Marketing MA Management and International Business Essay -- Business a

Marketing MA Management and International Business Introduction CRM is a term for methodologists, technologies and e-commerce capabilities -used by companies to manage customer relationships. (Foss, 2001:1) It is also called customer management, customer care and sometimes customer centricity or customer-centric management. (Brown, 2000:1) All the names and definitions of CRM have customer, as its core-it is the management of customer relationships, which attempts to revolutionize marketing and reshape entire business models. To survive and grow the business must make a profit. To make a profit it has to find people who are willing to pay more for its products/services than they cost. Therefore profit comes from customers. All Profit comes from customers So if no profit=no business And no customers=no profit Then no customers=no business Therefore customers ARE the business The idea of CRM is not new-it was the way the local shopkeeper treated his customer-he knew him, knew what was happening in his life, what he was buying, (one to one marketing?) etc. What is new though is that nowadays the retailers try to establish dialog with tens of thousands or even millions of customers in an attempt to understand them better, their individual needs and maximise the lifetime value of this relationship. In this respect it is not ‘revolution’ of marketing, but rather ‘evolution’. The old model of doing business is back into action but armed with technology and different schemes to reach the customer and retain them for life. The four types of CRM programmes, described by Stanley (2000) are aimed at enabling the company to win back customers, who have defected or are planning to, (Win Back or Save), to create loyalty among customers (Retail Loyalty), to up-sell or cross sell services to these customers (Cross Sell/Up-Sell) and to prospect for new customers (Prospecting) Retail Loyalty "Loyalty is a feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection; or the act of binding oneself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action. (http://dictionary.reference.com) In everyday life loyalty implies emotional commitment to family and friends, fidelity in marriage. It also suggests monogamy-one choice above all others. (Humby et.al, 2003:9) In this sense loyalty is something expected. But when it comes to... ...ce a Customer, Always a Customer† Dublin: Oak Tree Press Foss, B., Stone, M., (2001) â€Å"Successful Customer Relationship Marketing† London: Kogan Page Gilbert, D., (1999) â€Å"Retail Marketing Management† Harlow: FT/Pitman Humby, C. et al., (2003) â€Å"Scoring Points† London: Kogan Page Oliver R. (1997) â€Å"Research† New York: McGraw Hill Omar, O (1999) â€Å"Retail Marketing† London:FT Management Reichheld, R. (1996) â€Å"The Quest for Loyalty† Boston: Harvard Business School Press Daley, J (2004)† Is a toaster a fair swap for your loyalty as a shopper?† The Independent (http://proquest.umi.com) Davis, H. (2002) â€Å"Marketing is all about intellectual use of data† Loyalty Guide Jones, K (2002) â€Å"Are you exploiting the potential of your customer base?† Loyalty Guide http://www.at1.uk.com/Loyalty_Fundamentals.htm www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results. asda+loyalty+scheme www.foodanddrinkeurope.com/news/news- -loyalty-cards http://www.mori.com/polls/2002/blacksun.shtml 2002) http://money.guardian.co.uk/(Datamonitor report by E.Ripley) www.mori.com http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/52056.stm Cross J. (2004) Lecture notes Southampton, University College