Preliminary considerations
All the structuring that the company has had by focusing entirely on satisfying the needs and expectations of consumers or users, by customerizing the organization, would lose their impact if the strategist does not simultaneously configure projects that allow him to carry out an optimal management of customer relationships, seeking customer loyalty.
Additionally, management must have become aware of the need and importance of maintaining a stable and long-lasting relationship with customers, which is potentiated by personalizing and individualizing relationships, which will be programmed thanks to the accessibility of new technologies and the framework of new marketing concepts.
From the point of view of conceptual references, one-to-one marketing is the fundamental pillar on which a series of derived concepts are built, such as:
- Relational Marketing Database Marketing Integrated Direct Marketing C.RM (Customer relationship management) E-commerce.
One-to-one marketing
It originates and is understood from the existing relationship between the company and its customers, based on the knowledge of the consumption habits, purchasing habits and communication habits of the consumers or users, whom they want to retain, achieving from Repurchase and return actions, until they become a permanent source of information on all events that affect the business relationship and the management of the company itself.
To this end, all possible communication mechanisms are used to establish interactive relationships that examine the suggestions and recommendations of clients, always seeking to achieve quality standards in accordance with market expectations, under criteria of continuous improvement.
The central objective of one-to-one marketing strategies will always be linked to establishing long-term and lasting relationships with customers, generating incentives that go beyond strictly promotional actions, starting from the generation of stimuli located in the orbit of the personal and the familiar to create emotional ties with the organization.
These measures must be dynamic and subject to permanent revision and updating, since if they are not renewed they tend to lose their attractiveness over time and may lead to the client considering alternatives presented by the competition. In this sense, customers should be prevented from discovering other options present in the market, since trying to win back their interest can mean a significant additional effort for the organization.
One-to-one marketing implies an abundant knowledge of the characteristics and behaviors of consumers or users, based on quantitative and qualitative research, while demanding a clear differentiation and prioritization of customers, achieved in micro-segmentation processes..
Database Marketing
Recognizing that it is a topic that has been mentioned repeatedly, it is also valid to understand that no marketing, sales or customer service strategy would work properly without having an updated database.
By addressing their analysis in a particular way, they want to highlight the benefits of its structure, remembering that the identification of different types of customers is essential when programming and carrying out business intelligence tasks, as well as the adoption of conquest strategies and the evaluation of the impacts achieved.
Database marketing corresponds to the management of a system that integrates relevant information about all types of customers, using statistical analysis and subjective interpretations, to analyze and project marketing strategies that stimulate purchasing actions and loyalty processes. organizations are so concerned about.
By monitoring the relationships established with each of the clients and confronting historical behaviors, both individual and collective, appropriate measures can be taken to reduce dropout rates, which in one way or another would not be controllable if timely information on the current status of customers is lacking.
With this, the first classification of the databases has already been generated by distinguishing the customers that maintain their validity in relations with the company, from those who have not continued the trade agreement or who have dramatically decreased their volumes and purchase frequencies..
Of course, this task will be facilitated with the incorporation of technology that is available to entrepreneurs and that will manage permanent information on the specific purchase actions that each client carries out, as well as generate sheets of information and consolidated tables on the representative behaviors of individual, group to group and general cut, in those periods of time that are of interest to the strategist.
When organizations undertake this type of marketing, it is most likely that they already have the capacity to design and provide personalized goods and / or services, develop micro-marketing programs, just as they will have anticipated the availability of an interactive communication network and even have structured relationship marketing programs.
Relational marketing
Relational marketing initiates one-to-one operationalization and, as its name suggests, it seeks to create, strengthen and preserve the company's short, medium and long-term relationships with its buyers, in order to empower them in achieving greater number and possible quality of transactions, using marketing, communications and public relations tools.
The strategy defines programs that, in the first instance, recognize and reward the best customers with the best performances, that is, those whose purchase volumes, purchase frequency, amount of investment, commercial morality and length of relationship, they become more valuable to the organization and those who normally generate the highest volumes of income available to the company.
