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CONTENTS UNIT
1. INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY MANAGEMENT UNIT
8.EVIDENCE BASED DECISION MAKING UNIT
9. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT |
UNIT 9. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Part A That few companies are achieving the results
they expected from their investment in Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
is not news. That most companies continue to invest in CRM without a roadmap
for increasing shareholder value or even for forging closer customer
relationships is also not surprising, since there are few best practices in
CRM for companies to follow. In fact, based on our own research and
consulting, and a recent examination of best practices in 35 Canadian and
U.S. corporations, we could not find one company that excels in every
dimension of CRM. However, we did find examples of one or two specific best
practices in individual companies. This article discusses these selected best
practices, which, we believe, companies should consider when trying to improve the performance of their CRM initiatives. It
also discuss the changing role of senior managers that are developing a
relationship-oriented organization There are many definitions for CRM, and
best-practice companies adopt one that is shared across the organization.
Otherwise, the very term «CRM» will conjure up many things to different
people and lead to confusion. These companies see CRM as a series of
strategies and processes that support and execute a relationship vision for
the enterprise. In their eyes, CRM is a series of strategies and processes
that create new and mutual value for individual customers, builds preference
for their organizations and improves business results over a lifetime of
association with their customers. With this definition, an organization can
focus on developing the only asset of the enterprise that matters in the long
term, progressively deeper relationships with valuable customers. By sharing
the definition, they can put the customer first and avoid sending their staff
into cycles of interminable CRM programming. These organizations then create a vision for
how CRM will change their companies. Some develop the vision according to
attributes that are important to both the customer and the company. These include
attributes that affect customers» perceptions of value, how they can bond
with the organization, product and company preference and purchase intent. This vision sometimes changes as the firm
gains experience in CRM and as technology makes new things possible. For
example, at a major Canadian bank, the vision has evolved. Initially the
vision was associated with the development of customer information systems.
Personnel then identified five components that the firm built in stages to
implement key aspects of the vision. These components were associated with
developing a complete, real-time, single and accurate view of each customer.
Simple though it sounds, it took several years to accomplish given the sheer
scale of the enterprise. In this example, the vision was initially conceived
in terms of a strategic capability, that of customer information. Today, the
vision is more focused on the delivery of differentiated value propositions
through products to customers. This illustrates that once best-practice companies
put a strategic capability in place to enable CRM, they tend to modify the
vision to use the capability for customer bonding, a learning relationship
and competitive advantage. Strategic capabilities are even more important
than specific strategies in best-practice CRM companies. We discuss this
below. At the outset especially, best-practice
companies develop their CRM plans in terms of strategic capabilities rather
than strategies per se. This helps to ensure that the company can adjust to a
wide variety of marketplace and industry changes without affecting the main
thrust of the plan. For example, we recently reviewed the plan of an
organization considering what to do with CRM in the wake of the events of
September 11. Prior to our involvement, it was debating the merits of various
programs while the key strategic capability it needed – in this case,
developing an ability to listen and respond to customers in a timely manner –
was not identified nor discussed. Increasingly, best-practice companies base their CRM capability plans
not just on technology but also on developing and focusing organizational
capabilities in other areas such as CRM processes, people and
knowledge/insight. Indeed, we have found that best-practice companies do not
first adopt a CRM technology solution and then build their CRM initiatives
around it. Rather, they develop a more balanced approach to conceiving and
implementing CRM strategic capabilities as described in Diagram 1. There are
four main CRM strategic capabilities: •Technology: the technology that supports
CRM. People: the skills, abilities and attitudes of the people who manage
CRM. •Process: the processes companies use to
access and interact with their customers in the pursuit of new value and
mutual satisfaction. •Knowledge and insight: the approaches the
company uses to add value to customer data so that they acquire the knowledge
and insight needed to deepen the relationships that matter. The scale and scope of these capabilities
are affected by factors such as the core customers on which the firm has
chosen to concentrate, the leadership and culture of the organization, the
channels the company uses for stakeholder communications, transactions and
logistics and the firm’s business model, strategy and structure. Diagram1:
Balancing CRM Strategic Capabilities Many companies have CRM strategies that seek
to develop additional sales from certain existing customers. Best-practice
companies do this, too, and also have strategies that focus on the enablers
of the end-customer relationship. For example: Processes ·
Customer
collaboration to jointly plan and create new value, differentiated by class
