Social CRM: Are we making the same old CRM mistakes?

Spending on social CRM is set to go through the roof – but there are major concerns that much of the investment will be as impetuous as in the early days of CRM. So are businesses set to repeat the same CRM mistakes as they did 10 years ago?

On the eve of the Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit, Summit chair and research director Jim Davies, describes the present scenario as a "significant time of change" for CRM. With smartphone and tablet sales overtaking the PC, the mobile touchpoint is having an increasing influence on sales, marketing and customer service processes. Elsewhere, new developments in analytics trends are also forcing their way into a next generation customer strategies.

But it has been the social phenomenon that has attracted the most attention and the most hype. And expenditure is set to follow suit, with Gartner recently forecast that by 2013, spending on social software to support sales, marketing and customer service processes will exceed $1 billion worldwide.

According to the Gartner report 'Emerging Technology Analysis: Social CRM for Customer Service' most deployments of social CRM are taking place in corporate marketing departments as an exercise in brand management, whether that be maintaining a presence on Facebook or Twitter or monitoring activity relating to the brand on social networks.

"A lot of this [expenditure] comes down to the fact that all businesses are more paranoid about what people are saying about them and social media is a great way of finding out what people are saying about them and their competitors," says Davies. "So even as a starting point, social media monitoring is a massive investment area because it gives that really quick unbiased independent voice of the customer view."

But to a lesser extent expenditure is also being driven by sales ("there is an interesting opportunity with lead generation and even just finding contact details and network analysis – so if Fred knows Harry can we sell to Harry as well," says Davies) and customer service ("On the social media side it could be Jim from Widgets ‘R’ Us reaching out to a customer in Twitter to show how to resolve a problem or support via communities... also on the support side there is a growing trend for communities providing self-support, rather than the business doing it.")


Social media perception
Davies spent much of last month travelling around Europe talking to hundreds of clients and prospects about social CRM. The discussions have provided interesting insight into the perception of social media within the business community.

"A lot of companies view it as just another channel - it allows them to sell to the customers and market to customers and support their customers. It is like ‘email 2011’," he explains. "Then there is another portion of the market that views it a little bit more strategically and profoundly - it is creating an opportunity to start to have a relationship with the customers and work with them and listen to their ideas and listen to their challenges and you evolve the business and the products and processes based on that relationship. But irrespective of what side of the fence the company is on, whether it is the more collaborative deeper relationship side or just needing to do some social media monitoring as a tool, both sides need some technology and that is driving up the market."

But Davies has been left concerned by the course that the expenditure is taking in many cases, and particularly so given the fact that social media investment in 2011 is only the thin end of the wedge. One point he raises is that while marketing, sales and customer services departments have – to a greater or lesser extent – been involved in social CRM projects, one department that has been conspicuous by its absence is IT.

"It is interesting that the one department that hasn’t had much involvement [in social media] is IT," he says. "Seeing as it is a technology investment it is scary the degree of times that IT has been completely bypassed in the decision-making, both in terms of vendor selection and in terms of the ongoing support of the application. It is almost like rolling the clock back to when Salesforce.com emerged and salesforces were bypassing IT and buying Salesforce.com for their sales processes and the same is happening now for a lot of the social media monitoring and social applications. It is all software as a service so they just bypass IT."


Building blocks
This is a somewhat ironic development given the tendency for businesses to view CRM as purely an IT issue in the early days of customer relationship management (a tendency which Gartner noted a decade ago was significantly contributing to disaffection with CRM projects). But there are other mistakes being made that are more familiar to CRM territory.

"I spoke to some very large international banks and they had no overarching strategy, nothing apart from acknowledging that there is something going on socially and that they should take a look at it. So their whole social media approach was to set up a team of relatively junior people who are in touch with the social world, just to work out what is the role for social media for that organisation. And that is quite a common thing, and it’s not the way to go about it at all," says Davies. "A lot of organisations have gone into it without really thinking it through."

To address this challenge with CRM 10 years ago, Gartner developed its eight building blocks of CRM which consisted of steps such as vision from the board, implementation of strategy and changes to organisational structures, processes and culture. Davies subscribes to the same approach to ensure that investment in social CRM isn’t wasteful.

"I was recently giving social CRM scenario presentations and talking with hundreds of prospects and clients at those events and I really got the sense that a lot of companies that are doing social CRM have actually forgotten about the building blocks. They may have had a CRM strategy and metrics and done all that in the past, but now with social they have forgotten about it and instead it’s all about playing with social monitoring platforms.

"There was a real sense that there wasn’t a social strategy in place that could then help steer them in terms of what technologies they need, what metrics they should be tracking, what data they need to collect, and what analytical tools they need to buy. All of that hadn’t been thought through. It was more of a ‘kids in a sweet shop’ approach. On the back of that I published a research note which was basically eight building blocks again, but applying it to social media, because I think it is such an important finding that people have forgotten about it and they are not approaching this the way that they would approach CRM – but they absolutely should be."


Fragmented vendor landscape
While past CRM excellence certainly does not equate to future CRM success, a robust CRM strategy does provide a strong platform for social CRM – and, conversely, if they have done a poor job with CRM then the foundations of social CRM are critically compromised. Davies warns: "If you look at the reasons for CRM failure in 2002, I think the same thing will come around again now."

A fresh challenge also exists, however. While traditional CRM was driven by the emerging technology, with the strategies and processes playing catch-up, the social phenomenon is being driven by consumer adoption – and social CRM technology is yet to catch up with consumer behaviour.

As a result of this, the recent Gartner social CRM Magic Quadrant provided a portrait of a fragmented vendor landscape, populated by the likes of community builders and social media monitoring firms, with the only significant representation from the traditional CRM vendors coming in the form of RightNow.

Davies notes: "It was a very difficult Magic Quadrant to get a lot of value from because if you looking at who is the best at doing social CRM well actually none of them are because nobody has got a social CRM suite. They are all good in certain aspects because of their backgrounds. Next year the true social CRM suites will start to emerge. As acquisitions happen and as R&D happens then they will start to get broader in their capabilities."


A learning curve
So what is the message for businesses that have done their groundwork on social CRM building blocks including vision, strategy, processes and information and are now fully prepared to contribute to the soaring investment in social CRM technology?

"Ultimately they should be able to turn to their incumbent CRM vendor for that – and if they haven’t got an incumbent CRM vendor then they are probably not necessarily doing a good job with CRM in the first place. If they have got a CRM strategy and they have gone through the eight building blocks of CRM, and done that, and are living and breathing CRM, then the chances are that their vendors will ultimately have a social capability that they can use," suggests Davies.

"In the meantime, if those vendors haven’t got it, they absolutely should not wait. Because there is going to be value to be had by buying SaaS-based, pay-as-you-go service for a tool that may be acquired in a year’s time or they may not want to use in year or two’s time. So they need to think about it strategically and long-term, but don’t delay investment in the software because they are incumbent and can’t do it yet.

"It is a learning curve. If they are running vendor X for their core CRM platform and are going to wait until 2015 for that vendor to come to market with that offering then there are three years of learning that they are not going to have benefitted from. They are going to start to lose out from a competitive point of view because if all their competitors are having social activity, talking to customers socially, using it as a lead generation or marketing tool, then they are going to start slipping behind. So there is a risk of choosing a vendor now that isn’t going to be around in two years time but I think the benefits outweigh those risks."

Gartner: Four CRM trends to watch - and how your firm must respond

With CRM high on the agenda again this year, Gartner has outlined its CRM predictions for 2010 and beyond.

Gartner has forecast that customer relationship management will remain high on the agenda this year, as the analyst outlines its key predictions and advice for the CRM space.

According to the Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) 2010 CIO Agenda survey, attracting and retaining new customers will be the fifth biggest business priority for CIOs in 2010. And as a result, they are keen to explore how CRM technologies and processes can help them meet these goals.

Furthermore, the proliferation of social media tools has created new opportunities for businesses to engage with customers – though this will add another layer of complexity to organisation’s customer strategies.

"For most organisations, the single most logical way to differentiate the business is through great customer experiences, rather than having the lowest cost or most innovative products and services," says Ed Thompson, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "However, gaining a clear understanding on which specific customer-centric initiatives will prove decisive and merit investment will require coordination across departments."

Gartner has identified four key trends that it believes will emerge from 2010 and beyond and has provided its advice on how businesses should respond.

• With the number of social tools expanding, marketers and customer service functions should focus on the three or four networks that will dominate specific languages. Facebook, for instance, will emerge as the number one social network in all but 25 countries by the end of this year, according to Gartner – but will not be the leader in India, China or Japan. "Facebook membership hit 300 million in September 2009, and is roughly doubling each year," says Thompson. "It is reasonable to assume that it will attain a membership of 600 million (including inactive accounts and a small number of users with multiple accounts) by the end of 2010 based on the trajectory in 2009."

• With CFOs demanding greater marketing accountability, marketers must leverage marketing resource management (MRM) and enterprise marketing management (EMM). Through 2010, marketing budgets will remain flat in more than 90% of companies, despite a return to growth. Furthermore, CFOs are demanding increasing accountability from marketing departments, often exerting unprecedented pressure to link programmes to sales results and ROI. "As a result, marketing organisations will need to automate operational processes and learn how to leverage technology to measure areas previously left unmeasured, enabling them to do more for less and articulate business value," says Kimberly Collins, managing vice president at Gartner. "MRM will become a top priority for marketing organisations, and EMM will take on new meaning as a vehicle for strategic planning, collaboration and measurement."

• While many firms are struggling to make a clear business case for social media, the largest growth in this area will be by firms using social tools to improve customer relationships. Although the hype around any and all social media activities will continue through 2010, companies are struggling to find a business case, including hard metrics and specific business outcomes, using general social activities and generic social applications. Nevertheless, social projects evaluated by Gartner show that those with a clear and direct mutual purpose (benefits for both company and customer) were the ones likely to show measurable results. The analyst believes that by the end of 2010, more than 80% of market growth in social applications will centre around a business use case for improving external customer relationships – rather than improving internal collaboration. Gartner says that the social application vendors that make the transition from general purpose to support for specific business, with use cases and key performance indicators, will see double- or triple-digit growth in 2010.

