The Internal Environment Analysis of Kleenmaid Company - Case Study Example

CUSTOMER RELATIOSHIP MANAGEMENT STUDENT’S NAME: INSTITUTION: INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: DATE: Description of the company and an overview of its products and services, and current customer relationship management system Kleenmaid is a company that deals with manufacturing, importing and distribution of household goods such as ovens, washing machines, dishwashers and cook tops. The main purpose of this report is to review on the customer relationship management that has enabled the company to remain distinctive in its performance. It will involve analyzing the existing problems in the company that calls for an effective plan for improving the customer relationship management. Since the company has a plan to expand its supply of kitchen and laundry appliances, it, therefore, plans to remain the largest retailer in Australia by opening more branches across targeted regions of Australia. Customer relationship management is a tool used to ensure that customers are well served in the organization; this includes analyzing the problems that customers could be facing and coming up with a plan on how to manage these problems. It is obvious that customers are the main component of the company and, therefore, their complaints always affect the performance of the company. Problems that are experienced in Kleenmaid Company include; poor service delivery, this is a problem that has been forwarded by most customers. The main cause of this problem results from the fact that the company is a distributor of electric appliances; this implies that there is a high demand for these products and, therefore, the problem arises when it comes to service delivery. Below average customer relationship is also another problem with this company. You find that due to large number of customers, the subordinates will have to work faster to ensure they serve all the customers, in the process of serving the customers, the aspect of customer relationship will degrade because there is no time to handle customers the way they want because of the large number, it is a situation that results to customer ignorance by the subordinates. Due to above problems, Kleenmaid Company, therefore, should organize for a customer relationship management plan. This will be done through customer analysis and conducting environmental analysis to review the internal and external environments of the company. There are importance’s that accompany the need for a customer relationship plan. These include a plan to be used to help the company to influence the marketing department to identify and maintain potential customers. It will also help the company to improve on its sales management by developing accounts that will facilitate appropriate customer service provision. It will also allow for individualized customer relationship, which will enhance customer satisfaction. It will also provide the subordinates with the information on how to understand their customers and, therefore, the ability to meet their needs. Market opportunities as shaped by market behavior External environment Environmental analysis is conducted to determine the threats, trends and opportunities that will help in achieving a successful implementation of marketing strategy. External environment comprises of competition, political, economic, socio-cultural, technological and legal factors. These factors determine the operations of the company and, therefore, its analysis will help the company to establish a marketing strategy that will not interfere with the policies stipulated by the external environment. According to Statistics on consumer price index (2005), it shows how there is a decline in economic performance of Australia where there is a decline in employment rates, which have an impact on the economic status of the citizens which will also contribute to the low demand of these household appliances. These are some of the threats on which analyzing the external environment will identify and, therefore, find an appropriate strategy which will involve attaining a competitive strategy through low cost leadership. The company will, therefore, invest in techniques of marketing that will persuade customers to purchase their products. It will involve developing scenarios that will enable the company to predict the purchasing trends of the Australian people. 5.2 Internal environment analysis The internal environment analysis of Kleenmaid Company involves the strengths, weaknesses, and point of product distinction, company strategies and the cost analysis. The mission statement for Kleenmaid is “the best you can own," it is, therefore, the main aspect that has contributed to the image of the company since it has been able to provide quality products and services to its customers. The company has opportunistic visions that have enabled it to be risk takers in the electrical appliance industry. The strengths of the company will help in implementing the marketing plan because it will be based on the capabilities that the company is able. Therefore, the strengths such as product innovation, use of internet marketing and product branding will enable the company to have the courage to win more customers since they will specialize in implementing the plan with regard to the strengths of the company. When it comes to the weaknesses, the company will use the opportunities form the external environment to reduce their weaknesses (Consumer price index, 2005). This will be achieved through appropriate environmental scanning and coming up with strategies to eliminate those weaknesses. When it comes to market segment, it implies that the company will divide the identified market into groups and these groups should consist of those predicted customers who will be willing to buy the products from the company. These groups are based on the different needs and behaviors because it will help in designing a product according to those factors. According to Jonas (2004) the demographic analysis includes factors such as numbers of children, aged population, and number of persons living in their own homes or in rental houses, level of education and the type of employment. Segmenting geographically implies gathering information about location of customers such as cities, rural areas or municipalities; this will enable the company to set the appropriate location for their perceived plans of establishing retails. For the Kleenmaid, it uses the market segments regarding those who want to buy new homes, those who want to purchase kitchen appliances and those who want to renovate their appliances. Geographic segmentation is used because of the need to franchise its products by setting up retails in the rural and other regions of Australia. Kleenmaid has motivation factors that drive its hard work in the marketing industry. It aims at providing high quality products and offering after sales services that are admirable and attract customers. The company has the unmet need of manufacturing their own Australian brands that do not depend on imports of raw materials (Doyle, 2000). CRM Plan Proposal For effective customer relationship management, there should be integration of technology so as to enable the plan to succeed. According to research, there are three possible technology-based Customer relationship solutions. The first technology is the use of data warehousing which is an information center where all the data collected basing on the customer satisfaction is found. Kleenmaid Company needs to embrace this form of technology because it helps the subordinates to review and acquire more information on customer satisfaction. Another technology is the use of electronic commerce. This is a technology that aims at facilitating marketing strategy for the company. Electronic commerce is a platform for attracting more customers while, on the other hand, developing ways of identifying their needs and ensuring that they are satisfied with the services from the company. This technology is useful because it will enable the company to serve more customers globally. The third form of technology is the use of call centers to attend to the needs of the customers. The company should establish call centers whereby the customers will get all their inquiries; this will manage the customer relationship and will attract more customers (Whisler, 1970). Having analyzed the above technology aspects of improving customer relationship, I recommend that Kleenmaid should embrace the use of electronic commerce because of the fact that most organizations have advanced in terms of customer service and relationship such that they have embraced technology and the internet to enhance customer relationship. Use of electronic commerce serves customers globally and also it enhances customer service provision. Reference Doyle, P. (2000) Value-based marketing: marketing strategies for corporate growth and shareholder value . Chichester: John Wiley . Whisler , T.L. ( 1970 ) T he impact of computers on organizations . New York : Praeger .Quotation attributed to John Hurcombe, author of Developing strategic customers and key accounts . Bedford: Policy Publications, in a press release. Kotler, P. (1997). Marketing management,analysis,planning and implementation and control. USA: Prentice hall. Thomson, et. al. (2003). Strategic management concepts and cases. Texas: Business publications inc. Australian bureau of statistics, 2005.consumer price index, URL Read More