of customer. ·
Collaboration
with distribution channel intermediaries and suppliers to achieve the value
each end-customer wants. ·
Embedding
business rules into CRM databases so that customers» behaviors trigger
appropriate actions Technology ·
Integration
of the customer’s various touch points with the company ·
Development
of a single, real-time view of each customer ·
Creating
an ability to sell when the customer is ready to buy, and knowing what to
offer and how to appeal to each customer People ·
Recognizing
that employees have different needs just as customers do, and trying to
provide each with the value they want from the company ·
Creating
a self-serve capability to enable employees to take more control of their
careers and career development, including what and when they learn Many companies measure the return on
investment (ROI) of their CRM programs. Indeed, firms often embarked on a CRM
journey because the performance of specific programs could be measured with
more assurance than their traditional means of promotion. Best-practice
companies know the ROI for each of their programs and use this knowledge
expeditiously. For example, a major casino understands guest spending and can
rapidly relate this data to the investment the casino made to attract the
guest. This leads to new offers affected by the amount the guest spent (lost)
and the casino’s investment in the guest. Measurement allows the casino to
limit «free ridership», the provision of offers to visitors who would return
anyway without any incentives. As this example suggests, best-practice
companies make use of measurements to allow them to manage customer
behaviors. Thus, customer profitability, which today is often measured at the
gross margin level, is increasingly allocating costs below the gross margin
line to individual customers. For instance, costs per customer such as those
below are increasingly being considered to arrive at a more detailed
assessment of customer profitability: •Account management costs •New product concepts developed in
collaboration •Costs or time saved in new product
development •Savings in new account acquisition from
customer referrals •Costs associated with inventory levels
(finished goods works, in process, raw materials, etc.) •Reduced costs of marketing such as
co-marketing •Reduced infrastructure costs such as from
shared investments •Costs of managing customer communications,
customer support, complaints, feedback and restitution (payments for returns
or errors) •Amortization of infrastructure costs such
as call centers and Web-sites Measurements such as these also help a
company decide how much to invest to keep existing customers and how much to
spend to attract new customers. This is effectively changing the paradigm in
media spending from considering costs in dollars per thousand people to
dollars per priority customer. In addition to the measurement of
behaviours, best-practice companies measure attitudes. For example, customer
satisfaction and favourability (purchase intent) are measured. For
business-to-business purchase decisions, customer satisfaction measurement
occurs across the enterprise and scores are weighted to arrive at an overall
level that allows satisfaction levels to be compared over time. Best-practice
companies also understand their performance compared to other suppliers for
that account. They track their share of each customer’s spending. By using
data such as these, companies are beginning to target specific competitors to
transfer customer share one customer at a time and thereby to gain market
share. More generally, best-practice companies develop selected competitive
measures to help ensure that the performance of their C RM initiative is
leading to superior customer relationships. For most companies, today’s CRM strategies
reflect a material shift in historical marketing and strategy. And, because
organizational structure follows business strategy, CRM impacts organizational
design. Two areas have a particular impact on the structure of companies: •the amount and nature of customer data and
the processes by which value is added to the data. •how companies compete, especially for those
firms that use CRM to compete on scope. Most companies obviously see solid financial
data as important for management, leadership and control. They have a
financial department and a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with custodial
responsibility for these financial data, including security and management,
and the processes by which value is added. Increasingly, companies are coming
to believe that customer data are as important as financial data. Some
best-practice firms are establishing custodial responsibility for customer
data and value-added processes in the same way that they secure and manage
financial data. This responsibility includes managing the customer data
warehouse and the approaches that add value to customer data. It can also
include mechanisms for providing services from a centralized department to
the lines of business in decentralized companies. Companies competing on scope change their
structure frequently as they begin to sell what customers want rather than
what the firm has made. This leads some companies to distribute the
complementary products or services of others, including customers and
competitors, and to sometimes sell their own products and services through
others. This can be a marked departure in strategy for those companies that
built their businesses through economies of scale. Associated with these
changes are new roles and responsibilities for an expanded array of
stakeholders and how they interact in the value chain. The challenge for
organizational design is to accommodate these changes without disrupting the
firm’s existing business. Because the company competing on scope often
has fewer but more important stakeholders, CRM companies are beginning to
organize around their stakeholders to create the value each wants. For
example, professional services firms have client-service teams for their most
