by tz4rgp | May 28, 2013 | Blog, Uncategorized |
Back in March Wim Rampen posted a very readable article titled Value is Always Co-Created In Use. I must say that I agree with the main thought of value not being created by the companies that deliver a service or product – but by the customer when using them. But then I regard a (business) world that decouples products/services from value as a kind of Utopia. Basic premises for this concept to work on a grand scale are that – resources are readily available to everyone – and/or everyone is created equal. Neither of them is fulfilled. We live a world of limited resources; everybody’s skills are different; negotiation powers differ as well. Additionally people and organizations do not always act rationally, or in the interest of a greater good. Instead they have their own interest in mind, which is often very short termed. I have a challenge to see the world embracing this thought of value being created in use, because it means changing the way business works – even the way humans work. The challenge is that, as long as an exchange of “something” is involved in a transaction of sorts, I as the customer) have to have a lot of trust into the other party (the vendor, service provider, …) that the good or service that I gets to create value is worth the expense that I incur beforehand – and often it is not. Now, our whole economic system is built around exchange. I would like to leave private interactions un-discussed here, as I believe that we have a different notion of “value” in private...
by tz4rgp | Dec 3, 2012 | Blog |
Some time ago my wife Nicole posted a small series of blogs about the topic of Loyalty on ciber.com. In these readable blogs she identified and summarised three main strategies of acquiring loyal customers, which are Every day low price Classic loyalty programs that base upon cash-back options or that are points based Hybrid models To gain and retain loyal customers it is necessary for Retailers (or brands, or …) to get into a mutual engagement with the customers. In order to achieve this it needs something like a WOW!-factor. An important way to get this factor for Retailers is the usage of social media (or social CRM when being more advanced). Every day low price of course means plain ole price competition. No WOW!-factor whatsoever involved here. On top of that there can be only one competitor that actually has the lowest price. All the others go in from second place onwards. Given that, competition only on price is the surefire way to a Retailer’s death if the Retailer is not the one with the lowest price. Price competition kills margin, service levels, shopping experience, ability to gather and analyze more data on customers, as it needs an investment, which needs to be paid out of lowering margins. Every day low price works well for highly commoditized products and services, else it is dangerous. Customers will not see the real price of a good or service anymore but ask/search for a discount. It is extremely difficult to change this behavior once it shows up – and we consumers are already educated about the fact that the same product...
by tz4rgp | Dec 3, 2012 | Blog |
Some days ago Bob Thompson interviewed Graham Hill about his take on Social CRM. The interview covered a lot of topics, most notably the future of Social CRM about which Graham has a particular view and led Bob to ask the question whether it is necessary to have a CRM system to have Social CRM. On a first glimpse this question sounds simple, but it really isn’t. From a business perspective it only matters that CRM is executed upon, if CRM is a topic. This is totally independent of systems, as are the possible paths into the future of Social CRM that Graham sees, which is a deviation from this post that I likely will look into in a later post. My answer to Bobs question is a clear No – but Yes! Sounds odd, doesn’t it? So let me explain. CRM is a business strategy; so is Social CRM. In an earlier blog titled CRM vs. Social CRM – what is the difference? I discussed differences as I do saw them at that time. My view has slightly evolved since, but this is another side track. Let’s have a look at good definitions of CRM and Social CRM. Wikipedia defines CRM as “a widely-implemented strategy for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the...
