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Contents
DECLARATION.......................................................................................................................
ACKNOWLDGEMENT............................................................................................................
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................
ABSTRACT...........................................................................................................................
CHAPTER ONE.....................................................................................................................
Outline...............................................................................................................................
1.2 Introduction................................................................................................................
1.2.1 Key customer focus....................................................................................................
1.2.2 Customer relationship management organization............................................................
1.2.3Technology- based customer relationship management....................................................
1.2.4 The principle of Pareto.............................................................................................
1.3 Background of the Study.............................................................................................
1.4 Problem Statement......................................................................................................
1.5 Research Objectives....................................................................................................
1.6 Research Questions.....................................................................................................
Scope of the Study............................................................................................................
1.7 Significance of the Study............................................................................................
CHAPTER TWO: Critical Literature Review.........................................................................
2.1. Introduction...............................................................................................................
2.1.1 Literature Search Strategy.......................................................................................
2.1.2 Structure of literature review.....................................................................................
2.2 Customer Relationship Management..........................................................................
2.3Major CRM elements....................................................................................................
2.4 Implementing the right Customer Relationship Management solutions.....................
2.5 Types of CRM solutions...............................................................................................
2.5.1 Off the shelf solutions.................................................................................................
2.5.2 Outsourced solutions..................................................................................................
1
2.5.3 Bespoke software......................................................................................................
2.5.4 Managed solutions.....................................................................................................
2.6 Components of Customer Relationship Management.................................................
2.6.1 Technology...............................................................................................................
2.6.2 People......................................................................................................................
2.6.3 Business process.......................................................................................................
2.7 Failures in the implementation of CRM......................................................................
2.8 CRM strategy and level of response............................................................................
2.9 Behaviours and needs related to CRM........................................................................
3.0 Benefits of CRM..........................................................................................................
3.0.1 Assessment of CRM benefits.......................................................................................
3.1 The Management role in Implementing Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) Strategies..........................................................................................................................
3.2 Impact of in Adequacy of CRM on Success of Companies...........................................
3.2.1 Effects on customers..................................................................................................
3.2.2 Effects on the Management.........................................................................................
3.3.3 Effects on Marketing...................................................................................................
3.4 Customer Relationship Management at Tech Mahindra.............................................
3.4.1 Customer Experience Enhancement Engine..................................................................
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY...................................................................................
3.1 Introduction................................................................................................................
3.2 Research design..........................................................................................................
3.3 Sample Framework.....................................................................................................
3.3.1 Sample size and technique..........................................................................................
3.3.2 Sample procedure......................................................................................................
3.4 Data Collection............................................................................................................
3.4.1 Sources of Data.........................................................................................................
3.4.2 Primary and secondary researches...............................................................................
3.5 Data recording............................................................................................................
3.6 Target group...............................................................................................................
3.7 Research analysis........................................................................................................
2
3.7.1 Resources used for the research analysis......................................................................
3.8 Limitations of the Research Study..............................................................................
3.9 Ethical Considerations................................................................................................
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS............................................................................................................................
4.1. Introduction...............................................................................................................
4.2 Socio-demographics....................................................................................................
4.3 Causes of CRM inadequacies at Tech Mahindra.........................................................
4.4 Management role in implementing CRM strategies....................................................
4.5 CRM implementation approaches...............................................................................
4.6 Impact of inadequate Customer Relationship Management has caused to the success of Tech Mahindra.................................................................................................
4.7 Analyzing the importance of CRM...............................................................................
Table 4.7 a: Response on the quality of services and product delivery at Tech Mahindra before they implemented CRM.............................................................................................
Table 4.7 b: Response on the quality of services and product delivery at Tech Mahindra after they implemented CRM........................................................................................................
Figure 4.7 b. Graph to show response on the quality of services and product delivery at Tech Mahindra after they implemented CRM.........................................................................
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................
5.1. Introduction...............................................................................................................
5.2 Summary of major Findings........................................................................................
5.2.1Causes of CRM inadequacies at Tech Mahindra..............................................................
5.2.3 CRM implementation approaches.................................................................................
5.2.4 Impact inadequate Customer Relationship Management has caused to the success of Tech Mahindra..........................................................................................................................
5.2.5 Analyzing the importance of CRM.................................................................................
5.3 Conclusion...................................................................................................................
5.4 Recommendations.......................................................................................................
CHAPTER SIX: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.....................................................................101
References..........................................................................................................................102
APPENDICES.....................................................................................................................1083
APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE CUSTOMERS.............................................108
APPENDIX B: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR THE MANAGER..............................................112
APPENDIX C: RESEARCH DUMMIES............................................................................113
Interview with the Manager.........................................................................................113
Interview with Customers............................................................................................116
APPENDIX D...................................................................................................................128
APPENDIX E...................................................................................................................129
Definitions......................................................................................................................129
4
ACKNOWLDGEMENT
5
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.7
a....................................................................................................................68
Table 4.7
b.....................................................................................................................68
Table 4.7
c.....................................................................................................................69
Figure 4.7
a...................................................................................................................69
Figure
4.7b...................................................................................................................70
6
ABSTRACT
This research study will deeply look at the effects of inadequate CRM (customer
relationship management) in Tech Mahindra. The study seeks to identify the impact
that implementation of CRM has had on this company. The study is to assess both
positive and negative impacts. It is from the research that we will make it possible to
identify if the implementation of CRM at Tech Mahindra has added value to the
company or not.
The specific study objectives are to conduct an analysis on the causes of CRM
inadequacies within the firm, to explore the management role in implementing CRM
strategies, to assess the CRM implementation approaches, to investigate the various
effects that inadequate CRM has caused to the success of Tech Mahindra and to
analyze the importance of CRM for the company.
Chapter one sets the framework of this research. It presents the study background,
problem statement, study objectives, research questions, scope of the study, and
significance of the study.
Chapter two of these paper reviews literature as an account of the knowledge and
ideas that have been established by accredited scholars and experts in the field of
study. It is guided by the study objectives identified in the first chapter.
Chapter three presents methodology to be used to select the sample, from which
research will be carried out and methods of selection of respondents. It also explains
the methods that will be used to collect, process and analyze data. The identified
methods to be used for data collection include questionnaires and telephone
interviews.The paper also presents anticipated challenges during the actual research
7
study. These include, time and financial constraints as well as difficulty in acquiring
information from the respondents.
CHAPTER ONE
Outline
This research contains five chapters, in which the first chapter is the introduction
which includes the research study background, problem statement, research
objectives, research questions, and the significance of the study.
The chapter two is critical Literature review which explores on the major Customer
Relationship management elements, implementation of the right CRM solutions and
the various types of these solutions, the various components that make up CRM,
reasons for failure during CRM implementation, CRM strategy and level of response
and the impact that inadequate CRM implantation can have on a company’s
success. The chapter provides a clear definition of customer relationship
management and thus provides a simple understanding of the concept. The last part
of the chapter looks at CRM in Tech Mahindra with focus being on the Customer
Experience Enhancement Engine as the selected strategy for effectively managing
the company’s relationships with its customers.
Chapter three is describes the study methodology which includes the research
design, sampling framework, methods of data collection and recording, description of
the target group, research analysis methods, limitations of the research study and
the ethical considerations during the study. Chapter four is data analysis,
presentation, interpretation and discussion of the findings. It presents data in form of
tables and graphs. Chapter five includes introduction, summary of major findings,
conclusion and recommendations to Tech Mahindra. Chapter six which is the final
8
chapter of this paper includes a personal reflection of myself before and after the
study and is on personal development.
9
1.2 Introduction
The importance of revolution in information technology and especially the
World Wide Web is a chance to build good relationship with the customer that
previously has been made possible within the world offline. By merging abilities of
direct customer request and to provide a highly interactive, customized experience to
the customer, today companies have a huge ability to establish, and maintain
relationship with the customer which is long term as compared to before. Huge
profitability as a result of repeated purchase rates and minimizing costs as a result of
customer acquisition is the ultimate goal. For more than a decade customer
relationship management [CRM] has been part of marketing literature. Surprisingly,
many more discussions about what exactly makes CRM are still evident (Parvatiyar
and Sheth, 2001; Nevin, 2005; Sin et al, 2005).
The old viewpoint in industry is not the same as the new viewpoint, the old
viewpoint was, this is what can be made, who needs to purchase our product but the
new viewpoint relates to, what is exactly needed by the customers and what can we
do to be able to effectively produce and efficiently deliver the various wants and even
needs to all customers. This can be seen as a very important paradigm change as
well as a quantum jump in regards to how business activities are figured.
Parvatiyar and Sheth (2001) say that, a number of the various themes are a
representation of a thin perspective of functional marketing and others give a
perspective which is paradigmatic and wide in terms of orientation and approach. To
view customer relationship management as marketing database is an example of
narrow perspective and so is insisting promotional marketing aspects by customer
data base leveraging. Electronic marketing is another example of narrow approach
(Blattberg and Deighton ,2001) also after marketing (Vavra, 2002) .Electronic
10
marketing makes up all efforts of marketing given support by information technology
but after marketing effort aims at bonding of the customers after making the sale .
On a wider level, customer relationship management means partnering (Peppers
and Rogers 2003, Vavra 2002). CRM being an important tool and way to add
companies’ services and products, an apt CRM has been considered an imperative
strategic way to add companies’ products and services hence becoming important
for companies in every sector. Companies are moving closer to their customers and
looking for new ways in creating value for customers, transforming relationships and
finding solutions by partnering through the implementation of CRM (Krasnikov et al.,
2009).
There are set of conditions that both the organization have to put into
consideration when forming the relationship which includes wants and need of the
clients and the organizations itself. Organizations must be profitable for survival and
growth and that customers want services which are good, products which are of high
quality and acceptable price. Both sets of conditions can be highly influenced by
good CRM.
Clearly customers need the most cost effective products and services that
have benefit to them. Most apparently, this makes hat is seen as the level of
perception of a high number of suppliers. Benefits in this case refer to role of
services and products play for clients. The most important thing to note is that any
distinct service or product can bring various benefits to various clients. It is significant
observe things and situations from the view of the clients even within this stage. The
most important thing to note is that customer clearly wants their various needs met
and satisfied, customer’s needs are clearly dissimilar to and much wider than a given
service or product as well as the benefits and features which are included .Generally
11
customer needs extend far much above the proposition of suppliers. The main focus
of CRM is to ensure that the desires and needs of the customers are not just met but
that they are exceptionally met.
To come up with a list that is comprehensive and that includes all customer
relationship management functions. It is important to point out the major constructs
that make up customer relationship management. In this way Sin et al (2005)
suggested that CRM make up the below four constructs; customer relationship
management organisation, technology based CRM, key customer focus, knowledge
management. Each is described as below;
1.2.1 Key customer focus
This includes building a customer focus which is strong (Vanderrmerwe, 2004;
Sheth et al ,2000 and Das, 2004) as well as constantly giving advanced worth to
every key client who is selected (Parvatiyar and sheth, 2001) by the giving of
offerings which are customized or personalized (Dyche ,2002).
1.2.2 Customer relationship management organization
It depicts organising the whole organisation around customer relationship
management, which will result to consideration for example like, organisational
structure, Human Resources Management and resource commitment (Sin et al
2005).
1.2.3Technology- based customer relationship management
Technology has a big role in enabling deployment of customer relationship
management (Das, 2004). It also allows for companies to achieve bigger
customization and much greater and more quality services at a cost that is lower (Sin
et al 2005). practitioners and academic literature review was performed to create a
12
detailed list of customer relationship management practices. About the customer
loyalty, Wong and Sohal (2003), explained it as deep willingness to re purchase or
even repatronizes a desired commodity or service no matter the situation influence
and marketing effort which can have ability to cause change in behaviour. Loyalty
has two dimensions, behavioural and attitudinal (Day, 2001; Dick and Basu, 2004).
Examples of behavioural loyalty comprises of examples like repeated buying or
inviting other people to make purchases among others while examples of attitudinal
loyalty include emotional attachment or trust (Baumann et al., 2005). Additionally,
behavioural loyalty is not an outright indication of attitudinal loyalty, this is as a result
of other existing factors that prevent defection by the customers (Aldlaigan and
Buttle, 2005; Reinartz and Kumar, 2002). There has been additional relationship
between customer loyalty and profit levels (Reinchheld and kumar, 2002) besides,
one of the key objective of customer relationship management is customer- loyalty
(Lindgreen, 2004; Das, 2004; Sin et al, 2005; Parvatiyar and Sheth, 2001).
Gaining better understanding of customer behaviour and the need to
concentrate on consumers who can provide profits that are long term have changed
the way marketers perceive the world. Conventionally, training has been given to
marketers on how to get clients, either by acquiring new customers who have never
purchased the particular product prior to or the customers who are at that time rivals.
