Tag: Customer

The Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM); This Is the strongest and the most efficient approach to maintaining and creating relationships with customers. Customer relationship management is not only pure business but also ideate strong personal bonding with people. The development of this type of bonding drives the business to new levels of success. Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector.

Here is the article explain, what is the Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

Once this personal and emotional linkage is built, it is very easy for any organization to identify the actual needs of the customer and help them to serve them in a better way. It is a belief that more the sophisticated strategies involved in implementing customer relationship management, the more strong and fruitful the business. Most of the organizations have dedicated world-class tools for maintaining CRM systems in their workplace. Some of the efficient tools used in most renowned organizations are BatchBook, Salesforce, Buzzstream, Sugar CRM, etc.

The Importance of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Within a Business:

In a world where competition is becoming ever fiercer, importance, businesses need to implement customer relationship management or CRM, strategies to stay ahead of their rivals. Also, CRM is about understanding who your customers and potential customers are, and nurturing the relationships you have with them. It is also about understanding the needs and behaviors of these people, whilst reacting to them, and adapting as these change.

There are numerous compelling reasons to employ CRM strategies. Here are just a few for starters.

Targeted customer relationship management:

CRM is about understanding who your customers are in every business. When you know what makes them tick, you can better target your sales and digital marketing services, or even the products or strategies that you sell to match their needs. By offering a targeted approach, you will not be wasting time in failing to meet the needs of your customers.

You can also develop a personalized approach to your marketing, and focus on those that give you the best return. In using CRM to target specific groups of customers or even potential customers, you can improve your offering. This can, ultimately, help to boost sales and growth, whilst driving customer loyalty.

Communication channels.

It is a fact that as technology has evolved, the number of communication channels has also grown exponentially. This means that businesses now have multiple different ways in which to communicate with their customers, including both offline and online methods.

Having more communication channels is a good thing for a business, but it also makes the ability to interact with customers, and serve their needs, something of a challenge. The need for effective customer relationship management (CRM) becomes even more pertinent as the number of communication channels increases, and also their importance.

Improved experiences.

CRM is about creating relationships with your customers, therefore, in the end, they enjoy positive experiences while talking to your brand. As a business grows, keeping track of customer interactions can be difficult, and a bad conversation can likely go through the net. Also, CEM (Customer experience management) is about ensuring that you know about your brand experience customers and respond accordingly.

By applying the appropriate system, such as digital marketing services, you can ensure that positive and negative experiences are effectively controlled. As part of your CRM strategy, nurturing experiences can improve customer loyalty and enhance your brand name and reputation.

Focusing your business.

How do you know if you are offering your customers exactly what they want? Do you actually know who your customers are? Even if you have the answers to these questions, this may change over time. Having CRM systems in place means that you can answer these questions. Also, It provides you with the information you need to understand what your customers want or need, and who they are.

You can use this intelligence to steer your brand in a particular direction. Keeping up to date with customer demands is essential to ensure you stay ahead of your competitors. It also offers you the best chance for business growth, and for making improvements.

New customers.

CRM is not just about nurturing relationships with those people who already purchase from your brand. It is also about gaining new customers and converting potential customers into new and returning customers. If you want your business to flourish, you cannot simply rely upon your existing customer base to achieve this.

You need to implement marketing strategies to win new customers over, especially if you operate in a competitive market. Also, CRM tools let you identify potential customers who may be interested in your brand, and focus your marketing efforts on engaging with these prospects. These could be people who have made an inquiry in the past, or who fit the demographic profile of your target audience.

Cost-effective.

Putting systems in place to implement CRM strategies may sound like a time consuming and costly affair, but it can offer a very strong return on investment. By building relationships with your customers, you get to understand their needs and desires, so you can become more targeted in your approach.

You can work out which of your customers are profitable for your business, and which are not. Also, CRM ensures that you don’t waste time and money implementing the wrong strategy for the wrong customers. By being targeted and focused, you maximize your sales and growth potential.

Reputation management.

To help customers solve their needs, solve their problems, and to ensure that. They have a great customer experience, you increase contentment. It enhances loyalty and enhances your reputation. Also, Creating relationships with customers and potential customers is certainly not that. If a business wants to achieve success, then it can ignore it.

Looking at some of the broad approaches given below, we can easily determine why CRM systems are always important for an organization.
- A CRM system consists of a historical view and analysis of all the acquired or acquire customers. Also, This helps in reduced searching and correlating customers and to foresee customer needs effectively and increase business.
- Each customer has every bit of description in the CRM, so tracking a customer accordingly is very easy and can be used to determine. Which client can be profitable and who does not.
- In the CRM system, customers operate according to the type of group according to various types or according to the physical location. Allocate to different client managers, often called account managers. Also, It helps to concentrate and focus on every customer.
- A CRM system is not only used to deal with existing customers but is also useful in getting new customers. The process starts with identifying the customer and maintaining all related details in the CRM system. Whatever is called ‘business prospects’, sales and regional representatives then try to get business from these customers, who follow them with Sophisticate-affiliates and convert them into a winning deal. All this is done very easily and efficiently through an integrated CRM system.
Other things:
- The strongest aspect of Customer Relationship Management is that it is very cost-effective. The advantage of decently implement a CRM system is that there is very little need for paper and manual work. Which requires lesser staff to manage and lesser resources to deal with. Also, the technologies used in implementing a CRM system are very cheap and smooth as compared to the traditional way of business.
- All the details in the CRM system are kept centralize which is available anytime at fingertips. This reduces the processing time and increases productivity.
- Efficiently dealing with all the customers and providing them with what they actually need increases customer satisfaction. This increases the chance of getting more business which ultimately enhances turnover and profit.
- If the customer is satisfied they will always be loyal to you. Will remain in business forever resulting in increasing customer base and ultimately enhancing the net growth of the business.
In today’s commercial world, the practice of dealing with existing customers. Looping more customers is dominant and it is only a dilemma. Also, Establishing a CRM system can certainly improve the situation. Can help in challenging new methods of marketing and business efficiently. Therefore, in the era of trade, every organization should recommend a complete CRM system to deal with all business needs.