important clients with representatives of both the firm and the client on the
teams. In another example, a major logistics company has established customer
teams that bring together the various processes by which the company
interacts with its priority customers. Members of the customer teams are
drawn from many areas within the firm, such as marketing, sales, advertising,
research, operations and finance, as well as their counterparts from the
customer. In this case, the management of the customer team falls to sales,
which manages all the processes by which customer value is created – an
obviously very different role than the historical role of the sales
department. EXERCISES 1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell
it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
Managers now 1)________
a stakeholder-centric focus for their organizations may find that they now
have additional roles and 2)________. These can include: Providing a compelling vision to 3)________ the organization focused on CRM strategically,
tactically and in real time, continuously and mutually with key stakeholders. Bringing all 4)________
data together in a single location, aligning processes among stakeholders in
the service of the end customer, and smoothly integrating the CRM activities
of other executives, lines of business and 5)________ areas. Selecting among the often competing requests
for projects, funds and people, in accordance with the CRM vision, such as
the issue of who is promoting the project, what 6)________ can accomplish or
whether new or existing customers merit the most attention from CRM. Helping management and 7)________ at all
levels to understand CRM concepts and the firm’s vision for CRM, as well as
communicating customer, market and profitability data to describe the firm’s
progress as it proceeds on its CRM journey. Setting 8)________
to help individuals and groups align their performance with the goals for
CRM. Many companies have a large variable component in their compensation 9)________, for example, which can reward behaviours that
run counter to CRM principles. People need to know the 10)________
between CRM and their own success or the initiative might be seen as just
another program. Among the many aspects of change management organizations
typically employ are the recognition of individual and group achievements,
and case study successes. Ensuring that a sufficient flow of people,
time, money and knowledge goes to the CRM areas that need these 11)________. Ensuring that that
financial and operational controls are in place to monitor and improve
customer performance and that any trust that might have been extended to any
stakeholder under the CRM vision is not abused. Few 12)________
today are realizing the potential from their often-considerable investments
in CRM. In part, this is because it is uncommon for management and staff to
embrace CRM as a vision for how the 13)________
could be. Seen only as a means to 14)________ more
short-term sales, CRM can be little more than a means to efficiently interact
with chosen customers with appropriate value propositions. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. Сегодня бизнес, будь то небольшое предприятие или огромный концерн,
невозможно представить без самого главного, что оправдывает само
существование компании – клиентов. Фактически, клиентская база является
второй по ценности составляющей любого бизнеса после уникального торгового
предложения компании. Поэтому настолько важно и управление отношениями с клиентами – ведь
каждый заказчик индивидуален, а из мелких деталей, которые вы знаете о нем и складываются взаимоотношения партнеров. Сокращение
CRM (Customer Relationship
Management), сегодня широко используется в России и
расшифровывается как «управление взаимоотношениями с клиентами». Что же такое система управления взаимоотношениями с клиентами?
Фактически, CRM это ряд программ, позволяющих осуществлять следующие
важнейшие операции по управлению отношениями с клиентами: •продажи товаров и услуг компании; •обслуживание (в т.ч. сервисное и гарантийное) продукции компании,
поставленной клиенту; •маркетинг новых и уже существующих товаров и услуг компании по
клиентской базе; •анализ поведения клиентов. CRM позволяет систематически отслеживать предпочтения ваших клиентов,
наблюдать положительную или отрицательную динамику вашего сотрудничества, а
на основе этого разрабатывать дополнительные товары и услуги, эффективно
выводя их на рынок. Система управления отношениями с клиентами – мощный толчок для вашего
бизнеса. Постоянное наблюдение за вашими клиентами дает бизнесу значительный
прирост эффективности продаж. По статистическим данным, в разных компаниях после
внедрения систем управления взаимоотношениями с клиентами, продажи выросли на
6-12%, а валовый доход компаний использующих
современные CRM системы повышается в среднем на 2-4%. Такой эффект достигается за счет автоматизации ряда операций,
выполняемых до этого вручную и за счет возможности постоянно контролировать
предпочтения клиентов, занося записи о них в базу данных системы управления
отношениями с клиентами. Определяя товары и услуги, пользующиеся максимальным
и минимальным спросом, компания-пользователь CRM системы может оптимизировать
не только продажи, но и складские остатки, а также – структуру сервисных
центров и персонала. Большинство крупных компаний давно используют системы управления
взаимоотношениями с клиентами, иначе они просто не смогли бы учесть всех
пожеланий своих партнеров, а соответственно теряли бы свои доли рынка и
прибыль. Но нужнее всего на сегодняшний день системы CRM именно небольшим
компаниям, которые попали в рынки с очень высокой конкуренцией. Именно в
таких ситуациях, когда роль играет не ценовое преимущество, а высокий уровень
управления взаимоотношениями с клиентами – компания, которая полностью
освоила CRM системы и выигрывает конкурентную борьбу. Такая система имеет огромную востребованность среди предприятий имеющих
сеть мелких покупателей, характеризующихся большой номенклатурой товаров.