• Marketers are ramping up their online marketing activity and will enable firms to save significant money as a result of the online channel’s precise attribution metrics. By the end of 2011, more than 90% of Fortune 1000 marketing campaigns will include online marketing, up from 50% in 2009, according to Gartner. Marketers are responding to the expansion of the internet by investing in addressable branding and advertising, and contextual, community and transactional marketing. Gartner predicts that marketers will see a 10-20% savings in marketing communications as a result of precise attribution metrics for campaigns. "Being online gives marketers greater access to response attribution metrics to help determine what is working and what isn't working in a campaign," says Adam Sarner, research director at Gartner. Online marketing will enable faster testing and campaign refinement, and help avoid the continued waste of funding a failed campaign, while engaging in more-thorough campaign testing prior to launch. It will improve the overall success of all marketing objectives. Both speed of analysis and response will be critical to success.

數據庫行銷與口碑行銷實戰解析 文章來源：鳳凰網

“中國的電視廣告，你可以把他當作電腦特接的演示，你可以把他作為激勵演講的表演，你可以把他作為教育孩子不要撒謊的反面教材，但千萬不要把他作為選擇產品的依據”我的朋友和我如是說：“我要真想購買什麼東西，需要了解的話，我首先會選擇朋友去了解，然後去網上找資料或看評論，廣告-----見鬼去吧！”他在一家上市公司技術部工作，我已經不止一次聽到這樣的話。

作為中國的行銷人，我為不斷聽到這樣的話感到悲哀。我們公司最近做過一個2000人的電話調研，通過分析問卷，我們得出這樣的結論：只有22.8%的人認為可以信任電視、戶外廣告等傳統廣告媒體，這一數字遠遠低於西方發達國家的(45.6%)，另外我們還調研了上海、北京、廣州三個城市的白領人群，通過這個統計我們發現，一個中國普通的白領城市消費者每天大約會接受到超過280多條各種形式的廣告資訊，包括電視、雜誌、樓宇廣告、報紙、戶外廣告牌，公交廣告，手機短信，郵件資訊、電話訪問……,要吸引他們的注意力是多麼的艱難。

在客戶的注意力被細分的越來越嚴重的時候，經濟危機爆發了，大部分企業都縮減了自己企業的市場預算，在這種情況下，企業必須為自己的行銷找一片藍海，尋找新的行銷方式，行銷創意，來維繫公司的銷售。如何通過省錢，有效的方式影響到消費者的行為。我下面介紹兩種新型的行銷方式的組合：數據庫行銷+口碑行銷。

什麼是數據庫行銷？

在國內，很多行銷人對數據庫行銷的認識是非常淺層次的，簡單的認為數據庫行銷是利用一個數據庫去做銷售就可以了，比如拿著一批客戶名單去打電話，發傳真，發郵件，發短信，去傳遞企業的產品資訊。其實這是數據庫行銷的執行方式，是數據庫行銷的一個外延。真正的數據庫行銷項目其實是一個複雜的系統的行銷活動，包括，數據庫的規劃，建立，數據的分析，數據的統計，數據的挖掘，數據模型的建立，數據庫行銷項目的硬體規劃，軟體規劃，人員規劃，執行方式，測試控制，部門協調機制等。限于篇幅關係，不在詳細分析。

但數據庫行銷相對於其他行銷方式的有點在於，低成本運作，行銷的投入于產出是可控的，可實時調整的，所以在國內被很多大的公司所採用，或正在組建專門的數據庫行銷部門。

什麼是口碑行銷？

利用口碑宣傳企業已經被很多企業認識到這種品推的重要性，但很多企業並沒有把這種方式專門的行銷方式來運作。人們每天都會就很多問題和周圍的人做溝通、交談，這其中也包括他們購買和消費的產品或服務，尤其是女性消費者，在這方面表現的更為突出。這樣的談話或溝通都是沒有任何商業傾向的情況下做出的，不帶任何的商業宣傳色彩。但這次談話的參與者對評價的產品的評價的認知和後來的購買行為產生很大的影響，因為人們對周圍同事，朋友，親人的信任度不知道比站在櫃檯後面的銷售人員要高多少。

口碑行銷之所以能成為一種新的行銷方式，很大程度上是緣于它所具有的“病毒式行銷效應”。人們每天都在溝通交談，不管是講自己的事還是講別人的事。我們調查的結果發現，一個對產品或服務有正面體驗的消費者，會將他的故事告訴至少5個朋友；如果是負面體驗的話，他會告訴至少11個消費者。而那些聽到故事的人又會再告訴5~11個人，依此類推。

故事呈幾何級數速度傳播，最終在很短的時間內傳播給大量聽眾。這就是口碑行銷的的魅力所在。

另外，雖然“口碑”傳播不是什麼新鮮事，但系統地將人們自然進行的對話作為公司行銷和溝通組合的一部分，並在消費者中產生正面影響，卻是一個新生事物。這主要也得益於web2.0技術的迅速發展。以前，我們只有面對面的溝通或電話交談，如今web2.0技術的發展大大增加了口碑溝通的渠道和速度(電子郵件、論壇、部落格等)，從而增強了口碑的病毒式行銷效應。通過web2.0，許多普通消費者變成了某些產品或服務方面的“專家”。例如，很多電子產品的商務類門戶網站，很多用戶會分享他們對某款相機或手機的使用心得；如果潛在消費者認為他們的評論有用而且打了高分，他們就會頗有成就感。總的來說，中國消費者比世界其他地方的人更依賴口碑。在像中國這樣的更注重集體的社會，人們通常會更重視其他人的評論，特別是在同一個圈子裏的人的評論。

正是這些強大的力量使口碑行銷如此有效。例如，一次口碑宣傳所產生的廣告記憶度，可以是傳統電視廣告所產生的廣告記憶度的80倍，因為口碑的重點更突出，而且是在更私人的層面與消費者進行接觸。雖然一次常見的口碑行銷對消費者的覆蓋面遠不及中央電視臺播放的廣告，前者千人成本是後者的10~15倍之多，但在實現“知曉”之外，就廣告記憶度及行銷所構建的品牌偏好而言，口碑行銷的成本卻要低很多。與電視廣告相比，口碑行銷的規模也小很多，這在預算緊張的時候不失為一個好選擇。

數據庫行銷+口碑行銷模式實戰分析

利用數據庫行銷的數據挖掘和分析能力和口碑行銷強大的傳播機制和堅挺的信任機制，並以此來影響消費者，影響消費者的購買行為，奠定企業抵抗金融危機的新的行銷思路，可以遵循五個方面去運作。

一個有內涵可傳播的故事

中國有句古話：言之不文，行之不遠。行銷要想成功，就必須具有“傳播性”。換句話說，必須有一個原因讓人們願意去“傳播這個故事”。它可以是有趣的、感人的、有爭議的，甚至可以是一個笑話。但最重要的是，它必須能夠傳遞一個正面資訊，並且是消費者自己傳遞的。商家應該準備一個故事梗概，並且讓消費者在故事中加入自己的體驗和經歷，使它成為消費者自己的故事。在中國，最好的口碑行銷例子是海爾和溫州燒鞋事件。下面僅和大家共用海爾集團的這個案例：海爾在1985年當眾銷毀了一批有問題的冰箱。是張瑞敏親自用斧頭砸碎了第一台有問題的冰箱，當時每台冰箱的價格都相當於一個普通工人兩年的工資。海爾此舉的目的是向消費者傳遞這樣一個資訊：海爾是一家品質重於泰山的企業。這個傳奇故事20多年來不斷流傳，消費者今天還在講述，海爾高品質的品牌形象也不斷加深。不過，讓故事具有傳播性並不意味創建一個在土豆網上播放的瘋狂視頻片段，關鍵的是它所講述的故事與要推廣的產品或服務應該是有聯繫的。

利用普通消費者來傳遞資訊放棄所謂的“專家”

很多公司喜歡用那些被認為對產品有很多背景知識的“專家”來幫助促銷產品。但是，由於各類產品方面的“專家”並不多，這種類型的口碑宣傳通常也不會走很遠。也有欲蓋彌彰的嫌疑，前段時間中央臺就曝光了，所謂的“假專家”事件，同一個專家可以多個行業的專家泰斗，但實際情況卻是廣告公司找的托，悲哀！無語！如果是普通銷售者來推廣，成功率會高很多，只要利用數據庫行銷的理念來細分群體，並利用數據庫行銷的執行方式確保資訊到達目標消費群體。

例如，立頓近期在中國推出了一次口碑宣傳活動。它在指定城市推出了免費茶和小點心，針對高檔寫字樓的白領和他們的朋友。只要他們在立頓的網站上留下朋友的辦公地址和手機號，就可以給他們點免費茶和小點心。這個消息迅速傳播，突然間，很多辦公室白領都開始給朋友和同事訂茶。在僅僅兩周內，立頓就派發了20多萬份“套餐”，更不要說大家在網上和網下談到它的次數了。

確定收集反饋資訊渠道和方式分析反饋資訊調整行銷策略

一旦消費者開始使用某種產品或服務，他們就會不可避免地反饋自己的使用感受。例如通過電話投訴，和朋友傾訴，去論壇或部落格發表看法等，企業要及時收集他們的反饋，分析反饋資訊調整行銷策略，據此改進產品或服務，把不好的反饋扼殺在搖籃中，並強化良好的口碑宣傳渠道。例如，西門子(中國)成立了一個“消費者俱樂部”，消費者可以參加西門子客服中心組織的活動和產品培訓；公司還定期和消費者開會，收集他們對產品和服務的反饋，然後根據這些反饋改進自己在中國的產品開發和服務。另一方面，西門子對消費者的關注和主動傾聽，對他們的意見予以反饋，也成為消費者在進行口碑宣傳時的話題。

注意測試，利用合理的數據模型分析行銷效果

和任何一種行銷措施一樣，我們也要衡量這種行銷的效果。雖然像改善首要知曉度等比較傳統的行銷標準可能有用，我們也應該考慮那些能夠具體反映行銷效果的指標。這既包括行銷所創造的口碑聯繫或網頁登陸數量，留言量，細分圈子影響度等定量標準，也包括人們在部落格中的評論及主要關注點等定性因素。綜合評定，確定行銷策略的正確性和可操作性。