What is the Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? Image from Online!
December 14, 2017
What is Customer Relationship Management? with Video Clip
What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? It is an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about customers’ history with a company and to improve business relationships with customers. Specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth. Positive Relationships with Individual and Organization Outside. So, what is the question going to learn; What is CRM? with Video Clip.

Here are explain; What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)? with a video clip for a better Understand.

One important aspect of the CRM approach is the systems of CRM that compile data from a range of different communication channels. Including a company’s website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials, and more recently, social media. Through the CRM approach and the systems used to facilitate it, businesses learn more about their target audiences. How to best cater to their needs. However, adopting the CRM approach may also occasionally lead to favoritism within an audience of consumers. Resulting in dissatisfaction among customers and defeating the purpose of CRM.

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 life-cycle. To improve business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention, and driving sales growth. Also, 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.

Objectives of CRM

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as the name suggests the primary focal point is placed on the customer. The key objective is to increase customer value over time by increasing customer loyalty. If a company develops better customer relationships, it also improves business processes as well as its profits. In general, CRM is a more efficient automated method use to connect and improve. All areas of the business to focus on creating strong customer relationships. Also, All forces are coupled together to save, improve, and acquire greater business to customer relationships. The most common areas of business that are positively affected include marketing, sales, and customer service strategies.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) helps create time efficiency and savings on both sides of the business spectrum. Through correct implementation and use of CRM solutions, companies gain a better understanding of their strongest and weakest areas and how they can improve upon these. Therefore, customers gain better products and services from their businesses of choice. To achieve better insight into CRM, it is essential to consider all of its components.

Strategy and Solutions of CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy that spans your entire organization from the front office to the back-office. It is a commitment you make to put customers at the heart of your enterprise. Also, The right CRM strategy and solutions can help you securely, reliably, and consistently:
- Delight your customers every time they interact with your business by empowering them with any time, anywhere, and any channel access to accurate information and more personalized service.
- Reach more customers more effectively, increase customer retention and boost customer loyalty by leveraging opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell and driving repeat business at a lower cost.
- Drive improvements in business performance by providing your customers with the ability to access more information through self-service and assisted-service capabilities when it is convenient for them.
- Enable virtualization in your enterprise as more of your people and resources extend beyond your offices and around the world.
- Balance sophisticated functionality with rapid implementation and effective support for a faster return on your CRM investment.
Present Day of CRM:

Today’s customers face a growing range of choices in the products and services they can buy. Also, They base their choices on their perception of quality, value, and service. Each consumer has specific behavior. But buying habits are sometimes difficult to understand. Therefore companies always want to gain some insight into consumer behavior and habits to better control this behavior. Having an impact on consumer behavior means being able to change consumer’s perception of the product or service, to establish a relation between the company and its clients.

Another concept that is closely related to CRM is Customer Relationship Marketing. Which is a practice that encompasses all marketing activities direct toward establishing, developing, and maintaining successful customer relationships? Also, The focus of relationship marketing is on developing long-term relationships and improving corporate performance through customer loyalty and customer retention.

What is ‘Customer Relationship Management – CRM’:

Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the principles, practices, and guidelines that an organization follows when interacting with its customers. From the organization’s point of view, this entire relationship encompasses direct interactions with customers, such as sales and service-related processes, and forecasting and analysis of customer trends and behaviors. Ultimately, CRM serves to enhance the customer’s overall experience.

With the growth of the Internet and related technologies. Customers are concerned about the privacy and safety of their personal information. Therefore, businesses need to ensure the storage and analysis of their customer data have the highest levels of protection against cybercriminals, identity theft, and other breaches of security.

BREAKING DOWN ‘Customer Relationship Management – CRM’:

Elements of CRM range from a company’s website and emails to mass mailings and telephone calls. Also, Social media represents one-way companies adapt to trends that benefit their bottom line. The entire point of CRM is to build positive experiences with customers to keep them coming back so a company creates a growing base of returning customers.

Software:

Special CRM software aggregates customer information in one place to give businesses easy access to data. Such as contact data, purchase history, and any previous contact with customer service representatives. This data helps employees interact with clients, anticipate customer needs. Recognize customer updates and track performance goals when it comes to sales. Also, CRM software’s main purpose is to make interactions more efficient and productive. Automated procedures within a CRM module include sending a sales team marketing materials based on a customer’s selection of a product or service. Programs also assess a customer’s needs to reduce the time it takes to fulfill a request.