Исходя из анализов предпочтений покупателей на основе системы управления
взаимоотношений с клиентами, можно предсказать спрос на тот или иной товар в
определенном ценовом сегменте, а следовательно – эффективность
вывода товара или товарной группы на рынок. Не менее результативны системы управления отношениями с клиентами и для
сервисных компаний. Используя CRM систему, менеджер сервисной компании может
контролировать такие данные как: •износ оборудования клиента и потребность в его ремонте и профилактике;
•наиболее частые поломки и дефекты оборудования; •предлагать новое оборудование на основании предпочтений клиентов
(цена, торговая марка, другие характеристики). Очевидно, что используя CRM систему, компания может приобрести
конкурентное преимущество, основанное на предсказании поведения потребителей,
а соответственно – предложить своим клиентам именно то, что они хотят
приобрести, вне зависимости от сферы бизнеса, таким образом снизив
административные затраты и повысив продажи. Part B No-one mentioned business relationship
management, despite the fact that direct contact with customers was probably
the most prominent interaction between the service desk and customer – often
the only contact. Even when I asked the attendees whether anyone thought that
the service desk should be involved in business relationship management, only
three people put their hand up. At some point in our lives we may all be
both customers and service providers. The ability to see both sides of the
coin will help to understand that business relationship management (BRM) and
customer relationship management (CRM) are different, yet must work
hand-in-hand. When we talk about BRM what do we mean? BRM
aims to maintain a positive relationship with customers. ITIL business
relationship management identifies the needs of existing and potential
customers and ensures that appropriate services are developed to meet those
needs. There are conflicting views around the
definition though. Some see CRM as a sub-set of BRM because CRM only deals
with customers, who are only one type of stakeholder. Others see BRM as being
the IT service management equivalent of CRM. To be honest, like most things in this
industry, it’s about how we choose to adopt and adapt best practices to suit
specific circumstances and respond to the objectives of customer and
business. Many organisations will have a CRM
process or similar already embedded in customer service, marketing and sales
functions – and it’s good to be able to make a link between this and BRM. The service desk is already involved in BRM,
even if they don’t recognise it. Even if only
viewed as a service encounter, a good or bad experience with the service desk
is likely to positively or negatively influence the relationship between the
service provider and customer.If you want your
customers to see you as a trusted partner, you need to have progressed to
competent supplier before you earn the right to try for a deeper
relationship. Here is a suggested approach to building a strong relationship: Identify customers and other interested
parties: Typically, the customer would be the person who buys the services,
and they may or may not be users of the services. Other interested parties
could include management, customers of our customers, shareholders,
government, regulators, professional bodies, and suppliers. Depending on the
situation, we may want to start off by deciding whether we want to do
business with the potential customer or not, before we waste time or money.
We should ask whether we want / need a relationship; what’s in it for us and
for them; are we compatible? Can we help each other? Do we have a choice? Appoint a relationship manager: Assuming we
do need a relationship, we need someone at an appropriate level of seniority
who will be responsible for managing the relationship, accountable to the
customer for performance, but also acting as an advisor and advocate,
facilitating that two-way communication, including any required translations.
Named individuals should be responsible for managing the relationship and
customer satisfaction. Establish communications and engagement: BRM
identifies customer needs and ensures that the service provider is able to
meet these needs with an appropriate catalogue of services: «This process has
strong links with service level management», according to ITIL 2011 Edition.
The main purpose of BRM is to capture demand in a business / service context.
