were register online platform and explore followings. Author used unit of analysis toexploreany negotiation behavior can characterize every stage, which seems a necessary precondition to examine our research question concerning whether negotiation styles vary between negotiation phases.

After that author used stage interval approach. That is best for theoretical aspects a stage approach is mostly time-driven and defines the particular negotiation stages without relating them to negotiation behavior.

As a third author used extensive coding schemes applied to negotiation behavior, studies that code negotiation styles are rare. The frequency of the five categories assigned to the units within a phase indicated which specific negotiation style a negotiation party was predominantly using in this particular phase. In contrast, an episodic approach separates negotiation phases according to the applied negotiation behavior. We attributed one-third of the total negotiation time to both the second and the third negotiation phase

As a findings author highlighted Negotiators who applied the tough relationship builder pattern differ significantly from 0 and are thus more successful than the average negotiator in according to the sample. The diverse phase-specific patterns variable subsumes all patterns that are not included in one of the five predominant patterns and are considered in our analysis to guarantee a full design for our model estimation. Because the results have shown that the other phase-specific negotiation style patterns do not differ significantly from each other with regard to the IO, concentrate in the following on a comparison between the extreme problem solver and the tough relationship builder patterns. To examine whether phase-specific patterns have an impact on the individual negotiation outcome, the efficiency of the negotiation, and the negotiators’ satisfaction, we first had to consider the interclass correlation coefficient because of our sample’s dyadic structure. The results have shown that the other phase-specific negotiation style patterns do not differ significantly from each other with regard to the IO, we concentrate in the following on a comparison between the extreme problem solver and the tough relationship builder patterns.

Interestingly, the tough relationship builder performed significantly better than the average negotiator, whereas negotiators who applied the extreme problem solver pattern achieved the lowest individual negotiation outcome. It appears that the tough relationship builder succeeds in showing tough negotiation behavior during the right phase in the negotiation.

As a Conclusion Overall, our study proved that negotiators should be trained to become acquainted with different negotiation styles – beyond their preferred negotiation style –to adapt their negotiation style to the characteristics of the different negotiation phases. It seems plausible that preferred phase-specific negotiation style patterns depend on the individual’s culture, are dictated by hierarchical positions or may change under time pressure. Moreover, 29 distinct phase-specific negotiation style patterns were found, but three-quarters of negotiators used only five of them. Our second research objective was to find out how these phase-specific negotiation style patterns impact the negotiations’ effectiveness and efficiency.

In the final phase of the negotiation, practitioners should switch back to an integrating negotiation style, which once again emphasizes cooperation and thus lays a good foundation for future negotiations. We further investigated the impact of our identified phase-specific negotiation style patterns on negotiation performance and negotiation satisfaction. The extreme problem solver understands the entire negotiation as a joint task to solve and might miss the right moment to push through his own interests. Second, we only concentrated on the negotiation party’s style without considering the influence the interaction with the negotiation counterpart may have had.

It appears that the tough relationship builder succeeds in showing tough negotiation behavior during the right phase in the negotiation. For example, it would be interesting to examine how negotiators make the transition from one negotiation style to another. By analyzing negotiation styles from a phase-specific point of view, the present study succeeded in showing the relevance of the distinction among negotiation phases. It is conceivable that a certain negotiation style in one phase came in reaction to the negotiation style that the counterpart was using.

Guess who’s coming to deliver? Tough decisions about race in the workplace. Katina Williams Thompson and Susan Dustin from University College of business normal, Illinois, USA has done case study regarding the race in the work place.

Marcus Bradley is middle age American male .He was doing his job as delivery driver at Lowe’s home improvement warehouse in Danville, Virginia. His partner is Alex and they almost engage with filed at least 11 years.

