Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the principles, practices, and

guidelines that an organization follows when interacting with its customers.

From the organization's point of view, this entire relationship encompasses direct
interactions with customers, such as sales and service-related processes, forecasting,
and the analysis of customer trends and behaviors. Ultimately, CRM serves to
enhance the customer's overall experience.

For many companies, the focus on process design includes the aspect of customer
relationship management (CRM). This view of the customer asserts that he or she is a
valued asset to be managed. This is relationship management. The tangibles (such as
facilities and machinery) meet the intangibles (such as professionalism and empathy)
to provide a satisfying experience for the customer. There are 4 important design
aspects to customer-relationship management that we address here: complaint
resolution, feedback, guarantees, and corrective action or recovery.

1. Complaint resolution

Complaint resolution is an important component of a quality management system that

comes in many forms. There are three types of complaints that need to be resolved:
regulatory complaints, employee complaints, and customer complaints.

 Regulatory complaints: These are complaints that are made to a regulatory

body, such as the FDA or the EPA. Regulatory complaints can be very serious,
and organizations need to have a process in place to investigate and resolve
them quickly and effectively.
 Employee complaints: Employee complaints can be about a variety of things,
such as workplace safety, harassment, or discrimination. Organizations need to
have a process in place for employees to raise complaints without fear of
retaliation.
 Customer complaints: These are complaints that are made directly to the
organization by customers. Customer complaints can be about anything related
to the organization's products or services, such as quality, delivery, or customer
service.
Even though only a small percentage of customers complain, they may be
representative of a much larger group of customers who are dissatisfied with a
company's products or services. This is because many customers may be hesitant to
complain, either because they don't want to make a fuss or because they don't think
their complaint will be taken seriously.

2. Feedback

To understand customer behavior, wants, and needs, data about the customer are
necessary. Some of these data come directly from the customer. Some customer data
are solicited, and other data are provided without solicitation. The following pages
discuss different approaches to collecting and analyzing customer data. One way to
gather data is to receive customer feedback. There are two main types of feedback:

 Feedback to the customer: Providing to the customer about their experience

with a company's products or services. This feedback can be positive or
negative. Positive feedback can be used to thank the customer for their business
and to reinforce their positive experience. Negative feedback can be used to
apologize for a poor experience and to offer a solution to the customer.

 Feedback to the firm as a basis for process improvements: Is feedback that

is used by the company to identify areas where it can improve its products,
services, or processes. This feedback can be used to develop new products, to
improve existing products, or to streamline internal processes.

The customer-feedback loop includes reporting the resolution of the complaint to the
customer. Many times this requires a data-gathering mechanism, such as a
computerized information system, to ensure that the customer complaint has been
resolved adequately. Feedback to the firm should occur on a consistent basis with a
process to monitor changes resulting from the process improvement.

3. Guarantees

Another important aspect of customer service is the guarantee. Even with high-
quality companies, such as Motorola, there are product and service failures. To design
a process that ignores this fact is a form of denial. The guarantee is both a design and
an economic issue that must be addressed by all companies before the first sale occurs.
Guarantees should be designed prior to beginning business so that employees can be
trained to implement the guarantee and marketing can advertise the guarantee
properly. This is an important economic issue because of the sales potential that is
created by a guarantee and the costs associated with fulfillment of the guarantee. To be
effective, a guarantee should be

• Unconditional: No “small print.” Inconsistent application can make the guarantee less
compelling.

• Meaningful: To be meaningful, customer grievances must be fully addressed. For example,

any financial loss must be fully recovered by the complainant.

• Understandable: The customer must be able to understand easily the parameters of the
guarantee and how to achieve resolution quickly.

• Communicable: The phrasing of a guarantee should resonate with the customer. “The best
quality at the lowest prices I guarantee it,” is the famous motto at the Men’s Wearhouse. Not
only is this a great guarantee, but it also is a great marketing line.

• Painless to invoke: The customer must not be inconvenienced too much. Costco has a “no
questions asked” return policy that allows customers to return or exchange merchandise with
a minimum of hassle. This return policy was an early service linchpin that differentiated its
service from other retailers.
 4. Corrective Action

An important aspect of customer-relationship management is corrective action. This

means that when a service or product failure occurs, the failure is documented and the
problem is resolved in a way that it never happens again. Corporate teams or
committees should be in place to regularly review complaints and to improve
processes so that the problems don’t recur. The corrective action results in gathering
complaint and warranty data and determining the causes of these problems. Often,
teams of employees and managers study complaints, do Pareto cost analysis of the
complaints, and recommend improvements to the customer service delivery system.
Such systems are often referred to as closed-loop corrective action. The loop is in
effect closed because a process is in place that ensures this information is used for
improvement. This is why complaint and field repair data are so golden.

Today, many comprehensive CRM platforms integrate all parts of the customer
relationship the business may have. However, some CRMs are still designed to
target a specific aspect of it:

 Sales CRM: to drive sales and increase the pipeline of new customers and
prospects. Emphasis is placed on the sales cycle from tracking leads to closing
deals.
 Marketing CRM: to build, automate, and track marketing campaigns
(especially online or email), including identifying targeted customer segments.
These CRMs provide real-time statistics and can use A/B testing to optimize
strategies.
 Service CRM: integrated dedicated customer service support with sales and
marketing. Often features multiple contact points including responsive online
chat, mobile, email, and social media.
 Collaborative CRM: encourages the sharing of customer data across business
segments and among teams to improve efficiency and communication and
work seamlessly together.
 Small Business CRM: optimized for smaller businesses with fewer customers
to give those customers the best possible experience. These systems are often
much simpler, intuitive, and less expensive to implement than enterprise CRM.

In conclusion, a CRM system helps businesses organize and centralize their

information on customers, allowing for easier access and customer support.
Businesses use CRM systems to optimize sales and marketing and improve customer
retention. Data analytics is also much easier, where businesses can track the success
of various projects or campaigns, identify trends, infer associations, and create
visually intuitive data dashboards.

What Is CRM? Customer Relationship Management Defined (investopedia.com)

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