Chapter- 2 :Introduction to e-CRM

2.1 Definition of e-CRM, Its Need, features

2.2 Framework of e-CRM
2.3 Six es of e-CRM
2.4 CRM Vs e- CRM
2.5 Architecture of e-CRM
2.6 Implementing a Technology Based CRM Solution: (eg; The ICICI Experience)
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2.1 Definition of e-CRM, Its Need, features

Definition of e-CRM :
Electronic customer relationship management (E-CRM) is the application of Internet-based technologies
such as emails, websites, chat rooms, forums and other channels to achieve CRM objectives. It is a well-
structured and coordinated process of CRM that automates the processes in marketing, sales and
customer service.
Electronic customer relationship management (E-CRM) is the application of Internet-based technologies
such as emails, websites, chat rooms, forums and other channels to achieve CRM objectives. It is a well-
structured and coordinated process of CRM that automates the processes in marketing, sales and
customer service.
An effective E-CRM increases the efficiency of the processes as well as improves the interactions with
customers and enables businesses to customize products and services that meet the customers individual
needs.
Electronic customer relationship management provides an avenue for interactions between a business, its
customers and its employees through Web-based technologies. The process combines software, hardware,
processes and managements commitments geared toward supporting enterprise-wide CRM business
strategies.
Electronic customer relationship management is motivated by easy Internet access through various
platforms and devices such as laptops, mobile devices, desktop PCs and TV sets. It is not software,
however, but rather the utilization of Web-based technologies to interact, understand and ensure customer
satisfaction.
An effective E-CRM system tracks a customers history through multiple channels in real time, creates
and maintains an analytical database, and optimizes a customers relation in the three aspects of
attraction, expansion and maintenance.

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A typical E-CRM strategy involves collecting customer information, transaction history and product
information, click stream and contents information. It then analyzes the customer characteristics to give a
transactional analysis consisting of the customer's profile and transactional history, and an activity
analysis consisting of exploratory activities showing the customer's navigation, shopping cart, shopping
pattern and more
Needs/ benefits of E-CRM include the following:
Improved customer relations, service and support
Matching the customers' behavior with suitable offers
Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty
Greater efficiency and cost reduction
Increased business revenue
Businesses that strategize and implement an E-CRM solution are able to align their processes around
technology to effectively deliver seamless, high-quality customer experience across all channels.
Customers have the power to help themselves through online personalized services that are made
available on demand. The Internet provides a simple and ideal medium where customers can get
information from websites, buy products and find answers using FAQ sections, forums or chat rooms.
Key e-CRM Features

Regardless of a companies objectives an e-CRM solution must possess certain key characteristics. It must
be:

Driven by a data warehouse.

Focused on consistent metrics to assess customer actions across channels
Built to accommodate the new market dynamics that place the customer in control.
Structured to identify a customer's profitability or profit potential, and to determine effective
investment allocation decisions accordingly, so that most profitable customers could be identified
and retained and the resources could be invested In relationships, which are most profitable.
Technological and Business issues involved

The technology and business issues involved in e-CRM are,

Switching Costs: involved in shifting to the new system.

Scalability and Reliability: Whether the system would be able to adapt to new levels of usage
and functionality.
Security: The information risks arising because of the threats to data integrity, violations of
confidentiality and data integrity should be taken care of.

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2.2 Framework of e-CRM
In traditional marketing (state 1), one type of production was offered for all and the marketing programs
for all of them were identical. Then the concept of customer relationship management was formed. In that
state (state 2) by increasing the communication channels the one by one marketing was used. Finally the
use of information technology in CRM led to form e-CRM concept (state 3). Consequently, the use of the
ITs capabilities madespecific production for each customer possible (Jarahi et al, 2009).

Traditional (mass) marketing doesnt need to use information technologies extensi

vely because there is no need to distinguish, differentiate, interact with, and customize for individual
customer needs. Although some argue that IT
has a small role in CRM, each of the four key CRM tasks depends heavily on information technologies
and systems.

2.3 Six es of e-CRM

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 Electronic channels: New electronic channels such as the web and personalised e-Messaging
have become the medium for fast, interactive and economic communication, challenging
companies to keep pace with this increased velocity. e-CRM thrives on these electronic channels.
Enterprise: Through e-CRM a company gains the means to touch and shape a customers
experience through sales, services and corner offices-whose occupants need to understand and
assess customer behaviour.
Empowerment: e-CRM strategies must be structured to accommodate consumers who now have
the- power to decide when and how to communicate with the company. Through, which channel,
at what frequency. An e-CRM solution must be structured to deliver timely pertinent, valuable
information that a consumer accepts in exchange for his or her attention.
Economics: An e-CRM strategy ideally should concentrate on customer economics, which drives
smart asset-allocation decisions, directing efforts at individuals likely to provide the greatest
return on customer- communication initiatives.
Evaluation: Understanding customer economics relies on a company's ability to attribute
customer behaviour to market programs, evaluate customer interactions along various customer
touch point channel, etc.
External information: The e-CRM solution should be able to gain and leverage information
from such sources as third party information networks and web page profiler application.
e-CRM must address customer optimisation along three dimensions

-- Acquisition (increasing the number of customers).

-- Expansion (increasing portability by encouraging customer to purchase more products and service).
-- Retention (increasing the amount of time that customer stays customers). An e-CRM strategy must be
able to identify the expansion potential for each customer. A company should be able to identify the
opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell to the same set of customers

2.4 CRM Vs e- CRM

CRM uses phone, fax and retail store for contacting customers while eCRM uses wireless, PDA
technology, internet and email.
CRM requires the client to definitely download different applications for viewing Web-Enabled
applications while eCRM does not have such requirements.
The personalized views of CRM are not available while the personalized views of eCRM are
related to purchase preferences and history.