This case study is regarding on Lowe’s Home Improvement ware house. They are specialized in retail home improvement and supplies for building projects as well as appliances and furniture industries. However it started as a small family-owned business. After ages more than 310,000 employees were work there, as well as Lowe’s owned more than 2,300 stores in North America and $68.6bn in sales and $3.4bn in earnings in 2017. There were 69 Lowe’s stores and more than 9,000 employees are working in Virginia and the company is supposed to open 15or 20 new stores in 2019 and increase 4,000 employee base in the USA. Vision of this company is “provide customer-valued solutions with the best prices, products and services to make Lowe’s the first choice for home improvement.”

According to this case study Marcus Bradley delivery manager called him and said that he could not make the delivery then Marcus Bradly asked the reasons for that. As a reply his boss said

Marcus is Black and they advised not to send black people to the house.” His delivery manager further explained that. The customer advised them not to send a Black employee to the home. Marcus and Alex were informed to return before that delivery. That delivery should be made by white employee

Marcus thought he should stand up against the Lowe’s home improvements. Lowe’s should give an equal opportunity employer .it should not depend on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, gender identity or expression. Their job statement did not mentioned that.

As a conclusion we can say this case study is about race in the work palace .company should give equal opportunity to every employee, it cannot be classified race color gender religion sex, age national originality likewise, all should get equal opportunity.

As a recommendation, we can suggest followings

• Pay attention to the diversity

We should create diverse workplace as well as it should be ethnically and racially diverse it helps us to treated customers in same manner.

• Review the policy

Employees should all be familiar with the policy and procedures regarding their job and it will ensure that e.

• Investigate the approach to opportunities for promotion, transfer and training and it should not be depend on grounds of race.

Company must maintain effective regulations for promotion, transfer, and training, it should not be decide on the color gender religion sex, age national originality

• https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/case.darden.2016.000175/full/html

Kelly Solar

This case study is regarding about Jessica Kelly .she has patents to a large manufacturer of solar equipment. She got this from two years of hard work for developing a new product.

She got this green technology opportunity from the exploring with Kelly Solar. Actually she had foundation from his grandfather’s “old technology” auto parts business. Jessica had experience in her grandfather’s manufacturing company. After the college graduation she worked as a accountant in this company after few years she got graduated from university from a business degree and worked in the bank. But she has dreamed about starting her own business and stay close that manufacturing roots

One day she had read article about the use of Fresnel reflector technology in solar-energy power plants. Kelly was also familiar with this Fresnel lens technology because her grandfather previously used it in his automobile industry. She had realized that lenses built with high-density plastic could be very useful in the solar power industry.

After few years later Kelly Solar got chance to patents acquired. Kelly worked with the team and began research and development in an old warehouse owned by her grandfather. Kelly doesn’t want to become becoming the long-term manufacturer and distributor of the products. The product should be develop. She want to achieve quickly improvement in the technology and then sell it to the industries as a single dominant manufacture.

However unfortunately Kelly solar have to compete with new technology and modifications against the Lens Tec technology .to add the new technology and modification it’s required additionally $3.20 million. Any how she should add new technology and modification to this business. When she start up this company she covered up initial capital from his grandfather because he sold his old auto parts company and given those fund to his granddaughter.

Scot Barkley join with Kelly for this business as a debt financing investor. They have bond regarding the profitability of this business.

According to this case study Kelly is good entrepreneur she had good research and development idea about solar equipment but she did not have good idea about internal and external parties.it affected to her business as well as her profit.as a recommendation we can suggest followings

• Develop a business plan

According to business plan she can navigate the business.it has clear direction and we can get idea about the business. Also this is start-up business it should have clear path.

• Updated with new technology and modification

Business trend are updated from day to day. Because the world is change.so we should always keep in those updates.it enhance our product quality and keep our customer base. Then only we can enter the business world as well as the competition.

• Limitations of loans.

The amount of money need to borrow for your business depends on your own unique financial situation and what type of business you are starting when we are keep that it will reduce business financial risk. When product is on the introduction period loans should be limit. Then we can prevent business failures.