根據客戶生命週期階段進行設計，並與數據庫行銷工具相結合

口碑行銷可以用在一個產品生命週期的各個階段。對於配合新產品的推出而言，它是一種節省成本的方法，特別是在經濟危機中市場開發的費用有限的情況下。企業可以收集在產品試推出期間的口碑宣傳反饋，然後在正式推出產品或服務之前進行相應調整。此外，我們也可以用口碑行銷來重振品牌形象，並結合數據庫行銷的各類執行方式和分析工具。定向收集消費者的反饋，是行銷更精細化。

企業可以將口碑行銷與其他行銷工具結合起來，制定一種綜合的行銷戰略。化粧品品牌DHC在中國就做得很好。它在時尚雜誌上做廣告，維持並提高消費者對品牌的知曉度；公司網站提供產品資訊，併為新加入的會員派送產品試用裝；此外，公司還成立了DHC俱樂部，為會員提供有關美容方面的建議，提高消費者忠誠度；俱樂部的會員之後成為品牌的主要宣傳大使，在親朋好友中進行口碑宣傳。

總之，雖然新型的行銷模式不可能完全取代傳統的行銷方法，但越來越多的人已經開始意識到它是一個節省成本的強大行銷工具。通過我講解的這兩類新型行銷模式的結合，企業超越了傳統的廣告形式，建立起一個真實的反饋環節，從而與消費者進行真正的雙向溝通。企業也真正從客戶的角度去考慮問題，這樣我們的行銷才能真正走向正規化，規模化。

Listening to Customers Leads to Loyalty

Ten Ways Social Media is Changing Sales and CRM By Jennifer Schiff

More and more businesses of all sizes are using social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter and Foursquare, as a way to better engage customers and increase sales. However, just having a Facebook page or a Twitter account is no guarantee of success.

So eCRM Guide asked Pamela O'Hara, the co-founder and president ofBatchBlue, the maker of BatchBook social CRM software, and Margaret Donnelly, the vice president of marketing and business development atJitterJam Social CRM, how companies can leverage popular social media sites, as well as YouTube and Flickr and blogs, to enhance and improve their customer relationship management (CRM).

Social Media Monitoring and CRM Tips

Herewith are 10 ways social CRM can benefit your business.

1. Social CRM can help you target your marketing to key segments. "Brands are looking to see ROI from their social marketing activities," said Donnelly. "By using customers' interests, conversations, location, demographic and other data gathered from various social media sites, marketers can capture and utilize that intelligence to create very focused messaging and offers to motivate their contacts to act. This enables the brand to see the entire cycle of customer development from their social marketing efforts, from initial discovery to transaction and beyond."

2. Social media monitoring can help you uncover potential customers and find out which customers are influencers. "People are talking about products, brands, product categories, wants and needs at a staggering rate [online]," noted JitterJam's Donnelly. Monitoring the social web enables businesses to monitor the chatter and sentiment about their products and services as well as the competition's, she said. "More importantly, social CRM enables businesses to identify current customers — including the ones who are potential influencers and advocates for your brand — as well as prospective customers," said Donnelly.

That's why Donnelly advises business owners to monitor conversations around their brand, their products and services and their competitors, using appropriate keywords. "For example, a backpacking products company could search for people talking about backpacking and hiking trips," she said. "Gathering these social conversations [in one place like your CRM system] enables you to track the volume of conversations about your brand or market over time," and then use that information to better engage and interact with your customers.

3. Social CRM can help you monitor what customers are saying about your brand and your products (for better or worse). "Monitor your product name, your company name, or just keywords for your industry, and then pull those bits of information into your CRM system," said O'Hara. That will help you get a true sense of what customers (potential and existing) are saying about your products, services and business, so you can adjust or target your marketing and development strategies accordingly.

4. Social media can be a wonderful customer service tool — especially for countering negative comments. Monitor those sites where people can leave comments about your business, products and service, advised O'Hara. That way, if or when someone has something negative to say, you will know right away and can respond immediately. Responding online, in a public forum, in a sympathetic and helpful way "goes a long way to showing that person that you're listening, that you care — and it also shows everyone else who's privy to that conversation that you're there and you care and you're taking the time to reach out to someone who had a bad experience."

5. Social networks are like having a free focus group. When Kent Krueger, chief dog spoiler at SitStay.com, a maker of "good for your dog supplies," needed help picking a label for the company's new line of SitStay-branded dog treats, he turned to Facebook. Specifically, he turned to the (then) over 21,000 dog lovers (that number has since risen to over 25,000) who "liked" SitStay.com's Facebook page to help him choose which one to use. Not only did SitStay.com's Facebook fans quickly identify a favorite, they made the label even better by pointing out that "Made in the USA" was missing, "which is very important to our demographic and dog treats," Krueger said.

6. Social media can build community and lead to new opportunities."We've run a Twitter chat for the past couple years (we're actually evolving it shortly into a video chat), where we invited small business owners to come once a week," said O'Hara. "We talk about different issues for small businesses — how to use social media, what virtual collaboration tools people are using, how to manage your finances," and other topics of interest to small business owners. As a result, there are now more than 20,000 people following that Twitter account, and it's been a great way for O'Hara and BatchBlue to connect with business owners and has even led to several business opportunities the company might not have found otherwise.

7. Social media can be a great promotion and sales tool. JetBlue set up @JetBlueCheeps on Twitter to promote "great deals on last minute flights every Tuesday." And the account has amassed over 150,000 followers (who have helped fill up planes). Similarly, many bricks-and-mortar businesses are using Foursquare, a mobile social tool, to engage their mobile customers, offering them discounts and prizes like a free cup of coffee or a coupon for 10% off their next purchase when they check in on Foursquare at their store or restaurant or business, which often leads to actual purchases.

8. Social media can help establish you as an expert people want to buy from. For example, one real estate agent O'Hara worked with set up a Facebook page where she posted pictures, videos and information about events in her community, giving prospective home buyers a real flavor of the community and establishing herself as a kind of trusted friend and guide — someone who people would want to buy a house from.

9. Use Facebook to let customers get to know your business and the people behind it. Use sites like Flickr and Facebook to post pictures of your products, either on their own or being used by customers, fun events sponsored by your business, as well as employees — images that accurately portray your company culture and give people a true sense of who you are and what you do. People tend to trust and buy from companies they feel they know and have a relationship with.

10. Use YouTube to educate your customers. Use video networks like YouTube or Vimeo to post helpful how-to guides that show your customers how to set up or use your products, advised O'Hara. This form of outreach and customer education engenders loyalty — and can help you attract a wider audience for your products and services.

Jennifer Lonoff Schiff is a regular contributor to Internet.com and runs a blogfor and about small businesses.

Best CRM Practices

Michelle McMahon, VP of sales operations for Procuri, discusses the importance of integration in any CRM implementation.

Analyst Take: Customer Relationship Management

10 Database Marketing Tips

CRM的基本精神與實施 by馬智宏

一、 何謂客戶關系管理（CRM）？
◆CRM是英文Customer Relationship Management的縮寫。
◆CRM就是以現代信息技術為手段，以客戶為中心，以最大限度滿足客戶需求為目的，對企業的市場策略、各部門的功能職責、工作流程進行重新設計，從而使企業收益最大化的一系列的設計過程。

二、 為什麼要開發客戶關系管理(CRM)？
目前企業的競爭已經從產品質量、價格的競爭逐漸轉變為服務的競爭，這種競爭呼喚CRM。
1. Internet 改變了傳統的商業模式
(1) 客戶接觸方式
(2) 銷售方式
(3) 客戶服務方式

2. 客戶的期望值和需求越來越高
(1) 更好的產品與服務
(2) 隨時隨地的訪問
(3) 更便捷、更快速…

3. 短缺經濟向過剩經濟過渡

4. 壟斷經營向市場經營過渡

5. 從產品銷售轉向關系銷售

6. 3P(Product, Pricing, Promotion) aCRM

7. 永遠的商業驅動力

三. 客戶關系管理（CRM）的基本精神
(1 )什麼是客戶關系管理的基本精神？
方便(convenient)、親切(care)、個性化(Personalized)、立即回應(Real-time)即縮寫為CCPR(1) 讓客戶更方便(Convenient)要讓客戶更方便、更容易地取得企業的服務，就象住宅巷口的小店，想要什麼東西和服務可以隨時取得。

(2) 對客戶更親切(Care)這一點特別要注意。在實施CRM的過程中，如果過分重視科技和自動化，使得企業與客戶接觸的界面成了冰冷的自動販賣機，這就糟了。應該是人的"用心"和高新科技的結合，使顧客感到更親切。

(3) 個性化(Personalized)企業要把每個客戶當作一個永恒的寶藏，而不是一次交易，因此，必須了解每一個客戶的喜好與習慣，并適時提供度身定制的個性化服務。

(4) 立即回應(Real-time)企業對於客戶行為，必須透過每次接觸不斷學習，并且很敏感地立即回應。

四. 客戶關係的基本知識
1. 客戶關係的類型
(1) 基本型：銷售人員把產品銷售出去就不再於客戶聯係（賣冰棍）

(2) 被動型：銷售人員把產品銷售出去并鼓勵遇到問題或有意見時和公司聯繫（賣手機，移動通訊服務）

(3) 負責型：銷售人員在產品售出後聯繫客戶，詢問對產品和服務的意見，使之更符合客戶需求（賣電腦）

(4) 能動型：銷售人員不斷的聯系客戶，提供有關改進產品及服務要求信息（賣Unix服務器）

(5) 伙伴型：不斷的和客戶共同努力，幫助客戶解決問題，實現共同發展（賣解決方案）

五. 如何實施CRM？ 五步曲
1. 統一思想認識，建立相應項目組織機構；
2. 明確企業戰略（定目標，找差距、尋類比）；
3. 組織構架重組（以客戶為核心，市場為理念調整部門職責）
4. 調整工作流程（依據新構架，調整相適應的工作流程）
5. 選擇CRM軟件（新的工作流程需要先進的流程管理/客戶關係管理工具來支持）

