Marketing Communications Integrating Offline And Online With Social Media Cap3

What is CRM?

Some call it customer relationship management

(CRM); others call it customer experience management

(CEM); others call it customer managed relationships

(CMR). Carefully managed brands help

customers develop relationships with brands (see

Chapter 2). There is a direct overlap between nurturing

a brand and nurturing customer relationships.

CRM is a set of processes, usually linked to a

database, that help an organization keep in contact

with customers and deal with their requests, complaints,

suggestions and purchases.

Think about how personal relationships grow

stronger and stronger: listening, understanding, responding

and communicating; understanding what

is important and what makes a difference; delivering

it regularly; never breaking the promise; occasionally

surprising or even delighting the other person;

caring about the person; helping the person when

things go wrong; always being there for the person.

The same applies to customer relationships. It is not

rocket science.

Even remembering someone’s name makes a

difference. People generally like it when their names

are remembered, particularly when their preferences

and needs are remembered. How nice is it when

a waiter or receptionist remembers a customer’s

name? ‘Your name is the most important sound in

the world’ say the classic sales training programmes.

Remembering names and needs (and satisfying

them) helps to build relationships. This applies to

a restaurant with 50 customers or a website with

millions of customers.

Remembering a customer’s particular needs and

providing the right response is rarely the result of

guesswork. In the case of a company with a small

number of customers, it requires a good memory,

good interpretive skills and attention to detail. In

the case of an organization with many customers

on a database, it is largely dependent on accurate

analysis of customers and building up valuable

insights. As customers are more demanding and

have more channels of communication, organizations

simply have to be able to respond to them

continuously – wherever, whenever and however

required.

Business is entering the post-‘ad loyalty era’, where

the power of advertising is waning as other communication

tools, particularly WOMWeb (word of

mouth accelerated by Web 2.0 or social networking

tools), generate fast high attitudinal shifts. The old

loyalty model used advertising primarily to build

brand awareness and, ultimately, to build a lasting

bond with customers. Securing loyalty today is a

never-ending process requiring outstanding CRM

and ongoing customer engagement.

The power of CRM

CRM builds a protective wall around customers,

in the same way as a brand does. In fact they are

one and the same. Excellent CRM enhances the

relationship with the brand. As the relationship

strengthens, loyalty keeps a customer from the

inevitable onslaught of competition. Relationships

built on price simply don’t last. Relationships built

on relevant excellent service are more enduring.

Regardless of what it is called, managing customer

relationships is critical to an organization’s

future. Nurturing excellent customer relationships

builds this defensive wall around a business that

most competitors struggle to break down. Customer

relationships also boost sales and pro!ts and add

value to the brand, which boosts the balance sheet

assets.

‘If you want to protect and enhance the value of

your brand, your offer must be valuable.’

‘Customers get what they want; your margins

are protected; everyone’s a winner.’

dunnhumby (2006)

The higher the relevance, the greater

the value – it’s a continuum

‘Customer relationships are the only thing that

cannot be replicated by a competitor.’

Hochman (2008)

Your best defence

Chapter

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