Turn your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) into Customer Managed Relations (CMR)

By Hani Masgidi

CRM Customer Relationship Management
A CRM strategy is called for to both buy time before new product offerings could be sourced and offered and to move significantly ahead of the competition. What is needed is a strategy involving all aspects of the company, including database structure, creative work and staff training that would ultimately reduce potential defections, quickly increase footfall term and build a database for future activity. The aim is to recognize existing customers, to reward those customers, to react swiftly to customer needs and to turn Customer Relationship Management (CRM) into Customer Managed Relations (CMR).
The power of what customers want. It looks at the saving from a company’s point of view, not the empowerment from customer’s perspective.
CMR is three things:
An ability to rethink, to reshape your organization and its knowledge so that it is at the disposal of your customers
Internet enabled management tools which customers use to get what they want
An ability to react to the information being generated and used by customers in order to increase profitability
A 4 stage approach can be created with the objective to:
Discover the customer via a questionnaire
Incentives and Reward the customer to return
Find more “best customers” through new customer acquisition
Data mine the customer case to make relevant product offerings
Creating a questionnaire based upon proven and successful models. In addition to standard demographic and the lifestyle questions customers can be asked about which products they would like to purchase at which time over the following months.
The response will give the company a cutting advantage as it will be possible to more accurately forecast and respond to customer needs, which no other retailer can match. With introducing “reverse retailing”, instead of offering products and then finding the customers to purchase them, company can make purchase decisions together with the customer and source the right products in the right quantity resulting in advantageous pricing for volume purchase.
Secondly, we will be able to data mine the base and communicate with customers at the time they said they would be interested in making the purchase. From the questionnaire information a relational database can be built that can be segmented by demographics, products owned, products desired and new products customers would like to see offered.
At time of purchase customers can also be rewarded with that is called “Customer Money” This could be as simple as a cash back voucher valued at E.g. 1% of purchase value. ‘Prospect Money’ is also similar to Customer Money but has a different value, E.g. 10% of a product price when goods over $50 are purchased. We are also able to use this Prospect money as an incentive to existing customers to further encourage them to invest at a larger scale or purchase price - Up sell.
We can change out selling/stocking policy because of what customers tell us and can launch products in response to their needs. As for the future, we would have utilized the technology to create customer value and generate a strong return on investment. Creating and developing a strategy of increasing customer retention and value against rising competition in the market.
If executed well CMR generates three major benefits over CRM:
1. It is easier to implement because the customer is doing the complex stuff
2. It creates lock in since customers having invested their data with you will not move easily
3. It allows you to move faster than your competitor since you are in a trusted relationship with your customer
Companies need to understand CMR and then change accordingly. You need a well developed view of the future, whether or not it is true. You have to invest in the competencies to make that future come true. You need to experiment and learn to see which parts of your view are developing. CMR would mean that the customer is in control, that the customer would manage the relationship. Think about it. Customer managed. They do it to you. You do not do anything to control them. You have to start thinking and behaving differently.
It used to be hard to envisage but with internet enabled platforms it is perfectly feasible to imagine how whole industry processes can be reconstructed putting the customer in charge of their own needs by giving them the internet based management tools and data they require. This is what a customer managed relationship is about.
At every customer touch point we should provide customized interaction that manages and shapes each customer’s expectations. By thoroughly examining and planning out our customer relationships, we can provide a level of personalized service that integrates elements designed to enhance the lifetime of relationships with customers.
Our belief should be that customer’s expectations must be met or exceeded in order for their experience to be positive. For that to happen, we must investigate all angles of our customer’s potential needs and plan our responses accordingly. This extra planning ensures positive customer interaction, and the experience shapes customer behavior, transforms expectations into successful interactions and above all, CMR enhances your competitive advantage.

Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com

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