Customer Relationship Management for Luxury Clients - Term Paper Example

Customer Relationship Management Introduction Customer relationship management is a process of interacting with present and future customer of a company. This management process involves in all types of interaction which a company does with its customers. It is mainly used to describe the relationship of the business with its customers. Customer relationship management (CRM) system manages the contact of the business, sales leads, and clients. It has become an important part of the business to overcome the problems and hold its position in the competitive market. The objective of this management system is to develop customer oriented company which will focus on the customer value for its profitability of the organization. CRM plays an important role in the luxury industry. Implementing different CRM tools the luxury company attracts more customers in its business and builds loyalty among them. The customers of the luxury industry invests high amount of money for having pleasure. Therefore quality of the product and service is the most important part. In the luxury industry the product and service of the companies can be maintained effectively through effective CRM measures. Answer 1: CRM in luxury industries and its benefits In the modern era of globalization many luxury firms have developed their business by implementing different CRM intervention which in the long run has benefitted the companies. Luxury industry is wealth centered. It caters the particular range of customers who focus more on the brand experience and brand utility. In this industry the wealthiest customers wants exceptional means to distinguish themselves from the crown. The luxury brands builds image in the mind of the customer which is related with high quality, extra ordinary service and high price. For providing luxurious service the luxury brand needs to understand its customers which are only possible by developing strong customer relationship management. Through this process the company is able to understand the mindset up of its targeted customers group which helps the company to design its product and services satisfying all the characteristics of luxury product. Building the emotional attachment between the company and its customer is an important mean for the growth and survival of the luxury company. Holistic experience can be offered by luxury industry through their distributions channels (Dowling, 2002). CRM plays an important role in retaining loyal customers, attracting new customers. Through this relationship management the luxury industry continuously delivers its services of grows the satisfaction and expectation of the customers. In the long run CRM helps to increase the sales of the luxury industry by developing long term relationship with its customers. The companies of luxury industry are able to deliver global consistency by CRM. Four Seasons Hotels has a developed a strong base in its customer relationship management system (Campbell, 2003). The company provided a unique experience to its customers. The value of the company is to satisfying the customer needs who desires luxurious environment. This hotel business has an excellent personalized service maintaining a perfect time and quality. Four Seasons Hotels charges high price to its customers. The company maintains strong relationship with its customer who prefers luxurious services. Its staff quickly gives response in the expectation of its customers. The hotel has designed its facilities according to its customer’s profile. By providing all this CRM facilities like guest interaction, social media campaign the Four Seasons Hotels builds a strong foundation of relationship with their customer which is a key factor of its success. The luxury brand Gucci has high priced fashion products. The company deals with the high profile customers. So the company is very much focused about managing its customer’s relation. It gives the best service to its customers in such a way so that they are not concerned about the price. The company showcases their products on the website and aware the customers about its plans and campaigns (Abdullateef, Mokhtar and Yusoff, 2010). BMW is one of the most successful company of the world maintains a strong relationship with the customers which increase its profitability and enhance their awareness regarding the product and services. The company implements innovative approaches which are customer centric. BMW continuously keeps contact with its customers by email, calls, events etc. Answer 2: Thinking differently in future career at the light of CRM tools and approach in luxury industry Luxury industry mainly focuses on the customers having huge money. Those customers are ready to spend their money for showing their status or getting a luxurious memorable experience. They are more concerned about the quality rather than the quantity of the product and services. As a CRM manager in the luxury industry I would give maximum attention in maintaining a strong relationship with the client for increasing their loyalty. As the luxury targets the niche market so I would try to increase the customer base by acquiring data from the existing clients which is only possible by having strong communication with the customers. I will implement different action plan and strategies of customer’s engagement. Development of optimum blends of communication and marketing actions will contribute in the maintaining the