E V E L Y N A . B A L D W I N

Speaking ofGlobal Process Design

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As the global business climate evolves and becomes increasingly interconnected, the need to sat-isfy customers in a timely manner on a global scale is a constant. In

the semiconductor industry especially, cus-tomers are truly global and expect excellent service in all locations. As the challenges for our industry grow, process-improvement tools are available to meet customer needs. These tools include six sigma and other pro-cess-improvement disciplines that help add value, while driving cost out of our own and our customers’ processes, and customer rela-tionship management (CRM) — an increas-ingly important set of tools that is more than data management and software.

CRM encompasses many things, includ-ing the entire selling process — both plan-ning and execution — to earn customer loyalty. It is a process for integrating all cus-tomer touch points. If it isn’t an element of your growth strategy, it should be. CRM is a customer-centric strategy to grow mutu-ally beneficial relationships with customers. It starts with understanding the custom-ers’ needs and ends with delivering on those needs. This necessitates highly integrated sales, marketing, and service functions to provide superior value to customers and, properly implemented, should result in sales

and profit growth. Manufacturers

that set explicit tar-gets to retain cus-tomers and make efforts to exceed customer-loyalty goals are considered

customer-centric. They achieve their goals through superior performance in pricing, quality, sales, marketing, and customer ser-vice. Research shows that customer-centric manufacturers are more than twice as likely to exceed their goals for shareholder return, and experience higher sales growth and pre-tax return on assets and market share com-pared to companies that do not fit the cus-tomer-centric profile.

Traditionally, each of the customer-touching functions has acted independently to bring individual value to customers. If you are going to meet the needs of increas-ingly service-minded customers, these cus-tomer-touching functions must be brought together to deliver on your brand promise.

CRM is about achieving a higher degree of coordination across boundaries — both business and geographic. This is particu-larly important in light of recent trends in the semiconductor industry that include the blurring of supply chains, the dominance of contract manufacturing, and continued growth and investment in Asia. This pres-ents serious operational challenges. How do you deal with getting your materials speci-fied, when the specification is occurring on three different continents with three differ-ent supply chains and three different part-ners working with the OEM? It takes more than just having a global team, it takes a global structure and a totally different mind set, which is no small task. Here is an exam-ple of the complexity of customer opera-tions in one division of a global electronics manufacturer. This company has:· Two pricing models,· Three order-entry systems,· Four account-management systems,· Four literature-fulfillment vendors,· Six sample systems,· Eight customer service groups,· 14 locations,· 27 toll-free phone numbers.

When components are specified in one country, designed in another, and manu-factured in multiple locations worldwide involving multiple suppliers and subcon-tractors, data sharing must be coordinated across boundaries to ensure hand-offs occur smoothly. It also is important to capture

every contact with a customer so that those serving the customer can access all recent interactions. Successfully resolving com-plaints to a customer’s satisfaction often depends on the amount of time it takes to correct a problem. When information is shared throughout organizations and func-tions that touch that customer, problems can be handled more quickly and successfully.

A CRM effort within one business unit of the same global manufacturer combined several customer-touching functions. The project integrated marketing with field sales reps and specialized inside sales func-tions that were developed to support the account development and inbound cus-tomer-response activities. Account devel-opment aligned inside sales reps with field sales reps, providing joint accountability for end-user and distributor accounts. An operational database allowed each of the integrated customer-touching functions to serve customers efficiently because of the ability to access all recent interactions. Customer loyalty was measured monthly with a rotating set of customers. Compar-ing accounts managed in the old model vs. the integrated process showed significant increases in customer-loyalty scores and the number of loyal customers.

Conclusion CRM is the successful execution of customer-centric strategies through the careful inte-gration of people, processes, and technology. The end-state is a customer-centric business model in which organizational functions focus on identified customer needs through integrated processes and sharing critical customer information through common tools and information resources. Becoming a truly customer-centric business can help create a sustainable, differentiated compet-itive advantage. SMT

Evelyn A. Baldwin is an SMT advisory board member and sales manager for 3M Electron-ics. Evelyn has been an SMTA member since 1988, and has 20 years of experience in the electronics industry as a material supplier. She may be contacted at (978) 886-9661; e-mail: eabaldwin@mmm.com

“Becoming a customer-

centric business can help

create a sustainable,

competitive advantage.”

How to Win Using Customer Relationship Management