Customer Relations Management A&A Computers faces 2007 Compiled from Merav’s notes December 2006

From the media - 1 A bad customer service experience is shared with around 10 other people who are most likely to tell another 10 people. Customer service entails sincerely doing something extra for the customer, so that he or she can see by your actions that you are willing to help.

From the media - 2 Customers who are extremely impressed with your service are also likely to talk about your business to others. Word-of-mouth advertising is the most effective form of advertising. It costs nothing and is very valuable as it details personal experiences and thus has high credibility.

From the media percent of the customers do not return because of the indifferent attitude of an employee 14 percent because of product dissatisfaction 9 percent because of competitive reasons 5 percent shop at a friend's establishment 3 percent move away 1 percent dies.

From the media - 4 There is only 1% we can’t do a thing about… …all other issues can be addressed with Customer Relations Management, or ‘CRM’.

What is CRM? - 1 Customer relationship management (CRM) covers methods and technologies used by companies to manage their relationships with customers. CRM is not the technology itself, but rather a holistic approach to an organization’s philosophy, placing the emphasis firmly on the customer.

What is CRM? - 2 Customer relations is that function of business management concerned with how customers feel about a place of business - its personnel, products and services. CRM is the bridge that combines all interactions with customers: sales, customer service, support, accounts etc.

What is CRM? - 3 The Mission of CRM CRM’s mission is to increase sales by keeping a close relationship with the market. This relationship builds a stronger commitment between the potential and existing customers and A&A Computers.

How do we do it? - 1 Visits Phone calls Intelligence: structure, friends, information Keep track of communication Keep close contact: news updates, timing updates. Mutual trust Positive language Respond to complaints Represent A&A values to the customer Maximize marketing opportunities

How do we do it? - 2 Visits: CRM’s agent should visit the customers on regular bases. A typical working week should include visits of a mixture of existing and potential customers. Phone calls: The agent should be available to customers on the phone. The agent should keep an open communications channel with the customers, for updates from both sides.

How do we do it? - 3 Intelligence: The agent should be aware of non verbal information: The equipment’s situation at the customer’s office: do they have enough printers? Are the computers too slow? Old? Customer’s news: are they recruiting? Did they win a new contract? Customer’s decision making structure: Who decides what and where to buy: purchasing? IT manager? The director? Create a friendly environment: talk about daily life; send E- cards on birthdays, make them forget u are “only a supplier”, so they will share information with you and feel committed.

How do we do it? - 4 Keep track: Every communication with the customer should be kept in a journal, including a short summery of every appointment or phone call. It's also a good idea to keep a notebook or record of promises and dates when you are to follow through. Keep close contact: news updates, timing updates: Become the customer’s voice in A&A and vice versa. Keep him updated about news he might be interested in, call him if there’s an update in delivering.

How do we do it? - 5 Trust: It’s very important to have trust on both sides – the customer should trust the agent and confide in him if something isn’t working for A&A and why. Positive language: Always keep positive language. It is recommended to focus on what "can" be done for the customer rather than what "cannot" be done for them. Never say: “we can’t supply before Friday” say: “we can supply it on Friday”. Never say “but it’s VERY expensive”. Name the price, the customer should decide if its VERY expensive for him.

How do we do it? - 6  Respond to complaints: welcome any customer complaints. Take care of these complaints immediately to give the feeling you care and don’t ignore them. It would also help avoiding negative word- of-mouth; keep a list of customer complaints to identify any patterns and the cause of dissatisfaction;

How do we do it? - 7 Represent A&A values to the customer: A&A keeps a “clean image”: honest, no bargaining, not lying, etc... The agent should represent those values to the customers. Maximize marketing opportunities: Get new customers by visiting potential customers, getting updates from the surrounding, from the newspapers, etc…

Duties of the CRM agent - 1 Improve the customer relations with A&A Computer’s customers. Expand customer’s base. Increase sales.

Duties of the CRM agent Function as a junction between customer, sales (products and services) and accounts. Report, to Alex, on a weekly basis about the last week’s meetings, and next week’s plan: number of existing customers visited, number of potential customers. A short summary of each visit, news, highlights, or any other important news.

Personality of a CRM Agent - 1 Social & verbal skills: CRM agent has to have good social skills in order to get to know a customer, his needs and expectations. The agent has to know how to talk to a customer, be confident and get the information needed for the organization s/he represents.

Personality of a CRM Agent - 2 Sales: let’s not forget that CRM is meant not only to know the customer but also to increase A&A sales. The CRM agent has to keep in mind that A&A has the solution for the customer needs and to offer them to him.  Analyst: in order to combine the two, the agent has to know how to analyze the customer’s needs.

Personality of a CRM Agent - 3 Knowledge of A&A: in order to offer the best solutions, the agent has to know A&A – the products, services, price range, and of course the A&A Computers spirit. Creativity: customers like to hear solutions to their problem. May the problem be objective – IT needs - or subjective – complain about A&A Computers services. The agent has to be confident and give the customer reliable and sometimes creative solutions. Numbers: CRM agent has to be good with numbers, understand accounts, financing, etc.

Personality of a CRM Agent - 4 Academic background, skills At least secondary school graduate Fluent in Swahili and English IT knowledge Finance background Driving license

Tools required for a CRM agent -1 Mobile phone – availability to the customers. Database. The database should include: Customer details: Name, contact person, contact details: phone no, address, information: website address Sales history: by dates: the products, prices, total. Credit history: do they pay on time, current situation Communications update: visit / phone call, date, whom did the agent talk to, detailed summary of the communication: update, request, complain, appointment and the results.

Tools required for a CRM agent -2 Calendar: keep track of appointments and information from customers, e.g.. “I’m going to recruit 3 people in 2 month”, or a reminder to call him in 6 weeks for update. Reports: The agent should have access to sales reports: sales to customers, sales by products, sales by period of time. Transportation.

Summary - 1 CRM is a very important function for an organization in a competitive market. The CRM agent is the center of communications with the customer. S/he gets information from all sides: the customer, A&A sales and accounts, has to combine all the information, and keep the communication pleasant and friendly for future deals.

Summary - 2 Customer relations works. By making a customer feel comfortable with you, he will feel comfortable to contact you for everything he needs; the sales would increase, as a result of good relations.

Summary - 3 Don’t ignore or hide problems, especially not those you can predict. If you see a delay happening – call the customer and inform them, don’t wait till they will call you. If someone complains, take care immediately and solve the problem. Keep track of problems and analyze them – you might learn of some consistent problems that can be fixed.

Summary - 4 The CRM agent should work with the best training, tools and reports supplied by A&A, with his/hers experience, knowledge and instincts and help A&A with improving the customer relations.

Summary - 5 CRM agent should collaborate with Alex and A&A employees in order to give the customers the best service possible.

Customer Relations Management This is the end of the presentation. Thank you for your time and interest!