六. 實施步驟 分為兩個階段：
第一階段：準備階段：對CRM業務流程和信息系統進行診斷；
第二階段：實施階段：按"五步曲"進行

七. 項目成功關鍵因素
1. 最高管理決策層的堅決支持；
2. 各部門的密切合作，理解和支持；
3. 業務管理人員的直接參與；
4. 業務骨幹的全時參與；需要業務骨幹的全時全程參與，并保持連貫性，避免頻繁換人。
5. 全員參與和上下的溝通。注意CRM體係建設理念在整個企業範圍內的溝通，形式可以有內部溝通雜誌，郵件，研討會等，以及時獲得反饋，使實施航運公司的CRM建設成為整個企業共同關心的問題。

八、 客戶關系管理的目標
1. 提高經濟效益
(1) 提高市場競爭力
(2) 留住老客戶，拓展新客戶
(3) 關注和發現利潤區

2. 密切客戶關係
(1) 與客戶成為伙伴型關係
(2) 進而結成客戶聯盟

3. 提高客戶的滿意度和忠誠度
(1) 提供多個渠道的客戶服務方式：網絡、電話呼叫、上門服務等，為客戶提供最大的方便；
(2) 加快客戶請求的響應時間；
(3) 為所有客戶需求建立一致性的聯系方式
(4) 針對性的客戶

九. 項目實施的成功經驗
1. 組織要落實
2. 計劃要落實
3. 經費要落實
4. 技術要落實
5. 監督和反饋要落實

Embracing New Media To Reach Customers By Chuck Sink

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space and others are a new frontier in marketing opportunities. People offer demographic information online that can be used by sales and marketing people to target precise audiences in an intimate and familiar setting. But best practices are still yet to be defined.

As traditional media continues to lose audiences, businesses are increasingly focused on new media formats, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to connect with customers. The goal should be to reach your precise target audience.

New media allows marketers to activate the interested and turn them into campaigners for products and services. Advocates drive success. You may have the shiniest needle in the haystack, but without help, few will notice your podcast, blog, or Flash-enhanced Web site.

Once noticed, however, the best in any category will be discussed among the most passionate talkers and bloggers in that field. The trick is to learn where those people "hang out" and give them some-thing worth talking about (and forwarding to fellow aficionados).

Viral Marketing
How do you make viral marketing work for you? A good example is the Blendtec blender. The company's home blender sells for about $400 retail--a huge premium considering that most decent blenders sell for about $50. This is one tough blender, though. Tom Dickson, CEO of Blendtec hadn't even heard of YouTube in late 2006 before his marketing manager, George Wright, decided to try a viral marketing stunt by posting a few homespun videos on the Internet. Dickson actually became the main character in the "Will it blend?" videos.

In a matter of weeks, spending under $100, Blendtec generated rabid interest in its blender and increased sales dramatically because millions watched the company's YouTube videos.
The viral campaign worked like magic. Thousands of people rushed out to purchase a $400 Blendtec when a $39.95 Hamilton Beach blender would make just as fine a smoothie. In 2006, Blendtec sales were well under $10 million. By 2007, Blendtec sales exceeded $40 million. That astronomical growth resulted from giving the marketplace something unique, compelling and remarkable (as well as funny) to spread around.

E-Mail Marketing
E-mail marketing is almost like free direct mail. I'm a traditional salesman by trade, building business by cold calling, appointment setting, presenting, and bidding. That is the old way. Firms that make effective use of e-mail marketing may find they rarely make cold calls because they're too busy helping prospects and clients who call them instead. Your firm's e-mail list needs to be a high priority and treated like gold. An electronic newsletter can deliver high value to customers and potential customers. Request permission of every business contact to send them a newsletter and rarely use the list to promote yourself. Deliver value-based content that readers can use. They will remember this when in need of your services.

Here I Am!
Smart companies are shifting marketing dollars to the precise marksmanship of search engine marketing campaigns and search engine optimization (SEO). Organic search engine optimization is a complex process of convincing Google, Yahoo!, MSN or other search engines that your Web site is among the most relevant and respected sources to find information or products by key word searches. The search engine's goal is to deliver the most relevant and prominent Web sites to those conducting a search.

Effective SEO requires good key word strategy, consistent analytics, resubmission and reciprocal link-ability with other relevant sites. A relatively modest monthly or annual investment in a Web administrator's time or a paid SEO service can help move your Web site search rankings up significantly enough to be found by that precise target audience.

My Space or Yours?
Social Networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, My Space and others are a new frontier in marketing opportunities. People offer demographic information online that can be used by sales and marketing people to target precise audiences in an intimate and familiar setting. However, the bounds of appropriate contact with Facebook and other sites' users are still in question and best practices are yet to be defined. There are paid advertising opportunities on many of the social networking sites that can be effective with results that are easy to measure and track. Many organizations are having great success interacting with their target audiences by courting an active group of followers and having a constant discussion going on their pages.
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Meeting Economic Challenges with Customer Relationship Management Strategies

零售業經濟衰退下的生存策略：客戶關係管理

Content:
1. Introduction
2. Business Strategies for a Slowing Economy
3. CRM Strategies for a Slowing Economy
4. Shoring up the top line by increasing market penetration
5. Addressing the expense lines by emphasizing high-ROI investments
6. Reality Check: Managing CRM Investment Under Tight Budget Conditions
7. CRM System Case Studies

Introduction

New initiatives are often the first victims during times of economic stress, whether those difficulties are at the company level or come from the broader economy. Those cuts can be short-sighted, since new initiatives may be exactly the game-changers a company needs to pull it through hard times.

A prime example would be customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. CRM strategies-whether new to a company or already installed-can make some critical differences that help a company survive economic setbacks.

Of course, the temptation to put off projects like installing CRM software is understandable when economic conditions are tight. New capital investments may be unpopular, and training initiatives to advance CRM adoption may be seen as stretching already strained resources. Even so, if a company were to analyze strategies for not only surviving a downturn, but possibly even benefiting from one, it may conclude that investment in a CRM system is an important component of a plan to return to economic health. This white paper will examine some basic business strategies for economic downturns, and discuss where a CRM emphasis fits into those strategies.

Business Strategies for a Slowing Economy

An economic slowdown may squeeze a company’s bottom line, but the cause generally can be traced to the top line of the financial statement, i.e., revenues. Despite this, the knee-jerk reaction when times are tight is to attack the expense lines of the corporate budget. While cutting expenses can provide temporary relief to the bottom line, it can also precipitate a downward spiral. A problem starts with shrinking revenues due to a contracting economy or market. The company cuts expenditures to preserve the bottom line, and as a result, diminishes its resources. These diminished resources lead to further revenue declines, so the pressure on the bottom line only becomes greater. A new round of expense cuts repeats the process, until the company is sliding toward bankruptcy.

While expenses should be scrutinized during a downturn, they should be cut with a surgical approach that targets fat rather than muscle. Moreover, since revenue shrinkage is generally the root cause of declining earnings during an economic slowdown, that aspect of the company’s finances should not be ignored.

Therefore, the following are some basic concepts for addressing both top-line and expense issues during a downturn:
‧ If top-line growth reflects a shrinking market, a potential solution is to increase penetration of that market. In other words, there are times when the only way to grow or even preserve revenues is to capture a bigger slice of a shrinking pie. Two ways of doing this are to pick up market share at the expense of weaker competitors, and increase penetration of existing customers.
‧ As for the expense line, it should be scrutinized based on return-on-investment (ROI). The vulnerability of earnings to a downturn is in inverse proportion to profit margin. For this reason, low-ROI expenditures should be targeted for cutting, but high-ROI expenditures should be preserved-or ramped up.

CRM Strategies for a Slowing Economy

Where do CRM systems fit into these business strategies for a slowing economy? The next economic downturn will give business leaders a chance to pioneer answers to that question.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, as of 2008 there had been only two official recessions in the preceding 25 years. One was from July 1990 to March 1991, when CRM software as we know it today did not really exist. The next was from March 2001 to November 2001, when CRM software was still going through its adolescent growing pains. According to a 2001 Gartner study, at that time some 55 percent of CRM projects had not yet met corporate expectations, and of course, CRM penetration was much lower then than it is today. Since then, CRM software capabilities have become more robust, delivery options have become broader, and recognition of the potential of CRM systems has become greater at both the executive and rank-and-file levels.

In short, the next economic downturn will define how CRM strategies can help in a slowing economy. Therefore, companies which are quick to realize the potential will have a jump on the competition. If, as described in the previous section, two fundamental business strategies in a slow economy are to increase market penetration and emphasize high-ROI investments, CRM systems may be able to help significantly:

1. Shoring up the top line by increasing market penetration. CRM systems can be used to increase market penetration in a couple of ways. One is to pick up market share at the expense of weaker competitors. When market data is gathered for entry into the CRM database, a key field should be the existing vendor or service provider for each potential customer. Economic downturns will bring news of service cutbacks and even bankruptcies. Using the CRM system to target customers of those troubled companies will put information in front of those customers right when they might be needing to make a change. Also, CRM systems can be used to increase customer penetration. Every service call can be turned into a cross-selling, up-selling, or at least a re-selling opportunity. Having access to as much information as possible about the customer during service calls will help representatives spot opportunities for additional sales to increase penetration.

2. Addressing the expense lines by emphasizing high-ROI investments. There are several examples of how CRM software can enhance ROI, but here are just three of them. First of all, CRM reporting capabilities can save significant labor hours in compiling reports. Standard reports can be available at the click of a mouse, and custom reports can be configured with little trouble. Second, CRM software can be used to automatically launch e-mail campaigns, saving not only labor but the cost of materials and postage that traditional mailings would incur. Finally, CRM systems can be used to enhance sales force productivity. Activity levels can be monitored on a timely basis, so any sub-standard efforts can be addressed appropriately. For representatives with sufficient activity but poor closing ratios, sales force automation techniques can be used to try to improve performance. According to a Harvard Business Review study, companies taking a more systematic approach to sales can see average productivity rise by 30 percent, with the most dramatic increases coming from the bottom-quartile producers.

