E-Business Strategy



Companies involved in e-commerce are using more sophisticated means to be in the lead with their competitors.


Large part of the decision-making lies with the information and data gathering, their currency and accuracy. Market Intelligence becomes one of the key factors to the viability of the business. There are a number of software houses who provide these package for intelligence gathering and they give easy to read reports with graphic displays.


We have already covered: Website, Search, and Email, rather extensively by some other members of this and other forums, leaving us the important but often neglected part of CRM - Customer Relationship Management, Offline Data and Direct Mail.


What is CRM (customer relationship management)?

CRM is an information industry term for methodologies, software and usually internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer's needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other prodcuts a customer had purchased and do forth. It is also catering to after-sales service, warranty claims, and driver software downloading, upgrading, and customer followup, leading to re-orders and sense of belonging.


Researchers found that it is more costly to acquire new customers than to maintain existing clientele and the purpose of CRM is so to be performing this role. More to it, the CRM provides information and data to Business Intelligence, and has links to the Supply Chain Management and the Enterprise Resources Planner (ERP) as well.


Benefits of CRM are:

1. Helping to enable the marketing team to identify and target the best customers, manage marketing campaigns and generate quality leads for the sales team.

2. Providing useful data for market feedback, statistics and demographs so as to identify efficient platforms for communication, hardware, software and time-frames for the advertisement onslaught.

3. Checking on customer's needs and wants, and to identify areas of product acceptance and rejection, as to the culture, religion, geographical, technological and demographic groups for the particular product.

4. Forming various levels of individualized relationships with customers with the aim of improving customer's satisfaction and maximising profits; identifying the most profitable customers and providing them the highest level of service.

5. Market segmentation and macro manage the sections differently.


James 007 

NetSuite CRM + covers the various aspects of a customer, from birth to recycle.

1. Suspect
2. Lead
3. Prospect
4. Quality
5. Meet
6. Quote
7. Order
8. Service
9. Re-purchase

The chart taken from their website is self explanatory, see below:



Street Smart

Building Customer Relationships


eCommerce brought about a major shift in marketing concept: from mass marketing to individualized marketing, and from focus on acquiring lots of new customers to retaining and building more business with fewer loyal, high-value customers.


This business style by many businesses has been practiced for a long time, it has spread to the consumer market for services, and now even marketers of consumer packaged goods are considering how to build long-term customer relationship, one to one. Internet marketing has the facility for such relationship, a firm has ability to build and maintain relationships with customers, suppliers and partners, termed relationship capital, which may be more important than any other assets.

 

It is how you serve, not what you sell

Relationship Management is about establishing, maintaining, enhancing and commercializing customer relationships in the long term.


Builds on Customer Satisfaction, and is fulfilling the Great Commission of the company's mission. Today relationship management involves much more than promise fulfillment, it means 2-way communication with individual stakeholders, one at a time. 


The benefits of relationship marking is rewarding in the long and medium term, as the cost of maintaining existing customer is much lesser than acquiring new customers. Also the word-of-mouth advertisement by customers costs nothing to the company. They are strong selling points and has greater impact than advertising in one-way communication media. The effect can be expandable, such as selling other related products.


 Mass Marketing (1 to many)  vs Relationship Marketing (one to one)


 Discrete transactions  vs  Continuing transactions

Short term emphasis vs   Long term emphasis

One-way communication  vs  Two-way communication

Acquisition focus  vs  Retention force

Share of Market  vs  Share of Mind

Product Differentiation   vs  Customer Differentiation


Relationship level is built over time, and there are :


·    level 1: financial based, low price, and acceptable quality of goods, and short delivery time.


·    Level 2: Social level, medium potential for sustained competitive advantage, based on personal communications, and 1:1 relationships, community building.


·    Level 3, Structural, with high potential for sustained competitive advantage, Service delivery is the main element of marketing mix.


Relationship marketing builds and develops Customer Relationship Management, some sort of enhancement into its integration into the Big Picture.



Street Smart

Gaining a new customer costs more than maintaining an existing customer.

Companies would rather lose a sale than lose a customer. The rules are simple, and much like human philosophy:

1. Do not promise what you cannot keep. If you made promise, or pledge, either by mouth or by text, keep it, we are judged by our words and honour to them.
2. Do not "talk down" to customers, as there are so many geeks and nerds who has very little people-skill, the technocrats, only look at technical matters, erked by the ignorance of others began to be sacarsitic and ill-mannered.
3. Do not write in UPPER CASE letters in correspondences. Perhaps when filling up forms, or writing a hand-written report, an Engineer may write in capital letters, but all words written in this form will be difficult to read and sounds rather rude, like you are shouting at the reader.
4. Do not joke with customers that are not familiar with you, else they may think that you are nuts, or a clown.
5. Do not discuss about sensitive matters such as religion, personal opinions, company matters or family matters with customers. If you are unhappy with your boss, do not tell it to your customer.
6. Social interactivity and off-the-cuff activities such as : sports, or games, or even a Happy-hour session with your customers build up the bond which is important for the business.
7. Gifts, token of appreciation, and small favours to the VIP customers or regular customers, such as giving mooncakes, or table diaries are some of the articles you may use to forster the relationship.
8. Make the customer feel that they are the most important people in your business, not merely by words, but by deeds and attitude. It is because you exists because of them.
9. Be fair at all times to customers, treat them equally, and base your reciprocative actions by their merits, not by any other favours or affiliation. Keep the boundaries clear between customers, kinfolks and close friends.
10. Bottom line - balance of your account has to be positive, that is the main purpose of business, to make money. Always do your maths well, and buy cheap, sell high, but do keep a margin for your profit and do regular checks on the P & L accounts of individual customer, and product category.