This requires extensive mass advertisement and promotions which are oriented to
the price to channel members and customers .Now days the conversation is not
about how to acquire a customer but how to retain the already existing customers.
This calls for a mindset which is different and a 3 new and different tool set. An
experiment that is well thought for a given audience and which is executive entails
finding out their spending power or asking them about how much is spent in relation
to targets on retention versus acquisition actions. Whereas there are difficulties in
13
distinguishing acquisition and retention, acquisition tends to dominate retention. The
drive for this attention in customer relationship management originated from
Reichheld who indicated the dramatic rise in the level of profits obtained from slight
increases in the rates of customer retention. His studies for example indicated that a
percentage as low as a rise of 5 percent in terms of retention made a rather high
impact of 95 percent on the acquired net –present- value from consumers
(advertisement agencies ) indicating a 35 percent (computer software). Consultants
like McKinsey have done studies indicating that customers who make repeated
purchasing produce more than double the gross income level than that of new
clients. The extensive technological advancement modernization of customer
relation management associated products has resulted to greater profitability due to
reduced customer mix.
For organizations to attain effective CRM, the adoption of a new working
strategy or perspective is important. The organizations must know that conventional
customer service relates to the company’s action towards the customer while
modern CRM is attained through working with the customer. This description
provides an understanding of the differences that exists between conventional
service provision to customers and the modern CRM approach. A company’s
relationship with its customers must always be continuous, long term and
cooperative. For companies that have numerous temporary relationships with their
consumers, huge costs are incurred as they have to obtain new clients. The cost a
company is likely to incur in maintaining existing customers is extremely lower than
that of obtaining new ones.
14
1.2.4 The principle of Pareto
This is alternatively referred to as the rule of 80:20 whereby any given
company has 20 percent of their clients accounting for a turn over of 80 percent, 20
percent of the clients accounting for a profit of 80 percent and the same 20 percent
of clients accounting for 80 percent supply and service problems. This therefore
makes it important for the company to clearly identify which clients match a given
category as a way of ensuring that they are effectively able to manage them.
When clients are satisfied and highly value the services and products a
company is providing, they become great company advocates. These customers
therefore need to be nurtured and given all the special treatment possible. When
clients are dissatisfied and have a low opinion of the company and the provided
services and products, they become potential saboteurs. As the customers have
very little or no loyalty at all for the company, they are likely to act against the
company hence companies should ensure that they work towards rebuilding trust
and relationships or to ensure that the separation is managed with the highest levels
of integrity, professionalism and dignity.
The main focus of any given company should always be to create core levels
of competencies as well as a basic strategy through which they build customer
relationship. Through this, the efforts of the company are likely to be in alignment
with clients and a working culture of always being able to be above the expectations
of the clients, managing and understanding of the impact of people on the
organization’s culture, recognizing and treating clients as partners, valuing
relationship building seeing service as an activity that adds value, rewarding and
15
recognizing on the basis of customer focus and showing evidence of existing
corporate support in relation to service quality.
1.3 Background of the Study
Customer Relationship Management is an important section of current
business management. It deals with the existing association between the customer
and organization. Customers are seen as being the means of support of any
organization even if it’s a global corporation with hundreds of thousands of workers
and even multi -billion -revenue, or a single trader with just a few regular customers.
CRM is similar in terms of principle related to the two given examples that include
the range of customer relation management which can differ drastically.
Customer Relationship Management can also be viewed as a tool in
marketing during the modern day business marketing approaches. The globalization
and liberalization effects have caused competition levels to soar to very high levels.
With the increased number of businesses having varied products and services to
offer to the large number of customers globally in addition to presence of
differentiated products, understanding of customer behaviours is very critical. A
number of those who have successfully incorporated its use in their operations have
reaped huge profits. Therefore, the integration of CRM applications into the business
processes and operations is very critical. (Rigby, 2003)
Success in the modern business is build on the marketing propositions
hinged on customer service leverage, with companies having customer need
requirements analysis mechanisms, as well as having comparative advantage. The
ability to retain existing clients and wooing in potential ones is largely dependent on
appreciating customer behaviours, quality of customer relations as well as service
provision (Thompson et al, 2006). However, the implementation of CRM has been 16
facing various challenges leading to failures or unpleasant outcomes as cited by
various literal reviews. Undesirable results that are manifested by inadequacies of
CRM in a company, originate from realignment problems. This is because;
successful implementation requires the integration of a company’s operations into
the CRM framework (Goodhue et al, 2002). Additionally, the absence of senior
management involvement, as well as failure to incorporate the needs and customer
preferences in addition to the company‘s desirable outcomes in line with CRM
requirements, has a negative effect on the success of CRM (Nguyen et al, (2007).
Organizations which are successful have been found to use the following
three main levels of developing customer relationships. These include coming up
with mutually fulfilling goals between both the clients and the organization, creating
and maintaining customer bond and to come up with positive feelings in the
organization
In order to develop and improve focus on customer relationship management
companies are establishing or considering dividing the job of the marketing manager
into two sections with the first section being on acquisition while the second is on
being able to retain. The skill type mainly required for the success of the two tasks is
rather different. In the case of acquisition people skilled in this area are experienced
in usual strategic ways of marketing which entails sales, advertising among others.
However, in the case of retention skills are quite dissimilar because the job needs a
better understanding of the underpinnings of fulfilment of a certain product category.
Time is a critical rare resource and it makes it extremely hard to do a brilliant job on
both acquisition and retention this resulted to companies employing a chief customer
officer [CCO] his or her main job being only to focus on customer interactions.
1.4 Problem Statement17
Customer Relationship Management is currently an important part for any IT
organization, Effective implementation of CRM in the organization and effective
Customer service by the organization could bring about competitive advantage for
the organization. The current business landscape is faced with many challenges due
to liberalization and globalization effects. There has been a shift in the focus on how
businesses should be run in order to contain existing customers and woo in new
ones. CRM thus becomes very critical role in achieving successful business
operations.
The business world is concentrating on issues concerning electronic
commerce with the progression of the new millennium (Teo et al., 2003). Electronic
commerce covers a lot of activities done using computer internet and networks which
includes intra organizational transactions, inter organizational commerce and
dealings which involves individual clients. The net is responsible for making a huge
important impact on business-to-business (B2B) transactions. There has been
prediction from recent studies that revenue which results from the internet Business-
2- Business electronic commerce will reach $6.8 trillion in 2004. This kind of
predictions shows the significance of the Internet as a means of showing support to
the business activities.
Currently, it seems that the Internet gives almost unrestricted possibilities. In
fact, many firms already have experienced sizeable benefits. Among the resultant of
the Internet development has been coming up of the World Wide Web which is a net
service which arranges information in terms of hyperlink and hypermedia paradigms.
Some of the firms have made investments in this particular Web mainly with the
need to use it for reducing resources.
Nowadays, World Wide Web possesses huge capabilities as a means of performing
18
management and business activities. CRM is a top modern way of approaching
businesses and which has been recognized in literature already. In fact, customer
relation management refers to all activities which concerns business focused
towards the initiation, establishment also maintenance and development of
successful lasting relational exchanges. Customer loyalty promotion is one of the out
come of customer relation management which is seen as a relational fact .There are
huge benefits of customer loyalty to a service or product giver and therefore,
organizations are keen to attain a vital customer loyal base as is found possible.
Current emergence of Internet technology has provided the Internet with a new duty
that includes making possible the connection between customer loyalty and CRM.
Nearly everything that is presently known concerning the effects of Internet usage on
the management of businesses is actually based on evidence, anecdotes, ad hoc –
descriptive research studies on experiments. There is a very small obtainable
research that tested the out comes of internet on customer relation management that
eventually leads to customer loyalty, nevertheless, have opportunities and also
threats. The extent of usage of internet used by the organization and the significant
commendation it is given might be as a result of its improved interactive and
informational capabilities in communication. Through this, it is used like a channel of
business and hence results to emergence of a more efficient customer relation
management and also the development of latest network–cooperative-opportunities.
Nevertheless, the assumption that the Web presents customer relation management
opportunities rarely has been empirically tested.
The attentiveness of building useful interactions with the customer is a rather
old advancement in the business sector .The rising competition and falling consumer
loyalty have formed the need to develop new tools of aiding companies in wining
consumer loyalty and beating competition by coming up with more personalized 19
services and company products .Speedy advancement in the application of systems
of information that have allowed business to clients relations , customers have
acquired knowledge about the changing nature of the products and service demand
through the internet technology thus providing the companies with ability to deal with
the increased knowledge obtained by the customer. Many of the business firms
struggle to implement systems of customer relationship management; they
encounter the disappointing truth of the critical failure level within their customer
relationship management projects establishment.
As Gartner group indicated, approximately 50 percent of all customer
relationship management projects were unsuccessful in attaining their goals (Knox et
al, 2003). As a result of high failure percentage of customer relationship
management projects a large number of researchers have come up with a variety of
framework for customer relationship management Implementing the Customer
relationship which involves the use of information technology and the internet in an
effective way in all the operations of the organization is important part of the
Management.
1.5 Research Objectives
1. To analyze the causes of CRM inadequacies in the company
2. To explore the management role in implementing of CRM strategies
3. To assess the CRM implementation approaches
4. To investigate the impacts inadequate CRM has caused to the success of Tech
Mahindra
5. To analyze the importance of CRM
20
1.6 Research Questions
1. What entails CRM applications implementation process?
2. Why has CRM incorporation in company business operations become elusive for
many businesses?
3. What role does the management have on the successful implementation of
CRM?
4. How can the challenges facing CRM assimilation in business enterprises’
operations tackled?
Scope of the Study
The research study covers:
The management policy on customer relations
The relationship between the management and customer relations staff in
implementation of CRM applications and whether other stakeholders are
involved.
The extent of the CRM application inadequacy impact on Tech Mahindra
Company profitability
1.7 Significance of the Study
21
The implementation of Customer Relationship Management is an undertaking
that has been found to be of essence and that every company needs to include in
their improvement strategies. Through CRM companies are effectively able to
ensure they do not just attract new and more customers into their business but that
they also get to retain the already existing ones by providing quality services and
products and ensuring that the customers remain satisfied by the delivery of
services. CRM helps in building a strong and satisfactory relationship between the
customers and the employees of the business. This makes it therefore a way to
improve business, level of productivity and profitability. CRM implementation has
numerous numbers of impacts for businesses. The findings of this study will help in
identifying the impacts that the implementation of CRM at Tech Mahindra has had on
the company.
This research study will allow for the identification of the various inadequacies
in the implementation of CRM at Tech Mahindra as well as identify the various
causes for these inadequacies. This will be important in being able to develop control
or corrective measures for the inadequacies and to ensure that the implementation
falls back on line and that it meets the objectives it was previously set to achieve.
The inadequacies of CRM have largely been contributed by lack of initiative of top
management. For any successful implementation of a project or policy roll out, the
management has a huge influence. The decisions taken and the support extended to
implementation staff are very critical.
It is also from the obtained findings of this study that we will be able to explore
on what roles the management at Tech Mahindra has and is playing in the
implementation of Customer Relationship Management.
The findings are will also help in assessing the various Customer Relationship
Management approaches that the management at Tech Mahindra are embarking on
in the maintenance of the system as well as those that they used during the 22
implementation. In most cases, the involvement of the stakeholders in the company’s
objective of CRM roll out is key to successful implementation. However, the
unwillingness and support of the management in as well as participation of all the
stakeholders, is the main cause of the apparent inadequacies.
Another great significance of this study is that through it and the obtained
findings, we will be able to correctly investigate the various inadequacies in the CRM
system at Tech Mahindra as well as identify the effects that these inadequacies may
have had on the company. This will be important such that corrective measures can
in turn be put in place to prevent any further loss or damage for the company.
By identifying the various benefits that the implementation of CRM has had
on Tech Mahindra, then the importance of Customer Relationship Management are
going to be identified and analyzed not only for that particular firm, but also for all
other companies as well. The obtained findings of the research therefore allow for
other companies can be able to make a proper decision on whether to implement
CRM or not. The findings also provide a chance for the companies to learn from the
mistakes made by Tech Mahindra leading to inadequate CRM implementation and
ensure that they do not repeat the same mistakes during their own implementation
processes.
23
CHAPTER TWO: Critical Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
This includes a review of existing literature as an account of the knowledge
and ideas that have been established by accredited scholars and experts in the field
of study. It is guided by the objectives of the study outlined in chapter one. These
include analyzing the causes o f CRM inadequacies in Tech Mahindra, exploring the
role of the management in the implementation of CRM strategies, assessing the
CRM implementation approaches, investigating the impact inadequate CRM has on
the success of Tech Mahindra and analyzing the importance of CRM.