Reality Check: Managing CRM Investment Under Tight Budget Conditions

The potential of CRM systems to help during a downturn may seem enticing, but tight budget conditions may demand a reality check. There are times when companies just don’t have the cash flow for new capital expenditures, even when they know those expenditures will enhance their business in the long run. However, the emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery has lowered the barrier to many new technology initiatives, including CRM.

Hosted CRM systems, in which the vendor houses and maintains the software and the data storage, have been a leading example of SaaS delivery. Hosted CRM systems drive down initial cost by eliminating the need for software installation and data storage capacity. They also minimize ongoing system administration costs. Finally, by providing instant scalability, hosted CRM systems help a firm adapt to the ups and downs of economic cycles.

While some companies may find it preferable in the long run to bring the CRM system on-site, hosted CRM systems are an option which can make CRM software more accessible under weak economic conditions.

CRM System Case Studies

The following are a few examples to illustrate some of the principles described so far in this paper:

‧ By training its sales force on Maximizer’s CRM system, Staffco, a manufacturing sales company, was able to automate reports that previously had to be compiled manually. The result was a savings of 30 hours per week in labor.

‧ By using NetSuite’s web-based tools, Virgin Money Australia avoided a large capital expenditure during a financially sensitive period when it was trying to penetrate the market.

‧ Commercial real estate firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners realized dual efficiencies from its ACT! by Sage CRM. The firm has cited the cost effectiveness of ACT! as one of the product’s merits, and because it could transition seamlessly to upgraded versions, its CRM capabilities were readily scalable.

Conclusion

Given the potential for customer relationship management systems to increase top-line productivity while enhancing return on investment, perhaps the question should not be whether a company can afford to pursue these systems during a downturn, but whether it can afford not to invest.

Sources

ACT! by Sage

BusinessWeek, Spring, 2006 Making Sense of Sales

CRM2Day.com

Forbes, May 21, 2008, Powerful Enterprise Software Small Biz Can Afford

Harvard Business Review, September 2006 The New Science of Sales Force Productivity

Maximizer

National Bureau of Economic Research

NetSuite

New York Times, November 13, 2007, Software for Rent

About the Author

Richard Barrington is a freelance writer and novelist who previously spent over twenty years as an investment industry executive.

CRM, customer relationship management, crm system, crm software, customer loyalty, customer loyalty management, customer management, loyalty system, loyalty management, loyalty software, loyalty card, vip, vip card, vip system, vip management, vip management system, vip software, member system, member management, member software, member card, membership system, membership software, membership card, membership management, member management system, membership management system, member management software, membership management software, Rewrite Card, Rewritable Card, Visual Card, Window Card, Thermal Card, Thermal Rewritable Card, Printable Card, 可視卡, 可視咭, 窗口卡, 視訊卡, 熱敏卡, 複寫卡, 重寫卡, 可刷寫卡, 會員, 會員系統, 會員軟體, 會員管理, 會員管理軟體, 會員管理系統, 會員卡, 會員卡管理, 會員卡系統, 會員卡管理系統, 客戶卡軟體管理, 會員卡管理軟體, 客戶關係管理, 客戶忠誠, 客戶忠誠管理, 積分管理, 積分卡管理, 積分卡系統, 積分卡軟體

百佳「易賞錢」掀起零售業CRM熱潮

零售業巨人百佳超級市場推出「易賞錢」(Money Back)計劃，可說為連鎖零售集團實施「客戶關係管理」(Customer Relationship Management CRM)正式拉開序幕。更正確的說法是，Money Back尤如在零售業市場投下一個深水炸彈，引起了一場不少的哄動；大家爭相查探，百佳何以如此勞師動眾地搞會員積分制度？

百佳催生CRM大熱潮
百佳的Money Back可以說只是比行家走快一步，事實上，不少連鎖零售集團在過去的一年間已成立CRM專案部門，積極研究CRM的落實方案，顯示出連鎖零售業己了解到CRM的重要性。百佳的Money Back令這些「研究中」的項目產生催生作用，我們可以預期，2007年將陸續有多家連鎖零售集團推出會員制和各式其色的獎賞計劃。

不過，究竟什麼是CRM？若對這個概念欠缺正確理解，你將發現，花費大額投資於CRM，卻收不到預期效果，就正如早期不少歐美公司的經驗一樣。

CRM系統只有兩成功能有用
不少人的印象中，CRM是一項昂貴的「實驗」，在未確定其「投資回報」(Return of Investment ROI)之前，動輒就花費數十萬甚至是數百萬，購買一套功能完備的CRM系統，令不少商戶望而卻步。

問題正是出於「功能完備」這四個字，CRM涵蓋的範圍甚為廣濶，不少CRM軟件包括了「營銷及市場推廣管理」(Sales & Marketing Management)、電郵發放及監控系統，甚至公司行政及會計管理系統。在絕大多數的情况下，這種「包羅萬有」的CRM系統，商戶都用不到當中兩成的功能。換言之，有80%的投資是浪費了。




找出CRM系統的首要任務
這當中牽涉到一個最基本的問題，究竟什麼是CRM呢？專家的答案是「增加顧客的忠誠度」！答案若然如此，怪不得CRM系統是如此多功能和昂貴了！因為要增加客戶的忠誠度確實是一件絕不簡單的事情，必然在組織、系統甚至是企業文化作出緊密的配合，故此CRM系统必然繁複而昂貴。

保住20%的貴客和80%的生意
但實情是，CRM的首要任務並不是要「增加顧客的忠誠度」！我這個提法看似有點離經叛道，其實是從一個更具體的角度來定義CRM。

CRM的首要任務，是要找出那些是「已經」非常忠誠的「貴客」，並加以好好維繫，防止流失。

著名的80/20黃金定律告訴我們，20%的「貴客」是生意總額80%的來源。換言之，若能找出這20%的「貴客」，不讓他們流失，商戶就可以確保80%的生意額不被對手搶走。進而若加強對這批「貴客」推銷，商戶就會獲得更佳的利潤回報。


CRM目標明確 系統合用又相宜
不同的定義，衍生不同的CRM方案：若說CRM系统的首要任務是「辨識」這群影響業績深遠的20%「貴客」，要達致這種目標，CRM系统的功能其實不會複雜，故此也就更容易使用，即使是度身訂造，價格亦不會昂貴。

這種以「辨識及維繫貴客」作為首要務的CRM系统需要的「模組」(Module)包括：



一、會員管理
主要功能：「辨識」客戶
二、會員數據追踪及捕捉
主要功能：追踪及捕捉會員的購買及兌換獎賞的記錄
三、「貴客」辨識報表
主要功能：辨識誰是20%的貴客
四、積分/現金券/禮品管理
主要功能：「獎賞」，「激勵」貴客增加消費

上述的「模組」是所有CRM系統的基本和根本，有了這個基礎，我們才進一步研究如何加強整體客戶的忠誠度。

從這個定義出發，對大部份的零售業來說，CRM系统只有兩個基本「模組」就已足夠，一個是「數據捕捉」(Data Capture)，另一個是「報表」(Report)。

這些報表都是協助零售業經營者了解CRM系統的績效，包括
– 生意額增長率
– 會員重訪增長率
– 會員消費增長率
– 市場推廣效率
– 各分店表現之差異等等

故此，針對零售業的CRM系統，重點應放於如何讓商戶快捷、方便地讀取到具商業分析(Business Intelligence)價值的報表，同樣重要的是這些報表必須介面友善(User-Friendly)。

攻守兼備的「客戶忠誠系統」
我們的「客戶忠誠系統」(Customer Loyalty System)建基於這個信念而設計及開發，包括一個先進的「可視重寫會員咭系統」(Visual Rewrite Card System)、用作捕捉顧客每次來訪的交易及活動細節的「忠誠管理軟件」(Loyalty Management Software)、用作顧客分類的「顧客區塊劃分器」(Customer Segmentation Engine)和製作簡便易明報表的「報表編寫器」(Report Generator)。


忠誠管理軟件(左) 報表編寫器(右)


顧客區塊劃分器(左) 可視重寫會員卡(右)


結合上述四項工具可達致攻守兼備的效果：「守」方面是有效地辨識及保住20%的貴客，從而守着80%的生意額。「攻」的一面則是有計劃、有系統地增加80%顧客的忠誠度和活躍度，從而提升營業額。

提升營業額達30%
根據外國多個研究調查結果顯示，設計得宜的CRM系統能提升營業額達17至30%，系統的投資回報率(Return of Investment ROI)是6個月，換言之，企業投資於CRM的費用在半年之內就已能於增加的利潤收回來。這亦解釋了何以近年全球企業投資在CRM系統以幾何級數跳升。

說回百佳的「易賞錢」，推出之後，消費者的口碑只是一般而已，甚至有消費者投訴其「甩漏」甚多。究其原因，是系統設計過於以商戶本身的方便為重，忽略了消費者的「消費體驗」(Shopping Experience)。愈來愈多的CRM專家表示，CRM系統必須配合良好的消費體驗，才能培養出真正的「忠誠顧客」，這又是另一值得探討的議題。

作者：徐少驊︳Jeff Tsui
畢業於澳洲悉尼科技大學。先達智能有限公司創辦人及行政總裁，多年從事VIP、會員、客戶管理方案及諮詢服務，經常主講有關全球「客戶關係管理」(Customer Relationship Management, CRM)趨勢，為多間報刊撰寫企管文章。jeff@chinetekintel.com

先達智能有限公司(Chinetek Intelligence Company Limited - www.chinetekintel.com)
成立於2003年，是一家專門服務零售業的科技公司，開發了兩套產品，包括客戶忠誠系統(Customer Loyalty System)和專門針對美容業和保健業的「美麗中心系統」(Beauty Management System)。推出服務後，很快就成為零售業及美容業管理系統顯要的服務供應商。

為何「客戶忠誠計劃」不成功

西方有一句諺語：魔鬼在細節（The Devil is in the details），企管學則稱之為「執行力」，也就是說，再好的規劃或策略，在推行時，若沒有環環相扣的執行細節、沒有監察執行的狀 並檢討可改進的地方，則成功的機會是相當渺茫的。

