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CRM Technologies Applied 1

Running Head: CRM AND DHL

An Analysis of the Various CRM Technologies and an Example of its Application at DHL

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An Analysis of the Various CRM Technologies and an Example of Application at DHL

CRM explained

Customer Relation Management (abbreviated CRM) is a widely popular jargon and methodology

normally associated with the information industry. CRM is a procedure that helps the company

which uses it in managing customer relations more effectively and efficiently through the use of

technology such as the Internet (Williams, 2008). It helps the company achieve organization of

customer affairs so the customers are better handled, more satisfied with the company’s services

and simultaneously, it helps the company save costs and much needed time. For instance, a

company could have an online collection of clients’ profiles that is regularly updated and in vivid

detail which can be accessed by all related parties, such as employees, management and maybe

even the customers (Williams, 2008). This database would make it possible to provide the

customers with what they want and inform customers of new and improved products and

services and also hold a history of past transactions of the customers and other various details

that are useful.

The process of Customer Relationship Management before the Internet era was conducted

through face to face meetings, telephonic conversations, letters, sales people visiting the clients

and other such traditional methods. The internet boom has revolutionized the way business is

conducted throughout the world and with it CRM has evolved to become a major area for

improvement, success and competitive advantage.


Various types of CRM tools

CRM has many different applications and categories that are or can be used by companies to

their advantage. Some of these categories are discussed below:

Customer-Facing Application

A customer facing application is a tool of CRM that can be a technology, software, or hardware

or any aspect that enables the customer to effectively deal with a problem directly (CRM.Com,

2001). An example of a customer facing application can be a the GUI of a software product or a

Universal Access Number (UAN) that a customer can call, which is open twenty four hours,

seven days a week for customers. The customers can inquire about any problem that they are

having related to the company’s products that they have purchased, about any complaints that

they have regarding the product or a company’s employees or any issue that involves the

customer and the company.

Customer facing applications include help desks as already mentioned and also call centers. A

call center is an innovative idea that sprung up over the last few years to deal with customer

issues and also for telemarketing services for making sales calls to customers. A call center

employs people and trains them on how to talk professionally to an existing or potential

customer and answer all their queries. It is a highly effective auxiliary department that most

major organizations use now for the purpose of Customer Relations Management.

As most companies realize the importance of CRM to their success in the contemporary climate,

the software related to customer facing applications is used primarily for CRM (CRM.Com,

2001).


Customer Touching application

“Customer touching applications” are those kinds of CRM applications that the customer can

directly interact with and change without the involvement of another person as is the case in

Customer Facing applications. This provides the customer the ease of changing and altering any

information about their purchase from their very homes from their personal computers or note

books. It is also beneficial for a company in many ways to use these applications. For example,

they free up the labor of the company from CRM and they can be applied elsewhere in more

productive areas. This results in savings in both cost and time for the company. Campaign

Management is an example of customer touching application. Campaign management allows the

company to segment their client base and then focus on specific segments to market their

products. Other examples include Personalized Web pages and E-commerce applications (Buttle,

2008).

Customer-Centric Intelligent Operations

Customer Centric intelligent operations include data mining, data reports and analysis of

customer data. This analysis allows the company to convert all available data on their customers

into meaningful information that can be used to understand customer needs and wants and then

providing for those needs and wants.

An example of Customer Centric Intelligent applications is data mining. Data mining is a

technique that sifts through all the data and classifies and categorizes it, through which it


becomes possible to find sequences and patterns and correlations discovered (Search SQL

Server.Com, 2008).

Customer Relations Management at DHL

DHL is one of the major overnight delivery service companies in the world. It has a history that

spans almost four decades. In that time DHL has grown from a small business employing only

three people to a worldwide behemoth with around three hundred thousand people in its

workforce (DHL International GmbH, 2009).

Part of the reason for the success of DHL has been the way they have handled and catered to

their customers. In the information era, they have innovated and created a state-of-the-art website

that has many customer features which are diverse in nature according to various customer

requirements. For example, if you go to their global website, DHL Global, (www.dhl.com) you

will see that it is a highly user friendly interface and directed towards the customer. The website

has many links that allow to customer to select the products and services that they require, which

include the “Same Day” package for emergencies, “Time Definite” package for overnight

delivery and “Day Definite” package which is less urgent and therefore less costly. Other

products and services are also available that cater to the needs of their diverse consumers.

