CUSTOMER RETENTION

An integrated Strategy of 4 C’s
During the past two decades, customer satisfaction management has emerged as a strategic imperative for most of the firms. In the 1980’s achieving higher satisfaction ratings became a goal in itself. Only during the 1990’s was there a wide spread realization that customer satisfaction ratings were only means to strategic ends, i.e. customer retention. Today the emphasis is shifting. Beyond designing strategies to attract new customer and create transaction with them, companies are going out to retain current customers and build lasting relationship with them. We can take example of instant life insurance rates company who need to have best relation with their customers, so that they can have term life insurance business from them again and again.

Why Customer Retention
Customer retention helps a firm to increase its profitability and understand consumer preferences and needs. An organization cannot work in an ivory tower. It should gin customer’s support to continue operating and this support is gained from loyal customers. The changing demographics, the slow growth of economy more sophisticated competition, overcapacity in many industries mean fewer customers to go around. Attracting new customers has turned to be very difficult. Hence, marketers have to change the tendency of finding new customers at the cost of the old ones, but also have to realize that cutting down of defections in halves would double the average company’s growth rate.

Recommendation

We have discussed on so many factors related to business like marketing, management, product management etc…. Today we are going to discuss on customer satisfaction which is most important factor of any small business and organization. We will talk some features related to customer satisfaction which can help us to provide more satisfaction to out customer.

Expectation and experience were positively and significantly distributed for economic and aesthetic values. In the case of economy, this might be due to the fact that the consumers mentally accepted the price of the product, while buying itself. Aesthetic value was also similarly observed during the purchase.

Service and durability were the values for which the difference between expectation and experience were found to be negative and this state might lead to an overall dissatisfaction. These areas, thus. Must be given immediate attention by the manufactures and attempts must be made to convert the negative disconfirmation state to positive disconfirmation to have satisfaction.

Managerial Implication
This study helps to Identify the gap. By taking appropriate action, customers can be satisfied. Customer satisfaction alone can retain the customers and ultimately, this acts as the base for new customers.

Methodology

To study the above specified objectives, first attempt was made to identify the values attached to the product television. Pre-test two was conducted with a sample size of thirty to standardize the questionnaire contains a list of 28 attributes relating to the product, television. The respondents were asked to indicate the level of importance attached to each attribute.

The second part of the questionnaire was intended to measure the expectation level of values identified by the pre-test I and the third part relating to the experience level of these values.

Corn-bach alpha was used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire. The alpha value reflected the high degree of internal consistency. With certain deletion of listed values the questionnaire was finalized for further study.

Sampling Design
The sample for the study was drawn from Annamalainagar by taking a random sample of 100 respondents, 79 were found to be fit for further analysis.

Tools for Analysis
The generated data had been duly analysed using the statistical tools viz., factor analysis, rank correction test for agreement, ANOVA and ‘t’-test.

Customer Satisfaction-1

It is necessary to satisfy the expectation levels of different values and identify whether there is any gap between expectation and experience of such values. If needed action plan to fill the gap is to be taken to satisfy the customers. Satisfaction of a customer is the base of retaining the customers and helps to acquire new customers. Customer data management and data updating which leads towards customer satisfaction is most important part of customer relationship management software.

Expectation (E1) and Experience (E2) value
To retain the customers, it is highly important to verify how far these perceived values are satisfied. By nature, customers tend to compare the actual experience with their expectation based on the benefits they derive, while using the product. If the expectation is higher than the experience (E1 > E2) it is said to be negative disconfirmation, if the expectation is equal to the experience it is confirmation (E1 = E2); and if the expectation is less than the experience, it is said to be positive disconfirmation (E1 < E2). Negative disconfirmation leads the dissatisfaction to satisfaction.

Objectives
The main objectives of the study are:
1. To measure the level of expectations of values
2. To measure the experience level of the values
3. To identify whether there is any significant difference between the values expected and experienced.

Advances in Database Marketing

While the idea of storing customer data in electronic formats to use them for database-marketing purposes has been around for decades, the computer systems available today make it possible to gain a comprehensive history of client behavior on-screen while the business is transacting with each individual, producing thus real-time business intelligence for the company. This ability enables what is called one-to-one marketing or personalization.

