Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management is a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining and partnering with selective customer to create superior value of the company and the customers.

CRM is a management approach model that puts customers at the core of a company processes and practices. CRM Leverages cutting adge technology integrated strategic action planning up-close and personal marketing techniques and organization development tools to build internal relationships that increase profit margins and build internal external relationships that increase profit margins and productivity within a company.

When we talk about products or service quality, actually it is not focused on the products/service itself, but it is more about matching needs. Customer have their own expectation. This expectation are depend on the customer needs itself, the past experiences, and the information they have. Meanwhile, the company also has their own perception about the customer expectation. From this perception the company build a products/service quality specification that will be delivered to the customers through external communication with customers. When this product/service quality specification meet with the customer expectation than we call it as a perceived product/service.

But the perceived product/service oftenly didn't get. There are several gaps that can lead to this situation such as;

• Not knowing what customers expect
• Not selecting theright service design standard
• Not delivering to service standards
• Not matching performance to promises

CRM is efective to eliminate or at least reduced these gaps. The major process of CRM will be include of

• Standards of Customer Service
• Expanding Customer Service to Customer Relations
• Managing Customer Relations

By applying CRM hopefully some benefit could be achieved such as;

• Increase sales revenues
• Increased Win rates
• Increased Margins
• Improved customersatisfaction things
• Decrease general sales and marketing administrative cost

To be successful on implementing CRM there are 10 critical success factor that should become the management's attention;

1. Determine the functions to automate
2. Automate what needs automating
3. Gain top management support and commitment
4. Employ technology smartly
5. Secure User ownership
6. Prototype the system
7. Train User
8. Motivate personel
9. Administrative the system
10. Keep management commited

The process of implementing CRM can be evaluate by three stage of the CRM implementation level

1. Satisfaction Based => Re-Active
   
   • Meet customer needs
   • Respond to complaints
   • Minimal evaluation of customer srvice levels
    
2. Performance Based => Pro-Active
   
   • Evaluate customers perception
   • Identify customer retention factors
    
3. Commitment Based => Very Pro-Active
   
   • Evaluate multiple customer needs
     
   • Continuous inbound/outbound flowand feedback
   • Continuous improvement

Finally you should be aware with the CRM Myths

• CRM is Primarily about Technology
• Successful CRM project are managed by IT
• "Executive buy-in" is the key
• We need to roll this out across the enterprise ASAP
• CRM system are intuitive. User will only need some initial hand holding