Elucidate the various pillars of strategic customer care.

The Pillars of Strategic Customer Care

PWC concludes that there are three stages, each with sub-stages, in the process of developing strategic customer care (see Figure).

In Stage I, companies focus on customer acquisition and learning about their customer base. Stage II represents CRM strategies of ever-increasing intensity. Stage II companies place emphasis on segmenting the customer base and learning to serve each segment more effectively. In Stage III, companies are able to use technology to offer consistent customer care at all times and at all customer touch points. PWC describes organizations that have achieved customer care excellence as follows:

Stage III organizations have realized that they cannot be all things to all people.

While most customers are potentially profitable, some customers offer more long-term promise than others. The ability to predict who these customers are is a necessary skill on the upward path to strategic customer care. By wisely applying the right technology and information tools (remember, technology is not a solution in its own right), companies at the strategic level of customer care exercise a core level of service for all their customers and a distinctive, optimized level of care for their best customers.