2.1.1 Literature Search Strategy
The literature search strategy entailed the use of browse method of accessing
library literature. The search was done from the college library and the internet. This
aimed at finding good and relevant literature for the topic as well as looking at the
selected vocabulary to be bale to remove or deduce any other limited vocabulary
likely to be made use of within the subject parameter. Through the use of the
browse mode or subject search and putting in the controlled – vocabulary within the
database print version, relevant articles and information was obtained as well as
others that were not relevant. Relevance of the material was identified by quickly
looking through the information given and identifying if it will be useful for the
research. The reviewed literature included text books and peer reviewed journals
dated from the year 2000 to 2011. Multiple searches on the database were done to
discover recent publications. The search terms used were only limited to the
publications ranging between the identified years of 2000 to 2011. All the identified
publications were then examined and the relevant ones retrieved to be used for the
24
literature review. The reference lists for all the retrieved documents or publications
were manual or hand searched so as to identify any additional publications.
The specifications for the search engine that was used included Google search
conducted through the internet and also the use of search terms and the specific
dates for the search. The search terms or key words used for identifying the relevant
information for the study topic included CRM, customer loyalty, client satisfaction,
client lifetime value, CRM strategy and CRM in Tech Mahindra.
Choice Criteria Box 3.16 page 93 in Saunders
Boolean logic
Problems and how you solve them
2.1.2 Structure of literature review
The literature review of this study focuses on the following subjects and
issues: Part I. Customer Relationship Management: its definition and a brief
description.
Part II. Major CRM elements
Part III. Implementation of the right Customer Relationship Management solutions
Part IV. Types of Customer Relationship Management solutions: a) Off the shelf
solutions b) Outsourced solutions c) Managed solutions d) Bespoke software
25
Part V. Components of Customer Relationship Management: a) Technology b)
People c) Business process
Part VI. Failures in the implementation of CRM
Part VII. CRM strategy and level of response
Part VIII. Behaviours and needs related to CRM
Part IX. Benefits of Customer Relationship Management: a) Distributed or shared
data b) Cost reduction c) Quality and improved Customer service d) Enhanced
customer satisfaction e) Better retention of customers f) Increased new business g)
Increased repeat business h. Reduced costs i) Increased profits
Part X. Assessment of CRM benefits
Part XI. The Management role in implementing CRM Strategies
Part XII. Impact of Inadequacy of CRM on Success of Companies: a) Effects on
customer, loyalty and retention b) Effects on the management c) Effects on
marketing.
Part XIII. Customer Relationship Management at Tech Mahindra a) Customer
Experience Enhancement Engine
2.1.2.3 Theoretical frame of reference
The list below represents the various reviewed literatures that have been
critically analyzed to develop the chapter on critical literature review and that have
been used to obtain information on Customer Relationship Management: its various
elements, benefits, components and solutions, the roles played by the management
26
in its implementation as well as the impacts its inadequacy will have on the success
of companies. In the literature review there are about thirty five references. Out of
that main concept which the researcher used here is mentioned below with the
author’s name and year.
Author Year Concept
Adelaar, T. (2000) CRM technology
Aldlaigan and Buttle, F. (2005) customer satisfaction
Ali, A. and Alshawi, S. (2003) CRM implementation
Alt, R. and Puschmann, T. (2004) Benefits of CRM
Arussy, L. (2005) Inadequate CRM implementation
Blumberg, D. (2002) CRM implementation
Bohling, T., Bowman, D., LaValle, S., Ramani, G. et al. (2005) Inadequate CRM
implementation.
Chalmeta, R. (2006) CRM benefits
Darrellm and Ledingham (2004) CRM benefits
Dick, A., and Basu, K. (2004) CRM benefits: Customer loyalty
Dwyer, et al. (2007) Benefits of CRM: customer retention
Evans,R. and Laskin, L. (2001) CRM benefits
Gefen, D. (2002) CRM benefits: Customer loyalty
Goodhue, et al. 2002 CRM benefits
Kale, H. (2004) CRM implementation failure
27
King, F. & Burgees, F. (2007) CRM implementation failure
Kristin, A. and Kerr, C. (2002) overview of Customer Relationship Management
MacFarlane, M. (2011) CRM customer satisfaction and loyalty
McCalla, et al. ( 2003) causes of CRM failure
Nevin, J. (2005) CRM overview
Nguyen T et al. (2007) Behaviours and needs related to CRM
Payne, A. and Frow, P. (2004) CRM implementation failures and benefits
Payne, M and Ballantyne, D. (2002) CRM benefits
Peppers, D, Rogers, M & Dorf, B. (2000) Efective CRM implemntation
Rigby, D. and Ledingham, D. (2004) Inadequate CRM implementation: impacts
Rigby, et al. (2002) Inadequate CRM implementation: impacts
Rowley, J. and Dawes, J. (2000) "Disloyalty: a closer look at non-loyals", Journal of
Consumer Marketing, 17 (6):538 – 547
Tech Mahindra (2011) CRM implementation at Tech Mahindra
Thirkell, C. and Huff, L. (2007) CRM solutions
Thompson S., Devadoss, P. and Pan, L. (2006) CRM components
Treacy, M. and Wiersema, F. (2005) Role of the management in implementing CRM
Peel, J. (2002) CRM overview
Varadarajan.R. (2006) CRM benefits
Verhoef, C. and Langerak, C. (2002) CRM failure
28
Zeithaml, et al. (2002) successful CRM implementation
A brief overview of how each of the above references has been used in the paper is
as illustrated below.
Adelaar, T. (2000) Looks at the use of technology in CRM with focus being on
Electronic commerce and its effects on market structure. Aldlaigan and Buttle, F.
(2005) explores on the level of customer satisfaction that customers acquire from the
services rendered by retail banks. Ali and Alshawi (2003) assess the impact that
cross culture may have on the implementation of CRM. This reference has been
useful in finding information on the various elements and components that make up
CRM.
Alt and Puschmann (2004) look at the successful CRM practices and have been
effective in providing information on the benefits of CRM on companies. Arussy, L.
(2005) points out on the various mistakes made when implementing CRM and the
need to understand them. The book has been useful in identifying how best CRM
can be successfully implemented to achieve set goals.
Blumberg, D. (2002) has been used to explain e commerce and how effective it can
be during CRM implementation. Bohling, Bowman, LaValle and Ramani, et al. (2005)
have helped in identifying the various reasons for CRM failure. Chalmeta, R. (2006)
brings out important concepts about CRM implementation and has been useful in
identifying CRM benefits and the role of computerization.
Darrellm and Ledingham (2004) have also been useful in analysing CRM benefits in
this study. Dick, A., and Basu, K. (2004) bring out the concept of customer loyalty as
a product of CRM. The journal has not only been useful in the literature review but
also in the defining customer loyalty.
29
According to Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (2007) it is important to fully involve customers
and staff members in the implementation of CRM. I have also used the references in
discussing customer retention as a basic aim of implementing CRM.
Evans and Laskin (2001) focus on relationship marketing through CRM. Through the
book, I have been able to identify CRM as being a strategy that allows for business
processes to be customer focused. E-commerce is an important part of CRM and
that is a great contributor of customer loyalty as brought out by Gefen, (2002).
The journal marketing management by Goodhue, Wixom and Watson (2002) has
been useful through in both chapter one and two of these paper. The journal has
especially been useful in identifying CRM benefits. Kale, (2004) talks of CRM failure.
It is from the author’s journal that information on the main causes of CRM failure as
well as on the importance of effective decision making processes in ensuring
success in CRM implementation. The works of King & Burgees (2007) clearly brings
out the dos and don’ts in the implementation of CRM and have been helpful in
identifying causes of CRM failure and factors necessary for successful
implementation.
Kristin and Kerr (2002) broadly discuss the concept of CRM and have therefore been
useful in the entire chapters one and two of the study. Through his soft ware guide,
MacFarlane, (2011) bring out the importance of CRM in developing systems of
tracking clients and analysing their various needs, undertakings that are effective in
ensuring that service delivery is improved and that have been emphasised in the
paper as contributors of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
McCalla, et al. (2003) has been useful in identifying the cause of failure in CRM
implantation and what needs to be done to ensure success. Using the work by Nevin
(2005) in this section of the research study has been to create a clearer
understanding of the concept of CRM inclusive of the definition.
30
Nguyen, Sherif and Newby (2007) in their article “Strategies for successful CRM
implementation” have given me detailed information to discuss on the failures during
CRM implementation, benefits of CRM and Behaviours and needs related to CRM.
Payne and Frow (2004) provides information that I have used in discussing CRM
implementation failures and the benefits resulting from CRM. Payne and Ballantyne
(2002) on the other hand identify the benefits that CRM implementation by a
company may have on the marketing and marketing strategies.
Peppers,Rogers & Dorf (2000) and Peppers and Rogers (2003) in their various
works focus on one- to- one marketing. A review of the book and articles presented
by the authors respectively gave some insight on effective CRM implementation
through focus on individual clients.
Works by Rigby and Ledingham (2004) and Rigby Reichheld and Schefter (2002)
have been relevant in providing information on CRM failures and the impact of
inadequate CRM implementation.
Rowley and Dawes (2000) also look at customer loyalty in marketing and therefore
help in understanding the concept.
Information of the implementation of CRM at Tech Mahindra has been obtained from
their website and cited as Tech Mahindra (2011). This gives more information on
CE3: Customer Experience Enhancement Engine as the technological solution used.
By identifying the strategic value that CRM has Thirkell and Huff (2007) view CRM
as a strategy. Their article has been useful on understanding the concept as a
strategy and in providing information related the various CRM solutions with
emphasis being on off the shelf solution. Thompson, Devadoss and Pan (2006)
explores on the various components of CRM. In this paper the journal article has
31
been used to obtain information on technology as one of the components and the
various benefits of implementing CRM.
Treacy and Wiersema (2005) have been effective in identifying the roles that
managers play during CRM implementation. Peel, J. (2002) also helps in providing
an overview on the modern concept of CRM.
A statement by Varadarajan (2006) as illustrated in the reviewed literature section
below indicates the importance of CRM in increasing company revenue, productivity
and profitability. Verhoef and Langerak (2002) through their work “Eleven
misconceptions about customer relationship management” provide information on
failures in CRM implementation and identify the assumption that CRM equates
customer acquisition and that customer satisfaction equates customer loyalty as
being one reason for CRM failure.
Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Leonard (2002) discusses on the importance of integrating
different processes to ensure successful CRM implementation. According to these
authors synchronizing the various processes prepares the business for a rise in the
level of output. The authors describe the implementation of CRM as that which
entails three key business processes which are sales, services and marketing.
Each of the above references was effective in providing information related to
the various areas of the topic of Customer Relationship Management. All the
information collected from the literatures was relevant and sufficient enough. The
reviewed literature will be useful handling the rest of the chapters of this dissertation
in such a way that they provide a basis through which the primary data is to be
collected. The findings from the primary research can later be compared to those
obtained by the various other researches done by the various authors, within the
literature review, and the comparison results later be used to come up with suitable
32
conclusions. The reviewed literature will also be effective in developing
recommendations at the end of this dissertation.
2.2 Customer Relationship Management
Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated as CRM, is defined as the
tools and methodologies through which businesses are able to manage relationships
with their customers in a manner that is organized. This management process is
according to Thirkell and Huff (2007) a strategy that has been adopted by many
companies all over the globe as a way of effectively managing their various
interactions with their clines, consumers as well as sales prospects. It entails the
process of organizing, automating and synchronizing business processes through
the adoption and use of technology. This according to Nevin (2005) does not only
apply to company sales but also to other activities within the business such as
technical support, marketing, customer care and service. CRM can therefore be said
to aim at identifying, attracting and bringing in new customers into the business,
nurturing and retaining the already existing ones, bringing back former clients and
reducing the marketing costs and customer service. Customer relationship
management in this case incorporates strategies to allow for effective business
functioning within the departments of customer interface and also within other
departments
Customer Relationship Management in small businesses entails a number of
processes. One such process is that which helps in identifying and targeting a
company’s best clients, promoting quality and leading sales, planning and
implementing marketing campaigns that are marked with clear and precise
objectives and goals. Every set objective must always be SMART meaning that it
33
should be specific, possible to measure, achievable, very realistic and also time
bound. CRM as a process also allows for the formation of individualized interactions
with clients, which in turn promotes customer satisfaction, and for the provision of the
highest quality of client service to customers seen as having the highest profit gains.
As another process, CRM provides staff members with all the necessary to
information through which they will be capable of correctly identifying the various
wants and the needs of their customers as well as build strong relationships between
the consumers and the company (Arussy, 2005).
