Subject Code: PCR1A

Paper: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Specific Instructions:
Answer all the five questions.
Marks allotted 100. Each Question carries equal marks.
Word limit is 250 -300 words

General Instructions:

The Student should submit this assignment in the handwritten form (not in the typed format)
The Student should submit this assignment within the time specified by the exam dept
Each Question mentioned in this assignment should be answered within the word limit specified
The student should only use the Rule sheet papers for answering the questions.
The student should attach this assignment paper with the answered papers.

Failure to comply with the above Five instructions would lead to rejection of assignment.

_____________________________________________________
Question No 1
What is CRM? What are the reasons for its growing importance in Modern business? Explain
with industry examples? Do you agree with the statement that the focus in marketing is shifting
from transaction to relationship?
Question No 2

What is the importance of the study of customer service profile for taking decisions
related to CRM (customer relationship management)? Discuss the shape of customer
service profile with examples.
Question No 3

Explain in details by taking one example of any company, what do you understand by
Operational and Analytical Customer relationship Management?
Question No 4

What are the various components of sales force automation software solutions? Pick any
company of your choice and show where and how all these components can or are being
used ?
Question No 5

Write detailed noted on the following:

1. Recovery paradox
2. Service marketing triangle
3. Customer Life Time Value.

1). Customer relationship management (CRM) is a term that refers to practices, strategies
and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions and
data throughout the customer lifecycle, with the goal of improving business relationships
with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth. CRM systems
are designed to compile information on customers across different channels -- or points of
contact between the customer and the company -- which could include the company's
website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials and social media. CRM
systems can also give customer-facing staff detailed information on customers' personal
information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns.
Looking at some broader perspectives given as below we can easily determine why a
CRM System is always important for an organization.
1. A CRM system consists of a historical view and analysis of all the acquired or to be
acquired customers. This helps in reduced searching and correlating customers and
to foresee customer needs effectively and increase business.
2. CRM contains each and every bit of details of a customer, hence it is very easy for
track a customer accordingly and can be used to determine which customer can be
profitable and which not.
3. In CRM system, customers are grouped according to different aspects according to
the type of business they do or according to physical location and are allocated to
different customer managers often called as account managers. This helps in
focusing and concentrating on each and every customer separately.
4. A CRM system is not only used to deal with the existing customers but is also useful
in acquiring new customers. The process first starts with identifying a customer and
maintaining all the corresponding details into the CRM system which is also called an
Opportunity of Business. The Sales and Field representatives then try getting
business out of these customers by sophistically following up with them and
converting them into a winning deal. All this is very easily and efficiently done by an
integrated CRM system.
5. The strongest aspect of Customer Relationship Management is that it is very costeffective. The advantage of decently implemented CRM system is that there is very
less need of paper and manual work which requires lesser staff to manage and
lesser resources to deal with. The technologies used in implementing a CRM system
are also very cheap and smooth as compared to the traditional way of business.
6. All the details in CRM system is kept centralized which is available anytime on
fingertips. This reduces the process time and increases productivity.
7. Efficiently dealing with all the customers and providing them what they actually need
increases the customer satisfaction. This increases the chance of getting more
business which ultimately enhances turnover and profit.
8. If the customer is satisfied they will always be loyal to you and will remain in business
forever resulting in increasing customer base and ultimately enhancing net growth of
business.

In todays commercial world, practice of dealing with existing customers and thriving
business by getting more customers into loop is predominant and is mere a dilemma.
Installing a CRM system can definitely improve the situation and help in challenging the new
ways of marketing and business in an efficient manner. Hence in the era of business every
organization should be recommended to have a full-fledged CRM system to cope up with all
the business needs.
Relationship marketing and customer relationship management have taken a
central position in marketing strategy in the past two decades. A confluence of
factors, including the transition to service-based economies; advances in communication,
logistics, and computing technologies; increased global competition;
and faster product commodization have enhanced the salience of relationshipbased loyalty to sellers compared with other marketing mix factors.
Moreover, some of these trends are simultaneously increasing customers desire
for the unique characteristics found in relationship-based exchanges (e.g.,
reduced perceived risk, higher trust, enhanced cooperation, and greater flexibility).
Thus, in many situations, both sellers and customers are becoming more
interested in conducting business transactions embedded within relationships.
For firms who useor wish to userelationship marketing in their business,
the primary question is, How can relationship marketing be implemented
to improve customer loyalty and sellers sales and profits? Several important
managerial takeaways, discussed at length in the monograph, are summarized
below.