Cloud Solutions:

Cloud-based systems provide real-time data to sales agents at the office and in the field as long as a computer, smartphone, laptop or tablet connects to the Internet. The convenience of this type of system has a trade-off. If the company goes out of business or faces acquisition, access to customer information may become compromised. A business might have compatibility issues when and if it migrates to a different vendor for this kind of software. Typically, cloud-based CRM programs cost more than in-house programs. Every Leader has to need Social Media Skills with Qualities.

Management:

All of the computer software in the world to help with CRM means nothing without proper management and decision-making from humans. Plus, the best programs organize data in a way that humans can interpret readily and use to their advantage. For successful CRM, companies must learn to discern useful information and superfluous data and weed out any duplicate and incomplete records that may give employees inaccurate information about customers.

What is Customer Relationship Management? with Video Clip
December 6, 2017
Explain Dimensions of Price Perception

How to Explain Dimensions of Price Perception?

The price perception is directly related to the success of the company. Although in the end what customer pays is the reality but how it reaches at his decision is what is dependent on the perception. Definition of Price Perception, Because the company is successful in creating the desired perception of the product only then the customer will consider buying it. Hence, it is the price perception that precedes the buying decision of the customer.

This is why price perception is among one of the most important factors while crafting the advertising strategies of the company. For a successful advertising strategy, it is very important to read the minds of the customers.

The concept of price perception helps to understand those psychological factors which are in the minds of the customers and form which they make their purchasing decisions. Understanding the factors by which the seller can influence the perceptions is very important for the companies in order to attract and retain customers.

This can help them to determine the pricing strategy that will ensure their competitiveness in the market and thus, superior financial returns. Role of Price Perception in Consumer Buying Process.

The key dimensions of price perceptions are listed below:

Price-Quality Relationship

The impressive research done in pricing is about the consumer’s quality perception and their quality of products. Consumers perceive price as the prime indicator to presume the quality of the product. Many consumers believe that high priced products attribute better quality and lasts longer. Thus, price signals the quality. The point is very vastly mention in the marketing literature. If prices are mark lower than the level of consumers paying capacity they conclude it to be of low quality. Improvements in quality of products can trigger the mind for the first time and can convert the consumer into a loyal consumer as well. The consumer psychology is also affect and at the end will also affect the market share. The price-quality relationships have not found in the western societies.

Price-Consciousness

It is defined as consumers’ degree of focusing for paying less in buying. The high price conscious consumers tend to do a lot of research work before buying that particular product. The economic theories have also indicated that price has the significant roles in buyers’ preferences. The buyers generally try to maximize their benefits while purchasing and price plays a influential role in their buying process.

Value-Consciousness

This concept follows the price quality evaluation of the consumer. It comprises of what a consumer get on behalf of what they have paid for the products or services. If consumer thinks that quality is less then what they have paid, they tend to get dissatisfies and henceforth stops purchasing that product. The vice-versa of the situation leads to turning them into regular or may be loyal consumer. Consumers who are capable of making this sort of evaluations are call “Value Conscious Consumers” They generally don’t mind paying higher prices if the quality of product justifies it.

Price Mavenism

This could be define as the consumers being experts about the lowest price stores and starts sharing the information by informing them. These consumers evaluate different aspects of product to justify it with the price bracket into which they are offer and compare it with other stores to get the best benefits out of it. The consumer’s socio-economic character, previous experiences and learning processes play an important role. The price information collect is shape by rational and emotional motives of consumers. These types of consumers are experts in the product information’s and thus may be call as ‘advisors’ by other consumers.

Sale Proneness

Sales influence consumers’ price perceptions significantly. The consumers generally evaluate their last purchases with the current ones. Sales, price discounts aim to increase the total sales and also create positive purchases evaluation. The best price evaluations can made during the sales or discount prices. Another research has also indicate that young consumers tend to be lesser influence by the sales as compare to those of the older generations.

Prestige Sensitivity

It is a psychological dimension. Consumers can perceive high price as positive and even as a negative. The high pricing of the product can be perceive as a way of losing the money. Consumers buying these sorts of products generally consider it as a part of their status. They tend to purchase on their emotional moves. A prestigious product is consider to be a symbol of wealth and living above standards. Prestige sensitivity is the factor behind the same and can happen because of difference of socio-economic characteristics of consumers. This concept can be use in developing high quality and distinct product image.

Domestic-Foreign Product Sensitivity

The product sensitivity amongst domestic-foreign product also plays an important role in price perceptions. The place of product manufacturing also influences the the buying behavior and hence leading to think upon the pricing being perceive by consumers as well. Thus this dimension is also necessary to be include into the consumers’ experience of judging the price. Brand recognition, effects the quality and price perceptions. Origin of country is also not untouchable by it and influences the consumer. The products from develop country are generally regrade as the high quality and costly. The domestic and foreign products are also view emotionally and symbolically. This dimension is unique to evaluate and hence included in describing price perceptions.

November 17, 2017
Do Survival is the Mother of Innovation? Explanation

Survival is the Mother of Innovation in Banking Sector: “Banks can provide innovative products and services to their corporate and retail customers only when creative people are in place along with the latest technology. Such people might provide innovative ideas to customers and banks. By converting their acceptable ideas into reality, banks can get an edge to compete effectively in the global village. Indian banking is also changing its shape rapidly by adopting innovative technology, products, and services.” So, what is the question going learn; Do Survival is the Mother of Innovation? Explanation.