Communication has always been regarded as being the key for any
relationship to be successful. In the case of CRM, the existing relationship should be
of high quality as well as consistent. It also needs to be focused, relevant, reliable,
on time and coherent. The main thing when it comes to communication is the
message that has been sent and the meaning that has been obtained on the other
end. This falls irrespective of the communicator’s thoughts on what they may have
said. Communication should be judged according to the reaction given by the
receiver such that when the given observed reaction is bad, then the communication
can be termed as poor.
All information within the system of CRM ensures that communication is
correctly directed to the audience. The system also needs to ensure that it facilitates
and encourages actionable and honest feedback. The information that contained
within the system of CRM system makes it possible for communication directing to
the right audience and in the right way. The system of communication should allow
for encouragement and facilitation of actionable feedback and honesty (Kristin and
Kerr, 2002).
34
The main tools used in customer relationship management include browser
and software based applications whose function entails collecting and organizing
important information about a company’s clients. As an effective strategy for
example, a company may use an existing database containing information about
their customer during he construction of a client satisfaction survey or during
decision making on which of their new products are the clients most interested in
(Kale, 2004).
2.3 Major CRM elements
As a strategy, CRM aims at accomplishing three key requirements. One such
requirement is to ensure that it provides as an enterprise or existing business the
ability to fully view and understand every client to allow for unified and consistent
contact between the client and any of the employees within the enterprise.
The knowledge of this helps in increasing the sales opportunities as well as
customer service effectiveness (Kristin and Kerr, 2002).
The second requirement that needs to be fulfilled by CRM is to enable clients
to consistently and fully view and understand the enterprise without considering the
customer’s mode of contact. This is an effective way through which customer
satisfaction and retention can be improved.
The third requirement is that enabling the staff at the front office to conduct
marketing, service and sales tasks in an efficient manner ensuring teamwork as a
means of increasing expertise and making a reduction in costs.
35
Through CRM business owners are more able to manage and even report
client and contact interactions with other business contacts inclusive of both outside
and inside sales, shipping, billing, customer service as well as support (Ali and
Alshawi, 2003).
2.4 Implementing the right Customer Relationship Management solutions
Implementation of CRM as a business strategy is an undertaking that is
capable of having huge impacts on a business enterprise. This implementation is
however one that requires for an effective decision making process to be done.
Making the right decision therefore requires a number of factors to be considered.
According to Thirkell and Huff (2007) one key factor is the need to identify the goals
that CRM intends to achieve. Some of these goals may entail improving customer
service to attract and maintain clients, improving product development through
increased collection of customer data or integrating customer data collected from
various sources. Goal identification allows for the relevant and most effective
strategies to b put in place.
ICT and software are very important in enhancing the achievement of effective
customer relationship management capability and mainly in large firms. There are
different kinds of systems available in the market to day hence there is need to
ensure that one has a clear understanding of the various requirements necessary
during the process of selecting soft ware solutions. This process in most cases will
require that the company also chooses a preferable provide of ICT as the
implementation of any given soft ware solutions and mainly in large companies calls
for support in the processes of providing specifications, implementing, training as
well as maintaining. Just like in any other project related to ICT, it is necessary to
ensure that the selected advisors are not only knowledgeable but also reliable and 36
that they have access to solutions that have been proven to be cost effective. The
advisors should also be those that are capable of building and implementing
effective ICT capability and CRM soft ware.
Conducting a market research is also a crucial factor necessary for the right
implementation of the various CRM solutions. This process entails identifying the
leading sellers and the existing price range, identifying the various technologies
being used by the competitors and interacting with the trade associations related to
the business.
Another important factor is the need to always focus on the kind of CRM
required. The CRM could in this case be networked, generic, web hosted,
standalone, real time access, special customization or industry specific. By
identifying the kind of CRM required then one is able to able to effectively select the
correct tools, requirements and procedures needed for the implementation process.
Identification of interface requirements is another important factor which entails
identifying other Customer Relationship management systems like for example those
that are used by a business’s partners within the supply chain, legacy systems,
product- data management systems and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
systems.
Making the right decisions during CRM implementation also requires that a
business quantifies the expected benefits. This entails identifying the probable
effects the implementation will have on the level of profitability, revenues and cost of
customer service. A cost benefit analysis is in this case used to identify the various
costs like for example the cost per every user or license, the number of licenses 37
required, rent or buying cost and ISDN or broadband costs if large files are to be
transferred.
The implementation should also be done in such a way that if the CRM
implementation is being done for a specific function within the business, then every
new solution should be in such a way that it can be integrated with the already
existing ones. If a new working technique is introduced, it is bound to affect other
business areas. If the customer increases for example, then this is likely to cause an
impact on stock management, sales and purchasing. Synchronizing the various
processes prepares the business for a rise in the level of output (Zeithaml, et al.
2002).
Another important factor is one related to sufficient and efficient process of
collecting data. This call s for the need to always ensure that all data collected is put
into consideration when making decisions. It is through efficient data collection for
example that a business can be able to identify if they have sufficient resources to
cater for an increase in customer response and in turn develop alternative solutions
or relevant control measures if the resources are not enough.
Security and protection of data is another important factor that influences
decision making during CRM implementation. It is important to always ensure that
the system created provides complete protection to the privacy of the clients. This
therefore calls for the business implementing the system to register under the Act of
data protection. One should ensure that all information included in the system is
created in such a way that only the relevant parties within the company are able to
access it (Peppers and Rogers 2003).
38
Customer relationship Management involves collaboration as well as sharing
of information within and outside a business firm. This therefore means that there are
several decisions that require to be made before the system is implemented into a
given company or business. These decisions include; identifying if the various
solutions match the partners within the supply chain, identifying if the company is
ready to make any necessary changes in the culture and if the systems are secure.
Planning for partnerships or collaboration requires the company to plan on any
additional training that the employees will require to effectively and efficiently handle
the system. Companies should also ensure that they liaise with their key customers
and suppliers on issues such as the kind of soft wares they are using, available
hardware platforms as well as their policies of collaboration. The project should be
broken down into manageable parts and a pilot-study set up. The set up plans
should be inclusive of a measurable architecture.
According to Peel (2002) a correct implementation process also requires that
the company gets to try out the systems before that actual purchase and installation
of the system. Installation of demonstration versions is an effective way of identifying
the viability of the system, if the actual installation is necessary, any evident
challenges and benefits. It can as well be utilized for comparing the features of the
various systems and in turn enables one to make the best decision on which one
should be purchased (Kristin and Kerr, 2002).
Planning for the roll out stage or phase ensures that critical decisions relating
to the system are made like for example if the CRM system is to be integrated into
the business in stages, the duration of time required for the project to be complete,
employees that will required to be trained and their cost for training and the need to
39
know if external expertise are required to give advice on the process of
implementation (Kale, 2004).
2.5 Types of CRM solutions
CRM is an important undertaking in promoting business success. The better
the existing relationship between the business and its clients and other partners, the
easier it becomes to do business and create revenue in return (Varadarajan, 2006).
The use of technology to make improvements on CRM can therefore be said to be a
wise move. CRM solution can be grouped into four main categories as discussed
below.
2.5.1 Off the shelf solutions
A number of software companies provide Customer Relationship
management applications that are incorporated into the already existing packages.
Smaller businesses require cut down versions of these soft wares this approach can
be regarded as being the cheapest selection as the company invests in software
components that are up to standard. The software may however not always function
as is expected thus the company sometimes has to trade functionality for price and
convenience. Flexibility is therefore necessary to allow for success in business
(Thirkell and Huff, 2007).
2.5.2 Outsourced solutions
These include web based solutions that are provided by application service
providers. The solutions are mainly useful if a company needs to implement a given
solution quickly and lacks the in house skills required to handle the job from start to
40
finish. For companies that are geared to e- marketing already, this is also an
appropriate solution (Gefen, 2002).
2.5.3 Bespoke software
Developing an ultimate mark in modified CRM solutions calls for software
engineers and consultants to customize a system that can be incorporated into
already existing software within the company. This is not only an expensive
undertaking but one that also takes a lot of time. Selecting this process will require a
company to ensure that they effectively specify their exact requirements. The cost of
the soft wares is dependent on the software- designer quotes. In most cases, this
solution is seen as being the most expansive as compared to all other solutions
(Blumberg, 2002).
2.5.4 Managed solutions
This solution falls between outsourced and bespoke solutions and involves leasing a
CRM application suite that is customized as a bespoke solution or package. In this
case, the solution is cost effective though the company will need to compromise
when it comes to functionality (Peel, 2002).
2.6 Components of Customer Relationship Management
Researchers have brought out different definitions for Customer relationship
Management. These definitions however though different are related in one way or
another. In categorizing the various components that make up CRM, researchers
seem to agree on five main ones which include technology, business culture,
process, relationships and people (Ali and Alshawi, 2003). The implementation level
determines the contribution to every of these components.
41
2.6.1 Technology
Technology is defined as the computing ability of a business to effectively and
efficiently collect, manage, save and utilize customer data (Adelaar 2000). It allows
Customer relationship Management systems to attain their various set objectives
related to the collection, classification and saving of valuable customer data (Payne
and Frow, 2004). Integration technology enables creates an opportunity for
businesses to build up better and stronger relationships with their clients through the
provision of a wider customer behavioural perception (Thompson et al., 2006). This
therefore means that companies essentially need to incorporate the use of
Information Technology as a way of ensuring that they are effectively able to
understand the behaviour of their clients, come up with predictive models, establish
effective modes of communication with the clients and give response to the clients
using accurate and real time information. The integration of IT into a company
requires that concepts like software customization, data warehouse, call centres and
help desks, internet influence and process automation be addressed (Blumberg,
2002).
2.6.2 People
Dwyer et al. (2007) believe that for any CRM project to be successful staff
members and customers play a major role. CRM deals with managing a company’s
relationship with its various clients through the acquisition of information related to
various aspects of consumers.CRM mainly aims at translating customer data into
customized services and products needed to meet the ever changing need of
consumers as a means of obtaining loyalty from clients. It is essential for the staff
42
members and the management team to ensure that they fully committed to the task
in order for the process of CRM implementation to be successful in providing quality
service to consumers and in meeting their various needs.
2.6.3 Business process
According to Evans and Laskin (2001) CRM as a business strategy is based
on relationship marketing. Successful implementation of CRM is best achieved when
companies change their business processes to those that are customer focused.
This therefore means that all companies whose processes of business involve
indirect and direct interaction with clients be assessed and analysed. The priority for
the business processes related to CRM should be given to enhancing direct
interactions with consumers. The implementation of CRM entails three key business
processes which are sales, services and marketing (Zeithaml, et al. 2002).
2.7 Failures in the implementation of CRM
A number of researches have previously been undertaken to investigate on
the various causes of the successful implementation of CRM in many companies
(Rigby and Ledingham. 2004; Wisktron, 2004). Different reasons have been
identified as being causes of CRM failing to meet the set objectives. Though some of
these reasons are unavoidable most of them can be controlled and prevented from
occurring. In most cases, CRM failure results from organizational and technical
issues related to the implementation of CRM. Studies conducted to identify these
failures have brought out many different causes and in turn identified the basis for
the occurrence of various problems that hinder many implementations from
successfully meeting their objectives. (Goodhue et al. 2002). Nguyen et al, (2007)
identifies factors like for example support from the top management, alignment of the
various internal processes, bringing together the CRM project and the high level
43
strategies set up by organizations, focusing on Return on Investment (ROI) as well
as attaining success during the early stages of the project.
The main causes of failure in CRM implementation include, identifying CRM
as purely being technology oriented, lack of an effective management support,
failure to have an organizational culture that is customer focused, failure to develop a
readiness process, data being of poor quality, failure to have change management,
lack of strategy and vision as well as failure to involve the end user in the
identification of CRM solutions (Chalmeta, 2006). These factors have further been
supported by Kale (2004) who identifies causes of CRM failure which include
identification of CRM as being technology, lack of a culture that is customer focused,
failure to fully appreciate the life time value of the customer, lack of support from top
management, failure to recognize the need to ensure change management, failures
related to re engineering processes of doing business and under estimating the
various hindrances or complexity related to data integration and mining.
Other research studies have identified general causes of CRM failure. One
such study for example analyses CRM in 650 companies and identifies the causes of
the failure as that which results from organizational change, lack of sufficient skills in
CRM, poor company policies and failure to comprehensively understand CRM. Rigby
et al. (2002) describes failure to develop effective CRM strategies as being the major
cause of CRM failure. The researcher based on his findings then describes four risks
that need to be controlled for a successful CRM implementation process. this include
the implementation of CRM before laying out a customer strategy, implementing
CRM before an organizational change is done to suit the implementation, making the
assumption that more success will be obtained from more CRM technology and
stalking rather than wooing clients. Factors like for example failure to focus on social
or human factors, customers and staff, have however been recognized as being the
main causes of implementation process of CRM failure (Bohling et al, 2006; King 44
and Burgess, 2007and McCalla et al, 2003). In addition to this, the assumption that
CRM equates customer acquisition and that customer satisfaction equates customer
loyalty could be another reason for the process of CRM implementation to fail
(Verhoef and Langerak, 2002).
