Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is developing into a major ele- ment of corporate strategy for many organisations. Also known by other terms such as relationship marketing and customer management, CRM is concerned with the creation, development and enhancement of individualised relationships with carefully targeted customers and customer groups, the desired result being to maximise the total customer lifetime value. Professor Adrian Payne, from Customer Relationship Management, CBI .
CUSTOMERS ENHANCEMENT GROUP
This is a short-term promotion which buys the short-term attention of buyers. All things being equal, they will continue to purchase your goods. Are customers loyal to the points on their loyalty card, or to the service? American Express customers may use the card to accumulate points, but their experience of the service the company provides may still tempt them to defect. Promotions are, therefore, just part of the marketing mix. Loyalty is not just an action: it's a state of mind. Customer loyalty is about trust and such programmes can only ever be a support act. The real issue is to decide whose loyalty is worth having: it is necessary to match the customer's current profitability with potential future profitability and intention to re-purchase. Generating true loyalty is a long-term process and loyalty is often a response to "soft issues" such as brand commitment and emotional attachment, rather than hard facts. In the US for instance, commu- nications company AT&T found customers felt that emotive issues associated with the brand were more important than service satisfaction. Loyalty is habit - you can't buy loyalty - but you can create a habit. A good example of building a habit is the Boots loyalty card.