Exploid2013

Chapter 15:

Customer Relationship Management

Learning Objectives

Building Customer Relationships, 1:1

According to Harvard Business Review authors Thomas Jones and Earl Sasser, “Increased customer loyalty is the single most important driver of long-term performance.” In an environment of scarce attention and customer control, a firm’s ability to build and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers, and partners may be more important than a firm’s land, property, and financial assets.

Relationship Marketing Defined

Relationship marketing is about establishing, maintaining, enhancing, and commercializing customer relationships through promise fulfillment. Relationship marketing today means promise fulfillment, two-way communication with stakeholders and understanding individual customer needs.

Stakeholders

Firms also use relationship marketing to build bonds with employees and suppliers in addition to consumers. The four most affected by the Internet are: employees, business customers in the supply chain, lateral partners, and consumers.

Three Pillars of Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing involves much more than promise fulfillment. Experts believe that relationship marketing has three pillars that support customer relationships with the company’s products and services. These are: customer relationship management (CRM), customer experience management (CEM), and customer collaboration management (CCM).

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

CRM is the process of targeting, acquiring, transacting, servicing, retaining, and building long-term relationships with customers. Firm’s now focus on the idea that if they do not keep their customers happy, someone else will.

CRM Benefits

CRM benefits include increased revenue from better prospect targeting, increased wallet share with current customers, and retaining customers for longer periods. CRM tactics can also decrease costs, resulting in greater...