Poor planning is also another identified factor that results into implementation
failures of CRM. Initiatives are more likely to fail when the put in efforts are only
limited software selection and deployment without any other accompanying support,
rationale and context for the employees. In other situations, companies just
automate those client oriented processes they regard as flawed rather than
redesigning them to those that promote best practices. Poor integration could also
be another implementation issue whose end result is failure in the successful CRM
execution (Payne and Frow, 2004). Integrations for many companies are key
initiatives towards the provision of solutions to identified problems as well as meeting
the various needs that mainly include improving a given customer oriented process
or even automating a particular channel of client support or favoured sales. Such
solutions offer insignificant alignment or integration with the overall business
strategy. They fail to provide a complete view of the customer and as result lead to
customer dissatisfaction (Aldlaigan and Buttle, 2005).
In a bid to find a solution to the failure of CRM implementation process, it is
important that companies avoid soloed thinking and decision making.
Recommendations from the various researches done emphasise on the need for
organizations to integrate their customer oriented operations (Treacy and Wiersema,
2005). This means that views that are department and internally focused be dealt
away with and replaced with processes geared towards information sharing across
sales, service and marketing. Sales representatives should for example be aware of 45
the pertinent marketing promotions and current issues before cross selling to a
particular customer. The marketing staffs on the other hand needs to ensure that
they leverage customer information from service and sales to improved and better
target offers and campaigns. Support agents need to have fast and completer
access to the service and sales history of customers (Thompson et al., 2006).
2.8 CRM strategy and level of response
Through customer relationship management enterprises are able to have a
clear understanding of their customers and in turn group them into various
categories. They are also able to identify potential target client base. This according
to Verhoef and Langerak, (2002) enables swift responses to be made to the various
questions thus allowing for continuous, instantaneous and frequent to be given on
the frequently changing perspectives and desires of customers.CRM is beneficial to
a business if it is viewed as a tool set that allows a company to continuously work for
as well as acquire from the customers (Kale, 2004).
Practicing Customer Relationship Management calls for a business system
that is not only efficient but also internally integrated. A high number of enterprises
from the imposed organizational discipline from the implementation of CRM and also
from the specific technology itself.Through CRM technology, companies are
effectively able to gather and manage mass customer data while at the same time
undertaking various strategies in relation to the information. CRM initiatives make it
possible for companies to provide specific solutions to specific client oriented
problems all through the client relationship cycle (McCalla et al, 2003)
2.9 Behaviours and needs related to CRM
46
According to Chalmeta (2006), computerization has brought about a huge
change in the way companies are responding to the CRM strategies they are using
to deal with the change in the behaviour pattern of the consumers. Through the
increased use self service channels such as mobile phones and the internet
customers are directly served without having to physically get to the company. As a
way of gaining competitive advantage, companies are searching for innovative ways
through which they can personalize as well as enhance online experiences (mass
customization) through the use of various tools that include web development
applications, help desk software and email organizers. Operational CRM supports
front office business processes that are inclusive of service, marketing and sales.
Every interaction made with customers is recorded as client’s contact history. Staff
members can in this case easily retrieve any necessary information from the
database. This therefore makes contact history beneficial in such a way that
customers can communicate with more than one staff member and at different times
without necessarily having to narrate their interaction history every now and then.
Basically call centres support their agents through the use of CRM software
(Goodhue et al, 2002).
CRM initiatives also provides companies with new and up to date insights into
the behaviors and needs of customers and in turn enables them to effectively work
towards providing customized products that meet the specific needs of the various
targeted consumer groups. As a result, apart from being targeted at marketing
initiatives, CRM initiatives can be said to play a very key role in other business
functions such as research and development, supply chain management,
development of new products and improvement of business processes.
Outstanding customer service comes from knowing the specific needs of customers
47
and being able to effectively attend to them. CRM helps organizations to understand,
predict and also respond to the various needs of their consumers in a manner that is
consistent (Nguyen et al, 2007).
3.0 Benefits of CRM
CRM is seen as a new idea to most of the organizations. The organizations
have however began to understand its importance a reason why most successful
organizations dedicate a more energy and also resources to the build and manage
customer Relationship Management capability. The main aim that CRM seeks to
achieve, like any other organizational plan, is to raise the profits of the organization.
Concerning customer relationship management, this is attained mainly by giving
good customer service than that given by competitors. The main aim of customer
relationship management is not only to improve the customer service through a good
customer relationship management capability but also to reduce costs, wastage, and
complaints.
Previously undertaken researches have indicated a number of benefits for
companies that have implemented Customer Relationship management Systems.
These researches have identified almost similar findings and therefore given
common benefits that most companies in different parts of the world have identified
(Kristin and Kerr, 2002). A successful implementation of customer relationships
management can be defined as being a key to the success of every business. If
CRM is well implemented within a company, then that company is promised of better
service to their customers and an increase in the level of profitability (Thompson et
al., 2006). CRM benefits are many and diverse and can be compared to the number
of businesses making the implementations. Implementing Customer Relationship
48
Management has been found to be a very smart solution towards gaining
competitive advantage.
Customer Relationship Management can have huge impacts on a company through
the reformation of the offer given to the client requirements and not what the
company can make, changing the center of attention from product to customer and
concentrating on the competences needed for an effective customer relation
management. A CRM system that is well implemented will be capable of increasing
clientele satisfaction and even increase the business’s profit level. In the real sense,
actual CRM benefits are endless and diverse just like various companies adopting
processes and software (Blumberg, 2002). CRM implementation within a business is
an investment that is worthwhile and creates a smart business solution that allows
the business to remain competitive (Goodhue et al, 2002). With CRM, companies
are more able to comprehend the various needs and requirements of their clients,
effectively meet the identified needs, make predictions on the market trends as well
as enhance their bottom line. The companies are basically able to attain a number of
benefits. Chalmeta (2006) identifies these benefits as discussed below: Customer
relationship management which is effective also reduces staff stress, because
wearing out of the staff which is a chief source of stress decreases as the
relationships and services improve.
Distributed or shared data
As more and more companies continue to notice that customer relationships
are taking place not just through web presence or customer service but through 49
many other levels, they have now began to understand that the importance and need
for data sharing all through the organization. Customer relationships Management
systems allows for informed decision making processes in companies as well as
follow up at the various levels (Nguyen et al, 2007).
Cost reduction
CRM plays a key role in making customers business partners rather than
being just subjects. Through CRM customers are able to make informed decisions,
make their own order- entries and carry out other procedures without necessarily
having to seek support from the staff. In this case, less staff members are required
thus reducing company costs that might have been spent on hiring more staff
members (Treacy and Wiersema, 2005).
Quality and improved Customer service
Every kind of data related to customer interaction is centralized and in turn
provides the department of customer service with all the necessary information in
such a way that it is readily available. This therefore means that the customer will not
be asked to provide an interaction history every time he or she is making a
transaction with the company. Through push technology, customer service
representatives can direct clients towards any kind of information that they require
(Payne and Ballantyne,2002).The customer can easily work through the system and
access any of the required information on their own without necessarily seeking
assistance from the support team (Dywer et al, 2002). Through eCRM, web based
CRM, a web access to customer data and database is created. When consumers
and potential clients or willing buyers interact with a company through email, chat,
CRM solutions allow for the facilitation of efficient management of, convenient and 50
helpful responses to the various enquiries from the customers. Through this
therefore, customer experience is highly enhanced (Blumberg, 2002).
Enhanced customer satisfaction
Through CRM consumers feel that they are part of the company and not just
subjects for marketing and sales. The system allows for the needs of the consumer
to be anticipated and therefore effectively addressed and also ensures that the
service presented to them is of extremely high quality (Thompson et al., 2006). As a
unified marketing- message to clients, CRM responds to various issues related to
sharing of customer data as well as the provision of a seamless mode of contact and
fulfillment experiences for the customers. Additionally, CRM promotes the creation of
a systematic and organized system of selling, marketing and servicing customers for
a given company. Each interaction with the customer is conducted in a manner that
is effective and consistent. This in turn results in an increased consumer satisfaction
(Peel, 2002).
Better retention of customers
High levels of customer satisfaction is likely to result into customer loyalty
meaning that companies that have successfully implemented CRM are more likely to
retain their customers as the customers are ever willing to always come back to the
company for more products or services (Dick and Basu, 2004).
Increased new business
When the already existing customers for a given company are offered quality
services and products and when they are completely satisfied with the rendered
services, they are more likely to pass the word over to their friends and other
51
interested parties. As more and more of these customers continue to inform others of
the company and invite them to purchase from the said company, the company in
turn gains in new clients who can then inform or invite others and so on.This creates
an increased in new business (Peel, 2002).
Increased repeat business
With a continuous provision of quality customer service, consumers who at
some point may have been planning to change into another company or who were
not consistent with that particular company and therefore would purchase from
different other companies are converted into loyal customers who can only purchase
from that particular company that has implemented CRM.
Reduced costs
By using CRM, activities and overall work within a company becomes
coordinated and systematic. This in turn reduces the wastage of funds an aspect that
reduces the costs of labour and promotes more efficient and effective business
operations. The front end applications of CRM also play a great role in the reduction
of costs through their integration with back- end systems that may include
manufacturing and accounting.
Increased profits
With an increase in the level of customer retention, attraction of new clients
into the business and an increase in business at reduced costs, the level of
profitability for the business is bound to increase. Another way through which
Customer Relationship Management increases profits is due to its ability to create 52
sales cycles that are shorter as a result of the efficient process of managing orders
and accounts. This in turn results into long term level of profitability and business
growth as the number of business opportunities continue to get maximised.
Other benefits that are brought about by the use of CRM in companies include
the development of better channels of communication, effectiveness in the collection
and storage of vital data and information, creation of detailed profiles like for
example those of customer preferences, promotion of instant delivery of requested
information by customers and effective identification of new opportunities for selling
(Darrellm and Ledingham, 2004).
3.0.1 Assessment of CRM benefits
It is possible to measure and quantify the benefits that are brought about by
the implementation of CRM within a given company. This can effectively be done
using the various dependent factors. through the use of the application for example,
the company revenue is bound to increase as a result of reduced costs of operations
which can be easily quantified, an increased level of cross selling resulting from the
provision of a single contact point with the company, increased success in bringing in
new clients and fast closure of deals through faster and more effective and efficient
responses to client leads and information (Peel, 2002) , simplified sales and
marketing processes by clearly understanding the needs of the clients as well as
provision of better client service by improving understanding and responsiveness
that in turn reduces customer churn and creates customer loyalty (Bohling et al,
2006).
The companies which have had a successful implementation of CRM
applications in their marketing approaches have realized various benefits. A number 53
of them have been able to synchronize their customer service in line with customer
needs. The CRM has enabled companies develop customer tracking and need
analysis systems, which led to improvement of service provision (MacFarlane, 2006).
Moreover, the tool has created an interface that enables customers share their views
on how they can be served in the best way because of the enhanced communication
channels. The business operational costs such as advertising and selling costs are
reduced, leading to increase in revenues.
CRM also allows customer profiling thus enabling the company to customize
its service provision and come up with products that meet preference and taste
thresholds of customers. The company is also able to establish new avenues of
increasing revenues through cross selling (Alt and Puschmann, 2004).
Basically, instant market research are enabled by the customer relationship
management as well as opening the communications lines through which the
customers provide a company with direct -constant market response to its
performance, services, and the various products are far much better compared to
any survey market. Good Customer relationship management effective and
necessary for the growth of business: the company stays longer with its customers,
churn rates of the customers decrease, referrals to latest customers rise from
growing numbers of contented clients, demand goes down on trouble shooting and
fire fighting staff and in general the firm's services flows as teams continue to work
more professionally and more cheerfully.
3.1 The Management role in Implementing Customer Relationship Manager
(CRM) Strategies
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The CRM as a whole is a bit complex venture but when worked out well
brings a new revolution to the company or organization. To ensure its successful
implementation, the management within the implementing company plays a very
important role in developing effective communication plans and strategies, knowing
the main business needs for the company, identifying the right soft ware. If done
efficiently and in the right way CRM brings good returns to the company (Peel,
2002).
