E-commerce: All about Customer Relationship Management

Apr 1, 1999 - © Nazan Fathy

Customer relationship management (CRM) is all about understanding the customer's
needs and leveraging this knowledge to increase sales and improve service. CRM
blurs the boundaries between sales and service, and unify a company's activities
around the customer. The overarching goal is to increase customer share and cus
tomer retention through customer satisfaction.
The strategic importance of managing customer relations is not new by any stretc
h of the imagination. What is new, is the customer centricity focus that CRM bri
ngs to a company. This new focus is the direct result of the electronic world. T
he World Wide Web is the perfect place to get to know and cultivate the client o
n a one-to-one basis. It offers an unparalleled opportunity to personalize servi
ces, provide multiple choice for customer support, track customer satisfaction a
nd deliver loyalty programs.
The implementation of CRM goes beyond automating functions. It entails a fundame
ntal change in the culture and operations of an organization. It also means addr
essing the infrastructure requirements for its implementation on the web.
A successful CRM implementation strategy needs to consider the following:
Knowledge Management: At the heart of a CRM implementation is the acquisition of
information about a customer, its analysis, sharing and tracking. Also integral
to the use of knowledge for competitive advantage is for employees to know what
actions to take as a result of this knowledge.
Database Consolidation: This involves the consolidation of customer information
in a single database and the re-engineering of business processes around the cus
tomer. The goal is to have all interactions with a customer recorded in one plac
e to drive production, marketing, sales and customer support activities.
Integration of Channels and Systems: The epitome of online service is to respond
to customers in a consistent and high-quality manner through their channel of c
hoice, whether that is the e-mail, the phone or online chat. This in turn dictat
es the seamless integration of all communication channels with the customer data
base. It also dictates the integration of CRM with other parts of a company's bu
siness systems and applications.
Technology and Infrastructure: Sophisticated tools exist to automate and streaml
ine online customer service. The self-help model typically achieved using a comb
ination of tools (e.g. knowledge bases with an intuitive search capability, agen
t technology or automated email) can be complemented with real-time interactions
provided by live chats and IP telephony. While the tools are available, the cru
x of the matter is to ensure the ability of the organization and the scalability
of the technology infrastructure to cope with increased volumes.