Critical Analysis: Effectiveness Of Customer Relationship Management Initiatives On Customer Loyalty

Abstract

• Purpose: The Purpose of this research paper is to understand the Effectiveness of CRM initiatives on the customer loyalty and retention.
• Research Implications: This paper provides a preliminary understanding of the CRM marketing initiatives on the customer loyalty in the long run. Future research should use alternative methods, and verify and elaborate the findings.
• Findings: “In the past, many companies took their customers for granted. Customers often did not have any alternative suppliers, or the other supplies were just as poor in a quality and services, or the market was growing so fast that the company did not worry about fully satisfying its customers. A company could loses 100 customers a week, but gain another 1000 customers and consider its sales to be satisfactory. Such a company, operating on a ‘ leaky bucket’ theory of business, believes that there will always be enough customers to replace the defecting ones.“

“Customer retention programs can be a powerful tool in the arsenal of CRM. Customer retention is important to most companies because the cost of acquiring a new customer is far greater than the cost of maintaining a relationship with a current customer.”

“For many firms, customer profitability is skewed in such a way that losing the most profitable customers has a very serious effect. In many banks, for example, the top 30 percent of customers (when ranked by profitability) can make up 100–150 percent of total customer profitability. That’s right the bottom eighty percent of customers may provide no profitability or, worse yet, destroy 50 percent of profitability.”

• Originality/Value: This paper talks about how the Customer Relationship affects the customer base and leads to customer loyalty and retention.
• Keywords: Customer loyalty; customers retention; automobile sector; customer preference; customer satisfaction.

Introduction

“Because of recent changes in a business environment, that is; increases in customer turnover and decrease in profitability, the company in all branches have come to understanding that the relations with customer are one of the most important assets which they possess. As a result they pass from focused on a product and a brand – the focused marketing approaches to the approach focused on the client . Really, retention of customers and restorative of their loyalty is very effective, but difficult method for increase in success of the company. Also, in medium-term competitive fight it is necessary to support and increase customer loyalty. Loyalty as a behavioral fact arises due to the fact that the customer perceives all the benefits that the product provides him.

On the road to profitability, companies are looking for a better marketing strategy. There are many marketing strategies. Some companies have transactional relations with consumers: they are focused on single purchases, don’t keep in contact with the clients and try to reach a big flow of consumers. Other companies argue that the grade of the attitude between buyers and sellers is much more important than the net number of contacts. This strategic route relates to the concept of customer relationship management (CRM). Basically, CRM is an ‘integrated approach to relationship management, focusing on customer retention and relationship development’. As a business strategy, it began to emerge in 1999. Customer relationship management (CRM) is the process of contraction and maintains of the favourable relations with customers, by affording products which are valuable to customer and build satisfied customers. CRM is the way that companies create relationships with customers in order to maintain customer loyalty . CRM emphasizes the significance of long-term relations with customers and increasing their loyalty and allegiance to a company. It offers various storage strategies and recommendations for creating customer loyalty.

The correlation between customer satisfaction and CRM is not from simple. Enlarged customer satisfaction is one of the CRM’s faiths. Customer satisfaction has become the declared goal of all business areas. In the settings of the service, customer satisfaction reports desirable result of the service encounters, which includes an assessment of whether the service meets customer needs and expectations. The importance of the concept of satisfaction is manifested in its alignment with customer loyalty, retention and profitability of the company. Increased customer satisfaction can lead to increased consumer loyalty and lead to an increase in the company’s market share.

Development of relationships with customers:

• Relationship Management.

CRM, along with the launch of the product and service policy, are the programs of long-term cooperation of the company with customers. Within the framework of the organization, the fulfillment of this task includes the elaboration of two components: ‘external’ and ‘internal’. Within the external component, the company develops loyalty programs and sales promotion. Under the loyalty program, it is necessary to understand the long-term client project, which is aimed at increasing the client’s attachment to the company for account tangible material and emotional values, as well as to increase the profitability of the company. It is proposed to distinguish two groups‟ loyalty programs:

• · bonus programs: rewarding customers for profitable behavior for the company (use of additional services, intensity of treatment, recommendations, etc.);
• · additional services: a set of services focused on individual customers or specific segments.

