Learn the most important elements of a CRM implementation
CRM The term comes from the acronym Customer Relationship Management, Customer Relationship Management-Service. According to Lucio Tere (2005) CRM is an approach that allows the organization to focus on the client to interact more effectively with it, identify its importance in the organization and keep him from going to competitors. On the other hand as Ariel CRM Valero (2006) is a business philosophy that arises in understanding and anticipating the requirements of consumers, both existing and potential, so it can be understood as a business strategy focused on the client and their needs.
Having the knowledge of the needs and desires of clients represents a competitive advantage in the market, so companies can maintain a high level in customer loyalty and retention as well as easy to attract new consumers. This can be easily translated into sales. According to studies Kankanhalli, Tan, Kwok-Kee (2005), strategic management of organizational knowledge is a key factor to help the organization maintain a competitive advantage in volatile environments. Technology, specifically Information Technology (IT) can improve CRM processes. As mentioned by Boyle (2004), properly administered, the raw data of customers, may be driven by CRM software and become a cohesive intelligence that can be analyzed to predict trends and returns, find growth opportunities, make key decisions for administration, justify expenditures and other marketing resources.
Implementation of CRM
Lopez and Shaw (2002) suggest that effective implementation of CRM can improve customer relationships, to know them better and reduce the costs and increase the loyalty of existing ones, which in both cases, meaning more sales and more profitability for business. Bradshaw and Brash (2001) argue that CRM applications should not only be functionally integrated in the customer service but also in the functions of the organization such as manufacturing and advertising.
Brown (2001) proposes five elements required for successful implementation of CRM:
a) Strategy. There are 6 types of strategies that affect CRM program: the channel of segmentation, pricing, marketing, the branding and advertising. The first three are the most impact. The strategy of channel determines the medium used to convey the offer to the customer. The segmentation strategy will determine the structure of clients and, consequently, the marketing organization. The pricing strategy is the most important differentiation in a market of generic products and determine more than half the value of the offer.
b) Segmentation. Refers to the classification of customers according to their needs for the determination of marketing activities to ensure the efficient use of segmentation companies must develop the right set of formulas for modeling customer behavior.
c) Technology. CRM functionality depends on the data and information sharing. That’s why creating a single integrated database-oriented logic operations is the key technical considerations.
d) Processes. The process should incorporate business strategy established by CRM to achieve the objectives, likewise, should adopt the technology needed to enable and enforce them. The difficulty of the processes in the implementation of CRM lies not in identifying the processes to be included, but in the acceptance of the company, develop measures to assess the effectiveness of new processes and implement technology to enable and enforce them.
e) Organization. The organizational structure is the component receives the least attention in the implementation of CRM, the creation of interdisciplinary teams is effective when the aim is to understand and implement these new types of campaigns as well, select members of each team must participate in the activities of acceleration transfer of knowledge and advice to their peers throughout the process.
Customer Loyalty
According to Beuchat Shaw William et al. (2007) posed the look CRM has been around since there are sellers and buyers have more to do with the way a company relates to its consumers that the technology used for this purpose which becomes a means to increase capacity more targeted value propositions and specific. The old salesman at a retail business district, achieved a very close and fruitful from the point of view of sales, loyalty and fidelity that was generated. This kept a personal notebook with the visit of customers and business contacts. Record date of birth of the client and his family, who owned inventory, sales etc latest product. This basic technology as the storage of data on what was happening in the relationship, allowed to offer different value propositions for customers based on reading and analysis of transactions and interactions recorded in his notebook.
The process of loyalty with the concept of CRM, follows the same logic above, but with the help of technological features. This allows the management of customer relationships, may properly be the basis of the process of generating revenue for the company.
According to Pablo Luis Canepa et al (2007), the technological support to achieve loyalty allows the handling of large volumes of customer data integrated from various sources, introduces and provides sophisticated analytical technology to the point of contact in many interactions which replaces personal visit. The new concept of loyalty or intelligence involves the ability of a company to collect and evaluate the needs and characteristics of clients, consumer behavior, interests and requirements.
Therefore, the CRM as William Shaw Beuchat et al. (2007) is implementing Data warehouse tools (the historical accumulation of company data) and data mining (extraction of useful data from a broader data base) to increase loyalty due to:
• Allows customers to segment and personalize the shopping experience and service in each of the segments that are at the point of contact.
• Develop direct marketing according to the needs and behavior of the customer base.
• Design and develop new products.
• Identify opportunities for new sales and improve customer service processes.
From this valuable information detected at points of contact, you can implement one of the most effective tools in the customer loyalty marketing one to one that originates and is understood from the relationship established by the company and its clients based on full knowledge of the real needs of consumers.
CHAPTER 4 Case Audi Dealers in Mexico, an experience of Luxury According Canepa, Paul Louis et al. (2007) when the Audi automotive industry especially that began operating in Mexico in 1997, entered in a market experiencing strong growth. In 15 years the owners of vehicles passed 5 to 35 marks. Globalization and new technologies to meet changing customer needs were clear obstacles to the company producing luxury vehicles although successful CRM model was applied that allowed him to ally the difference.
In its first decade Audi achieving second position in the premium segment of the vein in Mexico, in its first year only 195 units placed in their dealerships in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puebla. The following year sales grew by 533% thanks to the opening of new dealerships in Monterrey, Leon, Merida and Cancun.
But increasing competition forced the German company to seek new ways to make your favorite be exclusive products for the discerning Mexican consumers. In this context emerged the CRM application for customer loyalty increasingly reluctant to marry a particular brand.
In Mexico Audi, the implementation of CRM meant the development of a new work culture in which all employees are clear that nothing I do is meaningful if the result you get is a drop in the indices of customer satisfaction. The Mexican model is transformed into a recognized bechmark plus for the company in the world.
How was it done?
Developing the audit strategy to strengthen ties with customers and strengthen the brand value in its target segment step would be to define the vital points in the short term, medium and long term.
Short term: For the first two years of implementation is focused on product communication and the opening of local dealers with a distinctive architecture type hangar to start from the competition.
Medium term: It began to balance the communication between the product and brand. We developed a positioning based on advanced technology, sportsmanship and finally laid the foundations for the implementation of CRM with a campaign of “ONE-to-one marketing” (or direct marketing)
Long term: Communication is focused entirely on the mark (solidly positioned in the minds of consumers) and started working on initiatives to create what they called a customer-oriented internal culture.
The implementation of CRM strategy was cemented further into a series of pillars for the organization.
Thanks to its strategy, the automaker now has a refined data base includes 92% of its customers. With it has made the profile of each market segment (from socio-economic topics such as age or sex to other psychographic and lifestyle) also is achieving a 85% efficiency in telemarketing campaigns a very high figure by the standards the industry.
Finally, the company has implemented the Audi Information Systems, a tool that automatically updates the corporate database information collected from prospects and customers at dealerships across the republic.
What we do and what not
The success of the implementation of CRM at Audi model should not lead to the belief that software will generate customer loyalty. The choice of software will, if done right, the last decision to make. An example for the skeptics, Mexico’s Audi started with a simple Excel spreadsheet.
CRM is a strategy at the corporate level more than a technological tool, and it is also necessary to review the other elements present throughout the organization (in addition to strategy, structure, processes and culture)
Until we identify the core processes of value creation (customer) in the company, staff are not trained (as a whole, not just marketing) and to achieve that focus on delighting customers, CRM programs are simply isolated aspirations loyalty generation.
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Posted in CRM program | 
Tags: CRM program, customer relationships, marketing resources, organizational structure
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