In any case, prioritizing measures towards “pareto clients” does not mean excluding those who do not meet these characteristics. On the contrary, a design is sought that encourages them to improve their relationships and communications with the organization and increase their turnover, from the creation of a closer relationship and from the generation of added values.
Internal customers at all levels also participate in this dynamic and suppliers can get involved, along with companies that establish themselves as strategic allies.
With relationship marketing, as with any program that needs to be planned, a series of stages must be followed that will contribute to its success:
Step 1: Diagnostic assessment
Step 2: Consolidation of the database
Step 3: Micro segmentation of the database
Step 4: Market research
Step 5: Determination of the objectives of the plan
Step 6: Accuracy of the plan format
Step 7: Internal dissemination and qualification of the internal client
Step 8: External dissemination
Step 9: Implementation and start-up of the plan
Step 10: Measurement of results and adjustment of the plan
Step 1. Diagnostic assessment
In order to understand, in the first instance, the current status of eventual programs or measures that seek customer loyalty and verify the level of impact it has had.
In the second instance, a map will be made from internal documentary sources that will look for indicators and statistics on the following aspects:
- Current market situation, in terms of volumes per unit of time Sales evolution Sales forecast / projection Calculation of the market repurchase rate Calculation of the repurchase rate for the company Percentage share of the repurchase over the volume of current sales Percentage of loyal customers / not loyal
Because the goals to be achieved will be built on this basis.
Step 2. Consolidation of the database
To define, create and feed a single database that integrates all the existing ones and that includes all the available information about the clients, such as their statistical history, profile and personal information collected, etc. In order to micro segment it and carry out an adequate study on behaviors that are of interest to the organization.
The consolidated database will facilitate the creation of a customer profitability matrix, built on criteria that classify them as paretos, by type or product line, while allowing cross-selling for each group of customers and leading to carry out the micro segmentation.
Having a global view of the group of clients will allow the assembly of information systems on various topics of interest in managing relationships with them, with special emphasis on the structure of customer service and the response provided to the measures adopted to achieve your loyalty.
These systems must have clearly defined parameters and their access will be conditioned to the different levels of decision, even restricting the possibility of consultation for members of the organization who are not managers.
Step 3. Micro segmentation of the database
Which can be carried out following criteria established by the company and by the strategist, such as geographic, demographic, socio-cultural, psychographic characteristics, by frequency of purchase, by volume of purchase, by commercial morality, etc., seeking to quantify and clearly identify each micro segment.
Step 4. Market research
Once the micro segments are defined, a quantitative and qualitative investigation of each one of them will be carried out, with special emphasis on brand and product perception and trying to identify the expectations that they have towards them.
The investigation will exhaust the pertinent documentary sources and will structure the consultation of the direct sources that may take place, documenting all the results and creating a Marketing Information System (SIM), which will have to be permanently updated.
Step 5. Determination of the plan's objectives
The objectives of a relationship marketing plan can be classified into qualitative and quantitative.
Among the qualitative objectives are the following:
- Create, develop and foster a permanent relationship with clients Improve the perception of the quality of the service provided to the client Facilitate the perception and adequate dimensioning of the added values Reinforce the corporate image of the company Serve and exceed the expectations of the clients Loyalty the clients, improving continuously, their levels of satisfaction, etc.
While in the quantitative objectives are:
- Increase the loyalty rate, to exceed the current repurchase rate by a percentage, Reduce the average repurchase time in days, weeks, months, etc. Increase the loyalty of customers to the distribution channels by an increasing percentage, etc.
Step 6. Accuracy of the plan format
The relationship marketing format must always be structured within the framework of a philosophy that integrates rational values and emotional values, which, when integrated, are coherent with the fidelity intention.
Having made this precision, the first step to be taken is to give a name to the relationship marketing program, which emphasizes its selective and privileged character, for example: premium club, VIP members, elite club, gold lounge and others of a similar nature.
