In order to help ensure the company has profitable outcomes, a CRM system is vital. A CRM system interacts with the customer facing business activities such as Marketing, Sales and Post Sales. Data on all of these activities are collected, and analyzed to allow the company to maximize profits. In a nutshell, Customer Relationship Management involves getting customers but most importantly keeping the customers you have. In theory CRM encompasses:

1. Identifying the customer - the process of accumulating information about customers, first the company needs an organized database, in which they can clearly identify the customer.

2. Differentiation - Within an organized database, differentiating customer information is recorded. This allows the company to identify customer groups with similar profiles, also known as segmentation.

3. Interaction - Customer interactions are based on the customer's differentiation - customers that may give the company a higher return may have a different type of interaction.

4. Personalization - As a result of the exercise above, you can personalize the product offering to specific segments or, if appropriate, to a specific customer - in other words, one-to-one marketing.

Customer relationship management is about all of the interactions an organization has with existing and prospective customers. People make buying decisions. People have loyalties. Relationships can only be developed between people. CRM is an approach to organizing your company's interactions with customers that starts with a customer-centered point of view. It's an entire discipline, not a single activity.

CRM includes business processes, such as marketing, sales, service, and analytics, as well as the software used to automate these business processes. This allows the organization to study, analyze and learn about the customer and prospective customer. You can learn about what they expect and want from you as far as your products, services and how they get those products and services. This information is valuable in developing a strategy for how to acquire and retain customers and to ensure you have a competitive advantage in your industry. It is all about the product, how you market the product, how you sell the product and how provide service for your products. Most importantly it is how you measure your success in all of these areas and use that data/information to continously improve what you do and increase your profitability.

According to Forbes, companies must understand how to learn more about the consumer and turn what they have learned into "action". That is, with new technology and a significant amount of data available to the customer, companies are no longer able to control the relationships they have forged with the customer. The customer is empowered with information and the ability to set their own purchasing path. Organizations need to use social media, applications, and other tools to provide the customer a mix of valuable information and an easy approach to pull the customer to their product. Companies need to provide value and remain important to the customer. That includes not only providing a good product or service, but following up on what you promise. Thus, this requires a significant investment in the appropriate channels and ensuring ongoing real time interaction.

TWO ASSIGNMENTS: Remember to cite your sources.
 
1. Name three ways a university can implement CRM for its customer (identify

2. who the customers are) and employees.

3. Who is managing the customer of the University?

4. What evolutionary process should universities be looking at to

continuously improve their relationship with the customer? (ie...social media)

5. What can PSU to have better two way interaction with their customer?

6. How would MOGO or Gconnect enhance how the University relates to its customer?

 
CRM 2.0 Case Study