Here is the Explanation; Do Survival is the Mother of Innovation?

Innovation is the key to success in any activity, Innovation banking is therefore not an exception. Innovation-banking is possible only when we have innovative people in banking. Moreover, innovative ideas of such people have to be heard at the right time by the right people. Only then the needed encouragement and support is given to convert such innovative ideas into reality. Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector.

In the past, a generation gap is considered to be with a span of at least 10 years. Whereas with the improvement in the technology followed by the integration of people and places across the world on account of revolutionary changes in information and communication. The entire world has become virtually a small global village. Since all organizations and people use technologies, we find that a new generation of techno-savvy people emerging in a very short span of 5 years in every sphere of activity infusing dynamism and creativity leading to several innovations.

Globally, usage of technology is very extensive in the financial sector of which banking sector is an integral part. Indian financial sector has made rapid strides in the late 1980s and early 1990s picking up momentum with the advent of the 21st century. Liberalization of the Indian economy has provided scope to the banking sector to reorient its focus by shifting from developmental role obligated mostly by socio-political considerations into professional financial agencies keen on preserving their bottom lines. What are Nature and Characteristics of Leadership?

The direction in which the Indian banking is moving presently indicates that the prevailing competition will lead to consolidation and convergence. Small players will either have to forge a merger to become big players or else they will be either extinguished or swallowed by larger players in the years to come. The pressure will equally be more on the existing large players to retain their lead over others. This emerging scenario warrants an innovative approach by banks to keep themselves sailing in the sea of competition.

No wonder we find a very interesting trend in the recent past in Indian banking. The trend is the major shift from routine banking functions to a very aggressive financial marketing organization. We find most of the routines banking jobs are outsourced, thanks to automation made possible by technology. Direct selling agents are actively engaged by most of the foreign and new generation private sector banks for marketing all the banking products with specified targets.

Therefore, the real core people who will be retained by these banks in the long run under their direct pay roles will only be experts at senior levels in marketing, corporate and retail banking specialists along with risk management professionals who will be required in view of the impending implementation of the Basle-II norms which attaches significant to assessment and management of risk factors in banking activity.

One can visualize the following scenario in Indian banking in the next five to seven years. State bank of India and their associate banks aiming to come under one umbrella on one side followed by mergers and acquisitions taking place between few strong nationalized banks, foreign banks and new private banks on the other side. This will leave the small players and weak banks to become extinct unless they device quick strategies to become larger and stronger.

In this context, innovation plays a very key and crucial role in the survival of the small players and also for the large players to retain their leadership amidst cutthroat competition. Out of the box, thinking is required and such thinking needs to be nurtured by the top management. ATMs of the larger banks are either fully outsourced by the individual banks or handed over to an autonomous agency by most of the banks collectively.

Small players in ATMs are also trying to be a part of this shared network with regard to clearing operations, Reserve Bank of India has already initiated the required steps to gradually dispense with the physical presentation of cheques and replace the same with electronic clearing in major cities.

Similarly, the audit and inspection of the computerized branches are now being done in many cases by transfer of data files to the supervisory and inspecting authorities. Qualitative inspection and supervision of the banks by Reserve Bank of India is made possible by the technology, leaving the routine audit work to the concerned internal audit departments of the individual banks.

With the automation of the routine work process and rapid technological developments, a host of customer-friendly banking products with flexibility is now available to one and all. Few departments of the government (e.g. customs, income tax, central excise, commercial taxes, and sales tax) have already initiated the process of EDI (Electronic Data Interface) thereby reducing the manual tasks in the preparation of documentation and enhancing the levels of automation.

This also facilitates standardization in documentation with uniformity. This will also ensure submission of such standard data in electronic form and be scanning the physical documents where required. In the long run, this enables e-commerce to gain momentum. Therefore, banks can also equally look forward to the submission of commercial documents by the trade industry through EDI in the near future.

Once this is done, the need for the business segment to personally visit the bank branches to submit the documents will be eliminated. When ATMs on one side have reduced the depends on individuals customers on the bank branches to conduct their routine banking operations, the EDI when gains momentum will reduce the dependence of corporate customers on the bank branches in a similar fashion.

These developments taking place mainly on account of automation will reduce the differentiation in the service delivery systems, as they are mostly standardized. Therefore, banks have to be innovative to maintain their brand values. Few banks have already started marketing aggressively for retail business loans by tying up with a select-reputed builder and conducting road shows in India and abroad to lure the salaried people and professionals.

This role is intermediation of the banker between the builders and salaried people and professionals can be further extended to cover other areas as well. For example, banks can connect the manufacturers of goods and services with the ultimate buyers. The process is very simple. Banks are required to have a common agency with which the entire database of all the banks should be shared.

This data should be analyzed and classified into various segments say- according to activity, age, place, income, education, etc., of the organizations and people who constitute this data. When this process is done on all India basis, a wealth of information will be available, which can be used as a marketing tool. Few relaxations in the existing banking laws are required for this purpose.