In the current environment, creating a link with the market is vital and has
revolutionized completely the strategies of firms marketing to more other relational
approaches. The enabling of CRM management by Information Technology has
brought efficiency in business strategy involving establishment and coming up with
relationship with clients who are valuable, with the intention of maintaining loyalty of
clientele.
A good manager is the one who ensures that the implemented system of
Customer Relationship Management is reliable, accessible, responsive, safe,
courteous, and communicative, puts all necessary factors into consideration,
competent and recognizes the customer.
The management in any given company plays a major role in digging out on
the CRM subject and to ensure that it plays the role of retaining customers who
already exist by developing relationships which are long lasting and that are key in
meeting the customers’ needs and satisfaction to the fullest. Additionally, the
management needs to find new ways of attracting new customers and to ensure that
long term relationships are developed maintained. It is important that the knowhow of
the management and CRM system up grading to not only be the ability of the
55
organization to interact but to also attract and construct one on one link with
customers. This could also be done by organizing on how they can familiarize
themselves with the customers as a company or organization (Peel, 2002).
Another important role of the management is to provide a conducive environment
for the organization to get knowledge and innovation which is mostly vital in high
velocity surrounding with high competition. It must ensure skills management so that
the organization’s dreams and goals are achieved by the motivation driven by
strategy, and facilitation of skills to workers, to enhance use of their capability and
development to interpret data and information using information sources available,
skills, personality, experience, feelings and culture by the process of giving
information and data.
The analysis and creation of frame work of the events and knowledge moving
within the organization depends with a manager’s ability and creativity. The manager
has to know how to manage the customer’s skills and serve them much better,
because he has to realize that they are what make the multinational companies get
to their status. This therefore means that the buyer is the back bone of the business.
In ensuring that the implementation of CRM creates a competitive
advantage, managers need to ensure that it the implementation process sets out to
achieve the set out objectives and that it is effectively planned for and implemented.
The staff members should be equipped with all necessary skills to ensure that they
can effectively understand the CRM system and to understand their various roles
and responsibilities in promoting implementation success.
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It is also important that strategies in collecting information from the customers in
the context of relationships and giving the customers a sterling value of their money
as per the quality of the end product or services be put in place. The collected
information in this case is not just first hand but also correct and accurate (Treacy
and Wiersema, 1995).
Identification of hitches in customer link cycle and are likely to cause a blow
to the loyalty of the brand and that have a negative impact on customer satisfaction
is also another important role of managers during CRM implementation. Such
hitches and negative impact are likely to gag the lay down plan of efficient
communication strategy. The communication strategy is important in gaining
competitive advantage as it helps in meeting the customer’s apprehensions, queries
and satisfaction levels. As a key point the manager has to ensure is done in a
professional way.
It is important that the management of any given company implementing CRM
ensure that they shun their organization from being product focused to being
customer focuses. This will help in ensuring that they prioritize on quality service
delivery to he customers and on promoting customer satisfaction and retention.
Another role of the of the manager is coming up with strategies in communication
plan that are in line with organization keeping in mind the customer -centric structure
rather than the product centric one (Blumberg, 2002).
Choosing the right technology platform and looking at the cost of implementing
it which include procuring of software setting and trainings activities is another key
role of the management. This will help in ensuring that the best choices and
decisions are made and that the selected technology platform is feasible for the
57
company. To allow for effectiveness in such decision making processes, the
management should have sufficient knowledge and relevant skills about the various
CRM technologies. Assessing the ROI (Return on Investing) and checking CRM
implementation and the investment is another key role that managers need to
execute.
The manager must also ensure that employees are involved in the entire
implementation process and that they are allowed to actively participate in all the
processes involved. This will be important in making sure that they fully familiar with
the system help them understand more about it and also reduce resistance toward
the system. The manager has to inform people in the organization about CRM
initiatives through policies, directives or even training. This will make the team he is
working with be aware of what the executive level expects hence promoting a good
understanding and customer response. Employee participation during
implementation is a key to attaining success in the process. Other than this, the
manager needs to involve other key people in the project to avoid CRM project
failure as they are the ones to engrain CRM usage in the organizational culture. The
key sponsors should be allowed and offered a conducive environment, to make time
and financial commitments to ensure success involving potential users and even
customers, to verify what they expect (Blumberg, 2002).
Assessment, monitoring and evaluation of the CRM implementation process
and outcome make another important role of the management. It is important that
managers measure and keep watch of how the CRM initiatives are felt and of the
activeness of vital personnel in initiation of the CRM. They also need to keep track of
the level of customer satisfaction, profitability improvement and customer retention
levels with the CRM initiative.
58
To ensure complete success, the management should overcome
organizational, administrative and political hindrances; this in most cases will affect
the out put of the company and ultimate sales service and support as a result of
destabilization.
3.2 Impact of in Adequacy of CRM on Success of Companies
CRM being an application of one to one relationship-marketing, reacting to a
customer in the point of whatever the buyer him or herself says, allows for a greater
understanding of the customers’ needs and ensures customer satisfaction (Peppers,
Rogers, and Dorf 2000).It Provides a bridge which links Information technology and
strategies in marketing which aim at building long term relationship and profitability.
When the CRM and its process of implementation are inadequate, then the set
objectives for the company are not going to be achieved and a number of failures
can be identified in various areas within the company. This part of this paper
discusses the various impacts that inadequacy in implementation of CRM will have
on any given company.
3.2.1 Effects on customers
a. Loyalty
Loyalty of customers to a company is a fundamental factor because it allows
the company put more of its energy on things to do with business matters (Gefen,
2002, Rowley &Dawes, 2000). Without customer loyalty then success in the
company’s undertaking sales and profitability is likely not to be achieved. Disloyalty
among customers can be demonstrated by customers’ reduction in purchase,
reduced frequency of making purchases or complete withdrawal of the customers
from the business.
59
Loyalty in this paper is a vital element of effective CRM hence if the
implemented CRM is inadequate, then loyalty is reduced, an aspect that has serious
repercussions of the profitability of the business and that will hinder the business
from attaining its set targets. This can be in terms of loyalty to a brand, store loyalty,
sales person loyalty, and product or service loyalty. Blumberg (2002) notes that
strengthening Web site Characteristics to the existing CRM increases business, by
organizing ways of organizations knowledge and understanding customers’
expectations partnering or building relationships with customers ,empowering them
and interacting with them. The key role of CRM entails to uphold loyalty among
customers (Evans&Laskin, 2001), when this is not looked at most definitely the
customer will be discouraged and quit leading to huge losses on the company. This
therefore means that CRM must stay focused on enhancing this factor by being
adequate.
b. Retention
Customer retention is a powerful weapon in CRM. It’s important for
companies to retain already existing customers because it will cost the company a
lot of money to acquire new customers as compared with the cost of maintaining the
already existing customers (Dwyer, et al. 2007). When the implementation of CRM is
inadequate then companies will not be able to retain their already existing
customers.
For many firms, the cost of loosing the most profitable customers has been
strewed in such away that it has a serious effect on customer’s profitability. For
instance in banks the top 30 percent customers ranked by profitability are likely to
make 1-50 percent of entire total profit of the customer’s profitability. Retention of
customers will allow the company to collect customers data and this will be used in
60
to understanding the market, communicate with customers as well as to organize
future interaction with customers.
Retention is an expensive but crucial and profitable venture and so CRM has
to do everything possible to ensure that this as one of its main targets is achieved.
This as an important tool in a company has the power to change short and long term
strategies and goals. Customer retention is important for the company’s future.
Inadequacy of CRM in relation to this factor will seriously hinder the success of the
company. Without tailored products with the consumer in mind the costumers will
start moving away to look for companies which have their welfare at heart (Dwyer,
et al. 2007).
3.2.2 Effects on the Management
The management has a huge role to play in identifying and understanding the
need and importance of customers and making them feel comfortable and
appreciated. To effectively conduct these roles, the management should have
knowledge theories pertaining to the customer relationship. There should also be a
long plan, appropriate commitment and organizational investment. Poor CRM
management and inadequacy go hand in hand hence if this occurs, then the needs
of the customers will not be identified and met as required. Inadequacy in CRM
hinders the creation of a good business to business marketing structure (with buying
influences which varies) with which the management has a big duty to undertake in
making possible. With inadequacy comes bad management and vice versa. The
management is responsible for ensuring that a company establishes a company and
customer relationship that is based on mutual benefits.
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When CRM is inadequate, it becomes difficult for the management to
measure that customer’s level of satisfaction as the correct measurements cannot be
identified.
Poor management and inadequacy in CRM will cause lapses to this hence leading
to loss of customers. Inadequate CRM also means that the management will not be
able to pin point customer service requirements and hence will not be able to meet
them accordingly further leading to loss (Zeithaml, 2002).
3.3.3 Effects on Marketing
Customer Relationship Management is a major marketing strategy for many
companies. One key role that CRM must play is make sure there is a relationship
between marketers and customers and which is based on the loyalty programs
which can be formulated. In doing this, there should be willingness of the marketer to
invest on infrastructures which could include web based soft or hardware that
harness effectively the advantages of CRM and that bring the need for customers to
continue having a relationship with the company. When the outcome or end product
gives satisfaction to the customer, then the customers loyalty last longer, they buy
more, talk favourably about the company and becomes sensitive with the price
(Payne and Ballantyne, 2002).
When the implementation of CRM is inadequate, then it will not be able to
effectively play its role in marketing. Inadequacy therefore means that the company
will run at a loss because the advertisement and new customer’s having knowledge
of the company will not be there, the already existing customers will talk ill about the
company and in turn the company will be on its way to collapsing. Further, without
proper CRM the companies leverage marketing knowledge will not be under stood
hence the company will start experiencing losses (Treacy and Wiersema, 2005).
62
Other effects that inadequate CRM will have on companies according to
Kristin and Kerr (2002) are as listed below:
There will be lack of realignment in bringing together or removing of weak
sales distribution routes.
A general reduction in the level of profits for the company
Loss of intelligence data over consistent integration separating organizations
and customers needs and requirements.
CRM will not able to speedily find out and adjust to the latest customer
service requirements and needs.
There will be no mediation between marketing orientation effects and CRM
performance
Without laid down CRM strategies the running of the company or organization
will be without focus and goal.
A failure in CRM will lead to no utilization of technology as a tool to get, review
and disseminate current customer prospects, develop deeper data and
focused relationships and to identify and meet customer’s needs.
There will be no organized market orientation where generation wide
orientation is disseminated to the market and characterized by information
sharing across departments.
There will be no early detection and reinstating a problem experienced in the
market in time.
3.4 Customer Relationship Management at Tech Mahindra
Tech Mahindra has been a company whose growth has been impeccable and
that has been highly been promoted by their delivery of quality services and goods to
their clients. As a company willing to exceptionally succeed in the current competitive
63
business world, Tech Mahindra has developed a number of strategies through which
they intend to gain competitive advantage and to always maintain a top position. As
a service provider the company is highly concerned the various ways through which
they can combat their competitors’ enticing propositions and pricing which in turn
entice away the clients. Other than this, they recognize the need to take control of
the reduction in the level of service and network as well as customer dissatisfaction
or negative experiences as away of preventing customer loss as the acquisition of
new clientele is highly expensive as compared to maintaining the already existing
ones.
Tech Mahindra strongly believes that operational and marketing functions of
service providers are strongly influenced various factors such as loyalty programs,
churn management and the prevention of bill shocks. This has in turn resulted into
the development of strategies to allow for the promotion of quality service delivery
and interaction with customers. This has promoted the implementation of techniques
of ensuring effective management of the company’s relationships with its customers.
One such technique is Customer Experience Enhancement Engine (CE3). This is
easy to implement in addition to the available Information Technology group of
service- providers (Tech Mahindra, 2011).
3.4.1 Customer Experience Enhancement Engine
Through the planning and effective implementation of this strategy, Tech
Mahindra has been able to come up with solutions related to the planning and
implementation of campaigns based on the various inputs from customer
segmentation and churn management. The strategy acts as a solution as an
effective approach through which service providers are able to not only maintain their
existing clients but also ensure that there is growth in the lifetime value of these
64
clients. This serves as a foundation to their strategy of doing business. It allows for
the service providers to always lead before their competitors and to rapidly come up
with new and quality services as well as programs to promote effective retention
management through a number of features. These features can also be regarded as
being essential in the promotion of customer satisfaction which is a major element
during the attainment of a competitive advantage, increasing company sales and in
turn increasing profitability and level of productivity for the company. One such
feature is improved client experience and retention. Through CE3 a spontaneous
loyalty experience has been created among the end users through the provision of
direct- rewards or by creating a chance where en users get to collect and
accumulate points which can then be redeemed to acquire other valuable services of
their will and which match up the accumulated points.
