Getting And Keeping Customers In This E-Era by Lynda Drews (NAPSA)—Onthe Internet, the customer rules. As e-business continues to raise the bar on customer service, keeping customers loyal is more of a challenge than ever for companies of all sizes, but especially for mid-sized manufacturers, retailers, and wholesalers. New ways to promote and sell a wide variety of preducts, and faster channels of distribution are changing traditional mdustries and forcing retailers to develop new methods to differentiate their brands and increase market share. Lilhan Vernon Corporation, a leading specialty catalog and online retailer with annual revenues over $240 million, first saw the poten: tial of the Internet in 1995 and established an oulinest store. The Web site has helped to increase sales and attract new customers. More recently, Lillian Vernon needed new technxclogy that could deliver superior customer service and customized products. Companies like Lilhan Vernon are transforming the sales, marketing and customer service processes into an integrated, customer- driven operation. This rapidly evolving approach to identifying, developing and retaining a company’s prime customers is called customerrelationship management or CRM, The strategic objective ofCRM is to build profitable relationships with loyal customers. Companies will be able to communicate personally, and deliver the right prodnets at the right time. Lillian Vernon operated two distribution centers. One center bandled personalized items while the other handled bulk items. Splitting orders between the two facilities was costly and ineffinent. Outdated PCs compounded the problem of record keeping and tracking. When the company combined the two buildings into one massive facility, it tarned te IBMto develop systems that could process orders and integrate their custemer records that are essential to buildmg profitable relationships. The company contiaues to use TBMtech- nology to simplify processes and improve the managementof information. Customer acquisition, development and retention are the three keys to Customer Relationship Management. Customer Relationship Management Focuses on Acquisition, Development and Retention CRM systems focus on three goals: Customer acquisition: Locate and attract prime customers. * Customer development: Deliver exactly what customers want and strengthenthe relationship through marketing and service. Customer retention: Gath customer information totar:got pro. ps motional offers, and continually recognize their mdividual needs as con- summers. Corapanies must move beyond simply focusing on product, and instead focus on the customer. This allows companies to understand what customers want most, how they wantit, when and wherethey want to buy it and howthey prefer to payfor it. This valuable data can increase satisfaction, build loyalty and boost customer spending. hs is particularly true for the approximately 6 0,000 companies that make up the midsized market. These companies accountedfor only 15 percent of e-business spending 70 1998. Now itis up to 53 percent. Midmarket companies realize supply chain solutions are crucial te their success. While the Internet is changing the way companies interact with customers, they still need to treat them as individuals through direct, personalized communications. That’s why CRMand the right technology are key. fgnda Drews is the Global Midmarket Solution Executive for IBM Americas. To tearn more, visit wwwBMcom.
