What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?
It is the systematic process of determining the lifetime value of a customer, selecting customers who are of strategic significance, increasing the attractiveness of the firms' offerings such that the needs and wants of the individual customers are met, and subsequently, the task of building learning relationships to obtain loyalty through the creation cf customized/personalized offerings on a one-to-one basis in order to develop value added. The process is continuous and the organization must adapt to the constant changes in the environment as well as within the customers. Only through this ongoing dialogue, interaction, and mutual understanding will all parties involved achieve a win-win situation.
How is this possible?
By tracking, collecting, storing, managing, and disseminating customer data throughout every department in the organization, by creating a culture for knowledge sharing, and by enabling instant changes in the internal processes of the organization to fit the data i.e. the customers' needs and wants. The organizational response will then match the requirements to that of the customers.
But why has CRM shown not to work optimally?
Because of human beings. People working with CRM can never grasp the true concept of CRM. People are chaotic, they are limited in their abilities to collect data and customize services. They have differing aims in life, they prioritize differently, they understand other people poorly etc. The list is endless.
What can be done?
If CRM is to be implemented successfully, the people working with CRM must possess a higher form of intelligence. They must possess the skills to be aware and to adapt. They must be like air. They must follow customers 24 hours a day from birth to death. And at every moment they must record all data.
They must be machines. Machines with eyes, ears, noses, and feelings. Only then can data be collected that reflects the real world. Only then, can calculations be made that can truly reflect the predictions of the individual customers. Only then, can customization of offerings truly reflect the customers' needs. And only with the machines can a true objective form of marketing be carried out that is fair and beneficial for all the involved parties. CRM may then be said to be a success.
Will marketing ever be fair and equal for all? Only if one side are robots.
It is the systematic process of determining the lifetime value of a customer, selecting customers who are of strategic significance, increasing the attractiveness of the firms' offerings such that the needs and wants of the individual customers are met, and subsequently, the task of building learning relationships to obtain loyalty through the creation cf customized/personalized offerings on a one-to-one basis in order to develop value added. The process is continuous and the organization must adapt to the constant changes in the environment as well as within the customers. Only through this ongoing dialogue, interaction, and mutual understanding will all parties involved achieve a win-win situation.
How is this possible?
By tracking, collecting, storing, managing, and disseminating customer data throughout every department in the organization, by creating a culture for knowledge sharing, and by enabling instant changes in the internal processes of the organization to fit the data i.e. the customers' needs and wants. The organizational response will then match the requirements to that of the customers.
But why has CRM shown not to work optimally?
Because of human beings. People working with CRM can never grasp the true concept of CRM. People are chaotic, they are limited in their abilities to collect data and customize services. They have differing aims in life, they prioritize differently, they understand other people poorly etc. The list is endless.
What can be done?
If CRM is to be implemented successfully, the people working with CRM must possess a higher form of intelligence. They must possess the skills to be aware and to adapt. They must be like air. They must follow customers 24 hours a day from birth to death. And at every moment they must record all data.
They must be machines. Machines with eyes, ears, noses, and feelings. Only then can data be collected that reflects the real world. Only then, can calculations be made that can truly reflect the predictions of the individual customers. Only then, can customization of offerings truly reflect the customers' needs. And only with the machines can a true objective form of marketing be carried out that is fair and beneficial for all the involved parties. CRM may then be said to be a success.
Will marketing ever be fair and equal for all? Only if one side are robots.
