Page 321 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management

Notes Individual customers could set different price schedules for themselves based on their privacy
value, time constraints, and even the time of day. They would establish a “personal access
charge” account with their phone or an enhanced services provider, or a credit card company. By
proceeding, the telemarketer enters into a contractual agreement. The billing service provider
would then automatically credit and debit the accounts in question.
Such a system will probably have a negative impact on the business of telemarketers. Currently,
they “externalize” some of their costs by accessing customers at home at no charge to themselves
other than their operating cost. Right now, consumers do not yet have the means to make the
telemarketer compensate them for their attention. (In television, the audience gets at least to
view an entertainment, sports, or news program.) Under personal-900, telemarketers will be
forced to pay more for consumer access.

Consumers will benefit from the payment they receive for accepting calls. Some might even
become “professional call-receivers.” though telemarketers will no doubt refine ways to select
the most likely buyers. Telemarketers will become more selective in who they try to reach, and
spend more money on “fine tuning” their customer list. Technological tools to refine their
search are intelligent agents sent out to find interested and affordable targets for solicitation.

Markets in access will develop. Consumers will adjust the payment they demand in response to
the number of telemarketer calls competing for their limited attention span. If a consumer
charges more than telemarketers are willing to pay, he can either lower access or will not be
called anymore. Prices could vary by time of day.
Consumers will bear some portion of these costs. First, by way of higher prices for telemarketed
products. The extent to which these costs can be shifted by telemarketers are in strong competition
with other forms of marketing, and where consumers are price-inelastic, telemarketers will
bear most of the added cost.

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Caselet Maximising the Data Diamond

RM (UK) Ltd. was recently employed by a global technology company to advice
on the development of its customer information management strategy in the
CEuropean market. The client’s primary aim was to increase the effectiveness of its
marketing function through better understanding of its customers’ needs. The client had a
traditional mass marketing approach in which large volumes of direct mail were distributed
to its customer base each month. Marketing was based on the “static profile”—a one-off
questionnaire response which was often incomplete and outdated quickly. It was important
that a new cost-efficient method was produced in which literature received by customers
was relevant to their individual needs and promoted, rather than hindered the sales effort.
CRM (UK) Ltd. recommended an approach based on the analysis of customer interaction
histories, where database records are used to determine customers’ apparent needs. This
allows the marketers to pinpoint groups of customers that have demonstrated interest in
the products promoted by a campaign and subsequently to identify groups of prospects
who appear similar to the first group and might therefore be expected to respond positively
to the campaign. This new approach is highly effective, producing significantly higher
campaign response rates, from considerably fewer targets at a fraction of the cost of the
previous method.
Source: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5358767&url=http%3A%2F%2
Fieeexplore.ieee.org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D5358767

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