Another essential feature is the bill shock- prevention whereby the engine
performs real time data accumulation in various dimensions in relation to
measurement units, cost, count and real time rating, data services and mobile voice
policy and charging management inclusive of on demand provisions like mobile
television and mobile broadband.CE3 promotes the immediate and auto alerts
delivery through emails and Short Message Service (SMS) when the limits put
across by the subscriber or regulation body are attained. Any other network traffic is
blocked at this point.
Micro segmentation on the basis of profile history or usage is another
essential feature of CE3 whereby the flexible and versatile segmentation engine of
the subscriber makes it possible for users to collect client profiling data which is to be
used for targeted campaigns in future.
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Another feature is the quadruple- play loyalty which is mainly centralized such
that the presented business data structures, which are independent, are capable of
connecting to any amount of service- platforms with an aim of designing
consolidated post paid, prepaid, triple as well as quadruple scenarios of play loyalty
throughout the chain of value.
CE3 also presents another feature described as a fast and flexible loyalty
campaigns roll out. According to this feature the engine launch aimed at creating
new marketing campaigns to be effective within just a few numbers of hours and in
turn reducing the total amount of time taken to market. Through this, users are
effectively able to launch promotional tests, assess the results as well as manage
the various stages of promotions in progress.
The seamless integration of the Customer Experience Enhancement Engine
with the already existing Business Support Systems (BSS) and Operations System
Support (OSS) is another of its essential feature whereby platforms with high
performance levels are created to handle millions and millions of different network
transactions within a telecom environment that is readily and highly available. It
allows for the seamless integration with the current internal network, billing as well as
Customer Relationship Management platforms without necessarily having to alter or
out phase any given systems.
Customer Experience Enhancement Engine as solution has been created and
implemented in accordance with the Bill Shock Prevention Regulation number
544/2009. This can be changed to allow for the creation of new regulations to
conform to the newly set regulatory guidelines. The solution by Tech Mahindra aims
at empowering Telecom Operators Tech Mahindra’s Campaign Management
solution empowers Telecom Operators to micro segment the market to subscriber
66
groups or individual subscribers, promote the retention of subscribers with the
operator and raise the use of the network, develop new ways of increasing operator
revenue as well as promoting customer loyalty to help in gaining competitive
advantage. The system also assists business users through the provision of
promotion- prediction analysis, an all round view of the subscribers, dynamic
promotion in terms of campaigns and how the subscribers react to the campaigns,
assessment of customer experience points, commission or bonus calculations as
well as real-time collection in dimensions such as recharge, usage or adjustment in
terms of cost, counts and measurement units (Tech Mahindra, 2011).
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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter presents a discussion of the methodology used in this research,
which attempts to evaluate and explain the effects of inadequate customer
relationship management in Tech Mahindra. This methodological chapter includes
the following elements:, selection of Tech Mahindra as the study area and
population, hypotheses, research design, sample and population, instrumentation,
data collection procedures, statistical analysis, ethical considerations and limitation
of the study.
According to Febelmar, (2009), the techniques that may be utilized in
conducting a research project in a given subject, differ, depending on the approach
taken; qualitative approach or quantitative. The duration of research is also important
in determining what tools of research can be utilized, in order to get the appropriate
outcomes that meet the intended objectives. This can either be short term or long
run.
3.2 Research design
The study is descriptive in nature seeking to investigate the effects of
inadequate Customer Relationship Management at Tech Mahindra. The study will
employ both qualitative and quantitative designs. The combination of the techniques
will assist in getting an in depth understanding the various underlying conditions
which have contributed to the implementation shortcomings. Face to face interviews
will be used. Numbers and percentages of the responses from the respondents will
be calculated and presented in tables for easy comparison. Qualitatively an interview
guide will be constructed for the key informant. Questionnaires will also be provided
to five customers of the company.
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3.3 Sample Framework
3.3.1 Sample size and technique.
A total of six respondents will be used for the study. The research seeks to
investigate the effects of inadequate Customer Relationship Management at Tech
Mahindra with focus being on the role the management has played in the
implementation process. In identifying the success of a completed CRM project,
assessing on the customer’s satisfaction level is very important,. Customers form a
very important part of the CRM system hence the sample selected must therefore be
representative of them. The sample will include five customers of Tech Mahindra
who have been continuously transacting with the company for the past five years
and one manager of the company. Random sampling will be used to randomly select
the respondents.
3.3.2 Sample procedure
Qualitative technique will be used to get views from the respondents and also
to gather information on effects of inadequate Customer Relationship Management
at Tech Mahindra. Quantitative sampling will be used to come up with the number of
respondents who participated in the study.
3.4 Data Collection
The selections of study participants will logically lead to gathering of data
pertinent to the study subject. The researcher will employ the use of face to face
interviews to obtain the various views. The use of face to face interviews will be
efficient in getting to seek clarification of any unclear information that the respondent
may have given. It also ensures that all needed information is acquired as the
interviewer is in control and has the ability to ask the questions in a way that he or
she believes will get response. Questionnaires will also be provided to the five 69
selected customers of Tech Mahindra. The questionnaires will be self administered
as the respondents are considered literate and thus able to fill. The questionnaires
are well prepared, simple to hear, and easy to understand. Secondly, questionnaires
do not use leading or value-laden works to avoid internal bias. The interview will be
carried out in such a way that a high level of professionalism is maintained and with
no partiality whatsoever.
3.4.1 Sources of Data
This study used both primary and secondary data.
i) Primary data will be collected using face to face interviews and questionnaires.
ii) Secondary data will be collected through document analysis in the form of
Reports, books, manuals, news papers, and journals and the internet which will
be read and the required data collected from them.
These will be effective in ensuring that data errors are reduced.
3.4.2 Primary and secondary researches
Primary researches involve collection of information from the scratch and it
entails a lot of work in billing the information. It is the first hand research which
provides the researcher with the first hand information which is more realistic.
Primary researches employ methods such as focus groups, personal interviews,
questionnaires, observations and surveys. Nonetheless, a lot of effort is needed for
successful results.
Secondary researches on the other hand are based on already collected
materials or information. This can be found in books, journals, archived as well as
internet sources and periodicals. The already available sources of information cut
down on time and cost related challenges. However, for best outcomes, reliability
and authenticity of the sources must be established.
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3.5 Data recording
The collected information shall be recorded audio tapes, information sheets
and write ups for further referencing in the subsequent stages of the project.
3.6 Target group
These are participants or recipients that aid in data collection process. To get
the information concerning Tech Mahindra, the research will engage the customer
relations manager and five randomly elected clients.
3.7 Research analysis
The analysis of the findings will be done by using tools such as graphs, bars,
pie charts for quantitative data. The qualitative data will be analyzed through
comparative analysis of the actual data information collected with standard results of
the CRM applications or anticipated outcomes that were set before the roll out of the
research.
3.7.1 Resources used for the research analysis
Research analysis involving a large amount data will require utilization of
computer aided tools such as excel spread sheets, inferences and measures of
central tendency such as mean, median.
3.8 Limitations of the Research Study
The research study collected data from one single respondent and only a
small number of the customers an aspect that is capable of affecting obtained
findings. It would have been more appropriate if another alternative choice of
respondents would have been used for the data collection like for example, if several
employees across the lower, top and middle levels of management were used. This
alternative was however not used as a result of limitations in time and cost.
71
The research study was however carried out with utmost care as a way of ensuring
that all the responses given and data collected was representative.
Another major limitation to this study was lack of sufficient time to carry out the
research and deal with other essential activities. Financial constraint was another
likely limitation, though I was able to work within the laid out budget.
3.9 Ethical Considerations
Ethical consideration is a very important domain that has to be kept into mind
especially when carrying out a research. To start with, it is important for one to get
approval letters that will enable him or her to carry out the research. It is for this
reason that I therefore first of all got a letter of clearance from the university so that I
can have a go ahead in carrying out my research. In addition, I also had to acquire a
gate pass letter from the administrators within the area under study. In this case, I
obtained a letter from the relevant authorities permitting me to carry out my research.
Before collecting information using the questionnaire, I ensured that I obtained
the informed consent of the respondents. In this case, I explicitly introduced myself
by saying who I was and giving details of the purpose of my research. I also
explained to the respondents on why I needed information from him. I then
requested the respondents to allow me to proceed by asking them a few questions. I
also informed the respondents of his right to withdraw from the research if he or she
felt the need to do so.
Privacy and confidentiality of all information collected from the respondents is
important. It is also necessary that the respondents remain anonymous during the
entire research process. This research was conducted in such a way that it ensured
that all information remained private and confidential. I also ensured that the
information given is solely for research and will not be provided to any other person.
72
I also explained the essence of privacy and confidentiality as a value of research.
After the entire research process is complete and validated, the questionnaires will
be burned since they will have ceased to function. An agreement in writing between
the respondents and I was prepared to confirm this.
73
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF
THE FINDINGS
4.1. Introduction
This chapter contains the presentation and discussion of research
findings/results and data analysis. It presents data that was collected using
questionnaires and interviews. In the same chapter, data is interpreted, discussed
and analyzed along the themes namely; analyzing the causes of CRM inadequacies
in the company, exploring the management role in implementing CRM strategies,
assessing the CRM implementation approaches, investigating the effect that
inadequate CRM has caused to the success of Tech Mahindra and analyzing the
importance of CRM.
4.2 Socio-demographics
One respondent was the manager at the customer relations department at
Tech Mahindra while the other three were the company’s customers.
Table 4.1 Duration that the respondents have had association with the
company (Tech Mahindra) the organization
Duration Respondents Frequency
0 -1 year 0 0%
2 -3 years 2 33%
Over 3 years 4 67%
Total 6 100%
Source: primary data
74
Majority of the respondents (67%) have had association with the company for over 3
years. This is inclusive of the manager. Two respondents (33%) have been in
association with the company for period of between 2 to 3 years. This means that the
respondents had all the appropriate information needed.
4.3 Causes of CRM inadequacies at Tech Mahindra
According to the information obtained from the respondents, a number of
reasons can be termed to as being the cause of the various inadequacies in CRM at
Tech Mahindra. These include:
Lack of cooperation from the senior managers during the implementation
process. This mainly resulted into delays in decision making processes which further
caused delays in the implementation. At times the required resources such as funds
and required soft wares could not be approved and delivered on time.
Another major cause as identified by the respondents was lack of effective
strategies of implementation. This was mainly due to lack of sufficient knowledge
and skills on the implementation process.
Poor identification of the various loopholes during implementation was
another reason for the inadequacy. In this case, not being able to correctly identify
the existing challenges meant that correct solutions and control measures could no
be put in place meaning that the problems or challenges would not be addressed
hence CRM failure.
Poor planning was another identified cause of CRM inadequacy. An evident
area where poor planning was evident was in the area of funds whereby, the
management over budgeted for the project, purchased very expensive software that
75
would have otherwise be complimented using cheaper alternatives and took so
much time to complete the process. This therefore led to wastage of funds.
As identified by the respondents, not all stakeholders were allowed to take
part into the implementation of CRM within the company a reason for the various
inadequacies. Participation from all involved stakeholders is an important way of
putting resources together, ensuring that everyone fully understands the entire
process and that he or she gets o make contributions into the process of
implementation in terms of ideas, opinions, resources, skills and knowledge. Active
participation also creates a feeling of belonging for the stakeholders who feel that
they are part and parcel of the entire project process.
4.4 Management role in implementing CRM strategies
The management was identified as those who play key roles in the
implementation of CRM strategies and especially in the area of decision making. It is
through proper management that all requirements necessary for the complete CRM
implementation are put together.
Another role of the management as identified by the respondents is
monitoring and evaluation which is important in identifying if the implementation
process is progressing as planned, identifying the various gaps in the process and
putting up control measures to fill this gaps and to solve identified problems. This
ensures that the system meets the objectives it was set to achieve. Evaluation helps
in identifying the impacts that the system has on the company and if it met the set
goals and objectives.
It is also the responsibility of the management to ensure that staff members
acquire all the necessary skills and knowledge required to effectively understand and
work with the CRM system. This can be done by organizing training sessions for the 76
staff members as well as involving them in the entire process of planning,
implementing, monitoring and evaluating CRM.
4.5 CRM implementation approaches
According to the manager, the approach taken by the company in
implementing Customer Relationship Management is one that which aimed at
ensuring that all the set out goals and objectives for the implementation were
achieved and that all staff members were well familiar with eth system. It is therefore
through that every member of staff was involved in the entire planning and
implementation process and was also given adequate training on the use of the
system to enhance its effectiveness.
4.6 Impact of inadequate Customer Relationship Management has caused to
the success of Tech Mahindra
From the responses given by the respondents, the implementation of CRM at
Tech Mahindra only recorded a few inadequacies or failures. These inadequacies
have however impacted on the company in a number of ways. One such way is as a
result of the high costs of implementation that mainly resulted from poor planning.