不少服務零售企業，花了很多資源在「客戶忠誠計劃」（Customer Loyalty Program）上，包括購置先進的系統：會員管理軟件、會員咭打印機、回贈禮品或現金禮券……。不過，效果卻差強人意，申請入會者稀、會員活躍度低、會員重訪率和消費額沒有顯著增加，在這種情況下，「客戶忠誠計劃」被管理層判定為錯誤的投資。

「客戶忠誠計劃」已是全球企管專家公認為二十一世紀最重要的市場行銷策略。故此，它的成或敗，並不是「客戶忠誠計劃」本質上有甚麼問題，而是在執行時不夠力度而已。以下我會跟大家分享一些服務零售企業在推行「客戶忠誠計劃」時最常犯的毛病：

一、招收會員不夠主動
一般來說，服務零售企業會印製精美的會員申請表格單張和宣傳海報，內裡詳盡地闡述會籍的申請辦法和會員福利等內容，並將這些單張和海報放置和張貼於舖面的當眼處。主事人認為，客人見到這些資料，如感興趣，自會主動填寫及遞交表格。這是對客人一個錯誤的期望。客人在店舖的主要活動是消費，故此他們的注意力都會集中在產品和服務上，一般客人在心理上會自動地篩走不相關的資訊。所以，即使將會員單張放置於舖面的當眼處，大部分客人還是會視而不見的。

另外，單張和海報上刊印的文字是解釋性多於推銷性的，換言之，文字是死的，欠缺說服力。好了！情況是，留意到會員資訊的客人已經不多，留意到了又採取行動的客人就更少。事實上，要說服客人加入成為會員，跟推銷貨品或服務的難度不遑多讓，絕少客人會主動地拿起表格然後乖乖地奉上資料。所以，「會籍推廣員」是少不了的。

一些公司要求前線員工兼顧推銷會籍的工作，譬如餐飲業的會要求侍應生在下單時向客人「多說兩句」；美容院要求美容師在服務中途向客人推介。我認為這種「兼顧式」會籍推銷效果不會很好。首先，前線員工在工作火線上已經非常忙碌，很容易就忘記了要向客人「多說兩句」了。再加上，服務人員實在不宜兼營推銷，這會降低他們在客人心目中的信任和專業形象。故此，公司應聘用一些「會籍推廣員」，可以是兼職，也可以外判與專業的市場推廣公司，這種作法會使會員招募得到更佳效果。

二、會員不清楚有何「著數」
會員活躍度低是不少會員制度面對的問題。公司花了很多功夫和資源，也聘用了「會籍推銷員」來招收會員，會員數目不斷增加，但是會員累積積分和換領禮品等活動卻十分稀少，何以如此？原因當然有很多，或許是「著數」不夠吸引。不過，更多時候是，會員根本不知道有甚麼「著數」。不少公司以為，已將積分的玩法和「著數」詳細列明在單張內和網站上，會員對有關的訊息理應十分清楚了。

實情是，大部分會員不會主動查核自己的會籍、積分和「著數」兌換狀態，日常生活已有很多要事記掛，會籍事宜又如何會放於心上？所以，公司必須跟會員建一個有效的「全方位行銷」的溝通平台，包括電郵、手電短訊、視訊重寫咭，讓公司和會員隨時隨地連上，告之最新的優惠資訊。

另外，一般公司會在客人結賬時才問客人是否會員，這個步驟可以提前至接待的時候，若客人並非會員，接待人員可以通知「會籍推廣員」。若客人已是會員，則接待員可為客人查核積分狀態，並告之可兌換之禮品、折扣或是現金券。客人經常獲得實質好處，自然就多來訪多消費了。

三、貴客仍然流失
客戶忠誠計劃的主旨之一正是防止客人流失，但一些推行此計劃的公司卻仍然經歷客人流失之苦，流失的客人甚至是高消費一族的貴客。何解？

因為客人不會因一些「著數」就忠誠於你，產品和服務的質素仍然是最重要的。又或是客人一次不愉快的經驗：買了「次貨」、受到服務人員不禮貌的接待，他們就會一去不返。有一個統計數字值得我們留意，有八成客人遇到不愉快的購物經驗，他們不會投訴，而是選擇不再「幫趁」這家店舖。因此，若果你等待客人投訴才去補救，你將永遠沒有這個機會。

所以，任何成功的「客戶忠誠計劃」，都必須配以市場人員的緊貼跟進，定期審閱會員報表，看那些會員突然冷下來，就要主動地連絡，查詢情況並給與優惠，讓客人重返你的懷抱。

作者簡介：徐少驊｜Jeff 畢業於澳洲悉尼科技大學。先達智能有限公司創辦人及行政總裁，多年從事VIP、會員、客戶管理方案及諮詢服務，經常主講有關全球「客戶關係管理」（Customer Relationship Management, CRM）趨勢，為多間報刊撰寫企管文章。jeff@chinetekintel.com
原文刊於《盛世》月刊2006年11月號

Top 10 Customer Service Mistakes

Good customer service is a valuable asset, especially in today's high-tech-oriented, increasingly impersonal business world. Therefore, if you are aware of common customer service mistakes and go out of your way to avoid them, you may strengthen your position in a competitive market.

1 Untrained staff. It does not matter whether you have two or 200 employees, you must train everyone in the art of customer service. Customers or clients will not tolerate rudeness, incorrect information, or apathy on the part of your staff. Not training the staff – which should include everyone – is a major mistake made by too many businesses

2. Trying to win the argument. It is worth remembering that it takes five times more effort (and cost) to gain one new customer as it takes to maintain one current customer. Therefore, by winning an argument and losing a steady customer, you are costing your business a valuable customer.

3. Inaccessibility. If you want to see repeat business, you need to be accessible to your customers. If it is difficult to contact the customer service department or speak to a manager, customers may not return. Many businesses, especially on the Internet, try to maintain a distance from their customers. This rarely works. Check out Online Customer Service Basics for tips on providing a positive online customer service experience.

4. Standing by your policy. While the clerk who is scared that he or she may lose their job can say "that's our policy," customer service representatives and managers should be able to find ways to bend policies to build customer relationships. The phrase "If I do that for you, I'll have do to it for everyone," is one of the fastest way to lose customers.

5. Unfulfilled promises. If you promised a customer that something would be ready by Thursday, then it should have been there by Thursday. There are no excuses, and the only words you need to remember are "we're sorry," backed up by an extra effort to make the customer happy.

6. Poor record keeping. If you keep referring to Mrs. Johnson of Jackson Avenue as Mrs. Jackson of Johnson Avenue, you can be sure she will not continue doing business with your company. While any business can make a mistake, constant misspelled names and similar foul-ups do not encourage regular customers to return.

7. The runaround. When someone calls for customer service, they expect a service representative to be the first or second person they speak to, following a receptionist perhaps. People do not like being passed from one person to another repeatedly or sent from one department to another in a retail location. Passing the buck is akin to passing the customer on to your competitor.

8. Email/online cop outs. Since email is impersonal, many businesses send a form letter or a programmed response that answers 10 common FAQs, none of which may apply to a particular customer. Other businesses simply ignore customer complaints hoping the customer will simply forget about the issue. These are email cop outs, or excuses for not providing adequate customer service. It is very simple for a customer representative to respond to each inquiry in a timely fashion.

9. Failure to listen. Customer service representatives routinely do not listen closely to customers. Typically they respond with an answer that does not match the problem because they were not paying attention. Customer relation representatives need to be trained, particularly in the art of listening and even taking notes.

10. Forgetting the basics. "Please," "thank you," "we're sorry about the inconvenience," and so on are simple phrases that cost nothing, take little effort, and win big points.

60-Second Guide to Establishing Great Customer Service

Every once in awhile it pays to sit back and take stock of how you’re running your business. Is the accounting software still the best for the job? Is the phone system meeting your needs? And most importantly, are you focusing on your greatest asset of all: your customers? Sometimes we get so caught up in the mechanics of doing business that we forget the reason we’re in business in the first place.

In just 60-seconds, you’ll learn to establish a way to keep your customers loyal to you.

0:60 Incorporate Customer Service into Your Business Culture
Customer service should be as routine as paying your bills or ordering office supplies. And it doesn’t have to be elaborate to make an impression. Often it’s the small things that customers remember: a phone call returned on time, a card to mark a special occasion, a thank you note or a gift.

0:46 Small Businesses Have a Customer Service Advantage
An advantage of being a small business is that it’s usually easier to respond quickly and personally to customer inquiries. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Ask yourself how you would like to be treated, and then act accordingly. Remember to be proactive toward your customers as well as reactive to their concerns and questions.

0:38 Communicate with Your Customers
Keep your customers apprised of the status of their accounts. If someone’s order is held up, let them know as soon as possible. If you promise to have a job done by a certain date and there are glitches, tell your client right away and let them know when you expect the issue will be resolved.

0:20 Respond to Customers Quickly
When dealing with customers or clients over the telephone, try not to put them on hold for longer than a minute or two. If you expect to be tied up for longer than that, take a message and respond as soon as possible. When you plan to attend an important meeting or event with a client, call beforehand to remind them of how they should prepare. After the meeting, check back with the client to find out their impressions. The client will appreciate your concern, and you will gain valuable feedback.

0:11 Let Customers Know You Appreciate their Business
Thank customers for their business. If customers regularly visit your place of business, make them feel welcome with coffee. Also, if customers are likely to bring children to your store or office, keep a basket of toys handy. Harried parents will appreciate the distraction, and are likely to stick around longer if their children are occupied.

0:03 Ask Customers for Feedback
Finally, when you sit back and ask yourself how you’re business is doing, be sure to ask your customers as well. Send them postage-paid response cards or make a questionnaire available in your place of business.