Customer retention:

• Motivation for mutually beneficial relationships.

The motivation of customer consists in the presentation of informing the customer on them so that the last had had a desire in transaction on maintenance in his receiving. Motivation helps the customer to feel the difference between the present and the desired state to realize the need to complete the transaction. Particularly relevant is the time to make a positive impression on the customer, to inspire confidence and to place him to himself.

• Stimulating mutually beneficial relationships.

For each subsequent request for assistance in obtaining a service to the company, the client may be provided with various types of additional services, or provision of services for obtaining a product at a discount, or granting other privileges to such a customer.

Customer service

“Great service is about attitude. And a service attitude leads to a richer quality of life, not only in the commercial sector” (Leonard Berry).

Customer service is one of the important component of customer relationship management. Companies only know the strength and drawbacks with the results of provided customer services. Different service company promote the mantra TLC; think like customer while designing their service interactions. Due to mishandling on how customer think, many service company results miss opportunities to become truly excel-lent. Understanding customer psychology at a deeper level can help company to provide excellent services.

Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty program seek to set customers bond to a company by offering additional encouragements. In a small business informal loyalty programmers may take in from of giving treat as a way of thanking to a regular customers periodically. Consumers are loyal to several brand while rejecting others, sometimes describes as polygamous loyalty. In such instant the marketing goal becomes one of the strengthening the customer preference for brand x over brand y. Marketers need to check three psychological effects to assess the potential of loyalty programme to alter patterns of behavior; brand loyalty verses deal loyalty where marketer should focus on loyalty programmers that directly supports the value of the product instead of creating difference between brand loyalty versus deal loyalty, several elements combine to determine a loyalty programs to value customer should anlaysed and marketers should focus on solution to send customer indicating progress towards reaching particular milestone and promoting the rewards that might be forth coming when that point is reach on time. Customer loyalty programs reinforce loyalty by rewarding frequent users.

Obviously, in order to successfully implement a strategy that is aimed at the customer, it is necessary for the company to carry out interrelated organizational transformations that include changes in the structure of the company, a review of its business processes, service and the transformation of the corporate culture. All this activity must be subject to a single goal of the company.

Benefits of customer relationship management

The reasons that companies have adopted customer relationship management because it can improve productivity across the perfect range of key marketing functions: detecting prospects, acquiring customers, developing customers through cross-selling and up selling, managing customer migration, serving, retaining, and increasing customer loyalty and win back defectors. Many organizations have realised the benefits of customer relationship management as retaining and pleasing the right kind of customers, gaining repeatedly purchasing customers and increasing profitability.

CRM is a technology or software that helps track data and information about the customers to enable better service. Customer relationship management help to acquire profitable customers, to be focus on enterprise customers as a key to competitive advantage. It helps to retain profitable customers longer, win back profitable customers and eliminate unprofitable customers. Companies can upsell additional products in a solution, cross-sell other products to customers, referrals, and word of mouth benefits and reduce service and operational cost.

Customer retention as a key to business performance

Customer retention has more impact on profit than market share, economies of scale and other variables that are considered to provide complete advantages for a firm. While acquisition strategies are necessary to fill the pipeline with customers to counter inevitable attrition, it should be remembered that customer equity is more dependent on customer retention than customer acquisition. For most firms, improving customer retention can lead to very significant increases in profitability. Customer retention strategies work best when industry retention levels are high and there is a significant step in the Company’s customer base. Only five percent increase in retention can increase a company’s profitability to over 85percent. Customer retention strategies are profitable not only because of the increased revenue from loyal customers but also, because of the reduced costs of serving long-time customers.

Research Objectives

• To study the impact of CRM initiatives on customer loyalty
• To analyze the factors which positively and negatively influence customer loyalty
• To suggest measures to enhance CRM initiatives

Review of Literature

• Impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on customer satisfaction and loyalty: A systematic review(2015)

In this study, we review literature on Customer Relationship Management (CRM), focusing specifically on the impact of the CRM on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. CRM is a set of practices that organizations adopt to maintain and increase their customer base.

