Taj People Philosophy and Star System free essay sample

Customers are considered to be king of every business enterprise and loyal customers are the backbone of their business. So customer satisfaction is the primary motive of every business which can be attained through effective CRM (Customer Relationship Management) policy 1. 1 Meaning of Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM is a comprehensive strategy amp; process of acquiring amp; retaining customers to create superior value for the company as well as the customers. It consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with its current and prospective  customers. To support these processes, various CRM Software like SAP, ORACLE Sales force. com etc. are used. These software record and store information about customers, various customer interactions, their problems etc which can be accessed by employees in different departments of the company. These information are used by the organization to make future plans that can satisfy the customer on a better way and retaining them for a longer period. We will write a custom essay sample on Taj People Philosophy and Star System or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1. 2 Goal of CRM: The goal of CRM is to provide improved services to the customers, and to use customer contact information for targeted marketing. . 3 Evaluation and growth of the CRM: CRM passes through three generations such as 1st generation in 1990, 2nd generation in 1996 and the 3rd generation in 2002. In 1st generation following systems were applied for CRM:- * Call centre management- It is a web based CRM technology, the enables users browsing a company’s web site to leave a phone number where company representative can call back with more information. * Customer service support- It is a part of a company’s CRM department that interacts with a customer for their immediate benefits. * Sales force automation- It is software that automates business tasks like inventory control, sales processing, customer interaction, etc-. * Campaign management- It is a planning, executing, tracking and analyzing of direct marketing campaigns. In 2nd generation following improved systems were used for CRM:- * Integrated customer facing front end- It is face to face interaction between the customers and sales man. This system is used for marketing, sales and services. * ERP integrations- ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is a business management system that integrates all functions of the business. Customers analytics- It comprises all the programming that analyzes data about an enterprise’s customers for business decision. * Complete web integration- It allows end users to have access the data function of a serve hosted application through internet browser window. In 3rd generation the strategic CRM was followed and is continuing- Strategic CRM updates and expands the original content and combines into one, convenient value that guides users through the entire CRM implementation process, from strategic planning software. Scope and goals of different generations:- There is successful increment in the scope of CRM from 1st generation to 3rd generation. In 1st generation the scope consists of service function and sales function, in 2nd generation it includes another function i. e. marketing function and in 3rd generation it includes entire function of the organization. Goals of the CRM have also changed with better customer service from 1st generation to 3rd generation. In 1st generation the goals were mprove service operation and increase sales efficiency, in 2nd generation reduce cost of interaction, improve customer experiences, and increasing the customer interaction; in 3rd generation cost reduction amp; revenue growth and competitive advantages. 1. 4 Options for Implementing CRM: Increasing customer is not the ultimate objective of any organization but to retain customer and t build long term relationship with them is important. It is only through CRM that a prospect can be turn into customer and then finally into a client. But to achieve these any organization require proper implementation. But at the same time CRM implementation is a challenging task because it ties together many people, process, technologies within the organization which are separate from each other. 1) IN HOUSE DEVELOPMENT- This means all the strategies, processes are developed and implemented within the organization. Advantage- 1. It is tailored made according to organization needs and structure thus is flexible as compared to others. 2. Avoid dependency on others be it software or outsourcing. Disadvantage 1. It is at the same time expensive 2. And comparatively takes longer time depending on the organisation. ) BUY LICENSED CRM SOFTWARE- This is purchasing software and implementing in organization. Advantage- 1. Usually the maximum chance of success. 2. It just need to install and trained the workforce accordingly. Disadvantage- 1. Again it is expensive because of many costs as license cost, renewal cost etc. associated with it. 2. Adding new software with change is a complex task. 3) OUTSOURCING A MANAGED SERVICE- This means hiring from outside. Advantage- 1. Most of the times lower cost. 2. Can adopt â€Å"pay- as- you go† approach with visible result. Disadvantage- 1. For any new requirement needs to contact the company and pay for the development. . Also there is a risk of losing CRM solution investment if outsourcing company goes out of business STAGEWISE- In this CRM software is offered in different, independent modules, according to specific department needs. Company buys sales automation software and contact management module from different providers. ENTERPRISE WISE CRM SOLUTION- This is composed of different modules from same providers; it is implemented as a whole by connecting different modules and existing database. 