Banks can also play an active intermediary role in connecting the organizations and people at various segments, thereby facilitating the process of movement of goods and services from the manufacturers/producers to the ultimate users (of course through other intermediaries where they are not dispensable). Banks can finance the manufacturers/producers or the ultimate users while tying up them with one another thereby increasing their lending portfolio and in the process ensuring the end use of funds.

Collection of data from rural places is one area where banks can boast of possessing rich information, especially the public sector banks that have almost more than one-third of the network of branches located in rural areas. Banks can play a dynamic role in the delivery and purchase of consumer durables to the rural sector by using their rural database.

Therefore, instead of acting as financing intermediaries to some of the parties in the total chain as at present, banks can bring all the parties in the chain under their ambit. Banks can thus transform themselves into aggressive marketing intermediaries from mere financial intermediaries. This innovative approach can also be used with regard to NPAs where the products manufactured by such sick or loss-making units are of good quality but the units have become sick due to financial indiscipline or mismanagement or lack of marketing skills.

Buyers for such products can be scouted by the banks by using the above-mentioned database and in deserving cases, buyers can be given bank finance or their own merits to buy the products of sick units. A portion of the funds thus given can be again routed back into the banks for their working capital requirements.

Similarly, banks can play an active marketing role in venture capital financing with the above modus operandi, thereby taking part in not only financing the venture capital but also in marketing functions. Microfinance is yet another area where banks can play an active role. The objective of microfinance is to deliver a wide range of financial services say, deposits, advances, insurance, and other related products to people engaged in agriculture, small enterprises and poor people in order to increase their standard of living.

Finance is extended to SHGs or NGOs, which is basically institutional/group finance instead of lending to individual beneficiaries unlike in the case of other priority sector/rural lending. Moreover, there is no subsidies or interest concession and the basic concept in microfinance is to give timely finance to the needy people. Therefore, transaction costs are cheaper and profitability is better under microfinance when compared to the conventional rural lending.

In view of these factors, in the long run, microfinance is likely to replace the conventional and concessional rural lending. Ample scope is available for private and foreign banks to venture into this activity due to the above-mentioned advantages. Similarly, banks in the rural sector should actively market products like Kisan Credit Cards, Forward, Futures, and Options markets of commodities.

While Kisan Credit Cards serve as an instrument of credit, Forward, Futures and Options markets ensure a fair price to the farmers eliminating uncertainty. However, this requires an effective network that is one regulated as well as a matured financial market in rural areas for the growth and development of these products. Rural India and its economy mainly depend upon Monsoons.

Famine and Floods both occur at the same time in the different parts of the country causing damage to the crops. Therefore, rural insurance has to be an effective tool for hedging these risk factors. The government, banks, and insurance have to together evolve more proactive and vibrant measures to deal with this issue, both at the macro and micro level.

There is a vast untapped potential in this area and a lot of scope for developing new and innovative insurance linked financial products. Explain Dimensions of Price Perception. The merger of developmental financial institutions like ICICI and IDBI with their commercial banking wings lays emphasis on universal banking offering a wide range of financial products under one umbrella.

Similarly, SIDBI and NABARD are having a strategic alliance with few commercial banks to expand the reach of their products and services. Banks have come to realize that it is the survival of the fittest in the competitive environment. Therefore, when necessity is the mother of invention, survival is the mother of innovation.

Do Survival is the Mother of Innovation? Explanation.

August 28, 2017
Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) essay How to help in the Banking Sector? Competition and globalization of banking services are forcing banks to productive and profitable. To retain High Net Worth individuals, banks should focus strongly on relationship management with customers. Innovative Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies and cutting-edge software can help, to a great extent, in achieving the desired results. To provide customized services, banks are opening Personalized Boutiques that provide all the required financial needs of a customer. Role of Price Perception in Consumer Buying Process. So, what is the problem we going to discuss; Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector.

Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector, Understanding the Relationship!

The entire service industry is now metamorphosed to become customer-specific. In this context, the management of customer relationships in the financial services industry demands special focus. Gone are the days when customers at a bank did not mind the long serpentine queues and waited patiently for their turn with a token in their hand. In today’s Internet era, no one has the leisure to wait. In this context, online banking is assuming great significance. Today, banking is more customer-centric, unlike yesterday when it was transaction-centric. As well as, Banks are increasingly focusing on the premise that customers choose the service provider who differentiates through quick and efficient service.

However, there is more to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) than just managing customers and analyzing their behaviors. Banks are well aware that their success is predominantly dependent on the CRM strategies adopted by them. Service providers have recognized that good CRM bonds customers with the organization for a longer-term, resulting in increased revenues.

Things topic 01:

With customers’ expectations becoming even more competitive, banks are coming up with a wide array of novel products and services every day. Also, the challenge is for the banks to work towards ensuring that customers prefer their products and services over that of competing brands.

The key to developing and nurturing a close relationship with customers is by appreciating their needs and preferences and catering to their requirements. Leveraging on IT, to appropriately analyze and understand the needs of existing customers better, to ensure customer satisfaction, and exploring the possibility of cross-selling products to gain a competitive advantage are the other issues drawing attention and interest.

Things topic 02:

With the opening up of the economy, several private sector banks have joined the fray and are offering a plethora of products and services – rechristening themselves as ‘Financial Boutiques’. Knowledge dissemination has been propelled by electronic and mass media campaigns. Today’s knowledgeable consumer is challenging the Indian retail banking industry to redefine itself.