• Customer Relationship Management and Customer Retention in the Amica Restaurant at Valmet Oy Ltd. (2003)

The aim of the thesis was to increase the understanding of customer retention by investigating a service company able to improve their customer retention through customer relationship management. Companies may choose to apply different parts of customer relationship management to their businesses through technology and other means of communication with their customers, various training programs, and other resources devoted towards the employees of the company.

Evaluating the past and present behaviour makes it possible for the company to adopt the most effective business strategy.

Significance and Importance

CRM Nowadays is considered as an important business strategy, in the changing marketing trends and high-edge competitions. Customer Loyalty is directly proportional to high profitability and Market power of the organization. Various strategies are used by the organisation to retain their customers via loyalty programs, club systems, preferential customers, etc.

Many companies are increasingly adopting customer relationship management as means to take their competitive advantages. The firms are under a tremendous pressure to adjust quickly to rapid changes in a marketplace with re-goods to customer, technology and market function. Customers are not only becoming more value conscious but also less loyal and less service level oriented and less tolerant. Consequently, markets are becoming more fragmented, making differentiation more difficult and completion instant. This change is driving companies to become customer centric and shifting their marketing function from product based to customer based.”

Limitation of the Study

The study is not exploratory as it relies only on secondary sources like online journals, articles, websites, et cetera.

Conclusion

Loyalty of consumers provides the company with many advantages. First, the loyal consumer is less sensitive to the actions of competitors, so it is not so easy to entice. Secondly, a loyal consumer is inclined to recommend a company to which it is loyal or, at least, to speak positively about it when asked. Thirdly, such a consumer will always forgive the company some inaccuracies in the work and remain its client. Thus, it is really necessary to develop customer loyalty. Several years ago, marketing strategies were focused on attracting new customers, but recently the focus has shifted to preserving the existing ones, forming their loyalty and loyalty to the enterprise. The reason for these changes is the recognition that long-term relationships with customers are economically viable; because they guarantee regular purchases, they require less marketing costs for each customer and, because of the recommendations of loyal customers, their number increases. This document examines the impact of CRM on customer loyalty through mediating satisfaction customer factor. The concepts of satisfaction and loyalty and ways of their influence were studied, as well as its elements and sources. According to the research results, customer loyalty is determined by a high level of satisfaction. The customer perceives all the advantages provided by the company. The CMR significantly impact on the satisfaction and as we now satisfaction creates the loyalty of customers. When the companies have the stronger CRM strategy, it means that they have the higher satisfaction and loyalty.

References

1. Javalgi, R.G., Martin, L.C. & Young, R.B. (2006), “Marketing research, market orientation, and customer relationship management”, a framework and implications for service providers. Journal of Service Marketing, 20(1), 12-24.
2. Adele M., Edhi J.,” The Impact of CRM strategy and social CRM on customer loyalty’, International Conference for Emerging Markets, January 22, 2015.P. 182-190.
3. Beltman, E. P. 2013, Customer Relationship Management. Edinburg Gate: Pearson Education limited
4. Bennett, R. & Rundle-Thiele, S., (2002). A comparison of attitudinal loyalty measurement approaches. Journal of Brand Management, 9(3), 193-207
5. Bharadwaj, A.S. (2000). A Resource-Based perspective on information technology capability and firm performance: An Empirical Investigation. MIS Quarterly, 24(1), 169-196.
6. Arezu Ghawami, The Impact of CRM on Customer Retention, 2006
7. Marianne Chisos, Effective tips for Customer Retention Strategies in CRM, Tech Funnel, July 12, 2018.
8. Dalla Pozza I., Goetz O., Sahut J.M., Implementation effects in the relationship between CRM and its performance, Journal of Business Research, Volume 89, 2018

