Page 14 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Unit 1: Introduction to Customer Relationship Management

6. The elaboration of TQM is ……………………. Notes
7. …………………… is a process for managing quality; it must be a continuous way of life; a
philosophy of perpetual improvement in everything we do.

8. The full form of E-CRM is …………………….
9. …………………… was the key concept of Armand Feigenbaum’s 1951 book, Quality
Control: Principles, Practice, and Administration.

1.3 Transformation of Customers

A company in Ontario, Canada, personalizes a case of beer with a picture of the consumer on
each of the bottles.

A restaurant in London, ‘Just around the Corner’, does not list any prices on its menu. Customers
pay whatever they think a meal is worth.
At ‘The Holne Chase Hotel’ in Ashburton, Devon, England, pedicures, luxury baths and spa
treatments are offered to guests and their pets.
A Swiss dairy farmer, Paul Wyler, rents out his dairy cows to people who want to make their
own cheese from the milk.

This is how the businesses around the world try to get closer to customers.
The first and the foremost requirement for effective Customer Relationship Management is
Customer Orientation. Consider the following story:

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors: “This is the second time I
have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy. But, it is a fact
that we have a tradition in our family of ice cream for dessert after dinner each night. Because the kind of ice
cream varies, so, every night, after we have eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we
should have, and I drive down to the store to get it. It is also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac
and, since then, my trips to the store have created a problem.”
“You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice cream, when I start back from the store, my car won’t
start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I am serious
about his question no matter how silly it sounds: What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not
start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?”
The Pontiac President was understandably sceptical about the letter, but sent an engineer to
check it out any way. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well
educated man in affine neighbourhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time,
so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that
night, and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start. The engineer returned
for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate; the car started. The second night, they
got strawberry, the car started. The third night, they ordered vanilla, the car failed to start. Now,
the engineer being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice
cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem.
And, towards, this, he began to make notes. He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of
fuel used, time to drive back and forth, time taken inside the store, etc.; and, in a short time, he
had the answer.
What does the above story tell? Customer is always right. Customer is king. Customer comes
first. But, why? How come, today, every business is so keen on ‘Customer Relationship’?

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