The Key Word is Customer Relationship Management Presentation at Plenary Session 3rd Nordic Marketing Conference, Helsinki, Susanne Hellman-Ketola, Statistics Finland

Development of customer relationships - Statistics Finland’s strategic focus area Customer relations management is a tool for developing Statistics Finland’s information service activities to meet the strategic challenges set by the agency Satisfied customer Value to the customer from information and competence Development of the customer relationship by networking Shift from product orientation to service orientation - from statistics production processes to services Profitability Strategic goals

Project on development of customer relationships Why? Better anticipation of customers’ information needs Increased interaction with customers Comprehensive recognition of customer relationships Value to the customer from information and competence Better knowledge of the operating environment Successful product development Discovery of new customer groups and growth in sales Management of customer processes and development of detected weaknesses A CRM model and practices meeting the quality standards and the quality award criteria Profitability

Development of activity CriticalOtherStrengths to be development areas maintained Activity/sufficiency, acquisition of information on novelties/changes, skills in sales, targeting of measures Ability to understand our needs and to offer a corresponding product/service, ability to present different solutions and possibilities Correspondence of contents with my needs, sufficiency of communication Speed of acquisition of information in relation to my needs, possible problems or delays reported in time Frequency and sufficiency of interaction and co-operation Development analysis of customer satisfaction Work sufficiently accurate and detailed Responsibility persons clearly defined, contact persons easy to reach Ordering easy in general, offers clear / understandable Product or data easy to use and free from errors Keeping to agreed delivery schedules, supply in desired form Service attitude, answer given to questions and inquiries, co- operation skills and flexibility Marketing and communication of services Ordering and planning stage Implementation of work and products Delivery Contact persons

Existing CRM-tools made the project possible Decentralised system - shared customer data Helps to co-ordinate joint activities Monitoring of customer projects More focused direct marketing by means of versatile target group selection -tool Monitoring of customer processes considerably easier - possible to systematise activities Knowledge about previous actions with the customer helps to plan future actions

Contents of the customer database - basis for segmentation Own customer database About 15,200 accounts (principal customers) About 23,700 customers About 29,000 contact persons About 4,600 invoices (year 2004) Register of potential customers Salesleads 230,000 establishments 335,000 contact persons

Key results of customer analysis 5 % of the customers bring 60% of the income The most significant customers have several roles towards SF Customers have several contacts to Statistics Finland’s different units

New steps of CRM in 2003 CRM one of the four key improvement areas at SF Holder of responsibility for the customer process appointed - Director of Marketing Segmentation of 14,400 principal customers: by class and by value Customer relations management group appointed- members are holders of responsibility for main customer segments

Customers by value segment Value factors: Reference value, Willingness to co- operate, Interaction, Product development and learning value Profitability

New steps of CRM in strategic and key customers were identified 40 key account managers were nominated by the Director General Work of segment groups was started (local government, central government, enterprises, educational institutions, research institutes) Holder of responsibility for the product development process appointed - Director of Information Services A 10-module personnel training programme was designed and launched Strategic Intelligence System, StatIntelligence was introduced also as a tool of CRM

Customer relationship management at Statistics Finland Key Account manager/ Key account team Customer segment manager/team Customer relations management group Process owner - Director, Marketing Links Follow-up /indicators Identification and selection of customers Practices and follow-up Customer processes Development of customer relations Managing of customer relations Development of segment programmes StrategyManagementService strategy Distribution strategy Communications strategy Customer feedback Information society

New steps of CRM in 2005 Key account managers work actively and in a target- oriented way with their customers Marketing and actions are brought into effect according to the plans of customer segments Revision of the web has sharpened according to segments theme pages, pages directed primarily to different customer segments Role of the contact persons (29,000) and information of customer relationship mapping has been taken into use Measurement of the CRM process has been designed

Case: Ministry of Education

Case: Ministry of Education and National Board of Education Several roles (4) in relation to Statistics Finland STATISTICAL AUTHORITY Own statistics production: databases on polytechnics and universities INTEREST GROUP ROLE Substance expert on statistics, administrative officials in the field - effect of administrative changes on statistics compiling Developer of statistics compiling - co-operation partner, e.g. information contents of data collections examined together with the Ministry of Education

Several roles contin. CUSTOMER ROLE Information service agreements - the paying partner Individual information requests, research data DEALER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF STATISTICS Intranet or Internet statistical services to their administrative branch For example: Placement after education and occupational data for local governments

STRATEGIES (2) COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Personal contacts, management level, customer responsibility person Interaction continuous CHANNEL STRATEGY Several channels such as the Internet PRICING STRATEGY Normal pricing, partner benefits, partly joint projects Towards very large agreements of purchases - general agreement