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 The design of CRM system is related to job products and functions while the design of eCRM
system is related to customer needs.
The maintenance of CRM is very expensive while the maintenance of eCRM is less expensive
and requires only less time.
Specifically, e-CRM focuses on the sales, customer service, customer support and marketing
initiative channels as they relate to online customer interaction. When effective, e-CRM creates a
seamless, high-quality online customer experience. This results in higher customer satisfaction
and loyalty, which ultimately increases the company's revenue.
The e-CRM system must take into account the protection of sensitive customer data. Many
customers are concerned about the privacy and safety of their data with the growth of Internet and
technological crime that has occurred as of 2015. Businesses must respond by ensuring that their
e-CRM systems provide the highest level of protection against cyber criminals. Organizations
consider this good customer relations and an integral part of their overall CRM.
From a business organization's point of view, the CRM relationship encompasses e-CRM and
direct interactions with customers as well as the forecasting and analysis of market and customer
trends and behaviors. Accurate analysis of these factors provides companies with the data required
to enhance their customers' overall experiences

Customer contacts

CRM Contact with customer made through the retail store, phone, and fax.
eCRM All of the traditional methods are used in addition to Internet, email, wireless, and PDA
technologies.

System interface

CRM Implements the use of ERPsystems, emphasis is on the back-end.

eCRM Geared more toward front end, which interacts with the back-end through use of ERP
systems, data warehouses, and data marts.

System overhead (client computers)

CRM The client must download various applications to view the web-enabled applications.
They would have to be rewritten for different platform.
eCRM Does not have these requirements because the client uses the browser.

Customization and personalization of information

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 CRM Views differ based on the audience, and personalized views are not available. Individual
personalization requires program changes.
eCRM Personalized individual views based on purchase history and preferences. Individual has
ability to customize view.

System focus

CRM System (created for internal use) designed based on job function and products. Web
applications designed for a single department or business unit.
eCRM System (created for external use) designed based on customer needs. Web application
designed for enterprise-wide use.

System maintenance and modification

CRM More time involved in implementation and maintenance is more expensive because the
system exists at different locations and on various servers.
eCRM Reduction in time and cost. Implementation and maintenance can take place at one
location and on one server.

2.5 Architecture of e-CRM

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The following is a set of technical e-CRM capabilities and applications that collectively and ideally
comprise a full e-CRM solution. They are,

Customer analytic software.

Data mining software.
Campaign management software
Business simulation software.
Real time decision engine.
Customer analytic software

Customer analytic software predicts, measures, and interprets customer behaviours, allowing
companies to understand the effectiveness of e-CRM efforts across both inbound outbound channels.
Most importantly, customer analytic should integrate with customer-communications software to enable
companies to transform customer findings into ROI-producing initiatives.

Data mining software

Data mining software builds predictive models to identify customers most likely to perform a particular
behaviour such as purchase an upgrade or churn from the company. Modeling must be tightly integrated
with campaign management software to keep pace with multiple campaigns running daily or weekly.

Campaign management software

Campaign management software leverages the data warehouse to plan and execute multiple, highly
targeted campaigns overtime, using triggers that respond timed events and customer behaviour.
Campaign management software tests various offers against control groups, capture promotion history for
each customer and prospect, and produces output for virtually any on-line or off-line customer touch
point channel.

Business simulation

Business simulation used in conjunction with campaign management software optirnises offer;
messaging and channel delivery prior to the execution of campaigns, and compares planned costs and
ROI projections with actual results. A Real time decision engine co-ordinates and synchronises
communications across disparate customer touch point systems. It contains business intelligence to
determine and communicate the most appropriate message, offer, and channel delivery in real time, and
support two-way dialogue with the customer.

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he following is a set of technical eCRM capabilities and applications that collectively and ideally
comprise a full eCRM solution:

Customer Analytical Software

Data mining software
Campaign Management software
Business Simulation
A real time decision engine

2.6 Implementing a Technology Based CRM Solution: (eg; The ICICI Experience)

As we implement eCRM process, there are three steps life cycle:

1. Data collection: About customers preference information for actively (answer knowledge) and
passively (surfing record) ways via website, email, questionnaire.
2. Data aggregation: Filter and analysis for firms specific needs to fulfill their customers.
3. Customer interaction: According to customers need, company provide the proper feedback to
them.

e-CRM can be defined as activities to manage customer relationships by using the Internet, web browsers
or other electronic touch points. The challenge hereby is to offer communication and information on the
right topic, in the right amount, and at the right time that fits the customers specific needs.

Several CRM software packages exist that can help companies in deploying CRM activities. Besides
choosing one of these packages, companies can also choose to design and build their own solutions. In
order to implement CRM in an effective way, one needs to consider the following factors:

Create a customer-focused culture in the organization.

Adopt customer-based managers to assess satisfaction.
Develop an end-to-end process to serve customers.
Recommend questions to be asked to help a customer solve a problem.
Track all aspects of selling to customers, as well as prospects.

Follow Info-Techs enterprise applications program that covers the application lifecycle from the strategy
stage, through selection and implementation, and up to governance and optimization.

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The implementation and execution stage entails the following steps:

Define the business case.

Gather and analyze requirements.

Build the RFP.

Conduct detailed vendor evaluations.

Finalize vendor selection.

Review implementation considerations.

References:-
1) http://www.lessons2all.com/ecrm_features.php
2) http://journal-archieves30.webs.com/686-693.pdf
3) http://www.lessons2all.com/ecrm_6es.php
4) http://browseme.info/what-is-ecrm.asp
5) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/differences-between-crm-e-crm-kassem-hashem

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