Use of Customer Relationship Marketing for the Success of the Business: Analytical Essay

Introduction

In now days in business world, Marketing Management playing a most important role. Most of aspects of the business world are highly depending on how successfully that business is practice in the Marketing Management. This assignment are more focusing on how the marketing principle of Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) are practically used for the success of the business. This assignment based on research that used for marketing strategies to successes in business world. Now for this assignment I choose Hermès of Paris as my luxury retail company. Hermès International S.A., sometimes also referred to as Hermes of Paris or Hermes is a French luxury good manufacturer. It has been consistently ranked as the world’s most valuable luxury retail company and ranking studies published by leading consultancies. Here is some review of the background of Hermes. Thierry Hermes founded the company in 1837 as a harness workshop in Paris. Originally, his intent was to serve the needs of European nobleman. Thierry’s son Charles-Emile Hermes moved the company’s shop to 24 Rue Du Faubourg Saint-Honore in Paris, where it remains to this very day and is the company’s global headquarters. It gradually, the company’s product offerings expanded through generations. The company’s iconic duc-carriage-with-horse logo and signature orange boxes were introduced in the 1950s. In the 1970s, the company established a subsidiary La Montre Hermes in Bienne, Switzerland. The company acquired tableware manufacturers like Puiforcat, Saint Louis and Perigord in the 1980s and consolidated its position in there segments of the luxury retail market. Hermes is not a conglomerate in real sense of the word and does not own a portfolio of brands like its key competitors, which include LVMH, Richemont and Kering. Currently, the range of products under the Hermes brand mane includes leather goods, lifestyle accessories, perfumes and ready-to-wear. The leather goods and saddlery category is the biggest contributor to the company’s revenues, followed by ready-to-wear and accessories, silk, textiles and fragrances. In February 2015, Hermes has announced an increase of its turnover of 9.7%, which more than €4 billion in sales. The increase is internationally visible. In Asia, excluding Japan, where the turnover grew in 7%. In America, with 10% rise, in Europe, where it grew 7% growth and generated a good performance in the group’s stories. In March 2018, Hermes opened its largest, multi-storey shop in Middle East, at the Dubai Mall. In 2019, the Hermes of Paris brand was ranked 33rd in Forbes list “World’s most valuable Brands”. Hermes International S.A. has using some key of success factors in many ways to examine these factors form Customer’s point about them and purpose to retain its current customers. Therefore, this assignment is going to discuss about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies, advantages and disadvantages of CRM that using by Hermes International S.A. in their business to retain them customers.

Description of the CRM Strategies

First and foremost, Hermes International implement so many of customer relationship management (CRM) strategies to their company to achieve their goals in business world. There are few strategies that Hermes International S.A. can used for their business. Firstly, Hermes International S.A. implement are set a destination. Set a destination are help your company to achieve more goals. As such, you first step into implementing a CRM strategies to identify these goals in future. Once you know what Hermes International S.A. are trying to do. Your next step will be how or to determine how to plan on reaching your objectives. For examples, the goal of Hermes International S.A. is to become top place in the customer’s daily lives. According to the top place concept, one ‘first place” is the home, which I the place where one lives in. By aiming to become the customer’s top place, Hermes International S.A. had set a destination in order to feel satisfy when customers spend time in Hermes International S.A… Moreover, Hermes International S.A. also implement the improve customer relation rate and pricing strategies. Hermes International S.A. implements CRM programs to improve their customer relation rate and pricing strategies. For example, Hermes International S.A. has been set its price by conception, manufacturing and distribution. Therefore, the high-end-position of its products enables the company has set its price by avoiding the competitive influence. Price premiums, the strength of Hermes enable its brand command the highest price while all customers are willing to pay for its iconic products. Besides that, improvement in customer relation rate and pricing strategies follow the Hermes International S.A. to have so much of more cross selling opportunities in their business. For example, Hermes International S.A. has been selling other products such as jewellery, handbags and etc. To improve customer relation rate, Hermes tried to provide better services and deliver conveniences to the customers. Other than that, Hermes also can use distributions strategies. One of the key strategies is retail environment. The company operated in the worldwide market including France, Japan, Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific which are hot fashion districts. The company has distributed its products through 267 exclusive shops around the world which can reinforce its brand image. All products of Hermes have sold only its traditional shop, and it has no desire online shopping. The distributions in make upscale worldwide like Japan, China, the USA and Europe are an international strategy of Hermes to expand customer base and increase sales. Especially in China is currently the largest luxury market in world. Moreover, customers also understand more about what Hermes International S.A. can do for them. Therefore, it also can helps Hermes International S.A. to generate new and innovative ideas too. Another strategy that Hermes International S.A. organisations use to create a high level of customer intimacy is through customer interaction. Hermes International S.A. use schemes which allow employers to either speak face to face with a customer or give them a platform to have their voice heard. “By giving your customers a platform for reaching prospects, your marketing efforts become more objective and inclusive” (Rast, 2012). This customer interaction can be seen in many different forms, varying form feedback surveys, forums or mystery shopper visits. This can be seen in many different department which are customer focused. For example, online survey or feedback forms which can be found for most organisations customer.