Simultaneously, the validity in time for the program must be determined, the lapse of which will be set in response to the typical or average repurchase frequency of the good or service. This will mean that structured programs can be found at one, two, three years, etc., becoming in many cases the only long-term plan that the organization has.
The format must include the identification and programming of the added values and of the relational strategies with which the preselected clients will be approached, in coherence with their profile and the nature of the good or service in question.
Some of the rational values can be generalizing like:
- Customer service and advice Technical assistance Guarantees Courtesies Etc.
While others will be exclusive benefits like:
- Discounts and preferential services Credit card with preferential quota Consumer card with differential discount Selective access to corporate events Selective access to extra-corporate events Etc
While on the side of emotional values communication bonds are created that evolve as progress is made towards loyalty.
Individual actions will be included, others regularized and some more of a special type.
As individual actions can be programmed:
- Welcome direct mail Gifts for bonding Greeting on special dates (birthdays, anniversaries) Opinion evaluation Opinion survey, input and process Consultations for the evaluation of the service Etc.
Within the list of regularized communications you can find:
- Communication on account statements Greetings on special dates (professional day, national holidays) While regarding special actions, invitations may be given to: Corporate events Cultural events Family events Social events
All of which must be properly scheduled and disseminated.
Step 7. Internal dissemination and qualification of the internal client
Using internal marketing strategies to make the corporate objectives regarding loyalty campaigns known in a timely manner, a policy of job identification, selection, induction, training and development of a work team with a service profile and whose attitudes will be structured be consistent with the guidelines that prioritize relationships with external customers.
The company must structure, within the strategic training plan, topics that address customer service and the creation of a service culture, together with events where marketing and sales are conceptualized.
Likewise, an incentive and motivation plan must be determined for the internal client, which encourages and recognizes the different efforts made by each of them, using performance evaluations internally and also involving the external client in evaluating the work they carry out. organization officials at all levels.
Step 8. External broadcast
The entire relationship marketing plan will become a significant component of the company's communication plan and will be considered in its corresponding dimension and importance, at the time of specifying the advertising and promotional plan with which the organization is going to face the market.
The first activity will be associated with the creation of the advertising concept that typifies the relationship marketing plan and will consider the following, among other means of dissemination:
- Publications and communication means of the company, emails and bulletins Dissemination in mass / selective means of communication Creation of a website for the organization and dissemination of it Scheduling training events, seminars, conferences, etc. Scheduling of socio-cultural events of mass participation Assembly of spaces direct care with preferential treatments
Among other mechanisms that the company considers and that may involve the mass media and all printed forms.
Step 9. Implementation and start-up of the plan
In accordance with a schedule of activities, each and every one of the scheduled events will begin, making a social event that constitutes the formal act of initiation of the entire strategy.
Step 10. Results measurement and plan adjustment
Based on the comparison of the scheduled events with those executed, the quantitative impact on the pre-established indicators and the qualitative effect around the perception generated are measured, to feed back the process and adopt the corrective measures that may be necessary, based on improvement criteria. continuous.
Direct marketing
Direct marketing gathers the essence of interactivity between the company and customers, given that it is implemented in telemarketing, direct mail and the use of the internet, communicating messages of diffusion and persuasion that should lead to a measurable and verifiable response from the of target customers.
Direct marketing has gained significant space as a strategic component in marketing, thanks to the evolution of technology in telecommunications and information technology, as well as has been favored by the permanent accessibility to software and hardware that are now exclusively designed for this type of instruments.
This process will begin with the integration between telemarketing activities and direct mailings, to achieve some impact, creating the basis for later incorporating the use of the internet.
In telemarketing, you can go in the first instance to the receptive or inbound nature, generated by customers and, secondly, to outbound, which is part of the company's initiative and must be very dynamic and creative.
In each case, efforts will be made to facilitate communication between the company and its customers, customers with the company, the company with other companies, the company with its suppliers, and even the company's customers with each other.