Besides the products and services offered, DHL has different modes of logistics also available on

the website, such as air freight and shipping and road and rail freight which customers can select

from depending on their urgency needs. Also, they have an Online tracking system that allows

the customers to track their shipments and see where they have reached and the time remaining


for their orders to be received. Moreover, there are different products and services available for

the business consumers and individual customers.

There are also various tools such as the World Clock and the Currency Convertor which allow

the international customers to see the time of delivery according to their standard national times

and calculate the cost of delivery in their own currency (DHL International GmbH, 2009).

Moreover, there are links to customer questions such as the FAQ link, specific details about

DHL in the customer’s country and general advice on shipping. Customers can also contact DHL

for queries or complaints.

Perhaps the most innovative feature is DHL Interactive, which allows the customer to mention

their specifications online and DHL designs the product and service that best fits their needs. It is

an excellent example of online customer relations management at DHL which gives the

customers information regarding to the time, cost and shipment details online (DHL International

GmbH, 2009).

Additionally, DHL has partnered with online companies such as SalesForce.Com to implement

better CRM practices and have a launching pad from where to start their CRM activities (CRM

Today, 2008). Furthermore, DHL have successfully created a Unified Global Customer Relations

Management System, using Oracle (Oracle, 2009).

Using Online Customer Service to gain Competitive Advantage

Nowadays, with the advent of computers, the face of business methods has changed altogether.

A global market has opened for businesses to operate in. To gain advantage of this market and


prevent being swallowed by competitors, businesses need to be innovative and stay with the

times.

To get an edge over competitors, web based programs are a necessary tool of CRM. Web based

tools allow the companies to interact with their customers in a way that is speedier and cost

efficient and requires less man hours as compared to the traditional style of CRM. However,

most companies now have online CRM processes available so it makes it more difficult to gain a

competitive edge just by starting a website. Companies need to offer as many features as they

can online, have direct and real-time interaction with the customers (as with DHL) and construct

a website that is lively, interesting and very easy to use for the customer.

Integration of traditional CRM with online technologies

The process of integration of CRM to make it an online feature is highly costly and time

consuming for an organization. Companies have been practicing CRM for many years now

without the involvement of an online interface. To merge the CRM practices of these

organizations which have been done on paper or verbally with virtual systems will take a lot of

money, labor hours and effort and skill. Perhaps the best way to do this is to hire an outside

consultant as DHL did with SalesForce.Com.

Regardless of the problems with integration of CRM with online technologies, it is essential to

do so and the end result will be fruitful for the organization.


List of References

Buttle, F. (2008). Customer Relationship Management, Second Edition. Butterworth-Heinemann.

CRM Today. (2008). DHL Expands Relationship with Salesforce.com . [online] CRM Today:

http://www.crm2day.com/content/t6_librarynews_1.php?news_id=113465 (Accessed February

13 , 2009)

CRM.Com. (2001, April 4 ). Customer Facing. [online] CRM.Com:

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci538049,00.html (Accessed February 13 ,

2009)

DHL International GmbH. (2009). DHL Interactive. [online] DHL :

http://www.dhl.com/publish/g0/en/eshipping/interactive.high.html (Accessed February 13 ,

2009)

DHL International GmbH. (2009). Our History. [online] DHL Globa;:

http://www.dhl.com/publish/g0/en/about/history.high.html (Accessed February 13 , 2009)

DHL International GmbH. (2009). Tools. [online] DHL:

http://www.dhl.com/publish/g0/en/tools.high.html (Accessed February 13 , 2009)

Oracle. (2009). DHL Creates Unified Global Customer Relationship Management System.

[online] Tech Republic: http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=279111

(Accessed February 13 , 2009)


Search SQL Server.Com. (2008, December 1). What is data mining - a definition from

Whatis_com - see also data miner, data analysis. [online] Search SQL Server.Com:

http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid87_gci211901,00.html (Accessed

February 13 , 2009)

Williams, E. (2008, September 23). CRM. [online] CRM.Com:

http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci213567,00.html (Accessed February 13 ,

2009)

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