High costs meant that the company had to use a huge Amount of its money, meant
to run other processes for the implementation. The company is at the moment still
trying to recover from the huge deficit of funds with strategies being put in place to
find money to deal with the various projects that are yet to be completed as the
money meant to complete them was diverted into the CRM project.
Inadequacy of CRM has also resulted into lowered levels of profitability for the
company as the levels of production has reduced due to insufficient funds to cater for
a production equal to that produced before the implementation. Cutting down its
77
production has meant reducing their level of supplies and in turn reduced the output
levels for the company thus low profit levels.
4.7 Analyzing the importance of CRM.
From the collected findings, the implementation of CRM has had a lot of
benefits not just on the customers but on the staff members as well. One major
benefit recorded by the staff members is the reduction in workload as everything is
automated and information can be retrieved with ease. The enhanced link between
the business and the customers is one that has brought in major benefits for both the
company and the clients. Through CRM, the company has been able to improve its
quality of service delivery as brought out by the customer respondents. According to
the customer respondents the quality of service delivery before CRM implementation
at Tech Mahindra was average. While 40% of the customers feel that the quality of
services is now (after CRM implementation) excellent, 60% felt that it is good
meaning that the quality has improved. This is as indicated in the table below:
78
Table 4.7 a: Response on the quality of services and product delivery at Tech
Mahindra before they implemented CRM
Response(Rate of
Quality)
Respondents Frequency
Low 1 20%
Average 3 60%
Good 1 20%
Excellent 0 0%
Total 5 100%
Source: primary data
Figure 4.7 a: Chart to show the response on the quality of services and
product delivery at Tech Mahindra before they implemented CRM
Respondents
LowAverage GoodExcellentTotal
79
Table 4.7 b: Response on the quality of services and product delivery at Tech
Mahindra after they implemented CRM
Response(Rate of
Quality)
Respondents Frequency
Low 0 0%
Average 0 0%
Good 2 40%
Excellent 3 60%
Total 5 100%
Source: primary data
This has been presented in the graph below:
Figure 4.7 b. Graph to show response on the quality of services and product
delivery at Tech Mahindra after they implemented CRM
Low Average Good Excellent Total
00.5
11.5
2
2.53
3.5
44.5
5
Respondents Frequency
Respondents Frequency
80
All the respondents indicated to have positively been affected by the
implementation in one way or another. The benefits were however mostly felt in the
quality of service delivery and in the ability to effectively communicate with the
company.
Table 4.7c: Response on whether CRM implementation had any positive
effects on the customers
Response Respondents Frequency
Yes 5 100%
No 0 0%
Total 5 100%
Source: primary data
Through CRM the company can now be able to effectively identify and
understand all the different needs of the customers and in turn respond to them. This
means that the company is now in a position of producing products that best meet
the tastes and preferences of their different clients.
Other impacts of CRM at Tech Mahindra as brought out by the findings include
increased customer satisfaction, increased customer loyalty and retention. The
respondents also indicated that they had introduced some of their friends into the
company hence bringing in new customers and broadening the customer base.
81
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS
AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1. Introduction
The chapter is a presentation of major summary findings, conclusions and
recommendations for future interventions as per the study.
5.2 Summary of major Findings
The study covered six respondents; five customers of Tech Mahindra and 1
manager for the company who represented the staff members and this are some of
the major findings.
5.2.1Causes of CRM inadequacies at Tech Mahindra
From the obtained findings, CRM inadequacies at Tech Mahindra were due to
poor coordination between the senior management and their juniors such that the
senior managers were said to be uncooperative, poor planning and implementation
strategies due to lack of sufficient knowledge and skills, poor identification of gaps or
problems in the implementation process and failure to involve all major stakeholders
of the company.
According to the findings, if these causes had not been present during the
entire planning and implementation of CRM, then the process would have been a
complete success meaning that it would have achieved all the set goals and
objectives that it was meant to attain.
82
5.2.2 Management role in implementing CRM strategies
The above findings indicate a number of roles that the management should
play in the complete implementation of Customer Relationship Management. The
identified roles include mainly those related to decision making, procurement of all
resources necessary for the full implementation process.
Other identified roles include: monitoring and evaluation to assess the
progress and outcome of the project as well as ensuring that members of staff are
well trained and have all the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively deal with
the implemented system.
5.2.3 CRM implementation approaches
The used approach as indicated by the customer relations manager for the
implementation of CRM entailed the involvement of all members of staff into the
entire process of planning for and implementation CRM into the company. This was
to ensure that they effectively understood the system as well as to reduce
resistance. The approach was also to create a sense of belonging for the
employees.
5.2.4 Impact inadequate Customer Relationship Management has caused to
the success of Tech Mahindra
The main inadequacy of CRM implementation at Tech Mahindra as recorded
above is as a result of poor planning and budgeting that resulted into the company
overspending on the process. It as a result of the high implementation costs for
example that the company suffered huge deficits in funds which it is still trying to
recover. These deficits have led to a decline in the production levels, delay in the
83
completion of other projects that were ongoing, reduced supplies to the increasing
customers and hence reduced profit levels.
5.2.5 Analyzing the importance of CRM.
The findings above indicate benefits to the Tech Mahindra Company
generally, staff member and also to the customers. The benefits indicate the
importance that CRM has had on the company, its staff members and clients.
Generally, CRM has strengthened the association between the clients and the
business. To the staff members CRM has eased the work load, made it easy and
effective for them to access any necessary information about the clients. The
company has also been able to easily identify and understand the very needs of the
clients and hence are able to produce products that match their specific preferences.
Customers indicated to have reaped benefits through improved service and
products delivery and also effective and direct communication channels that allow
them to raise their views and ideas directly to the company and from any region.
5.3 Conclusion
From the obtained findings, the implementation of CRM at Tech Mahindra can
be seen as a wise move that will result into enormous benefits for the company.
Despite the few inadequacies, CRM will be important in promoting closer and
stronger relationship between the company and its clinets.CRM at the company will
not only be important for the company but even to the clients and other stakeholders
too. The different views raised by this study indicate the benefits of CRM to be more
than the negative effects.
84
Findings above indicate that the management has a huge role to play in
ensuring that the CRM implementation in any company is important and essential
especially when it comes to making good decisions. Lack of cooperation from the
management especially those at the senior level results into failure of the projects.
This is especially due to bureaucracy and delays in making decisions, approving
various ideas, resources and funds.
5.4 Recommendations
From the findings, it is evident that inadequacies in CRM can be prevented
from occurring. The successful implementation and sustenance of CRM is attainable
but if a number of issues are ensured. One such issue is the need for the senior
management to be actively and willingly involved in the process of planning and
implementation such that they effectively know and understand the importance of the
project, the various requirements needed and the benefits that its implementation will
have on the company. Though their cooperation, decisions will be made very fast,
resources required for the implementation approved and procured and any other
raising issues addressed as soon as they occur.
It is also important that the management identifies the important roles they
play in promoting success in the implementation and effective functioning of CRM.
By identifying what they need to do, then the managers will be well prepared for the
task ahead by acquiring all the required knowledge and skills, ensuring that the staff
members are well trained on the system as well as on making sure that they
effectively monitor and evaluate the project as it progresses and after completion.
This will be important in identifying any rising problems or gaps during
85
implementation and in turn coming up with corrective measures to deal with the
problems.
It is also important for all stakeholders to be involved in the planning and
implementation process of CRM. This will help in putting resources together,
ensuring that everyone fully understands the entire process and that he or she gets
to make contributions into the process of implementation in terms of ideas, opinions,
resources, skills and knowledge. Active participation also creates a feeling of
belonging for the stakeholders who feel that they are part and parcel of the entire
project process.
For the effective functioning of the implemented CRM at Tech Mahindra to be
effective, it is important that the various gaps and problems in the project be
identified and corrective measures be put in place. The company should also
develop strategies through which they become capable of successfully dealing with
the impacts of the CRM inadequacies. In dealing with the deficits in funds for
example, the company could rather than reducing the levels of production, the
company can for example reduce the incomes for the workers for a short duration
until the deficit is recovered. This will however require that they discus this with the
staff members and make them understand the need to do so. The company could
promise an increase in pay after the deficit is recovered. The amount promised can
be higher than the initial one as the profit levels will have highly increased from the
CRM. The management at each level must be actively and fully take part in the
identification, planning and implementation of these strategies.
86
CHAPTER SIX: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Undertaking this project has resulted into an intense growth in my personal
skills for research. Before undertaking my research skills were just basic and the
level of knowledge was very narrow. This has however changed through the various
experiences that i have had while undertaking this research.
In order to ensure that this project is done with the highest quality of
standards, i first had to make sure that I gain all necessary knowledge and skills
required to carry out a research study. This was done through extensive reading of
different research related materials as well as by studying and analysing already
done research studies. Through this I was able to gain a clearer understanding on
research methodologies and techniques, various ethics that should guide a research
study as well as on ensuring that all methods, instruments and techniques used for
selecting the sample, collecting and analysing the data are those that produce valid
and reliable results.
Other than gaining more knowledge and skills in research, this paper has also
increased my knowledge and understanding on Customer Relationship Management
and the role it plays for businesses. My knowledge on this topic is now greater and
all rounded unlike before when I only knew a few things about it.
Generally, undertaking the research study has been a great leaning
experience for me and I believe that I am better in knowledge and skills related to
research and Customer Relationship Management than I was before carrying out the
study.
87
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APPENDIX D
RESEARCH PLAN
Activity W1
1st
Feb
201
1
W2 W3 W4 W5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Preparing & deciding research topic and
plan
X
Submission of Research Proposal
Writing Critical literature Review
Collection of data through various pre-
decided methods
Analysis and interpretation of collected
data
Final writing of research with proper
sequencing
Review and rectifications
Submission
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APPENDIX E
Definitions
Strategy: The scope and direction of firm over a long-term which achieves a benefit
for the firm through its resource configuration within an environment where meeting
the market needs and fulfilling the expectations of stakeholders is challenging.
Management: The process of bringing people together with an aim of meeting al the
set objectives and goals through the effective and efficient utilization of the resources
that are available (Hummel et al. 2010).
Customer Satisfaction: This entails a measure of the way services and specific
products that a company supplies surpasses or meets the expectations of clients,
the client number, total customer percentage of those who have had experience with
the organization, or if its various services or product ratings surpasses the specified
satisfaction.
Customer Retention: Customer retention refers to keeping a clients business rather
than have the client use competitor’s services or products (Nevin, 2005).
Customer Relationship Management: A strategy that has been widely
implemented to manage company interaction with customers, client and sales
prospect; it gives a description of the set business strategy within a given company
and within the various departments (Nevin, 2005).
Customer Oriented: Customer oriented means completely focusing on customers
wants and needs only, it is not about making the sale, and it is not about how much
the commission you make, your focus is solely on the customer
Capability: This entails a company’s ability to attain its set objectives and goals
through a planned implementation (Hummel et al. 2010).
95
Customer Loyalty: This relates to the attraction of the right clients, making them
purchase, purchase more often, purchase in greater quantities and even bring in
new clients (Gefen, 2002).
Customer Service: This is the process of providing services to clients before,
through and after buying. It entails a line up of the various activities created to allow
for increased client satisfaction level and to ensure that the service or product
provided matches the expectations of the clients.
Purchase: To obtain ownership of security or other assets in exchange for money or
value also called buy.
Marketing: This involves an organisational set purpose or function to allow for the
creation, communication and delivery of value to clients and the management of
customer relationships through ways that are beneficial to the company and to its
different stakeholders.
After Marketing: After marketing is a term that denotes the activities that a firm
undertakes after the sale is made, after sales activities are broadly understood as
after sales services but is more than the service support that is given after-sales.
Sales: This involves the process of selling different services or products in exchange
for money a well as any other form of compensation. It involves completing a
particular commercial activity (Thompson et al, 2006).
Implementation: Process of executing a plan, method or particular design for a
given undertaking.
Customer Relationship Strategy: CRM strategy refers to that through which
companies manage their relationships with sales prospects and consumers. It entails
the use of technology for organizing, automating and synchronizing business
processes and mainly sales (Nevin, 2005).
96
Customer Needs: Problems that customers intend to solve with the purchase of
goods or services.
Competitive Advantage: This occurs when a company is capable of delivering
benefits similar to those of its rivals but at a cost that is lower, cost advantage, or
provides better benefits than their rivals (Hummel et al. 2010).
Business Strategy: This is a document that gives an articulation of the next step for
a given business in pursuit of attaining its various goals (Hummel et al. 2010).
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