2)

importance of the study of customer service profile for taking decisions related to CRM:

Keeps customers with you longer

Gives you an advantage over competitors
Increases customer purchases in size and frequency

More customer referrals and recommendations to new customers

Builds your business reputation; reduces complaints and problems
Saves resources - It cost five to ten times as much to get a new customer than it does to
keep a customer
Satisfied customers often offer suggestions for making your organization better. By
reducing customer defections, you can boost profits by 25% or more
Customer satisfaction keeps your customers coming back and buying from you again and
again. When everybody in your company is capable of providing effective customer service,
your customers enjoy positive experiences whenever they interface with your people. View
Specification Sheet.
Satisfied customers are priceless assets on which to build a successful business, yet many
companies place more emphasis on selling to new customers than servicing current ones.
While the value of attracting new business cannot be discounted, it is equally important and
cost effective to grow your business by serving your existing customers.
Extensive research has identified eight specific behavioral characteristics and proficiencies
essential to extraordinary customer service. Profiles Customer Service Profile assesses
your job candidates and employees to see how they score in each of these important areas.

3)
Operational Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM, an acronym for Customer Relationship Management is a broad term that covers
concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, which may
include attracting the customer, analyzing the customer, and satisfying the customer.
CRM is not simply advanced technology; it is a comprehensive approach to customer
relationship management. Straight Marketing offers different types of CRM packages that
accommodate customer relationship management and can include anything from setting
up policies and processes, to customer service, employee training, marketing and
systems/information management. To fill a companys requirements, Straight Marketing
considers a companys needs before determining the best CRM tools.
Operational CRM generally refers to services that allow an organization to take care of
their customers. It provides support for various business processes, which can include
sales, marketing and service. Contact and call centers, data aggregation systems and web
sites are a few examples of operational CRM. If your company has a high customer
turnover, or perhaps high service costs, Operational CRM Solutions is a tool that can help
you solve your problems. The high tech expertise of CRM gives you access to
information about your customer as well as giving you a clear view of your customers
needs.

To ensure that your customers receive the most personal attention possible, we at Straight
Marketing make the process and implementation of Operational CRM easy and
professional. By way of example, lets suppose you were overwhelmed with telephone
calls each and every day. In your desire to know the status and progress of the services
you are providing, you might want to speak with your customers, but there just isnt time.
Instead of spending time making telephone calls on a daily basis, Straight Marketing
implements an operational CRM system that allows your customers to log into an
account via the web and view all the details of the service being provided. Try to imagine
the time you can save without having to respond to unnecessary phone calls. As a result
of Operational CRM, its a win/win situation for everyone. You are responsive to the
customer, your customer is happy with your service and everyone is getting what he or
she wants and needs. This is just one area of CRM that creates greater efficiency for your
company.
The results of an operational CRM strategy are far reaching and can either be
implemented in basic software or in a more complex software installation depending on
the companys requirements. We at Straight Marketing implement various operational
CRM software packages that address a clients needs whether it is for processes, sales or
services. If you are ready to grow your business, contact us today to speak with our
marketing experts.
Analytical Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
As online companies continue to add new and often faster ways of interacting with
customers, the opportunity and the need to turn data about customers into useful
information has become a necessity. As a result, there are a number of software tools that
have been created to analyze customer data. As one of the most dynamic customer
management tools, we at Straight Marketing utilize Analytical CRM, as it addresses the
analysis of customer data for a host of different purposes. In general it is used to design
and execute targeted marketing campaigns that optimize marketing effectiveness.
Analytical CRM takes into account product and service decision-making as well as
pricing and new product development. Try to imagine how efficient your business would
be if you knew what customers wanted and could quickly act on those needs.
The Benefits of Analytical CRM
Analytical CRM provides customer segmentation. To illustrate, it divides customers into
those that may or may not utilize your services again, or gives you information that helps
in the process of your service. Not only does it determine profitability or which
customers generally lead to the most profit over time, it also provides the ability to
market specifically to individual customers based on the data collected. As a predictive
modeling tool, Analytical CRM can help your company compare future successes based
on the customer knowledge database. Over time, the analysis helps with business
decisions founded on earlier analysis. When it comes to sales, marketing and service, the
benefits of CRM analytics are many and usually lead to better and more productive