Today's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems use the stored data not only for direct marketing purposes but to manage the complete relationship with individual customer contacts and to develop more customized product and service offerings. However, a combination of CRM, content management and business intelligence tools are making delivery of personalized information a reality.

Marketers trained in the use of these tools are able to carry out customer nurturing, which is a tactic that attempts to communicate with each individual in an organization at the right time, using the right information to meet that client's need to progress through the process of identifying a problem, learning options available to resolve it, selecting the right solution, and making the purchasing decision.

Database Marketing – 5

Laws and regulations
As database marketing has grown, it has come under increased scrutiny from privacy advocates and government regulators. For instance, the European Commission has established a set of data protection rules that determine what uses can be made of customer data and how consumers can influence what data are retained. In the United States, there are a variety of state and federal laws, for example, for online blinds, vertical blinds and roman shades company, who doing business online, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, (which regulates the gathering and use of credit data), for term life insurance industry the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (which regulates the gathering and use of consumer health data), and various programs that enable consumers to suppress their telephones numbers from telemarketing.

Evolution
While the idea of storing customer data in electronic formats in order to use them for database-marketing purposes has been around for decades the computer systems available today make it possible to have the complete history of a client on-screen the moment he or she calls. Today's Customer Relationship Management systems use the stored data not only for direct marketing purposes but to manage the complete relationship with this particular customer and to further develop the range of products and services offered.

Customer value proposition

In the field of marketing, a customer value proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer's associated payment (or other value-transfer). A customer relationship management software helps company to make customer value proposition.

In simple words: value proposition = what the customer gets for what the customer pays.

Accordingly, a customer can evaluate a company's value-proposition on two broad dimensions with multiple subsets:

• relative performance: what the customer gets from the vendor relative to a competitor's offering;
• price: which consists of the payment the customer makes to acquire the product or service; plus the access cost

The vendor-company's marketing and sales efforts offer a customer value proposition; the vendor-company's delivery and customer-service processes then fulfill that value-proposition. Agents web world needs to do a lot effort to have proper value-proposition.

Value-proposition as marketing tool
A value-proposition can assist in a firm's marketing strategy, and may guide a business to target a particular market segment. For example: "Firm Any Co. can provide benefits a, b, and c because of competencies x, y, and z."
Whether for a product, service or a company as a whole, this formulation can allow a firm to see if its competencies align with the segment that it plans to target.

CRM Software - Strategic Advantages

CRM software we are talking here. As a part of our talk we are talking on SFA. We talked advantage of SFA to Marketing Manager and Sales Manager. Today we are going to talk about Strategic Advantages of Sales Force Automation.


Strategic advantages
Sales force automation systems can also create competitive advantage. Here are some examples:

• As mentioned above, productivity will increase. Sales staff will use their time more efficiently and more effectively. The sales manager will also become more efficient and more effective.(see above) This increased productivity can create a competitive advantage in three ways: it can reduce costs, it can increase sales revenue, and it can increase market share.
• Field sales staff will send their information more frequently. Typically information will be sent to management after every sales call (rather than once a week). This provides management with current information, information that they will be able to use while it is still valuable. Management response time will be greatly reduced. The company will become more alert and more agile.
• These systems could increase customer satisfaction if they are used with wisdom. If the information obtained and analyzed with the system is used to create a product that matches or exceeds customer expectations, and the sales staff use the system to service customers more expertly and diligently, then customers should be satisfied with the company. This will provide a competitive advantage because customer satisfaction leads to increased customer loyalty, reduced customer acquisition costs, reduced price elasticity of demand, and increased profit margins.

ref: Insurance SFA and Insurance CRM, wikipedia

Sales Force Automation - Advantages to Sales People

An integral part of any SFA system is company wide integration among different departments. If SFA systems aren’t adopted and properly integrated to all departments, there might be a lack of communication which could result in different departments contacting the same customer for the same purpose. In order to mitigate this risk, SFA must be fully integrated in all departments that deal with customer service management.

