BUILDING TRUST AND GOOD RELATIONS
Consumer Relationship Marketing (CRM) is an information management process, which enables creation and maintenance of long-term and profitable relations with buyers.
For quite some time, the business world -especially in the dynamic arear of marketing and sales, in its strivings to build quality relations with numerous clients and buyers, deals more and more often with a term “Customer Relationship Marketing” or CRM. However, this term should not be confused with the similar and unique term “Customer Relationship Management”, even though it shares some similarities with the respective, just like the identical acronym.
KNOW ALL ABOUT BYERS: Consumer Relationship Marketing is a concept that has been specifically developed, and the intention of this business strategy is to create and maintain long-term and profitable relationship with consumers. In order to succeed in this strivings, marketing experts have to get to know their clients or buyers in details; as well as their wishes and needs. In order that a company could apply CRM concept, it needs to continuously “get to know” their consumers, in order to collect data on them and storage them in functional database. Since the database, by its nature, contains the set of various information on existing and potential buyers- demographic and psychographic data on consumers, information on their habits, expectations, satisfaction, previous purchases etc., it is necessary to have it regularly updated. Because based on such collected data, companies can make offer and improve post-sale services in an easier and more reliable manner.
Precisely that is why, according to experts’ opinion, CRM is actually an “Information Management Process” in respect of individual consumers, in order to provide their long-term loyalty. Such communication possibility with various target groups would not be possible without internet development, which enabled a real-time direct contact with consumers. Additionally, development of information technology enabled automatization of collection of data on consumers, which to a large extent makes process of information collection and use easier, faster and cheaper. Consumer Relationship Marketing contributes to trust building between companies and end buyers. Through a two-way relationship and direct communication, regular consumers are enabled to impact directly on companies offer, and on the other hand, a company is given the opportunity to impact consumer’s choice in purchase process.
A good practical example of consumer relationship marketing is more and more popular concept of the Nespresso coffee, which enables simple homemaking of espresso or cappuccino from aluminum capsules. Despite a fact that there is no official branch office of this company in Serbia yet, Nespresso provides rarely seen offer diversity to coffee lovers all over the world. It is reflected in the variety of tastes, aromas and coffee strength, practical ampule packages, coffee machines which are very easy to
handle, as well as sale points that look more like luxurious boutiques than “cafés”. A choice of a popular Hollywood actor George Clooney to be a global “brand ambassador” for this company is considered to be a marketing successful move. With no desire to make (a hidden) commercial o the company, one must add that with improved online offer and accompanying services, Nespresso showed how to create added value for users on the extremely dynamic market.
TRUST AND LOYALTY: Even though there is a striking resemblance between concepts of the so-called Relationship Marketing and Consumers Relationship Marketing, there is a certain difference between the two. Relationship Marketing, as a constituent part of a holistic marketing approach, the importance of developing long-term relationship with all interest groups, so-called company’s stakeholders: consumers, owners, investors, creditors, suppliers, distributers, marketing agencies etc. On the other hand, CRM points attention dominantly to establishing quality and long-term relations with end consumers. And of course, the reason that companies strive to build long-term relations with the consumers is not an altruistic, but purely economic one. Companies simply want to keep the existing consumers, because they start from the proven assumption that it more expensive for the company to attract new than to keep existing byers. By establishing a direct communication with the consumers, the company is enabled to personalize its relationship with them and offer them added value, which is, often, rewarded by byers with long-term loyalty.
(This text was published in a weekly magazine “Vreme”, on 2 June 2016, in the business addition “Economic barometer”.