Brought to you by SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business”

留住客人 要先留住員工

我曾在這裡說過，「客戶忠誠計劃」始於「建立會員制度」，但當我讀完Jill Griffin的 "12 Laws of Customer Loyalty"，我必須修正我的說法，「客戶忠誠計劃」始於「建立員工的忠誠度」。有關「員工的忠誠度」對「客戶忠誠計劃」的影響，我們可以從多個角度來審視，Griffin所說的可說是最直接的角度。

客人購買「關係」和「熟識度」
Griffin的說法是：「若你的員工經常流失，要建立一個很強的客戶忠誠度幾乎是不可能的。為甚麼？這是因為客戶購買的不單是你的產品或服務，還有的是「關係」和「熟識度」(relationships and familiarity)，客人希望從那些熟知他們喜好的人那裡購物。所以，有關客戶忠誠計劃的第一條黃金定律是：首先好好地「服侍」你的員工，以致他們能好好地服侍你的客人。」

這一點，對服務業尤為重要，因為服務人員與客人之間的關係十分密切。以美容業為例，客人十分倚重美容師的手藝和美容顧問的意見，隨著服務時日的增加，美容師和顧問熟知客人的要求、關注、喜好和習慣，客人亦與這些人員建立起「關係」和「熟識度」。一旦一間美容院的人員經常流失，客人就購買不到「關係」和「熟識度」。結果會如何？客人即使沒有跟隨美容師和顧問「過檔」至你的競爭對手那裡，也會逐漸減少來訪，直至絕跡於你的店舖。

星巴克使命宣言首重善待員工
是以Griffin提出「首先好好地「服侍」你的員工，以致他們能好好地服侍你的客人」。這使我想到星巴克咖啡的「使命宣言」，內容包含六則「天條」，指導著日常運作和發展。所謂「天條」者，就是不容輕易修改，最高管理層也必須遵從，若管理層的一些決定違反了其中任何一則，員工可拒絕執行。這六則「天條」的首條是「提供完善工作環境，對員工要保持敬意及尊嚴」，第四條才是「盡力培養極度滿意的客人」。

有關善待員工這一則竟然高踞「天條」榜首。從排列的次序看來，善待員工獲得的重視程度甚至比客人的滿意度更高。單是這一點，星巴克可說是開商界的先河。不是說客人才是「米飯班主」嗎？何解員工竟成了聚焦點？！這跟星巴克主席霍華蕭茲（Howard Schultz）如何理解零售業的本質有關。

服務員以服務為榮
蕭茲認為，零售企業的形象以及業績，全繫於最前線服務人員或銷售員每天的工作態度，一旦有任何閃失，客人可能一輩子不再回來，因此員工向心力的強弱，攸關公司成敗，輕忽不得。另外，善待員工，員工流失率就會降低，也就可省下新進人員的培訓費用。

蕭茲花了很多心力「討好」他的員工，首先他打破了零售業服務人員低薪無福利的格局，有了好的待遇，員工自我感覺良好，不以服務為恥，心情開朗，對客人也就能不亢不卑，服務質素自然提高。

蕭茲又引入員工的配股制度，他稱之為「豆股票」（Bean Stock），按員工年薪為基準，無償配股，人人有份，這又開創了商界的另一先河。自此，星巴克不再有「員工」，只有「股東」。此法使所有「股東」也緊張公司的業績，人人都替公司省錢和提供各種開源的創見。上述各項「德政」，使星巴克員工自願解散工會組織，由此可知，管理層與員工的關係是如何親蜜！

必須配以優質服務
事實上，不少零售業經營者只懂關注「米飯班主」，花了不少資源在「辨識客人」、「鼓勵重訪」、「獎賞VIP」和「個性化行銷」上，但效果總是差強人意。究其原因，是服務的介面出了問題。服務人員態度不友善、不主動為客人解決問題，又或經常在客人面前投訴公司種種不是、服務人員持續流失……，這些情況都使客人對該公司產生不良印象，更先進的「客 戶忠誠系統」也無濟於事。

上下一心推動「客戶忠誠計劃」
正如文首所言：員工對「客戶忠誠計劃」的影響可以從多個角度來審視。服務人員的流失只是其中一點。除此之外，公司心須讓上上下下包括前線、後勤支援和市場人員都清晰了解「客戶忠誠計劃」的政策和精神，貫徹始終。否則，前線人員半心半意的推廣會員招募，市場人員沒有定期檢視「客戶忠誠計劃」的成效，VIP流失了卻沒採取挽回行動，則「客戶忠誠系統」淪為裝飾品，資源是浪費了，客人得不到實質好處，倒不如實實在在的給客人來個割價大平賣好了。

作者簡介：徐少驊｜Jeff 畢業於澳洲悉尼科技大學。先達智能有限公司創辦人及行政總裁，多年從事VIP、會員、客戶管理方案及諮詢服務，經常主講有關全球「客戶關係管理」（Customer Relationship Management, CRM）趨勢，為多間報刊撰寫企管文章。jeff@chinetekintel.com

原文刊於《盛世》月刊2006年10月號

Expanding Your Concept of Service

Your definition of service shapes every interaction you have with your customers. If you hold the common idea that service is only giving customers what they want, you may well paint yourself into a corner every time a customer asks for something that is impossible for you to provide. If, on the other hand, you expand your definition of service to include fulfilling the multitude of less obvious customer needs, you will never encounter a time when you can't provide your customers with some level of service.

By addressing less obvious customer needs such as listening with empathy to customers when they have a problem or providing options and alternatives when you can't give customers exactly what they want, you widen the gap between you and your competitors.

Six basic needs
Every time customers do business with you, they are, without fully realizing it, scoring you on how well you are doing, not only at giving them what they want, but at fulfilling six basic customer needs.

Following is a list of these needs:

Friendliness: The most basic of all customer needs, friendliness is usually associated with being greeted politely and courteously.

Understanding and empathy: The most basic of all customer needs, and it's usually associated with being greeted politely and courteously.

Fairness: The need to be treated fairly is high up on most customers' list of needs.

Control: Control represents the customers' need to feel as if they have an impact on the way things turn out.

Options and alternatives: Customers need to feel that other avenues are available to getting what they want accomplished.

Information: Customers need to be educated and informed about the products, policies, and procedures they encounter when dealing with your company.

A popular piece of customer service folklore states that if you give customers what they ask for (just say yes), then you end up with satisfied customers. This folklore is false. Customers do ask for what they want, but they usually don't ask for these six basic needs. When did you last go into a pizzeria and say, "I'd like one slice of pepperoni pizza, please," and then add, "Could you please be understanding, friendly, and fair?" Customers don't ask for these other needs, but they miss such gestures when they are not provided. To really provide top quality customer service, you need to move beyond the yes folklore to fulfill all your customers' needs.

Reconsider who your customers are
Who are your customers, really? Too often, the definition of customer is limited to someone who is outside of our company. Look up customer in your dictionary. The first definition of customer is a person who buys. The second definition is a person with whom one has dealings.

In fact, everyone who works in a company has customers regardless of whether they work with external, paying customers or internal co-workers. Customers fall into external and internal categories.

The external customer
These are the people you deal with, either face-to-face or over the phone, who buy products or services from you. They are customers in the traditional sense of the word. Without them there would be no sales, no business, no paycheck. If your definition of a customer stops here, you are only seeing half the picture.

The internal customer
The other half of the picture is the people who work inside your company and rely on you for the services, products, and information that they need to get their jobs done. They are not traditional customers, yet they need the same tender, loving care you give to your external customers.

By expanding your definition of a customer to include your co-workers, you are taking a vital step toward excellent service.

The internal customer chain works both ways. Sometimes you are the customer and other times you are the service provider. For example, a co-worker may come to you and ask for a printout of a report. In this case, you are the service provider because you are giving him what he needs. However, ten minutes later, you may turn around and go to that same co-worker and ask for help on a project; now you are the customer.

The customer chain
The relationship between internal customers and external customers is what forms the customer chain. If you have a back room kind of job where you rarely see the light of day, let alone a living, breathing customer, you can easily begin to feel that your work has little or no impact on external customers. But if you look at the bigger picture, you can see that everyone in a company plays some part in fulfilling the customers' needs. Barely an hour goes by during the day when you are not, in some form or another, providing something for somebody. Each interaction with an internal customer is an important link in a chain of events that always ends up at the external customers' feet.

About two years ago, The Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled, "Poorly treated employees treat the customer just as poorly." Boy, does that hit the nail on the head! A frightening percentage of managers do not realize that their staffs are their internal customers, and that the quality of service that a company provides to its customers is a direct reflection of how the staff of the company are treated by their managers. Make it a priority to view your staff as one of your most important customers and treat them accordingly. Doing so means focusing not on what your staff can do to make your job easier, but on what you can do to make their jobs easier.

Many companies seem to overlook another very important link in the service chain — their vendors. By using the techniques of customer service with your vendors, you will not only enhance your relationship with them but also receive better service.

積分獎賞十種最流行玩法

前文提到，折扣咭無助增加客人重訪率，大勢所趨乃是「積分制度」，原因是積分有數個致勝特性：包括多消費多「著數」的累進式優惠制度；設定有效期的積分產生在期限前再消費「追分」的效果。「積分制度」已成為全球大小企業最經常使用的「客戶忠誠計劃」獎賞準則，除上述原因外，積分的好處是「玩法」眾多，不同的商戶可按著自己的需要和目的，制定一套積分獎賞制度，以達致「留客」、增加重訪率和消費率的果效。

市面上零售業的積分獎賞制度大致有如下「玩法」 ：

一、 消費積分（Spending Bonus）
這是最主流的一種「玩法」。顧名思義，消費積分就是將消費金額與積分建立一種比率的關係，譬如說，每消費十元就可取得一分。當然，這個比率由商戶自訂，視乎產品價格和商戶說定獲得積分的難易度。

二、 轉介積分 （Referral Bonus）
「客戶忠誠計劃」的主要目的固然是留住舊客，吸引他們重訪消費，但成功的「客戶忠誠計劃」還會帶來額外的果效，就是「舊客帶新客」。忠誠的客戶都有一種習慣，就是向親友推介「好東西」。若會員推介新會員能獲得積分獎賞，則這種果效就會更為顯著了。

三、 感謝祭積分 （Appreciation Bonus）
香港的零售商戶很多時都會用「大減價」來吸引客人，日本則稱之謂「大割引」。不過，在不少客人的心目中，「大減價」的貨品都是賣不出去的「倉底貨」，價值感覺不高。於是，日本的零售企業以另一名目，稱為「感謝祭」，這有點像香港的Pre-Sale，挑選一些特別日子，貨品絕不是「倉底貨」，以優惠的價格，優先讓尊貴的會員選購。會員除了可享受優惠價格外，還可得到額外的積分獎賞。這種「感謝祭」的優惠讓VIP感受到做會員的實質好處和特權感覺。