We talk different advantages to different department/ person who are integrated with SFA procress.
1) Advantages to Sales People
2) Advantages to Sales Manager
3) Advantages to Marketing Manager
4) Strategic Advantages

We talk each of the above here. First we talk Advantage to Sales people.

sales force automation systems can improve the productivity of sales personnel. Here are some examples:

• Rather than write-out sales orders, reports, activity reports, and/or call sheets, sales people can fill-in prepared e-forms. This saves time.
  
• Rather than printing out reports and taking them to the sales manager, sales people can use the company intranet to transmit the information. This saves time.
  
• Rather than waiting for paper based product inventory data, sales prospect lists, and sales support information, they will have access to the information when they need it. This could be useful in the field when answering prospects’ questions and objections.
  
• The additional tools could help improve sales staff morale if they reduce the amount of record keeping and/or increase the rate of closing. This could contribute to a virtuous spiral of beneficial and cumulative effects.

ref: sales force automation - CRM Software, wikipedia

Sales Force Automation - SFA - CRM Software Functions

Sales Force Automation Systems (SFA), typically a part of a company’s customer relationship management system, is a system that automatically records all the stages in a sales process. SFA includes a contact management system which tracks all contact that has been made with a given customer, the purpose of the contact, and any follow up that might be required. This ensures that sales efforts won’t be duplicated eliminating the risk of irritating customers. SFA also includes a sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or customers of related products. Other elements of a SFA system can include sales forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their required needs through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.

We continue our talk on Sales Force Automation as part of CRM Software Function in next post.


ref: Sales Force Automation, CRM Software, wikipedia

Leadorganizer - CRM Software Functions - 4

CRM Software Functions and CRM Software Features we are talking here and as part of it’s features we talk about Lead Capture, Lead Distribution and Lead Management.
In our today’s talk we are going to talk about leadorganizer as features of CRM software functions. CRM Software consist of different features we talked before, leadorganizer is very important and crucial part of it.

Leadorganizer is consisting of CRM, SFA and Lead Distribution. CRM part of leadorganizer is focused on contact management, document management, time management, agency work-flow automation and communication tools.

With reference to CRM Functions, SFA is part of leadorganizer. Sfa includes lead management, communication tools, scheduling, performance tracking and marketing tools. Leadorganizer sfa also integrated with an enhanced instant term life quoting tool, paramed order and auto fill applications.

Lead Distribution is also important part of leadorganizer. Leadorganizer automatically route or distribute leads to the right agent in team based on a set of configurable assignment rules. This helps the sales team to get qualified leads and reduce manual assignment.

We can say that as part of crm software, Leadorganizer is having nice combination of crm, sfa and lead distribution features in it.

ref: crm software functions flow

Lead Management - CRM Software Fuctions-3

CRM Software Functions and CRM Software Features we are talking here. Till now we talk about Lead Capture and Lead Distribution as features of CRM Software.
We are going to talk about Lead Management as part of customer relationship management software features.

Lead Management is a term used to describe the methodologies and systems to manage customer prospects and inquiries, generally generated by a variety of marketing techniques. Lead management can be considered the connectivity between advertising and customer relationship management. This critical connectivity facilitates the acquisition of customers, and has also been referred to accurately as customer acquisition management.

Lead management creates an orderly architecture for managing large volumes of customer inquiries, or leads. The architecture must be able to organize numerous leads, at various stages of a sales process, across a distributed sales force.


The lead flow process can become enormously complex as customers and sales professionals begin to interact. These various interactions and subsequent actions can create a variety of scenarios, both productive and counter-productive. This exponential number of scenarios can provide for numerous opportunities to mishandle leads in such a way as to reduce their value. Managing these scenarios is the function of lead management.


ref: lead management software, wikipedia

Lead Distribution - CRM Software Functions-2

We talk about CRM Software Functions and CRM Software Features , in last talk Lead Capture - CRM Software Functions-1 we talk about Lead Capture as Features of CRM Software In this post we are going to talk about Lead Distribution as features of CRM Software.