Thus in this current competitive scenario, for a bank to survive competition, succeed, and make a profit, there is hardly any option but to learn from and actively respond to consumers’ needs. As well as, Banks offering retail products need to reorient their strategy from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach to attract and retain High Net Worth Individuals (HNI) and profitable customers as well.

Things topic 03:

The battle of the banks, for gaining a greater slice of the market share, is taking on a new dimension. In the current falling interest rate scenario, banks are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the high growth expectations. To bolster their top lines, banks are in pursuit of newer ways and means of achieving organic growth through strategies that enable the acquisition of new customers and retaining the loyalty of the existing customers. Also, the success of a bank’s strategy towards customer acquisition will depend on its ability to develop customer insights and translate these into effective operating models.

Things topic 04:

Ensuring a good customer experience at every customer touchpoint is the cornerstone of a successful growth strategy. A good customer experience will drive customer acquisition and promote customer retention, which translates into increased profits. This, in other words, is the hallmark of a successful CRM strategy. Emphasis on CRM arises on account of the challenges confronting retail managers managing to sustain and achieve growth and profits.

Things topic 05:

Bankers are conscious of the relative costs of acquiring new customers. As top management emphasizes “delivering results”, most bankers resort to customer grabbing, rather than customer cultivation and creation, with the result that “customer churn” is the call of the day. Incidentally, bankers are fully aware that losing the existing customer and acquiring new customers is an expensive affair. Moreover, it acts as a drain on the existing resources of the bank. Which can be better employed for growth initiatives. Therefore, the challenge for the banks is to retain and deepen the profitability of the existing customer relationships. Which is borne out by Nat West’s success.

Things topic 06:

With the shift from a transaction-centric to a relationship-centric business approach, leveraging CRM has become a sine qua non. Also, Banks are adopting CRM to converge people, processes, and products more effectively to embark on true relationship banking – with the result of accelerating the business momentum. Towards this end, experts propose various ideas and approaches to understanding the fundamental marketing motivations driving Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector.

Things topic 07:

To meet the challenging preferences of the customers and to stay ahead of competitors. Bankers are bound to attract customers by providing a spectrum of services. Online banking, ATM banking, and telebanking are just a few of them. As well as, Banks can enhance customer service by leveraging on technology, maintenance of efficient service delivery standards, and business process re-engineering. On their part, employees need to demonstrate certain service traits such as putting on pleasing attire. At the end of the day, bankers should display a flair for cultivating a good relationship with customers through the mechanism of better customer service.

Things topic 08:

Having understood the significance, it is prudent to plan for CRM in retail banks. To a large extent, the success of a CRM plan is dependent on the choice of the software. Towards this end, bankers should identify domain enterprise, credibility in the market, cost implementation, and relationship with the vendor as factors on which vendor selection is based. Also, the domains of software systems, multiple product databases, and tracking require a specific CRM focus. Besides understanding the requirements for CRM implementations such as the setting up of a CRM cell and conducting surveys at periodic intervals to track their effectiveness, banks need to understand how CRM assists them n customer identification, acquisition, and retention.

Things topic 09:

As a part of the planning process, frontline executives in banks should thoroughly understand. Their organizational structure, infrastructure, as well as the production environment. In this context, the management initiatives for CRM assume importance. A top-down CRM focused approach that starts with the top management, percolating, and permeating to all levels of the CRM is a necessity in the present business scenario. Initiatives, such as, introducing CRM audit by independent teams to identify the existing lacunae, and plugging. Also, the loopholes in the CRM strategy as per the recommendations of the audit report are required to adopt by the banks for reaping benefits.

Things topic 10:

It is observed that banks lose their best clients to competitors due to a variety of reasons. The rationale behind losing their best clients to other service providers such as non-brokerage houses. And, mutual fund houses need to analyze by banks. Also, Experts opine that inefficient and improper service is one major reason. The remedies suggested by them are that banks should adopt customer relationship building approaches such as responding to complaints instantaneously. Analyzing the attrition of the clients in a particular product, and rating of services across the network of branches. The creation of a suggestion box to elicit the views and suggestions of their employees. Another dimension of the relationship-building exercise is to obtain electronic feedback from customers to understand. The level of acceptance of existing products, which will facilitate the development of better products.

Things topic 11:

Banks can gain a competitive advantage from CRM by becoming low-cost players in the market, achieving operational efficiency, and maintaining customer loyalty. Also, the ability to predict the products that customers are likely to purchase over a period of time increases. The productivity of managerial executives, sales, and customer service staff. Streamlining of business processes are some of the benefits. Retail banks obtain by taking to successful management of their customer relationships.

Implementing the right CRM tools can enhance customer satisfaction leading to business growth. Also, CRM enables organizations to motivate customers to initiate revenue-generating contacts. Several CRM issues such as its effectiveness, application, and challenges draw the attention of the banking industry. Having witnessed how several global banks have benefited through CRM. The Indian retail banks need to focus on and continuously invest in customer relationship activities, banking scenario. Which is still at an embryonic stage as far as the CRM domain is considered. Needs to strive towards CRM implementation to meet the emerging demands of “universal banking”.

Customer Relationship Management in the Banking Sector.

