The New Customer Relationship Management

By









EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Organizations implement business development software tools in a bid to increase business and improve business processes. Latest business tools are available in packages with high end technology and communication systems. The implementation of such tool packages require seamless integration of organizational need with what the tools have to offer. These tools if not integrated well within the organization have a potential of being counterproductive and ineffective in achieving the objectives for which they were implemented. The focus of this study is the analysis of New Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. CRM tools are implemented in organizations to manage customer communication and enhance visibility of the organization to its customers. They are intended to act as a one stop shop for customer interactions with customer information and data base readily available for access. Managers can use CRM to understand customer needs and complaints and provide custom solutions and services to the customers. CRM essentially acts as an information management tool which is used to generate, characterize, store, represent, reproduce and interpret data. The dissertation studies the functioning of CRM process already implemented in a manufacturing organization. The study provides analysis for imperfect information flow and delays in the process. Process improvement recommendations based on the concept of Lean are proposed for the process. The learning's from the study can be leveraged on to other similar business development tools.

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

1.1 Introduction1

1.2 Problem Statement2

1.3 Research Objectives3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

2.1 Background of the topic4

2.2 ERP to CRM4

2.3 Importance of CRM5

2.4 Implementation of CRM6

2.5 Customer Profitability7

2.6 Customer Lifetime Analysis9

2.7 Customer Retention10

2.8 Customer Loyalty12

2.9 Information Management17

2.10 Information Management and Industry17

2.11 Information Flow18

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY20

3.1 Introduction20

3.2 Steps required in developing a Process Map20

3.3 Identifying the process21

3.4 Process Mapping Objectives22

3.5 Mapping Level22

3.6 Process Scope23

3.7 Data Source23

3.8 Information Gathering24

3.9 Representation of the process24

3.10 Steps for the Flowchart24

3.11 Analysis of the entire process25

3.12 Summary of the methodology26

REFERENCES27

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

The delivery of products which consistently meet the customer requirements is a major issue to manufacturers. In the effort to increase their competitiveness, profitability, and overall market share, manufacturing organizations have to develop efficient ways of producing and maintaining the quality of their products. The advancement of technology and information management has aided the manufacturers to better serve their customers. In this competitive world market, manufacturers have to go beyond lean manufacturing and provide after-market customer service solutions to maintain their competitive edge and retain the customer. To improve the market share, manufacturers are improving their responsiveness to customer demands in terms of product design, services, and operations and manufacturing practices. Such level of customer focused manufacturing can be achieved with efficient flow of information between the customer and the manufacturer. With the advancement of internet and communication technology, manufacturers utilize data processing and information management tools to develop their customer oriented business strategy. These tools, referred to as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, are utilized to synchronize and integrate manufacturing and operational activities ...