The BRM process should be used to identify customer need / demand; identify
changing business strategy and objectives; and ensure that continual
improvement opportunities are being fed in. Understand required outcomes: The
requirements can come from any number of interested parties, such as
regulators, professional bodies, suppliers, internal groups, shareholders,
and so on. Their objectives and desired outcomes could include improvements
in efficiency and effectiveness, cost reduction, standardisation,
service quality improvements, greater maturity, and revenue protection or
growth. It’s important to identify who gets the benefits as well as what they
are. Define how outcomes will be achieved:
According to ITIL 2011, the service management system (SMS) is a «management
system to direct and control the service management activities of the service
provider». The SMS includes all service management policies, objective,
plans, processes, documentation and resources required for the design,
transition, delivery and improvement of services to fulfil
the requirements in ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011. Design the SMS and the services
which aim to meet the outcomes and requirements. Agree with the customers and
other interested parties what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do
it – service catalogue, service level agreements and contracts etc. Change and improvement: Manage change,
including requirements; proactively drive improvements; measure satisfaction
and deal with complaints. For the relationship to work, it must be
rewarding for both parties – the first law of interpersonal attraction.
Encounters can lead to relationships, even possibly a life-long partnership,
but both sides have to get something out of it and make a firm commitment. EXERCISES 1.
Sum up the main ides of the text
and retell it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a 1)_________ for managing all your company’s relationships
and interactions with customers and potential customers. It helps you stay 2)_________ to them, streamline processes and
improve your profitability. More commonly, when people 3)_________ about CRM they are usually referring to a CRM
system, a tool which helps with contact management, sales management, 4)_________
and more. Customer Relationship Management enables you
to focus on your organisation’s relationships with
individual people – whether those are 5)_________,
service users, colleagues or suppliers. CRM is not just for sales. Some of
the biggest gains in productivity can come from 6)_________
beyond CRM as a sales and marketing tool and embedding it in your business –
from HR to customer 7)_________ and supply-chain management. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. Важную роль в процессе продаж играет стратегия взаимоотношений с
клиентом. Её правильный выбор позволяет существенно оптимизировать расходы,
сосредоточив усилия на тех клиентах, вознаграждение от которых будет
наибольшим. Ниже представлены 7 основных стратегий взаимоотношений с
клиентом, которые выделяет Фрэнсис Батл в своей книге «CRM Concepts
and technologies». Защита взаимоотношений (Protect the relationship). На наш
взгляд данная стратегия является одной из самых важных, так как поддержание
крепких отношений с клиентом одна их основных задач бизнеса. Её применение
наиболее оправданно в отношении ключевых клиентов компании, в особенности тех
из них, которых не прочь переманить конкуренты. Один такой клиент может
принести компании больше пользы, чем десять, совершивших единственную
покупку. О том, как получить такого клиента вы можете прочитать в нашей
статье. Реорганизация отношений (Reengineer the relationship). В этом
случае взаимодействие с клиентом в настоящее время менее выгодно
чем хотелось бы или даже убыточно. Тем не менее взаимоотношения с клиентом
могут быть преобразованы путём уменьшения затрат на его обслуживание. Хорошим
примером использования данной возможности является банковская сфера. Банкам
гораздо выгоднее, чтобы их клиенты проводили большую часть операций через
интернет у себя дома. Вместо того, чтобы толпиться в
офисах и создавать очереди, отнимая время у служащих и у самих себя. Повышение качества отношений (Enhance the relationship). Как и в
стратегии, описанной выше, происходит реорганизация отношений. Однако она
направлена не на снижение издержек в обслуживании клиента, а на повышение
выручки от него. Это достигается за счёт применения таких техник продаж как cross-sell, upsell и downsell. Получение максимальной прибыли от отношений (Harvest
the relationship). Когда
денежный поток от клиента стабильно большой и от новых усилий почти не
изменяется, имеет смысл постараться его сохранить на текущем уровне, чтобы
получить как можно больше прибыли. Полученные денежные средства можно использовать
для привлечения новых клиентов. Данный подход особенно полезен, если
существует большая вероятность, что клиенту скоро больше не понадобятся ваши
услуги, или, что он перейдёт к конкурентам. Прекращение отношений (End the relationship). Менеджеры,
как правило, стараются во что бы то ни стало
сохранить клиента, и прекращение отношений воспринимается скорее как нонсенс.
Тем не менее, когда клиент не проявляет никаких признаков заинтересованности,
на его обслуживание тратятся значительные ресурсы, и вероятность того, что в
будущем ничего не изменится достаточно высока,
данный шаг может быть оправдан. Борьба за потерянного клиента (Win back the customer).