Discussion on Advantages of CRM to their business

Secondly, Hermes International S.A. also using so many of CRM program into their business. There are few of advantages of CRM that Hermes International S.A. used for their business. Firstly, customer relationship marketing enables the company to provide excellent real time services by fastening close relationship with every regular customer using the method of effective individual account information. For examples, Hermes International S.A. using CRM creates a singles truth that about each relationship that is accessible form a consistent interface wherever people work. Other than that, by developing CRM advantages is created delivering extra scale and offering greater choice so that customers can find solutions and do business with organisations on their own terms. Besides that, Hermes International S.A. also using safeguarding business as advantages of CRM at their business. A control access to your important customer and business information by securely storing data in the cloud, with advanced protection and automatic back up, this data is proceed from unexpected forms or events. Hermes International S.A. are settings enforce controls so that teams and individual users have appropriate permissions to access records consistent with their role. For example, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps a lot to safeguard the multiple business is by providing the best technology that will helps the organisations to digitally transform and will be develop a new business models which has been ensure future competitiveness. Through out of a smarter process, connected apps and new sights gained from business data, customer relationship management (CRM) also will help to organisations a develop new customer centric business models that support strategic growth plans. Moreover, improvement in allow the company to improve their growth potential of each of the customers by shared income, cross selling and up selling. For example, improvement in business performance is increase in profit margin. One of reasons, Hermes International S.A. is able to generate higher profit margin is customers buy more since they are able to get the higher satisfaction form Hermes International S.A.. This will revenue earned to grow and lead to increase in profit margin. Moreover, the customer will buy the product even though the price is higher than compared to the competitors. Customer might buy more the quantity of the products since the customer does not think that Hermes International S.A. product is much expensive so that this will help Hermes International S.A. to generate the more revenue effectively. In addition, Hermes International S.A. also use enhances better customer service as advantages of customer relationship management for their business. The Customer Relationship Management system that provide businesses with numerous strategic advantages. One of such is the capability to add a personal touch to existing relationship between the business and the customers. It is possible to treat each client individually rather than as a group, by maintaining a repository on each customer’s profiles. This system allows each employee to understand the specific needs of their customers as well as their transaction files. For example, Hermes International S.A. was looking for a modern customer relationship marketing solution that is cloud-based, flexible and has secure interfaces to other programs and database. The goal wa to implement an integrated solution within the Hermes Omni channel strategy. The primary aim was to achieve functional optimization of data flows. Modern usability, technical expandability, simple access control and compliance with data protection criteria were also among the high requirements.

