KEY STAGES OF CRM

Key Stages of CRM and Its Implementation



Key Stages of CRM and Its Implementation

Introduction

Customer relationship management (or CRM) is an emerging managerial philosophy closely aligned with the intersection of marketing and information technology. CRM suggests that the goal of a business organization should be to develop, enhance, and maintain relationships with its “best customers.” (The term customeris used here to include both end-user consumers and business-to-business customers.) Lee (2000) mentions terms such as “strengthening the bond between customer and company,” “customer-focused strategy that drives profitability,” and “customer retention” are often associated with CRM. In this view, not all customers are created equal, and it is in the organization's interest to create long-term relationships with a strategically targeted segment of the customer population that will best contribute to the organization's success. Often success is defined in terms of profitability (for example, “the 20% of the customer base that is responsible for 80% of the revenues”), although customers may also contribute to organizational success through enhancing the organization's image, word of mouth, or other types of influence (Lee, 2000). However success is defined, the intention is to identify, target, and nurture those customer relationships that are most critical to that goal. This paper discusses the following key stages/steps of CRM and its implementation in a concise and comprehensive way.

Step-01: Creating a Customer-Centric Strategy

Becoming a truly customer-centric organization is perhaps one of the most difficult transitions an organization can make, fraught with hidden obstacles and unanticipated challenges. Here are three potential roadblocks on the path to a customer-centric strategy, and how to get around them.

Part of the appeal of customer-centricity is that it takes very little business acumen to grasp its core concept. Focus intensely on customers, align your products or services with their interests, and voila: a customer-centric culture is born. Simple, right? Not quite. Becoming a truly customer-centric organization is perhaps one of the most difficult transitions an organization can make, fraught with hidden obstacles and unanticipated challenges (Lee, 2000).

A retail executive who is considering a digital signage system shouldn't let the tail wag the dog. Content, rather than hardware or software, drives digital signage. And the best digital signage systems are focused on customer-centric content - messaging that puts your customers first by telling them what they want to know, delivered in a way that they enjoy. If you can communicate a relevant message and allow customers to control their shopping experience, you're more likely to gain their loyalty and ultimately their business.

There is practically no limit to the messaging possibilities for the retailer — from brand image spots, to product information, to promotions, to community information, to entertaining trivia, to live news feeds. In addition to all this, there's also an intriguing bonus — the ability to display vendor advertising and generate revenue.

Most retailers today understand that a digital signage system can target messages to customers by location and by time. What's not understood is that technology now allows them to be much more ...