四、 特別時段積分 （Happy Hours Bonus）
很多零售業都面對一個頭痛問題，就是所謂的「尖峰時刻」（peak hour），不少來客得不到即時的接待而離開，商戶是有生意也接不到。但這個尖峰時刻很短，其餘時間都是門可羅雀。若能把來客分流到非繁忙時段，商戶既可做多點生意，客人亦可得到更佳接待。現時一些商戶用所謂的「Happy Hour優惠」，以優惠價格或「套餐」，來吸引客人從尖峰時刻延至非繁忙時段來訪。積分計劃對這方面亦有幫助，商戶可設定「特別時段積分」，會員在這個時段來訪，可享更高的消費積分比率。

五、 到訪積分（Visit Bonus）
不少零售業都會定期舉辦活動，如展覽、同樂日等，積分設定中有一項名為「到訪積分」，會員出席活動，就可得定額積分。當然，主辦單位除了給與積分外，也可贈送禮品，增加會員的喜悅感覺，從而使他們更忠誠於你。

六、 幸運積分 （Lucky Draw Bonus）
購物固然是為了滿足需求，也可以是一種樂趣。事實上，愈來愈多企管研究顯示，購物過程的樂趣在消費者的心目中愈益重要，企管學者為此起了一個新詞彙，叫做「體驗經濟學」。其中一種不錯的方法是在購物之後來一個幸運抽獎，抽出來的獎品要在下一次消費時才能兌換，此方法有助增加客人的重訪率。很多時幸運抽獎以幸運積分的方式出現，幸運積分可以是一個定額，也可以是「消費積分」的倍數。

七、 生日積分 （Birthday Bonus）
「體驗經濟學」的精意其實是想方設法讓客人在購物過程中感到愉悅，也就是盡量討客人歡心。要討客人歡心，其中一個辨法是在他們的特別日子送上祝福和優惠，譬如會員在生日當天或當月購物可享額外積分和禮品。

八、 積分 + 折扣 + 現金券
前文曾提及，根據一間國際顧問公司的研究結果，會員折扣咭在留住舊客這方面已失去效用。不過，這並不表示折扣制度完全不可行。不少「客戶忠誠計劃」結合「積分」和「折扣」產生極佳的留客效果。商戶可設定在限定的日子之內，會員累積積分至某個數額，就可獲得會籍升級，並享受一個極具吸引力的購物折扣率。這樣會員就有足夠的誘因在期限前消費「追分」。另外，積分亦可與傳統的「現金券」（cash coupon）共用，跟上述的的機制雷同，即會員在期限內累積足夠的積分，就可兌換購物現金券。當然，積分、折扣和現金券可以藉著不同的組合製造出很多不同「玩法」。

九、 月度、季度、年度積分
有一些零售商戶採用所謂的月度、季度、年度積分，即會員必須在每個月都累積到足夠的積分才可獲得優惠，譬如是現金回贈，如未能在「死線」前累積足夠的積分，則僅有的積分亦會報銷，不能使用。之後再有季度積分指標，達標的會員可得到更吸引的優惠。最後是年度積分，在這一年積分達標的「超級會員」，將獲得一個大獎，以作獎勵。這種制度的好處是令會員在整年都保持著「追分」的狀態，商戶亦可藉此辨識誰是真正的VIP，並好好地與以 維繫。

十、 積分貨幣
一些商戶開創了一個十分成功的「客戶忠誠計劃」，客人入會率和會員活躍度都極高，甚至禮品的需求比起貨品的還要大。這個時候，積分就會供不應求。一些商戶設定積分與現金比率，讓會員以現金購買積分。有商戶甚至容許會員之間交換、商借或購買積分，積分儼如成了貨幣。這種制度增加了會員儲分和追分的誘因。

一個成功的「客戶忠誠計劃」除了要有切合目的的積分制度和定立具吸引力的獎賞制度外，當然還需要其他配套措施，例如宣傳推廣包括海報、說明小冊子或單張、禮品換領展示、內部人員培訓……。當然，還必須有一套合適的管理系統，用作會員資料處理和分析，環環相扣，缺一不可。

作者簡介：徐少驊｜Jeff 畢業於澳洲悉尼科技大學。先達智能有限公司創辦人及行政總裁，多年從事VIP、會員、客戶管理方案及諮詢服務，經常主講有關全球「客戶關係管理」（Customer Relationship Management, CRM）趨勢，為多間報刊撰寫企管文章。jeff@chinetekintel.com

原文刊於《盛世》月刊2006年9月號

How to Build Customer Loyalty in an Internet World

by Edward Prewitt of CIO magazine

"ONE of the best things you can do with CRM technology is find out who your valuable customers are." —FRED REICHHELD, BAIN & CO.

If you really want customers to keep coming back, then toss out those glossy brochures from vendors looking to sell you the latest in CRM software. Customer loyalty does not stem from clever stratagems to collect every conceivable piece of data from customers and then cross-sell them something they don't want, says Fred Reichheld, Boston-based Bain & Co. director emeritus and Bain fellow who has studied the topic.

In fact, the very concept of customer relationship management is misguided, Reichheld argues. Companies shouldn't try to manage loyal customers, he says; long-standing relationships arise from trust gained over many transactions, and they are sustained by customers' belief that the company wishes to keep them around rather than drive them away.

"CRM is manipulation in too many cases. Companies are acting on information of customers against their interests—calling them at home at night, charging them at the highest price point [that CRM software shows they will pay]," says Reichheld, author of two books on loyalty, including Loyalty Rules (Harvard Business School Press, 2001). "Loyalty means listening to your partner, creating mutual satisfaction."

Customer loyalty seems like a quaint notion in the Internet age, when customers can search out lower prices and defect to competitors with a mouse-click. Yet Reichheld's research has found that in the faceless online market, customers yearn for trustworthiness more than ever. Give it to them and they're yours forever, he says. That kind of loyalty is immensely valuable: Reichheld's analysis shows that a 5 percent increase in customer retention rates results in a 25 percent to 95 percent increase in profits. Clearly, customer loyalty is too central to companies' fortunes to be left to the marketing departments alone. And with technology so important in determining retention—or customer disaffection, if technology is improperly used—CIOs have a role to play. "If I were a CIO, I would really want to start to influence customer data," Reichheld says. This influence can take two forms, he says: a redeployment of CRM software and the creation of entirely new metrics for customer loyalty.

Shooing Away Butterflies
CRM is not altogether awful, in Reichheld's view. It's just that, too often, the standard CRM practices lead to vexation or worse from customers, not loyalty. Not many people enjoy being inundated with telephone calls and mailings from a vendor and its marketing affiliates. There is a good and virtuous use of CRM, however. "One of the best things you can do with CRM technology is find out who the valuable customers are—those who are staying, not just any customer willing to accept your offer to switch [from a competitor]," says Reichheld.

CRM data can do more than tell your marketing department what to pitch to customers. CRM software can also be used to determine which customers are worthy of a sales pitch. This may sound counterintuitive to capitalists, but loyalty is a two-way street. "Companies should try to invest only in relationships where there's the potential for long-term value," Reichheld says.

What he calls butterflies—customers who jump from one promotional offer to another—do not create that potential. Such customers often don't even provide short-term value, in fact. Think of credit card customers who flit from bank to bank following a succession of introductory rates.

Instead, companies should invest their resources in courting "barnacles"—customers who are likely to stick around for many years, as long as they're treated right.

Once companies know who their best customers are, the real work begins—convincing them to stay forevermore. Dell Computer, for instance, uses CRM data to determine which customers have the greatest hardware needs and then provides extra value to that select group, in the form of free Web portals. Although Dell garners a great deal of valuable customer information from its sales transactions, which are largely conducted via the Web, the company abjures common practices such as selling customer lists to outside vendors. Instead, Dell has set up Premier Pages for thousands of its best customers. These customized, secure websites allow customers to check on order status, arrange delivery dates and troubleshoot problems through Dell's help desk. Many Dell customers, which tend to be large companies, use their Premier Pages to keep track of systemwide computer purchases for better asset management. "The Internet offers most businesses a rich set of possibilities for improving the customer lifetime experience, but few firms have matched Dell's initiative," Reichheld says in Loyalty Rules.

Gauging Customer Loyalty
IS groups are typically content to fulfill the data-gathering requests of other departments rather than create their own surveys. But if existing measures of customer loyalty are inadequate, perhaps it's time for CIOs to step up to the plate. Companies typically gauge how well they're serving customers by getting them to fill out satisfaction surveys. There's a far more effective way to measure satisfaction, Reichheld says: Rather than limit yourself to the fraction of customers willing to tell you what they think, track the percentage of customers who come back. Retention rates capture the real financial ramifications of whether or not a company is delivering high value to its customers.

Although less than 20 percent of companies track customer retention, a few use it to great effect, estimates Reichheld. USAA, a San Antonio-based insurance company, for example, has made customer retention the top metric for executive performance. USAA's budget submittals must address how they will maintain or improve customer retention. Not surprisingly, the company has one of the highest retention rates of any insurer in the world.

A second loyalty metric that CIOs should consider instituting for their companies is Reichheld's own Loyalty Acid Test, found at www.loyaltyeffect.com/loyaltyrules/index.html, which asks customers whether a company is worthy of their loyalty. The 25 survey questions capture how loyal customers are to a particular company and why. Reichheld benchmarked the acid test with several companies that his research has identified as "loyalty leaders," including Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Harley-Davidson, Intuit, L.L.Bean, Northwestern Mutual, USAA, The Vanguard Group and SAS Institute. Overall, 70 percent of their customers said these eight companies deserved their loyalty—compared with less than 50 percent of the customers of a representative sample of all U.S. companies.

While keeping customers happy makes sense on an intuitive level, Reichheld is at pains to stress that it is good business sense. "The question is, Is a company getting profits from employees and customers or at their expense?" he asks. If the answer is the latter, then CIOs do their company a painful but important service in revealing the extent of customer dissatisfaction.