Иногда так случается, что клиенты уходят к конкурентам. Если они не являются
стратегически важными или, если затраты направленные на их возвращение
перекрывают потенциальную пользу от него, имеет смысл их отпустить. Однако, если к конкурентам переметнулся ключевой клиент,
необходимо проработать возможные пути для его возвращения. Отправной точкой
здесь должно стать изучение причины, из-за которой он прекратил
сотрудничество. Начало отношений (Start a relationship). Первое впечатление клиента сложно
переоценить. Если оно негативное, то задумываться о выборе стратегии для
взаимоотношения с клиентом, скорее всего, больше не придётся, поскольку
клиент не захочет иметь с вами никаких дел. Поэтому крайне важно продумать начало взаимоотношений с клиентом. Part C Customer relationship management (CRM)
refers to the principles, practices and guidelines that an organization
follows when interacting with its customers. From the organization's point of
view, this entire relationship encompasses direct interactions with
customers, such as sales and service-related processes, and forecasting and
analysis of customer trends and behaviors. Ultimately, CRM serves to enhance
the customer's overall experience. With the growth of the Internet and related
technologies, customers are concerned over the privacy and safety of their
personal information. Therefore, businesses need to ensure the storage and
analysis of their customer data has the highest levels of protection against
cyber criminals, identity theft and other breaches of security. Elements of CRM range from a company's
website and emails to mass mailings and telephone calls. Social media
represents one way companies adapt to trends that benefit their bottom line.
The entire point of CRM is to build positive experiences with customers to
keep them coming back so a company creates a growing base of returning
customers. Special CRM software aggregates customer
information in one place to give businesses easy access to data, such as
contact data, purchase history and any previous contact with customer service
representatives. This data helps employees interact with clients, anticipate
customer needs, recognize customer updates and track performance goals when
it comes to sales. CRM software's main purpose is to make interactions more
efficient and productive. Automated procedures within a CRM module include
sending a sales team marketing materials based on a customer's selection of a
product or service. Programs also assess a customer's needs to reduce the
time it takes to fulfill a request. Cloud-based systems provide real-time data
to sales agents at the office and in the field as long as a computer, smartphone, laptop or tablet connects to the Internet.
The convenience of this type of system has a trade-off. If the company goes
out of business or faces acquisition, access to customer information may
become compromised. A business might have compatibility issues when and if it
migrates to a different vendor for this kind of software. Typically,
cloud-based CRM programs cost more than in-house programs. All of the computer software in the world to
help with CRM means nothing without proper management and decision-making
from humans. Plus, the best programs organize data in a way that humans can
interpret readily and use to their advantage. For successful CRM, companies
must learn to discern useful information and superfluous data, and weed out
any duplicate and incomplete records that may give employees inaccurate
information about customers. Customer service is the process of ensuring
customer satisfaction with a product or service. Often, customer service
takes place while performing a transaction for the customer, such as making a
sale or returning an item. Customer service can take the form of an in-person
interaction, a phone call, self-service systems, or by other means. Customer service is an extremely important
part of maintaining ongoing client relationships, which are key to continuing revenue. For this reason, many companies
have worked hard to increase their customer satisfaction levels. Although
many people may work behind the scenes at a company, it is primarily the
personnel that interact directly with customers that form customers» perceptions
of the company as a whole. Most successful businesses recognize the
important of providing outstanding customer service. A courteous and
empathetic interaction with a trained customer service representative can
mean the difference between losing or retaining a
customer. When problems arise, customers should receive timely attention to
the issue. Prompt attention to emails and phone calls is critical to
maintaining good relations. Requiring customers to stand in long lines or sit
on hold can sour an interaction before it begins. Ideally, customer service should be a
one-stop endeavor for the consumer. For example, if a customer calls a
helpline regarding a problem with a product, the customer service
representative should follow through with the customer until the issue is
fully resolved. This may entail scheduling appointments with in-person repair
personnel if the problem cannot be resolved on the phone, or transferring a
call to skilled technicians in another department. Following up with the
customer within the next day or two to ensure that he is fully satisfied is
another smart move. Customer service representatives must be
accessible, knowledgeable and courteous. They require excellent listening
skills and a willingness to compromise to reach a resolution. Training in
conflict resolution can be very beneficial in fostering those skills. Strong
speaking skills are another important attribute of a successful customer
service representative. For phone staff, this means speaking clearly and
slowly while maintaining a calm demeanor, even if the customer becomes upset. Companies must make a commitment to
providing up-to-date information to customer service representatives. To avoid
complicating an existing problem, employees need to have the latest and most
accurate information about products and company policies. Periodic assessment
of customer service is essential to running a successful company. Surveys
allow customers to provide feedback about the service they receive and to
suggest areas for improvement. EXERCISES 1. Sum up the main ides of the text and retell
it in Russian. 2. Fill in the missing words from the box into the
text below.