Lead Distribution
As larger vendors work with partner organizations such as distributors (see distribution (business)), resellers, brokers and other channel partners, those vendors often distribute leads to their respective partners to provide a local contact to those prospects and also 'feed' partners with new business opportunities. Today there are two major methods for distributing sales leads to partners: Push or Pull.

PUSH The push method sends leads to specific partners assuming that those partners will follow up and work on those leads. The challenge with 'push' is the fact that often the local sales people may not be able to react immediately for various reasons: not available, busy, on vacation... Many large vendors report disappointment when asked about their lead follow-up rate through partners after the leads where pushed out to those partners.

Pull The pull method was invented and patented by a German Engineer, Axel Schultze, who was frustrated with the lead follow up results of the push method and decided to let the available and motivated sales people 'pull' leads from an online available system. Patent was granted by the US Patent Office in May 2006. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&S1=09514997&OS=09514997&RS=09514997 The pull method became widely accepted in the high tech industry where thousands of resellers from companies including Avaya, Nortel, Juniper and others distributed leads that way. The PULL Method became superior over the PUSH method, and lead closure rates grew on average by 300% as white papers from BlueRoads indicate.

ref: lead distribution crm softare, wikipedia

Lead Capture - CRM Software Functions-1

We talk about CRM Software Functions and CRM Software Features in our previous post. In this post we are going to talk about Lead Capture as Features of CRM Software.

Lead Capturing is attracting the highest quality of targeted prospect for once business. The business can be any related with internet, direct marketing.

Lead Capturing is possible with a lead capture page. A lead capture page has input field or we can say lead capturing capacity which capture basic information like name, address, email, phone, etc. along with unique or general questions designed to qualify leads for each response profile. The form should be tied directly to an auto responder. An auto responder is basically a set of prewritten messages that goes out to anyone that fills out the form on your lead capture page. Your emails should be designed to market a product, service or anything else you desire. A good lead capture page and a good set of follow up emails are the essence to any internet marketing business.

Benefits of Lead Capture page or web base Lead Capture:-

• Track and manage leads from anywhere at anytime
• Easy integration with current electronic and traditional marketing initiatives
• Set rules for lead weighting and lead distribution
• Manage qualification questions and answers using a simple to use interface
  

ref: Lead capture & Leadorganizer software

CRM Software Functions-1

CRM can provide companies of all types and sizes with significant benefits, but only if sales team adopt it. We are talking about 3 modules. Marketing, Sales and Service. In Marketing, we are talking today Marketing Automation Module features:

Marketing Automation Module including following major features.

• Contact customers with targeted promotions and email communications

• Run sales campaigns

• Run campaigns in conjunction with the sales team

• Send e-mail and track responses

• Sales force automation

we talk each of the above one by one.

CRM Software Functions

Last time we talked about what is CRM and Why CRM? We left off with 3 different modules in any CRM Software. Today we will continue and talk about these 3 modules and functions of these modules.

1.Marketing

2.Sales

3.Service

Depending on your business process automation needs, you may want a higher focus on one or the other module. These modules can be integrated with one other. Marketing, Sales and Service Modules share the same database about customers, contacts and activities. This allows easy consolidated access to all customer information, and avoids the need to store common data in more than one system.


1) Marketing:-
Make your marketing team more effective by providing CRM. Best CRM should include tools to help identify, execute and replicate effective marketing initiatives across multiple sales channels.
The Marketing Module helps your marketing team to assign, schedule and track marketing campaign activities and measure campaign performance. The combined sales, marketing and customer service tools allow your business to work with one up-to-date set of customer data, therefore appearing professional, organized and informed when speaking to your customers.

Marketing Automation Module features:

• Contact customers with targeted promotions and email communications

• Run sales campaigns

• Run campaigns in conjunction with the sales team

• Send e-mail and track responses

• Sales force automation

CRM gives marketing team access to your customer data quickly, easily and in a way that makes it easier to market the right products to the right customers.

Talk on Sales and Service modules of CRM Software Functions will be available in next notes with title CRM Functions