Discussion of Disadvantages of CRM to your business

Thirdly, Hermes International S.A. also face off so many of struggles of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in their business are approaches of past buying behaviour of consumer mightn’t be same in the future. Majority of CRM move towards with collect data in the past purchasing behaviour of customer and undertaking it as the probable behaviour in the customer constrains keep on shifting and various upon the criticality of the purpose and the level of disappointment with the existing alternative. For example, poor customer service and experience 2009 churn rates of around 50% per annum are level of disappointment Hermes International S.A… However, the 50% are used to regular customer of Hermes International S.A… Besides that, not easy to process are also one of the disadvantages of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The assessment of CRM process and its functioning is not an easy mission. It requires multidimensional performance, and multifactor customer situation mostly score card or in metric format, which is often difficult to practise and understand them. A survey found that conducted by reset organisations who have implanted the CRM have difficulties at implantation. According Pries, C. & Stone. M. (2004) Aberdeen Group ranged among of “somehow satisfied” and “satisfied” range from one (not stratified) and to five (completely satisfied) which depend on customers. Other than that, training also can be a small disadvantages of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to Hermes International S.A. Large company need to roll out training schedules for all their employees. For large-scale, CRM, this can make mean hiring professionals to training their Hermes’s employee’s and also require a period of learning and business training to know how it is in business world. For example, the Hermes International S.A. have need to send out their employee’s to CRM training, so that their employees can learn to manage it and set to use to using it. The CRM training is also different for managers compared to their regular staff, because most CRMs have specialized functions for their managers and executives, so that Hermes International S.A. management must send their executive and manager to Customer Relationship Management training. Ultimate the human element form the equation of your company also one of the disadvantages of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Processes are automated when the CRM software is installed, which also means that the potential customers lose part of the human element that the commercial task sometimes requires. There is a differences between being assisted by a real person when making a phone call than by an automated customer service system. Sometimes it is good to make tasks more automatic, but it is also good to have a little personalised help to avoid losing the value of the human element. In addition, approaches of past buying behaviour of consumer mightn’t be same in future to also can be as disadvantages of customer relationship management. Majority of CRM move towards with collect data on the past purchasing behaviour of consumer and undertaking it as the probable behaviour in further too. This could be an immoral supposition in a number of perspectives. Customer constrains keep on shifting and varies upon the critically of the purpose and the level of disappointment with the existing alternatives. For example, Hermes International S.A. dissatisfaction rate due to poor customer service and experience around 2009 churn rates of around 20% per annum. However the 20% are used to regular customer of Hermes International S.A.

Conclusion

Nevertheless in the end of the report is explicable that, in the spite of that, Customer Relationship Management has become a maximum prior CRM implantation as “in many completive markets”, business invest substantially in CRM implantation lately thought, companies have be the majority of them are failing short of the expectations that precede them and are therefore considered failures, The success of a CRM strategy based on advantages and disadvantages of customer relationship management in business world. According to Anderson (1996) comments as “it is a higher response cross-selling efforts and better word-of-mouth publicity”. The understanding it as a business strategy keeping the main focus on their customer and their satisfactions. Therefore, it is useful to establish the brand creditability and gaining trust of customers in their brand. In the other hand, Hermes International S.A. is the first come to customer mind is high quality provided. In the end, Hermes International S.A. doing well. Although the cast to implantation a CRM program is expensive but it is worth implant it. This is a win-win situation, both parties get what they need. In a life cycle of strategic brand management, the brand should aware the value of maintaining and improving the brand thereby keeping the valuable assets. The brand can increase value of products expanding franchise and brand equity. The ability of the brand to provide its special products and unique image through many communications such as the media, advertising and public relations enables the brand to exploit it competitive advantage and disadvantage over the rivals. Improving its products and considering for the future. However, though some disadvantages and argument has been placed but it is should be remind that CRM assists a company concentrate on the customer as an assets side by side consumers are not forced to by necessity in the same organization. Many companies waste a lot of money obtain new customers and squander it by failing to acquire to know and comprehend their customer, retain and keep in handle with them. Therefore, the company should setup CRM system based on allow to customers to handle their relationship with multiple suppliers rather than the other way encompassing.