1. 5 VARIOUS ASPECTS OF CRM CRM includes many aspects which relate directly to one another: * Front office operations — Direct interaction with customers, e. . face to face meetings, phone calls, e-mail, online services etc. * Back offi ce operations — Operations that ultimately affect the activities of the front office (e. g. ,  billing,  maintenance, planning, marketing,  advertising,  finance,  manufacturing etc. ) CHAPTER2 INTRODUCTION CRM @ BIG BAZAAR * Database is formed through the issue of future card and card is of three types silver card, gold card and sakthi card. Sakthi card is issued to ladies and this card provides, free sugar(1 kg) per month. * Customer profitability analysis (CPA) is done on the basis of transactions made through the future cards. Platinum customers (most profitable). * Gold customers (profitable). * Iron customers (low profitability but desirable). * Lead customers (unprofitable and undesirable). * Differentiate customers in terms of: (1) their needs and (2) their value to company. * Interact with individual customers to improve the knowledge about individual needs and to build stronger relationships. * There are four type of analysis done for analysis of CRM * * P eriodic Surveys: It’s done on quarterly, its an overall survey done by the future group authorities and CRM is a part of it. * Customer Loss Rate : Mystery Shoppers: They pose as normal customers perform specific tasks—such as purchasing a product, asking questions, registering complaints or behaving in a certain way – and then provide detailed reports or feedback  about their experiences * Monitor Competitive Performance * Complaint Handling Procedures: 0 Screening And Logging The type of product or service; manufacturer/brand name; model name/number; date of purchase/contract; warranty expiration date; salesperson; cost of product/service; date problem occurred; and a description of the problem is listed. This allows organization to exercise control, and assure proper follow-through. 1 Investigating customers explanation of a problem provides much information. Nevertheless, to assure they have all the information needed for a thorough review of the facts involved, by: * Researching in-house records on the customer; * Requesting receipts, or other records; * Inspecting the product, or service performed; and * Following-up with the customer for any necessary additional information. 2 Acknowledging When Big Bazaar cannot resolve an issue immediately, it is important to let customer know that the matter is receiving attention. Customer is given information about how long it will take to complete action on the complaint. If there is further delay, it’s made sure to advise customer why and when Big Bazaar expects to have an answer. 3 Formulating A Solution solution is made to be consistent with established customer relations policy and important criteria are taken into account: * Contractual and/or warranty obligations; * The customers expectations; * expectations of the customer; * The cost/benefit of alternative solutions; The probability and cost of customer seeking redress in some other way; * The comprehensiveness and fairness of solution; * ability to perform the solution; and * What to do if the customer rejects solution. 4 Responding The response is made clear and appropriate. The customer must understand the response, and the response must address the issues raised in the customers original complaint. An explanation of decision preserves the goodwill of customer, even if the decision itself is adverse. 5 Following-Up – Customer is contacted following response to verify whether or not the matter has been resolved satisfactorily. If customer is unhappy with response, organization refers the matter to a third party dispute resolution mechanism for assistance. * Steps Involved in customer Satisfaction through Service: * Seeing problems from the customer’s perspective * Managing customers moments of truth * Communicating effectively through better listening * Analyzing how customer perceptions are formed * Managing anger and other service behaviors * Dealing with long-term consequences of service breakdowns * Negotiating solutions * Generating an action plan for improved on-the-job effectiveness CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION: Future group maintains its records of customers by observing their purchasing habits amp; categories them into various groups like high revenue, moderate revenue amp; low revenue customers. They communicate to the customers through various medium like SMS,E-mail, Mobile vans, Print media etc. This is the way to built a strong presence in the existing customers amp; prospective customers. Presently they are using oracle software to maintain database. Recently they have tied up with California based firm GREENPLUM to provide new software for data warehousing. The company boasts strong share of its profits from top line customers who provide them around 70% of their revenues in total. The company can said to be going on the famous management principle i. e. 80/20 PRINCIPLE which says that 20 percent of variables cause 80% effect. In big bazaar it can be related to the fact that 20% of its top line customers provide 80% of its revenues in a year. This is the reason why the retail giant is focusing strongly on customer retention in order to boasts its sales numbers substantially. CUSTOMER GRATIFICATION is an important