CRM: Adding value to customer service

When the offering from various companies are nearly at par in terms of quality, price and performance, it is the personal relations between the doctor and the MR/company which counts, say Inderjit Baboota and Sanjula Baboota

Customer Relationship Management

Every organisation today is talking about customer delight, customer retention and customer loyalty. Most businesses will not deny that they need customers. Today, customers want to be treated as individuals.

Theodore Levitt said, ‘‘Business is all about making and more importantly keeping customers’’. The question is how does one achieve this? The answer is relationship marketing — the new philosophy of management professionals.

Gone are the days when the doctors prescribed a particular product or a companies brand. Today, the scene is different because of various options available in the competitive market. Moreover, when the offering from various companies are nearly at par in terms of quality, price and performance, it is the personal relations between the doctor and the medical representative/company which counts.

If we go by the four Ps of marketing then

a) Product: Many options are there by equally good companies.

b) Price: Many brands are available in the same price range.

c) Place: Most of the products are easily available.

d) Promotion: The products are under active promotions.

Adding another parameter to the four Ps is the Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

Today, pharma companies do not only have to market and sell the product but also have to integrate with the customers to satisfy their needs and provide them services throughout the relationship. ‘‘Service is more important than just simply getting to the bottom line. When we do that, and that too for long enough, we win the hearts, minds and loyalty of the customers’’ - Jack Antonini.

Concept of CRM

Many years ago in China, Ming Hua, a young rice merchant sat long hours waiting for customers who never came. When he finally got around to wondering why he was so unsuccessful, he decided to maintain a record of his potential customers’ eating habits. He collected the following information:

• The members in a family.
• The amount of rice consumed per day.

Then he offered every customer the following:

• To replenish the rice jar of a household at regular intervals
• Free home delivery. For example, in a household of four persons, on an average, a person would consume two bowls of rice per day and therefore, the household would need eight bowls of rice. He observed that the rice jar of that particular household would last for 15 days. Consequently, he offered to deliver a bag of rice every 15 days to that household.

By establishing these records and developing new services, Ming Hua managed to create deeper relationships with his old customers, and then with potential customers through the old ones. His strategy included three typical elements of a relationship marketing:

• Seeking direct contacts with customers and other stakeholders.
• Building a database covering necessary information about customers and others.
• Developing a customer-oriented service system.

Ming Hua unknowingly discovered a concept, which we now call relationship marketing. He changed his role from being just a transaction-oriented businessman to a value-enhancing relationship manager.

What is CRM

CRM application is an acronym for customer relation management application. These are programmes by which a customer can be profiled and tracked to assist a sales staff in providing better service for that customer, resulting in improved customer relations overall.

Over the past few years, companies have started paying more attention to making their customers feel good. CRM is a business strategy that puts the customer at the heart of your company. One has to keep the customers happy keeping his profitability also in mind.

Some of the basic aspects for effective CRM are

a) Product: It should be of good quality and should be well acceptable b) Price: For most customers it can be hindrance. Sometimes CRM is done only for rich expensive products

c) Place: Easily available.

It is important for the organisation not only to retain key customers but also create new profitable customers through CRM. So it becomes important to have

a) MRM: Maintaining relationship management. This is all about satisfying the needs of the customers. This is done for existing customers.

b) DRM: Developing relationship management. DRM is to unearth the needs and satisfying them one by one. This is done to get more customers under the sleeve.

Any good customer relationship management practice should start by answering the following six critical questions:

1. What is customer relationship?

2. What drives customer relationship?

3. How to measure customer relationship?

4. Which customers should you build relationship with?

5. How to improve customer relationship?

6. How to develop effective customer relationship management strategies?

To effectively manage customer relationship, one should follow the following rules:

• Rule 1: Building strong customer relationship should be set as the primary goal of a company’s marketing practice and all marketing functions should serve to the enhancement of a company’s customer relationship
• Rule 2: Customer relationship should be defined and constructed based on customers basic needs. In the ‘‘Customer centric customer relationship management practice, needs to construct value and value determines customer relationship
• Rule 3: Customer relationship should be measured and improved under market competitions. Customer relationship is competitive and a company should manage its competitive customer relationship
• Rule 4: Customer relationship management practice should not be a sub-function of a company’s IT department. Customer relationship management should be an integrated part of a company’s marketing practices.

Advantages of CRM:

a) Retaining existing customers

b) More new customers

c) More ROI from the customers

d) Better understanding of the customer behaviour

e) Better planning and feedback system

f) Once you know the customer, customised service can be given.

g) One can demand easily from the customer.

h) It gives a chance to build a personal rapport with the customer.

i) It helps to build a sustainable competitive edge.

j) One can maximise returns on the marketing campaigns.

Following are the various options employed by companies for effective CRM with their customers:-

1. For DR’s:

a) Journal sponsorship - Sponsoring scientific, medical and allied journals for academic oriented doctors.

b) Internet search - Giving passwords for paid sites of medical interest.

c) CME’s - Continuous medical education programmes.

d) Launch conferences - Conference to make doctor aware of the medical aspects of the new product launches.

e) Sponsoring registration in conferences, association membership etc.

f) Sponsoring boarding, lodging and travelling for conferences

g) Medical books sponsorship

h) Presentation slides preparation

i) Sponsoring or taking part in the major events like APICON, CSI, IOCON etc. The companies take a stall or sponsor a medical session or food for customers.

j) Patient education programme - A doctor is made the speaker and the patients are made aware of the disease like diabetes awareness programme.

k) Free check up programme like BMD camps, vaccine camps etc.

l) Patient information booklets are distributed

m) Personal celebration like bouquets, cards on occasion such as birthdays, anniversary etc.

n) Contests such as quiz etc.

2. Retailer/stockist:

a) A get-together where the company and the retailer/ stockist can interact.

b) Specific gifts on the set targets.

c) Bouquets and greeting cards on birthdays, anniversary etc.

d) Taking regular feedback from them so that they think that they are a part of key business decision activities.

e) Award function for the achievers.

One does not have to be a genius to know good CRM. We all are customers in one or the other way, and we all know how important it is to feel that we all valued. This is what CRM is all about ie. valuing our customers.

By Inderjit Baboota and Sanjula Baboota