Chapter 11 : Building A Customer-Centric Organization (Customer Relationship Management)

Assalamualaikum,

1. Describe Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its role
     in supporting business operations.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a management philosophy according to which a company's goals can be best achieved through identification and satisfaction of the customers stated and unstated needs and wants. One example of a common CRM strategy is the rewards card program offered by many supermarkets. The store gives its customers a free card that gives them access to special deals and discounts when they swipe the card during checkout. But that card also tracks everything the customer buys and allows the store to create an extremely detailed customer profile based on his or her purchasing habits. Armed with that information, the store can then offer its customers targeted coupons and other programs that will motivate its customers to buy more products from that store. 

Its role in supporting business operations are :

1. Accumulating a lot of data about the customer
    - when all the data of customer are being captured, it is then used to facilitate
      customer service transaction by making the information needed to resolve the

      issue or concern readily available in order to deal with the customers.

2. Help for the top management
    - help for the top management in deciding the company's future course of action, 

      whether it involves phasing out one of the products on the shelves or making 

      adjustments to one of the products sold.

3. Invaluable to organization's advertising and marketing planners

    - they will be able to pinpoint which ideas and which don't. CRM system is the 

      main reason where you will be able to release advertisements or plan marketing 

      campaigns more in tune with your target market as well as the target audiences.  

2. Identify the benefits and challenges of CRM 

The benefits of CRM  :

1. Shared information

    - aggregate the data obtained and distributes it among the different department in
      your organizations. CRM systems collect and maintain detailed customer
      information such as purchase histories and customer preferences.

2. Improved customer service
    - improves the customer service experience. Many CRM systems have a detailed
      note-taking and contact system, which allows sales professionals and others to
      record when and why a customer was contacted. Having this information
      prevents you from making repeated telephone calls, sending out repeat
      notices and asking repeat questions, which may only annoy or frustrate
      customers. Improving the customer service experience may lead to repeat
      purchases and more loyal customers.

3. Better marketing

    - gives organization the chance to improve and simplify the marketing system.
      Data in the CRM system also can tell you which customers are profitable
      and which are not. A company uses this information when deploying
      marketing tactics by focusing on the profitable customers and less-so on
      other ones, thereby simplifying marketing strategies and bolstering sales.

Challenges of CRM :

1. Expensive costs that occur when implementing the system
    - it is a huge investment to maintain a customer database. The additional
      expense comes from the money needed for the computer hardware, 
      software, and personnel that is needed to maintain it. These excessive
      costs can lead to a negative vibe within the company and can result in a
      CRM collapse.  

2. An inadequate focus on objectives
    - occurs after the CRM system is implemented. When hard times hit, the
      organization may lose sight of its goals and eventually steer away from the
      clearly laid out objectives. Goals may get interchanged and ultimately lose
      their original importance. 

3. Insufficient resources
    - organizations start lessening their budgets from the current phase in order
       to handle the initial excessive costs. Organizations tend to fail at utilizing

       the necessary resources fro success and that can result in failure. 

4. Inappropriate metrics 

    - organizations constantly fail to use the right metrics. Failure to chose
      the right method of measurement is a main reason of why this system may 

      not work. Different metrics implement different goals.