element of a sales process. Every company should survey their customers in order to find out the satisfaction level among the consumers. Big bazaar also conducts periodic surveys in order to ascertain the satisfaction level in their consumers. Various activities are done in order to enhance the shopping experience among buyers amp; various offers, discount coupons; exchange offers are initiated by the firm in order to develop a good satisfaction level in their existing customers. Special coupons are given to customers who can be redeemed by the costumers in their future purchases from the store. CUSTOMER PERCIEVED VALUE (CPV) is calculated by the retail store in order to asses the costs and benefits received amp; given to the buyers. The following are some key features of CPV 1. CPV is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternative. 2. Total customer value is the perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional amp; psychological benefits customers expect from a given market offering. 3. Total customer cost is the bundle of costs customers expect to incur in evaluating, obtaining, using, disposing of the given market offering, including monetary, time, energy amp; psychic costs. LOOPHOLES: The retail store has also various loopholes especially here at ranchi. The major drawback which was found out initially was lack of proper parking place but now it has been corrected to some extent. Secondly the store is very slow in execution of online orders which is given through company web portal â€Å"FUTURE BAZAAR†. To quote a few examples of late delivery Mr. David Kerketta,a resident of lalpur-peace road purchased a furniture for Rs 37000,the date of scheduled delivery was 15th of November,2008 but he received his order 37 days late. One more incident of such late delivery is MR Pradeep Kumar, a resident of Upper Bazaar who purchased a dining table for Rs. 15000,but as usual he got his final delivery a whopping 65 days late than the scheduled date of delivery. So these incidents speak a lot of inefficient delivery. The other drawbacks are inefficient billi. ng counters as they are not updated with the current offers and schemes. Also the billing counters remains unmanned that add to the problem of customers who needs to stand in long queue in order to get their purchases billed. The other problem is related to the slow processing of applications of membership cards like Shakti card, future cards etc. It takes around 30 days minimum to become a member of future card schemes. This is very slowly considering the industry average of 15-20 days to process a card. Finally the contact numbers of customers are open to the telemarketing personnel as they get the database from the future group through some sources or the other. CHAPTER- 3 Comparision of Big Bazaar and Reliance Mart CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION * Transformation by integrating customer facing front-end with back-end systems and partners and suppliers. This will effectively help in generating better filtered data source from feedbacks received. Also the feedbacks will be dealt with in a much more careful and professional way. * Growth of CRM facilitated by growth of IT. In this age of Information Technology an effective IT planning on the CRM can help the organization earn a lot of repute. * New database solutions. This will help to filter and clean the raw data received from feedbacks more efficiently. * Mutual benefit through CRM. The stores and their customers can mutually benefit through the application of CRM. So at this â€Å"era of customers†, the companies should project themselves as customer oriented as possible to help them benefit in a long term survival plan. * Effective segmentation of customers. With more and better quality of data, this can be done very easily. * Enhancing the shopping solutions. This is the age of innovation. Especially in Indian markets, low cost innovation is the ultimate tool to win the battle for the companies. Thus, the companies need to be innovative with their ideas and always try to deliver the customer with some added value for their purchase. RECOMMENDATIONS Many CRM project failures are also related to data quality and  availability. Data cleaning is a major issue. If a companys CRM strategy is to track life-cycle revenues, costs, margins, and interactions between individual customers, this must be reflected in all business processes. Data must be extracted from multiple sources (e. . , departmental/divisional databases such as sales, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, finance, service etc. ), which requires an integrated, comprehensive system in place with well-defined structures and high data quality. Data from other systems can be transferred to CRM systems using appropriate interfaces. Because of the company-wide size and scope of many CRM implementations, significan t pre-planning is essential for smooth roll-out. This pre-planning involves a technical evaluation of the data available and the technology employed in existing systems. This evaluation is critical to determine the level of effort needed to integrate this data. Equally critical is the human aspect of the implementation. A successful implementation requires an understanding of the expectations and needs of the stakeholders involved. An executive sponsor should also be obtained to provide high-level management representation of the CRM project. An effective tool for identifying technical and human factors before beginning a CRM project is a pre-implementation checklist. A checklist can help ensure any potential problems are identified early in the process.