Describe the role of e-commerce in supply chain management and custome...
Customer relationship management and supply chain management
1. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a model for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.
2. “The focus is on creating value for the customer and the company over the longer term”. When customer value the customer service that they receive from suppliers, they are less likely to look to alternative suppliers for their needs. CRM enables organizations to gain ‘competitive advantage’ over competitors that supply similar products or services.
3. “Customer relationship management focuses on strategically significant markets. Not all customers are equally important”. Therefore, relationships should be built with customers that are likely to provide value for services. Building relationships with customers that will provide little value could result in a loss of time, staff and financial resources.
4. DATA FLOW ENVIRONMENT
5. CRM also helps a company identify and reward its most loyal customers to retain and expand its business via targeted marketing. Hence retaining customers becomes easier. Retain CRM tools help keep customers happy by providing superior service from a responsive team of sales and service specialists. Enhance CRM software tools can help businesses acquire new customers by improving efficiency in contact management, sales prospecting, selling and direct marketing. Acquire
6. Sales force automation SFA uses software to streamline the sales process. The core of SFA is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts, and workflow automation. Appointments Appointment CRM automatically provides suitable appointment times to customers via e-mail or the web, which are then synchronized with the representative or agent's calendar.
7. Marketing CRM systems for marketing track and measure campaigns over multiple channels, such as email, search, social media, telephone, and direct mail. These systems track clicks, responses, leads, deals, and revenue. Customer service and support CRM can be used to create, assign and manage requests made by customers, such as call center software which help direct customers to agents. CRM software can also be used to identify and reward loyal customers.