August 2002 Newsletter

Introduction

The aim of this communication is to bring you informative articles, tips and news on how to successfully merge teams and technology and maximise your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.

This month:

1. SRD Group Breakfast Workshops Review 
2. Is CRM Just Linked To Customer Centricity?

SRD Group Breakfast Workshops Review

SRD Group is running breakfast workshops for organisations that are using, or contemplating using, Customer Relationship Management systems.

The aim of these workshops is to explore solutions to commonly encountered, non-technical, issues surrounding CRM. The idea is to share experiences and learning of the entire group. Participants come up with strategies or methodologies to get more value out of the CRM systems in their organisations. The first two workshops were run in Auckland and Sydney during July.

The topic workshopped was:

"Managers are the key to success of any CRM strategy. If they do not use the CRM system to manage their team and their customers then they provide no good reason for their team to use it."

We have summarised the outcomes of both CRM breakfast workshops reviews into one document (pdf - you need Adobe Acrobat to view). It provides both groups reasons for non usage, and suggestions of how to get various managers to buy into CRM and help maximise the return.

Thank you to all attendees for your participation and ORIX Australia for the use of your great premises to run the Sydney event.

Is CRM Just Linked To Customer Centricity?

Dion Davidson, one of our former senior consultants wrote the paper "Is CRM just linked to Customer centricity. We asked Dion to explain what inspired him to write it. This is what he said:

"Through the last 12 months of research and learning about CRM and how it impacts people, I found a lot of reference to Customer Centricity. I found there were many different definitions for what CRM is, however there seemed to be a common theme that you had to be Customer Centric in order to practice CRM successfully. After some thought, it became obvious I fundamentally disagreed with this. Surely there are people and businesses out there who practice CRM successfully that do not subscribe to the Customer Centric approach. This brief paper asks the question of whether CRM is just about having a Customer Centric business strategy?

Upcoming Events

SRD Group have been approached by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) in New Zealand to make an address on CRM and Change Management at one of their Senior Executive Breakfast meetings in October and then to follow this up with a series of workshops. Dates for these have yet to be finalised but we will ensure that all our NZ contacts are informed of when these will be held.

SRD Group has also been contacted to take part in the New Zealand and the Australian Customer Contact World Conferences which will be held early in 2003, we will keep you all informed of these events as well.

Customer Satisfaction/Enrichment Programmes

This appeared in last months eZine but one particular reader thought that this was such and important statement that he believed we should repeat it this month, so we have!

Stop thinking "customer satisfaction", start thinking "customer enrichment". A blind focus on "customer satisfaction" binds a business to the here and now, to articulated customer needs. "Customer enrichment" leaps over paradigms of the present to new technologies, new products, new approaches and, ultimately wonderful new markets - Melvin R. Goodes, Chairman & CEO, Warner-Lambert Company.

• A dissatisfied customer will tell nine to ten people about an unhappy experience, even more people if the problem is serious. 
• If handled correctly they will only tell 5 people and could even become an advocate for the company as a result of the way the situation was handled. 
• 31% of customers who experience service problems never register complaints, because it is "too much trouble", there is no easy channel of communications or because they believe that no one cares. 
• Of that 31%, as few as 9 percent will do additional business with the company. 
• It also costs about five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. 
• Loyal satisfied customers are more apt to recommend a company, providing word-of-mouth advertising, the most effective and least expensive sales promotion there is. 
• High customer satisfaction and enrichment of the relationship saves money and increases sales and profits.

SRD Group is conducting customer satisfaction/enrichment programmes; projects that are very much part of having a Customer Focused/Centric Strategy. If you would like to find out more about these programmes please contact   and he will forward you some more information.

Tips/Thoughts

Ever thought of the difference between Efficiency and Effectiveness in CRM?

Efficiency Effectiveness:

• Reduce operational and administrative costs
• Shorter sales cycles
• Tighter view on transactions Higher win (closing) rates
• Streamlined processes Higher yield marketing programs
• Increased customer retention
  

That's all for this month!

Regards,
The Team at SRD Group.