However, if you want to achieve a good impact, you must reinforce the communication strategy using direct mail, either conventional, fax or e-mail, respecting a series of minimum design requirements, such as:
- Creative design Permanent use of letterhead Document signed by management levels Presentation of an official to be contacted Nominal letter for each client Communication of a single message per shipment Sending copies to each manager of an organization Readability of delivery vouchers Analysis of the causes of return of correspondence Etc.
Being usual the type of communications that seeks to create expectations about some event or activity of the company and stimulate a response from customers.
As previously indicated, this whole set of measures will be reinforced by resorting to the use of the internet, taking advantage of its interactive dynamics, its activity in real time twenty-four hours a day and its personalized character.
In order to potentiate this tool, it is necessary to design a site (Website), which serves as a contact and reference point for all the information that is wanted and can be shared with clients, either from free and spontaneous access or by creating an extranet with restricted access.
In this type of sites designed by companies, not only must the corporate and commercial information that interests the organization be accommodated, but also themes and links that may be striking for customers, as individuals, members, must be incorporated. of a family or members of a society, in such a way that continuous access to the institutional page is encouraged.
The Internet also provides other tools for interactive communication with customers, such as chat, audio chat and video chat with the possibility of creating groups and communities that interact on topics suggested by the company or by customers.
In all this scenario, it must be clear to the strategist that the internet is used as an instrument articulated to a group of previously designed strategies, as opposed to a trend of another nature, which leads to the creation of virtual companies and internet portals.
CRM customer relationship management
Customer Relationship Management or customer relationship management, is a name taken from the computer industry, about a concept that is based on the same principles that one-to-one marketing has proposed, in the sense of counting as the basis for its Implementation with an organization whose management areas are structured according to consumers or users, based on methodologies and programs related to the use of computer technology and the internet, designing CRM solutions, which recognize the interaction between internal customers and external clients to generate a positive perception of the organization.
The CRM is based on applications that systematize the processes associated with the management of customer information, relying on computer planning tools, decision support systems, administration of the sales force and database management, among other.
Like all events associated with customer retention and loyalty, CRM has a long-term vision, based on marketing, sales and customer service strategies, which lead to the creation of a service culture throughout the organization., arriving to adopt process reengineering schemes that are necessary for this purpose.
Perhaps the central element that differentiates CRM from other concepts is related to its notorious support in solutions of technological and computer origin that involve the entire organization, automating all those processes that can be programmed and regularized with this criterion, of course following the guidelines set by business policy and seeking compliance with economic objectives of a corporate nature.
The CRM involves all the marketing management and its applicability facilitates events such as:
- Market analysis Customer service management Telemarketing tasks operationalized Sales planning and operationalization Commercial activities management Database management E-commerce operationalization Portfolio and logistics activities support Customer retention and loyalty
Given that the CRM involves systematizing a wide range of processes, it will be necessary to have sufficient clarity on which ones will be selected, making an evaluation to verify if they have already been validated and are properly documented, consistent with institutional guidelines and the objective of improve the different stages of the commercial team's work, prioritizing the impact that is achieved in the market over the technological impact that may be involved.
On the other hand, it will be necessary to make use of an “intelligent technology”, made up of modularized programs that can be easily integrated into existing databases, seeking compatibility with networked systems in any cases that may arise.
Another criterion that is important to consider is associated with the participation of external clients, to the extent that their level of involvement will give greater certainty when structuring strategies that seek to satisfy their needs and expectations.
In this development, the active intervention of internal clients, which now acquire the connotation of system users, becomes particularly important when validating the procedures that involve them, providing them with adequate training and capacity to facilitate the operation of automated processes, since these schemes can mean changes in work habits.
Of course, the training activities must be accompanied by actions that stimulate and motivate the work team in the adoption of the CRM system, based on internal marketing efforts and the permanent use of interactive means of communication with all the officials of the organization.
E-commerce
Electronic commerce or e-commerce basically consists of the development of marketing, sales, customer service, portfolio management, logistics management and, in general, all commercial events and information exchange carried out through the internet.