CO-OPERATIONAL MODES Management level meetings once a year Director General, customer responsibility person, persons from different units (Culture, Science & Technology, Education, Local government financial statistics, etc.) Development and co-operational groups For example, statistics on remedial teaching in comprehensive schools, cf. development phase and production phase (possible budget transfer) Ad hoc groups For example, projects on cost-efficiency financing of secondary level vocational education Agreement negotiations and monitoring Customer event for interest groups and key customers once a year

Experiences of SF staff involved in the CRM- project Deepening the knowledge of one’s segment Improved planning for measures Increasing one’s knowledge of Statistics Finland Developing the monitoring of the operating environment Enhancing customer satisfaction More attention to the customer perspective Systematisation of customer contacting Networking Blurring the boundary between paid and budget-based activities Increasing demand for information service Problems with time resources and prioritisation

Further information in the Appendices: Segment values Classification of customers by value Roles The duties of the customer process owner The duties of the customer relations management group The duties of the key account managers at SF The duties of the segment groups General features of a strategic customer’s relations programme General features of a key customer relations programme

Appendix.

Segment values: Central government Local government Educational institutions Research institutes Enterprises Libraries Organisations Foreign customers Others Without segment value Citizens - Large municipalities - Small municipalities - Employment and Economic Development Centres - Regional councils - Joint municipal boards - Comprehensive schools - Upper secondary schools - Vocational schools and colleges - Polytechnics - End-users - Resellers - Suppliers & other values available in the Customer Database

Classification of customers by value segment and size of the segment Strategic customers Key customers Big customer (measured by sales per 24 months) Middle size customer (-”-) Small customer A (-”-) Small customer (-”-) Non-active Others Prospective

Roles of the contact person Decision-maker Influential person Buyer Statistics contact person Co-operative partner Billing contact person IT person

The duties of the customer process owner To direct, develop and co-ordinate the customer relation process To act as chair of the customer relations management group To steer the work of customer responsibility teams, persons and customer segment responsibility persons To attend to the sufficiency of the resources also for development needs To help make the customer benefit visible in the organisation’s processes and decision-making To budget and monitor the progress of the project To communicate about the project to the rest of the personnel and to report to the Director General and the Management Group

The duties of the customer relations management group To bear the responsibility for the planning of development measures for customer relations, setting of customer relation targets, indicators and their development and monitoring To participate in the management of customer responsibilities of key customers To follow the management of selected customer relations and the development of customer relationships To advance the development of main tools used in customer relations management at Statistics Finland To take part in appointing key account managers and in definition of their duties and in selection of strategic and key customers by making draft decisions for the Director General and for the Management Group To monitor and steer the development of competence related to customer relationships and support systems (e.g. customer management system) Handle other matters related to customer relationships as needed.

The duties of the key account managers at SF To attend to and monitor the customer’s needs and development If needed, to form a team to attend better to the customer To ensure that essential customer data are saved in the Customer Database To perform a customer needs analysis To produce a customer development plan on a yearly basis To develop the customer relationship towards more long-term agreements and broader usage of statistical data To keep informed on customer meetings and marketing actions To monitor customer feedback To represent the customer within SF To communicate with other key account managers and teams To report to the customer segment manager and team

The duties of the segment groups To monitor the operating environment To draft the segment’s customer strategy To steer and monitor the segment’s customer responsibility persons To maintain and develop customers’ segmentation To outline and co-ordinate annual marketing and operating plans To monitor the activity by means of selected indicators To plan the product and service training needed for attaining expert service and to organise its implementation To prepare outlines for the segment’s product development

The strategic customer is known and the customer relationship is handled on the personal level Significance of mutual competence and product development is central The strategic customer has a responsibility person Annual meetings arranged on the director general level The whole organisation recognises the status of the strategic customer Customer information is stored in the Customer Management System Information is always given about customer co-operation to the person or team responsible for the customer General features of a strategic customer’s relations programme (1)

Customer-specific customer care plan is prepared for co- operation Development plan for customer relationship is made jointly with the customer Development of the customer relationship is monitored General measures: Christmas cards, customer magazine, customer events Feedback from the customer satisfaction survey is collected personally The partner’s financial interests are looked after (e.g. bulk discounts) General features of a strategic customer’s relations programme (2)

The customer relationship is handled on the personal level The key customer has a responsibility person Annual meetings are arranged, director level participation desirable The whole organisation recognises the status of the key customer A customer-specific customer care plan is made for key customers and development of the relationship is followed Information is always given about customer co-operation to the person or team responsible for the customer Customer satisfaction of key customers is surveyed and feedback is requested, suggestions for product development essential Key customers receive the customer magazine, invitations to fairs and customer events, Christmas cards Customer information is stored in the Customer Database General features of a key customer’s relations programme