Relationship management is a 1)________ in which a continuous level of engagement is
maintained between an 2)________ and its 3)________. Relationship management
can be between a business and its customers (customer relationship
management) or between a business and other businesses (business relationship
management). Relationship 4)________ is a focus of
the financial and investing industries as a way to identify potential
cross-sales of products and services.
Relationship management aims to create a
partnership between the organization and its audience rather than 5)________ the relationship merely transactional. Consumers
who feel that a business responds to their needs are more likely to continue
using the products and services that the business offers. Additionally,
maintaining a level of 6)________ with consumers
allows the business to identify potential sources of costly problems before
they come to a head. Relationship management involves any process
or strategy used to build support or 7)________
towards the business or its particular products. Generally, relationship
management is performed at the customer level and at the business level to
achieve different 8)________. While a business may
choose to hire a relationship manager to oversee these tasks, it may also
integrate these 9)________ with other positions,
such as marketing or human resources. 3. Read the following article and make a rendering
of it in English. Управление отношениями с клиентами, известное также как CRM или Customer Relationship Management, является неотъемлемой функциональной областью
современной комплексной информационной системы предприятия. CRM – это концепция управления отношениями с клиентами в условиях
активной конкуренции, нацеленная на максимальное освоение потенциала каждого
клиента и партнера в интересах предприятия. Концепция CRM предполагает регулярный сбор и анализ информации о каждом
клиенте, реальном и потенциальном: как клиент отреагировал на деловое
предложение, доволен ли он качеством обслуживания, меняются ли его
предпочтения со временем, насколько аккуратно он выполняет взятые на себя
обязательства, и в конечном итоге сколько дохода
клиент приносит (или мог бы принести) предприятию. Отслеживаются все стадии отношений с клиентом. Тщательно улавливаются
признаки опасного ухудшения отношений, поскольку, как известно, на
конкурентном рынке затраты на привлечение нового клиента на порядок превышают
затраты на удержание имеющегося клиента. Концепция CRM предусматривает гармоничное сочетание формального подхода
и индивидуального отношения к каждому клиенту. Но если количество активных
клиентов предприятия измеряется в десятках или сотнях, а количество
потенциальных клиентов – соответственно в сотнях или тысячах, то полная
реализация концепции CRM приведет к накоплению огромных массивов информации,
работать с которыми без привлечения специальных средств автоматизации будет
просто невозможно. Конфигурация содержит средства автоматизации концепции CRM.
Функциональные возможности конфигурации позволяют предприятию успешно
управлять отношениями с покупателями, поставщиками, смежниками и любыми
другими контрагентами. Предусматривается регистрация всех действий по заключению и исполнению
сделок, регистрация всех контактов с клиентами как реальными, так и
потенциальными. Конфигурация позволяет делать следующее: ·
использовать персонифицированный подход к
нуждам и требованиям каждого клиента; ·
хранить полную контактную информацию по
контрагентам и их сотрудникам, историю взаимодействия с ними; ·
управлять процессом продаж с использованием
механизма бизнес-процессов (сделки с клиентом); ·
анализировать незавершенные и планировать
предстоящие сделки с покупателями и потенциальными клиентами; ·
регистрировать каждое обращение
потенциального клиента и в дальнейшем анализировать процент привлечения
клиентов, а также производить анализ удовлетворения первичного спроса; ·
оперативно контролировать состояние
запланированных контактов и сделок; ·
проводить интегрированный BCG-анализ
отношений с клиентами; ·
регистрировать и оперативно отрабатывать
претензии клиентов; анализировать и оценивать эффективность работы менеджеров с клиентами. Автоматизированные механизмы управления отношениями с клиентами можно
использовать не только как эффективное орудие в конкурентной борьбе за
выгодных клиентов. Предоставляется хранилище информации о клиентах
предприятия. Сотрудник, принявший звонок незнакомого ему клиента, может прямо
в процессе телефонного разговора войти в курс дела, оперативно пролистав
сведения о клиенте и о последних контактах с ним на экране своего компьютера
(досье клиента). Возможности
конфигурации по управлению отношениями с клиентами могут быть востребованы
коммерческим директором, директором по маркетингу, сотрудниками
маркетинговых, сбытовых и снабженческих подразделений предприятия. |