customer relations. Rather than struggling to find out what makes your customer tick,
with CRM Analytics you know which people are going to be your best customers and
how to find your prospects, quickly and efficiently.
Understand Your Customers At a Higher Level
As a growing company, the information you can acquire through Analytical CRM is
priceless. As a marketing strategy, it delivers proven results across multi-departments.
Rather than wasting time trying to figure out things about your customer, CRM analytics
helps you find out where they are, who is your most profitable customer and what are
their behaviors. Once evaluating or identifying potential clients, you can deliver far more
effective results. Investing your time and money into Analytical CRM will more than
support your important business decisions; it will play a vital role in the success of your
organization.
4)
Sales force management software are information software systems used in CRM
marketing and management that help automate some sales and sales force management
functions. They are often combined with a marketing information system, in which case
they are often called customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Sales force management systems are essentially the same thing as sales force automation
system (SFA).
A SFA, typically a part of a companys customer relationship management system, is a
system that automatically records all the stages in a sales process. SFA includes a contact
management system which tracks all contact that has been made with a given customer,
the purpose of the contact, and any follow up that may be needed. This ensures that sales
efforts are not duplicated, reducing the risk of irritating customers. SFA also includes a
sales lead tracking system, which lists potential customers through paid phone lists, or
customers of related products. Other elements of an SFA system can include sales
forecasting, order management and product knowledge. More developed SFA systems
have features where customers can actually model the product to meet their needs
through online product building systems. This is becoming more and more popular in the
automobile industry, where patrons can customize various features such as color and
interior features such as leather vs. upholstered seats.
An integral part of any SFA system is company wide integration among different
departments. If SFA systems arent adopted and properly integrated to all departments,
there might be a lack of communication which could result in different departments
contacting the same customer for the same purpose. In order to mitigate this risk, SFA
must be fully integrated in all departments that deal with customer service management.
Making a dynamic sales force links strategy and operational actions that can take place
within a department. the SFA relies on objectives, plans, budget, and control indicators

under specific conditions. In order to perform the objectives correctly, specific

procedures must be implemented:

5)
1)The service recovery paradox is the result of a very positive service recovery, causing a
level of customer satisfaction and/or customer loyalty even greater than that expected if
no service failure had happened. The term was coined 1992 by Michael McCollough and
Sundar Bharadwaj] who defined service recovery as " a situation in which a consumer
has experienced a problem which has been satisfactory resolved, and where the consumer
subsequently rates their satisfaction to be equal to or greater than that in which no
problem had occurred
A customer takes his family to Disney World every other year. One year, he books a
package including hotel and tickets. The family arrives at the hotel in the late afternoon,
and wants to see an evening performance- that last one before the act goes to Europe. But
no one at the hotel has their tickets, and the ticket offices are closed. The family visits the
Customer Service Representative at the park, who immediately provides four passes for
that evening. After he gets home, the customer writes a letter, thanking Disney for the
way the incident has been handled, and suggesting that the hotel ticket office stay open
later to avoid frustration in the future. In response, he receives an apology and four 7-day
admission tickets worth 750. He is delighted. A few weeks later, he receives a full refund
for the tickets they had bought for the trip since their experience had been less than
wonderful, Disney wanted to refund their money. The customer is elated even more
happy than he would have been if there had been no error in the first place. He and tells
all his friends about how great Disney is, and writes about it online
2) Service Marketing Triangle
There are three kinds of service marketing triangle that includes:
EXTERNAL MARKETING
INTERNAL MARKETING
INTERACTIVE MARKETING
1.

External Marketing

In an external marketing, marketers interact directly to the end users. They try to
understand the need of customers and satisfy them after fulfilling their demands.

In an external marketing, marketers set the pricing policies and create awareness about
the products and design promotional strategies and techniques that help to attract the
customers towards their products and services.
They communicate with their customers directly and convince them to buy their
products. They involve in constructive group of activities that helps to design excellent
products that meet the customers demands efficiently.
Their goal is to create awareness about their products or services among users by
communicating with them directly. They also grab the attention of the market and
produce interest in their services. External marketing is one of the important parts of
service marketing triangle.
2.

Internal Marketing

In an internal marketing, marketers try to interact with their employees in order to know
about the strengths and weaknesses of their organization. The owner of the company
tries to involve all of his employees in general discussion, believe on teamwork.
Internal marketing involves general discussions, teamwork, training, motivation and
rewards on best performance. Employees communicate with themselves on specific
project. Teamwork helps to involve employees in their assigned tasks and generate
output quickly.
Organizational rewards motivate employees to make their performance effective. All
employees understand the goals and objectives of the company clearly and try to meet
organizational goals. They also know how to grab the attention of their customers.
Customers are highly satisfied with their products or services. They always try to satisfy
their clients at any cost. If employees of the company are satisfied with their job and
performance rewards, they can become an effective asset of any organization.
Executives of the organizations fully understand the service marketing triangle if they
want to gain a competitive advantage in the market.
3.

Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing involves in the delivery of products or service to the customers and
front office employees of the company. It is the most important part of the service
marketing triangle because it establishes a long term or short term relations with
customers.
Customers who are highly satisfied with their products or services can become regular
customers of their brand. Marketers who cannot compromise on quality and deliver high
quality products to their customers have a great community of loyal customers. Their
loyal customers always prefer them to buy products.

Service marketing triangle has great importance and its components are essential in the
success of any business. A well established business always follows the strategies of
service marketing triangle.
Today, marketers who know how to remove the companys weaknesses and increase the
strengths and assets are market leaders. They are aware of external threats and
opportunities that boost up their business. They also know how to communicate with
their customers, clients and employees in order to achieve organizational goals.