relationship with the customers (Barney, Wright and Ketchen, 2001). As a CRM manager I would separate the targeted customer base and will implement CRM strategies according to their preference and taste. Implementing new CRM software like Salesforce.com, InfusionSoft, LeadMaster Lead Management etc which will help my company is tracking data, building marketing team and managing the whole process of customer relationship. I can also get involve in sponsoring different events which will highlight the brand and reach maximum customers. I will use Nimble tool of CRM which will combine social media and relationship management process. This tool will build a strong ground for maintaining and developing customer’s relationship with the help of social media sites. The customers of the luxury industry are normally tech savvy. So connecting them via email, social media site would be easy for the company. The use of the CRM tool of automated social integration will help to identify the prospective customer’s contacts on social media sites and to connect with them. I will apply social search networks to find out relevant high profile customers for our luxury product (Dev and Olsen 2000). The GreenRope software for CRM tool can be used for developing contact management, project management and marketing activities associated with relationship management. On behalf of my company I will run various campaigns showcasing our luxury product. After sales service is an important part of CRM. So as a CRM manager I will focus on keeping a strong support system which will contribute a lot in satisfying the customers and provide them excellent luxurious service. I will make the management process effective so that it can deliver the luxury product and services perfectly to its clients. Answer 3: Areas of opportunity for a CRM approach in a luxury brand The Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is one of the leading hotels in the luxury industry of US. The hotel provides extra ordinary services with its refined atmosphere. It is a luxurious hotel and caters high profile customers (Barney and Delwyn, 2007). This hotel can build its CRM approaches which are focused on collecting guest centric information. By having a detailed knowledge of its customer the hotel can develop different customized packages which will increase the level of satisfaction among its customers. This will lead to the increase of profitability of the business. A good amount of interaction with its customer can be another effective approach in building strong relationship with the customers. This hotel can use different well known CRM software for developing effective strategies in maintaining and acquiring new customers. The Sheraton Hotels and Resorts mainly focus on its different call centers for building relationship with its targeted customers. In the modern word people are more comfortable with internet. Therefore contacting its customers and clients via social media sites and emails will help to build a strong connection of this hotel with the customers. This hotel is currently facing the problem related to its guest experience (Balaram and Adhikari, 2010). Therefore, the hotel should analyze its data and demographics of the customers for improving its customer relationship management. Another important approach the hotel can take handling the CRM administration process smoothly by updating and informing its staffs of collecting all the possible information about the customer’s choice and preference so that the hotel can provide a high quality of luxurious service to the customers and give them a memorable experience. Conclusion The Customer Relationship Management system influences the growth and development of companies in the luxury industry. This CRM system is sto0re and access business data mainly related to the customers. By maintaining strong contacts and relat5ionship with the customers the companies of the luxury industry builds its brand image in the mind of the customers. The luxury industry targets a particular segment of customers who are willing to spend huge money for having luxurious experiences. Therefore satisfying the targeted customers by CRM strategies and activates helps the luxury industry to expand its customer base. The luxurious hotel is an important example of having extensive customer relationship management. CRM is an important tool in maintaining and increasing the data its business. References Abdullateef, A.O., Mokhtar, S.S., Yusoff, R.Z., (2010). The impact of CRM Dimensions on Call. Center Performance. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security. 10 (12), 184-195. Balaram, A. and Adhikari, B. (2010), Managing Customer Relationships in Service Organizations. Administration and Management Review. 21 (2), 65-78. Barney, B.J. and Delwyn, N. (2007), Resource-Based Theory: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barney, J., Wright, M. and Ketchen, D. (2001). The resource-based view of the firm: ten years after 1991. Journal of Management, 27 (1). 625-641. Campbell, A.J. (2003). Creating customer knowledge competence: Managing customer Center Performance. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security. 10 (12), 184-195. Dev, C.S. and Olsen, M. (2000), Marketing challenges for the next decade. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 41 (1), 41–47. Dowling, G. (2002), Customer Relationship Management: In B2C Markets, Often Less is More. California Management Review, 44 (3), 87–104. Read More