A study on the CRM strategy for medium and small industry of distribution

중소유통업체의 CRM 도입방안에 관한 연구

CRM refers to the operating activities that always maintain and promote good relationship with customers to ultimately maximize the company's profits by understanding the value of customers to meet their demands, establishing a strategy which may maximize the Life Time Value and successfully operating the business by integrating the customer management processes. In our country, many big businesses are introducing CRM initiatively to use it in marketing strategy however, most medium and small sized companies do not understand CRM clearly or they feel difficult to introduce it due to huge investment needed. This study is intended to present CRM promotion strategy and activities plan fit for the medium and small sized companies by analyzing the success factors of the leading companies those have already executed CRM by surveying the precedents to make the distributors out of the industries have close relation with consumers to overcome their weakness in scale and strengthen their competitiveness in such a rapidly changing and fiercely competing market. There are 5 stages to build CRM such as the recognition of the needs of CRM establishment, the establishment of CRM integrated database, the establishment of customer analysis and marketing strategy through data mining, the practical use of customer analysis through data mining and the implementation of response analysis and close loop process. Through the case study of leading companies, CRM is needed in types of businesses where the companies constantly contact their customers. To meet their needs, they assertively analyze their customer information. Through this, they develop their own CRM programs personalized for their customers to provide high quality service products. For customers helping them make profits, the VIP marketing strategy is conducted to keep the customers from breaking their relationships with the companies. Through continuous management, CRM should be executed. In other words, through customer segmentation, the profitability for the customers should be maximized. The maximization of the profitability for the customers is the key to CRM. These are the success factors of the CRM of the distributors in Korea. Firstly, the top management's will power for CS management is needed. Secondly, the culture across the company should be made to respect the customers. Thirdly, specialized customer management and CRM workers should be trained. Fourthly, CRM behaviors should be developed for the whole staff members. Fifthly, CRM should be carried out through systematic cooperation between related departments. To make use of the case study for CRM, the company should understand the customer and establish customer management programs to set the optimal CRM strategy and continuously pursue it according to a long-term plan. For this, according to collected information and customer data, customers should be segmented and the responsive customer system should be designed according to the differentiated strategy according to the class of the customers. In terms of the future CRM, integrated CRM is essential where the customer information gathers together in one place. As the degree of customers' expectation increases a lot, the effective way to meet the customers' expectation should be pursued. As the IT technology improved rapidly, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) appears. On a real-time basis, information about products and customers is obtained massively in a very short time. A strategy for successful CRM promotion should be improving the organizations in charge of contacting customers, re-planning the customer management processes and establishing the integrated system with the marketing strategy to keep good relation with the customers according to a long-term plan and a proper method suitable to the market conditions and run a company-wide program. In addition, a CRM program should be continuously improved and complemented to meet the company's characteristics. Especially, a strategy for successful CRM for the medium and small sized distributors should be as follows. First, they should change their existing recognition in CRM and keep in-depth care for the customers. Second, they should benchmark the techniques of CRM from the leading companies and find out success points to use. Third, they should seek some methods best suited for their particular conditions by achieving the ideas combining their own strong points with marketing. Fourth, a CRM model should be developed that will promote relationship with individual customers just like the precedents of small sized businesses in Switzerland through small but noticeable events.

CRM은 고객에 대한 가치를 잘 이해하고 고객정보를 바탕으로 하여 그들의 욕구를 충족시키고 나아가서는 평생가치(Life Time Value)를 극대화시킬 수 있는 전략수립 및 고객관리프로세스를 통합적으로 잘 운영하는 것이다. 또한 이를 고객들과 좋은 관계로 유지 발전시켜서 궁극적으로는 회사의 수익을 최대화하기 위한 경영활동이다. 성공적인 CRM을 위한 전략은 고객접점을 담당하는 조직의 변화와 고객관리 프로세스를 재설계한 후에, 기업이 장기적인 계획으로 고객관계를 유지시키는 마케팅 전략과 시장 환경대응에 적절한 방법으로 통합시스템을 구축하여 전사적인 프로그램으로 전개되어야 한다. 또한 CRM 프로그램을 꾸준히 기업 특성에 맞게 개선과 보완활동을 펴나가야만 한다. 특히 중소규모의 유통업체들의 성공적인 CRM을 위한 전략은 다음과 같다. 첫째, CRM에 대한 인식을 바꾸고 고객에 대한 관심을 깊이 기울여야 한다. 둘째, 선진기업들의 CRM 기법을 벤치마킹하여 성공 포인트를 찾아내어 활용한다. 셋째, 나만의 재주와 장기를 마케팅에 접목하는 아이디어를 통해 자사 여건에 알맞은 방법을 모색한다. 넷째, 작지만 화제성 강한 이벤트 행사 등을 통하여 스위스의 소상공인의 사례처럼 개별고객에 대한 관계증진을 키울 수 있는 CRM 모델을 개발하여야 한다.