Page 183 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management

Notes 3. Future Trends in e-CRM: The forces that determine the web’s winners and losers are just
taking shape and technological advances could add even more uncertainty. On the
downside, some experts predict that it will be increasingly difficult for smaller companies
to establish their presence. Public companies and traditional brand name retailers have
deep pockets and a name recognition that will make it difficult for smaller sites and mom-
and-pop shops to attract customers, thereby forcing them to compete with the big firms.
On the upside, nearly all experts believe that overall e-commerce will increase exponentially
in coming years. Business to business transactions will represent the largest revenue.
Online retailing will also enjoy a drastic growth. Areas expected to go include financial
services, travel, entertainment and groceries. And for those considering opening a virtual
storefront, forthcoming technology and standards agreements will make it easier to create
a site, to protect it against payment fraud, and to share information with suppliers and
business partners.
Web Experience

It is a complex set of relationships between the Web surfer and the person(s) at the other end of
the Internet line, the Internet being the channel that the parties use to communicate with each
other. The relationship between the parties and the interactions between them are very different
from other forms of interaction.

Example: How often one decides to e-mail a friend rather than call him? The thought
behind it is that, easier to send one e-mail than to give him a call upon him. The total time was
about the inputs of typing and sending the e-mail. A phone call, would probably have taken two
minutes, or about five minutes cluing the response.

Additionally there are no distractions in the discussion. The subject matter written is the subject
matter referred to. No more, no less. The interaction is there without the interaction being
actually there. No baggage, no emotion, and no complicated thought process. It is what it is
meant to be-and it doesn’t save a bit of time. It just seems that way because one has more
individual control over the process. A customer is well informed about what he wants and also
can get additional information of his/her interest and the salesman’s job becomes easier if well
prepared on the sales call; a practical example is presented as below:

Notes Happy Customer Interaction
This is a reflection on what is both good and peculiar about the web experience. Why
peculiar? It is a social interaction done in isolation that crates as many problems as it
solves. There is never actually a substitute for human interaction, but there is also no way
an individual human can cover all bases. For example, if you are a salesperson making call
to a customer site and meeting with the Executive Vice President (EVP) of a company, it
will be helpful to know that the EVP had e-mailed to the site with a customer service
question to a totally different division a week before. He has also spent time studying the
web pages that were concerned with your expenses tracking software and your ERP
package. Additionally, he had watched a demo and downloaded a white paper on the
integration of CRM and the back office. All this information related to the EVP’s web
experience was captured by the various site tools and centralised in a customer repository.
It was analysed through various analytical algorithms that were compiled into a report
you were accessing using your laptop or palm, depending on what e-CRM software you
are using. By the time you reach the EVP’s office, you have been armed and are ready with
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