August 28, 2017
What is CSR?

What is CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to business practices involving initiatives that benefit society. A business’s CSR can encompass a wide variety of tactics, from giving away a portion of a company’s proceeds to charity, to implementing “greener” business operations.

Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The movement aimed at encouraging companies to be more aware of the impact of their business on the rest of society, including their own stakeholders and the environment. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders.

CSR is a concept with many definitions and practices. The way it is understood and implemented differs greatly from each company and country. Moreover, CSR is a very broad concept that addresses many and various topics such as human rights, corporate governance, health and safety, environmental effects, working conditions and contribution to economic development. Whatever the definition is, the purpose of CSR is to drive change towards sustainability.

Although some companies may achieve remarkable efforts with unique CSR initiatives, it is difficult to be on the forefront on all aspects of CSR. Considering this, the example below provides good practices on one aspect of CSR environmental sustainability.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Example; Unilever is a multinational corporation, in the food and beverage sector, with a comprehensive CSR strategy. The company has been ranked “Food Industry leader’ in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for the 11 consecutive years and ranked 7th in the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.”

One of the major and unique initiatives is the ‘sustainable tea’ program. On a partnership-based model with the Rainforest Alliance (an NGO), Unilever aims to source all of its Lipton and PG Tips tea bags from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farms by 2015. The Rainforest Alliance Certification offers farms a way to differentiate their products as being social, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Other Definitions

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication Making Good Business Sense by Lord Holme and Richard Watts used the following definition:

Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large The same report gave some evidence of the different perceptions of what this should mean for a number of different societies across the world. Definitions as different as CSR is about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government of Ghana, through to CSR is about business giving back to society from the Philippines.

Traditionally in the United States, CSR has been defined much more in terms of a philanthropist model. Companies make profits, unhindered except by fulfilling their duty to pay taxes. Then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes. It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving.

What is the Social Responsibility of Business?

Ever since Milton Friedman famously proclaimed “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” (NYTimes 1970), pundits have pondered whether his purist interpretation was really the only way.

Profit is certainly a lot easier to quantify than something like ‘happiness’, but the intangible benefits of good, honest business clearly go way beyond pure finance Must the word ‘profit’ always refer to money in the strictest sense?

Collected on this page are various interpretations of the idea of “social responsibility” and the responsibility of business to take an active, passive or indifferent role in building a more sustainable world.

There are a few broad categories of social responsibility that many of today’s businesses are practicing:

I) Environmental efforts: One primary focus of corporate social responsibility is the environment. Businesses regardless of size have a large carbon footprint. Any steps they can take to reduce those footprints are considered both good for the company and society as a whole.

II) Philanthropy: Businesses also practice social responsibility by donating to national and local charities. Businesses have a lot of resources that can benefit charities and local community programs.

III) Ethical labor practices: By treating employees fairly and ethically, companies can also demonstrate their corporate social responsibility. This is especially true of businesses that operate in international locations with labor laws that differ from those in the United States.

IV) Volunteering: Attending volunteer events says a lot about a company’s sincerity. By doing good deeds without expecting anything in return, companies are able to express their concern for specific issues and support for certain organizations.

Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility

While many companies now practice some form of social responsibility, some are making it a core of their operations. Ben and Jerry’s, for instance, uses only fair trade ingredients and has developed a sustainability program for dairy farms in its home state of Vermont. Starbucks has created its C.A.F.E. Practices guidelines, which are designed to ensure the company sources sustainably grown and processed coffee by evaluating the economic, social and environmental aspects of coffee production. Tom’s Shoes, another notable example of a company with CSR at its core, donates one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair a customer purchases.

However, Stevens said companies need to really understand what their core social purpose is and how that aligns with their stated mission, to create a cohesive CSR strategy.

For example, Stevens said that Kashi, a Kellogg’s brand, wants to increase organic farming and is one of the few certified organic kinds of cereal. Since only 1 percent of U.S. farmland is actually organic, the breakfast brand worked with Quality Insurance International to help certify new organic farmers across the nation.

March 10, 2017
Social Responsibility

What is Meant by Social Responsibility?

Social responsibility is an ethical framework and suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large. Social responsibility is a duty every individual has to perform so as to maintain a balance between the economy and the ecosystems. A trade-off may exist between economic development, in the material sense, and the welfare of the society and environment, though this has been challenged by many reports over the past decade. Social responsibility means sustaining the equilibrium between the two. It pertains not only to business organizations but also to everyone whose any action impacts the environment. This responsibility can be passive, by avoiding engaging in socially harmful acts, or active, by performing activities that directly advance social goals.

Businesses can use ethical decision making to secure their businesses by making decisions that allow for government agencies to minimize their involvement with the corporation. For instance, if a company follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for emissions of dangerous pollutants and even goes an extra step to get involved in the community and address those concerns that the public might have; they would be less likely to have the EPA investigate them for environmental concerns. “A significant element of current thinking about privacy, however, stresses “self-regulation” rather than market or government mechanisms for protecting personal information”. According to some experts, most rules and regulations are formed due to public outcry, which threatens profit maximization and therefore the well-being of the shareholder, and that if there is not outcry there often will be limited regulation.

Social responsibility means that the government (including public corporations), NGOs, business organizations, and individuals have a responsibility to society to eliminate corruption and irresponsible or unethical behavior that might harm its people or the environment.

