The World is
speaking a different language. Are you?
- The Case
Studies
If you
focus on results, you will never change.
If you focus on change, you will get results.
What is
the difference between your product or services and the products or
services of your closest competitor? Or between one car and another,
one television and another, one cell phone and another?
Probably
very little, besides their fancy names and some good branding.
But this
is not unusual today. The fact is that today's products and services
are becoming more and more marginal and customers are becoming more and
more informed and demanding. So now the companies around the world
speak a new language, not only to attract new customers, but also to
retain their existing customers. And that language is their customers'
language; in the form of Value Added Services (VAS) along with Customer
Relationship Management (CRM).
The
concept of managing customer is not new. Companies have been
interfacing with the customers since the beginning of trade. However,
the focus has always been to sell the products and services, not
necessarily from the Customer Retention Perspective.
The
basic functionality of a CRM system is its automation of front office
business processes. This is what characterizes a CRM system or
application - the ability to collect, organize and store customer data
and make it available to the company's back office functions such as
ordering, billing, procurement, manufacturing and distribution so that
the information can be acted upon. And also the ability to provide
optimization of the front office functions, thereby leading to cost
savings in the front office. This means both added revenue and profit
for you.
Gone are
the days when the customers were satisfied only with good and efficient
products and services that meet their needs. In today's world of
freebies and buy-one-get-one-free markets, every customer expects you
to provide something extra apart from the goods and servics that you
provide. Let us see
some case studies of differnet industries to understand how can you add
value to your business by providing Value Added Services to your
customer apart from your regular products and services.
Just
know that this level of service and functionality is not accidental,
but rather the result of careful selection and development of the
organizational capabilities that matter most to your customers. With
customer expectations on the rise, it's about time you realize that
your company can not retain customers by providing products and service
the traditional way.
The
Industries in focus are:
Health Care
After
viewing a TV medical series on heart disease, Natasha logs on to her
heart specialist - Dr. Sheth's Web site - hoping to receive some
reassurance that she's taking every precaution possible in her battle
against the disease. Once
on the site, she finds valuable news and research findings, dietary
advice and sample menus from nutritional experts, along with behavioral
modification techniques that address her particular health challenge -
hypercholesterolemia.
With
just a few clicks, Natasha can graph her cholesterol history and
forecast the impact that certain changes, such as increased exercise,
will have on her cardiac risk profile. While looking at her personal profile,
Natasha discovers that it 's time to reorder her medication and the
next check-up. A new feature has been provided on this web site-a link
to the Web-based pharmacy affiliated with her heart specialist's
clinic. In seconds, Natasha's refill is on order, scheduled to arrive
before she misses a dose. Natasha clicks on the schedule appointment
button to arrange a specific date and time for her visit. There is also
a link that asks Natasha whether she would like to be the appointment
for her next check-up online and notified the confirmation
electronically or by phone.
The next
afternoon, Natasha receives e-mail from Dr.Sheth's clinic confirming
her appointment. Now at the clinic, Dr.Sheth touches the wall-mounted
computer to prescribe a new medication. As he enters the order, a red
stop sign flashes a warning. An allergy -apparently omitted from
hospital admission forms -was detected in earlier notes from the
Natasha's former physician. After reviewing the complete medical
record, Dr.Sheth selects a different drug from the list of alternatives
offered by the system, then verifies the dosage that was calculated
based on the patient 's weight. As the prescription is transmitted to
the pharmacy, Dr.Sheth continues with his next patient.
Electronic
Appliances
A
residential customer reviews her monthly utility bill on the Web. Her
telephone, water and cable charges look normal, but her energy line
item seems too high. She uses your online energy audit to help identify
potential reasons for the overage. Details about her installed
appliances -provided as part of the audit -are fed into your marketing
system. Based on the audit, evidence points to her aging geezer as the
culprit. She clicks on "talk to us " to speak realtime with a customer
service representative (CSR) about her audit results. Shortly
thereafter, she receives a brochure in the mail describing your
maintenance service -and a special offer on a new energy-efficient
geezer.
Travel
As a
Customer Service Representative (CSR) answers an incoming call, she
quickly scans her screen to view all recent interactions with this
customer. She notices that a week earlier, the customer booked two
seats on the Web under their new holiday scheme and the pickup service
bus was supposed to reach at the joint within 30 minutes today. After
greeting the customer, the CSR asks if he is calling about whether his
pickup bus was on schedule. Pleasantly surprised that she's anticipated
his need, the customer explains that something urgent has come up and
he can not make it to the pick-up point before an hour, and he doesn't
want to miss this vacation. While she checks on his profile, the CSR
understands that he is one of the regular customer and has travelled
around 4 times in last 2 years with them, and that he also loves to
travel with them. The CSR can see from the schedule of the pick-up bus
that there are still two stops bus must make before reaching to the
pick-up joint of this customer -plenty of time to make the change. She
quickly reschedules the route to pick-up other 2-3 passangers on the
route before getting to this pick-up joint, so that this customer gets
some more time, and immediately the bus-crew is informed about the
revised schedule and also to wait for sometime for this customer via
their mobile devices like pager.
Manufacturing
An OEM
launches the model year with major design overhauls in four different
models. Carefully, the company watches the market and all internal
measurements for any sign of problems. Everything looks great; all four
lines are experiencing record sales.The early warning system kicks into routine
operation.
Just
three months after introduction, a few customers report problems with
their windshield wipers "getting stuck." Alerted to a potential product
issue, the early warning system analyzes these isolated cases and
discovers that all of the reports were related to one particular model
and most of the affected customers are located in rainy Seattle,
Washington. When usage readings reported by in-vehicle telematics are
compared, it becomes clear that the failing wipers have been used ten
times the standard amount. Believing failures are more likely when a
specific usage threshold is reached and knowing the volume of vehicles
already on the road, engineers realize that they must act quickly to
protect consumer safety. Still puzzled by the fact that failures only
occur in one of the four models using the blades, the OEM receives the
much-needed answer from their supplier.
Using
information supplied by various OEMs, the supplier detects a flaw that
only occurs with certain windshield slopes. An enhanced design is
already in testing. With help from customer service, the OEM identifies
all potentially affected customers. Fortunately, the defect is found
within six months of product introduction, keeping the car volume
involved relatively small. And, thanks to the early warning from
Seattle, most vehicles are far from the usage threshold where the
problem typically occurs. Although the media does publicize the recall,
they praise both manufacturer and supplier for a prompt and proactive
response. Recall costs are contained, and no litigation arises.
Finance
& Investment Consultants
During a
cab ride from the airport to his meeting location, John gets an SMS on
his cell phone. That's an urgent message triggered from his investment
consultant's web site, advising John that the price on a desired scrip
has just been dropped. John replies with his last offer price. Later
that afternoon, the consultant sends an instant message advising John
that his offer has been accepted and that the transaction details with
the latest information about the scrip have been sent by e-mail. Later
that evening at his hotel, John reviews the two alternatives provided
for the payment for the transaction: He can exercise the stock option
shares he received as a bonus a few years ago, or sell some of his XYZ
stock. John clicks on the link to his account information on his
consultant's Web site. He reviews the stock he has and the transaction
he made on that day so far. A quick look at the latest stock position
makes John even more curious, so he initiates a Web chat with his
consultant's representative to ask about the options he has. The rep
points out that the majority of stock experts recommend option two
(selling XYZ), since John's stock options are expected to have another
sharp increase in value later this quarter. Before ending their chat,
the rep reminds John to review the attached recommendations on the new
scrip. Before he logs off, John gives a preliminary okay on option two,
trusting his consultant to keep tabs on the market.
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