This tool originates from the new information technologies, from the establishment of interactive links between companies, consumers and all the agents that intervene in the marketing dynamics, forcing organizations to change their conception and gain a globalizing vision, in which geographic barriers and time management are factors that favor all commercial action.
E-commerce is also used in organizational restructuring processes, by automating the relationships between the different departments or divisions of the company and is applicable in direct marketing, relationship marketing and database marketing strategies.
Given the nature of the theme that can be handled on the internet, electronic data transfer (EDI) has been created, with which it is possible to carry out complex transactions associated with legal, accounting, financial issues, etc., as well as the management of highly confidential information and the record of the electronic activities of the data and documents transferred from computer to computer, in a very secure way.
Electronic commerce, whose evolution is permanent, has enabled the management of customer relationships, among other reasons, for the following:
- It facilitates permanent and interactive communication, every day of the year, within a world-wide geographical coverage. It allows to establish commercial agreements in a simple way. It makes it possible to set up and permanently update databases for all types of clients. It streamlines the response capacity of company facing product, goods or service requirements from consumers or users interested in them Provides new communication and interaction mechanisms within the framework of customer service strategies and loyalty campaigns structured by the organization Allows to personalize and individualize all Company-client relationsReduces the costs of commercial management and sales processes, enhancing the performance of the company's work teams.
The Website
Once the magnitude and importance of e-commerce is sufficiently understood as an instrument that not only facilitates commercial transactions but also helps to improve customer relations, the assembly of the elements required to potentiate the strategy begins.
The first step to follow is the creation of a website or website, which is structured as a complementary tool for all marketing action, which differs from the concepts of virtual company or portal, since the designed website is based in the already established organization and even emerges as a culminating part of the company's orientation towards the client.
Today, progress has been made in the creation of very creative and dynamic tools that make pages striking, with the integration of formats that link texts, sounds and images, under a multimedia criterion, attracting the attention of the people who access them. from search engines available on the net and made known by the company itself.
This site must be coherent with the corporate image that one has or that one wants to project, presenting both internal and external clients with answers to the inquiries that they make, based on intranet and extranet schemes, respectively.
Of course, access to the website will be conditioned and restricted with the use of a password or access codes, as necessary, to avoid leaking information that is confidential.
On the other hand, the dimensioning of the data placed on the page will be conditioned to the minimum presentation required by the clients and organizations that access it, so the website must be potentiated from the inclusion of links or links that extend and complement the topics, leading to other sites of interest, quickly and “friendly”, that is, easily executed.
In fact, one of the strategies that is being applied to attract the attention of customers is to facilitate the location of content of interest to them, transcending the institutional and marketing information presented by the company and located on topics that concern physical well-being. and mental of people, their families and communities in general.
System tools
Simultaneously, the strategist will make available to clients email addresses or e-mails that facilitate personalized communication of concerns, recommendations and suggestions, channeling comments to people or positions that have sufficient incidence to meet the relevant requirements.
Another tool that has been gaining space from the internet corresponds to chat, audio chat and video chat, which allow real-time and simultaneous communication with groups of clients called to address various issues, emphasizing training, orientation, advice and technical assistance regarding the products, processes and procedures that are followed, within the framework of customer service actions and loyalty campaigns.
With the integration of chat and mail, segmented groups can be configured under different homogenizing criteria, to constitute clearly differentiated databases and form integrated communities around themes of common interest, linking the company with its clients.
Once the use of the tools presented so far has been consolidated, the organization will have gained sufficient knowledge and experience to venture into the assembly of virtual stores or structured e-shops based on the productive activity that it carries out and knowledge of the needs and expectations of internet users, applying the instruments required to guarantee the reliability and security of all electronic transactions that arise.
All the set of elements that are available on the internet and that facilitate the work of electronic commerce, have been gaining an increasingly important space for companies concerned with generating competitive advantages and gaining more loyal customers, which is why in a step that has to be carried out in a planned way, if you want to gain a better strategic position in the market.