Corporate social responsibility, therefore, refers to a business’s obligation to set policies, make decisions, and follow courses of action that are desirable in terms of the values and objectives of society — its customers, employees, and people in the community.

Businesses accept social responsibilities when they take their objectives beyond what the business, the economy, and the law require and do what they feel are ethically and socially desirable. For example, such ethical and desirable actions might include raising the safety standards of product and continuously striving to care for the well-being of workers and their customers.

These ethical and desirable actions that businesses may choose to undertake may be well above the legally required standards.

Look at the following examples of Namibian businesses fulfilling their social responsibility towards the Namibian society:

Many companies are increasingly working on cultivating a social responsibility, whatever their actual practices. They are eager to prove that you can save the planet, help the poor and make money at the same time.

As an entrepreneur how can you behave in an ethically social responsible way towards the following?

Employees Responsibility

The main responsibility of any business is towards its employees. It is imperative that a business always looks for ways to support and empower its employees. A happy workforce, a well-motivated and a loyal workforce, leads to improvements in productivity and quality. Your responsibility towards your workers goes beyond just paying them salaries. A socially responsible business tries to ensure that its working environment is free from sexual harassment and discrimination.

Customers Responsibility

Even if you are an entrepreneur, you are also a customer at a business where you buy your products. It is, therefore, important that you live and practice the notion, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. That means that you should treat your customers in the same way as you expect to be treated as a customer by other businesses. A business’s social responsibility actions towards its customers are rewarded by loyal customers and by their word-of-mouth advertising.

Government Responsibility

The acceptance of social responsibility has increased in the government because through policies, the government is forcing businesses to act responsibly. When a firm act in a socially responsible manner, it sets policies, makes decisions and follows courses of action that are desirable in terms of the values and objectives of its different stakeholders. To pay tax is a business’ responsibility towards the Government of a country.

Society/Community Responsibility

Social investment looks at what a business is doing for a community. Businesses can engage in social responsibility programs to help the community fight their social problems, such as drug addiction in impoverished areas or providing recreation activities for the youth. These programs normally aim to improve standards of living and create more stable and peaceful communities.

Corporate Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility or CSR has been defined by Lord Holme and Richard Watts of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s publication “Making Good Business Sense” as ” the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and society at large.” CSR is one of the newest management strategies where companies try to create a positive impact on society while doing business. Evidence suggests that CSR taken on voluntarily by companies will be much more effective than CSR mandated by governments. There is no clear-cut definition of what CSR comprises. Every company has different CSR objectives through the main motive is the same. All companies have a two-point agenda to improve qualitatively (the management of people and processes) and quantitatively (the impact on society). The second is as important as the first and stakeholders of every company are increasingly taking an interest in “the outer circle”-the activities of the company and how these are impacting the environment and society. The other motive behind this is that the companies should not be focused only on the maximization of profits.

Social responsibility, therefore, is about holding a group, organization or company accountable for the effects it has on the people within the company, people working with the company, the community in which the company operates and those who buy from the company.

How Does an Individual Become Socially Responsible?

The Workshop for Civic Initiatives Foundation (WCIF), Bulgaria, describes ISR in its position statement on Social Responsibility as, “The individual social responsibility includes the engagement of each person towards the community where he lives, which can be expressed as an interest towards what’s happening in the community, as well as in the active participation in the solving of some of the local problems. Under community, we understand the village, the small town or the residential complex in the big city, where lives every one of us. Each community lives its own life that undergoes a process of development all the time. And every one of us could take part in that development in different ways, for example by taking part in cleaning of the street on which he lives, by taking part in organization of an event, connected with the history of the town or the village or by rendering social services to children without parents or elderly people. The individual social responsibility also could be expressed in making donations for significant for the society causes – social, cultural or ecological. There are many ways of donating, as for example donating of goods or donating money through a bank account or online”

Social Responsibility can be “negative,” in that it is a responsibility to refrain from acting (resistance stance) or it can be “positive,” meaning there is a responsibility to act (proactive stance). Being socially responsible not only requires participating in socially responsible activities like recycling, volunteering and mentoring, but to actually make it a lifestyle. Only through a commitment to embrace and embed social responsibility into your personal value and belief system can you truly become socially responsible in all you do.

What is a Social Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneur Social Responsibility

Social entrepreneurs work to solve critical social problems and address basic unmet needs through entrepreneurship. Their innovations create system change, improving the lives of underserved or marginalized groups.

Despite the increased attention that social entrepreneurship has received in recent years, there is no precise definition. Various organizations describe social entrepreneurship differently:

Ashoka defines social entrepreneurs as “individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems” who “find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to move in different directions.”

The Skoll Foundation calls social entrepreneurs “society’s change agents, creators of innovations that disrupt the status quo and transform our world.”

In the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Roger L. Martin and Sally Osberg offer a more rigorous definition. A social entrepreneur is “someone who targets an unfortunate but stable equilibrium that causes the neglect, marginalization, or suffering of a segment of humanity; who brings to bear on this situation his or her inspiration, direct action, creativity, courage, and fortitude; and who aims for and ultimately affects the establishment of a new stable equilibrium that secures permanent benefit for the targeted group and society at large.”

March 10, 2017