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The Role of Multichannel Integration in CRM

Adrian Payne and Pennie FrowIndustrial Marketing Management, 33 (2004), 527-538

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• CRM is a management approach that seeks to create, develop, and enhance relationships with targeted customers to maximize customer value, corporate profitability and shareholder value.

• CRM is oftern associated with utilizing information technology to implement relationship marketing strategies.

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5 key cross-functional CRM processes

1. Strategy development

2. Value creation process

3. Multi-channel integration process

4. Information management process

5. Performance assessment

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Channel options

1. Sales force

2. Outlets

3. Telephony

4. Direct marketing

5. E-commerce

6. M-commerce

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CRM Channel Strategies• Mono-channel provider (First Direct Bank)• Customer segment channel (Zurich Financial

Services)• Graduate account management (B2B

companies case)• Channel migrator (EasyJet)• Activity-based channel (Dell)• Integrated multichannel: seek to capture all

customer information across all channels and integrate it within a single data repository.

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Strategic CRM

• The channels need to be considered in the context of the whole interaction over the life cycle (pre-sale, sale, post-sale) of the customer relationship (not just in terms of the sales activity).

• 3 stages of customer relationship: acquisition, consolidation, enhancement.

• Short product lifecycle -> offer stream of products tailored to most valuable customers

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Customer Experience (CE)

• High quality experience vs. emotional goodwill vs. loyalty

• Channel experience needs to be considered:– Typical and perfect CE within channel– Typical and perfect CE across channel– How to sustain and improve the cusomer

experience within channel, across channel, and substitute an existing channel for better ones

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Technology in improving CE

• Caller line identification (CLI)

• Rule-based systems

• Interactive voice response (IVR)

• Computer-telophony integration (CTI)

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Develop a Multi-channel Strategy

• Clear Objectives– Improve the CE– Increase account coverage– Improve revenue growth– Decrease operating expenses– Utilize full skills and resources of our business and employees

• Understand customer and channel touchpoints• Review of industry structure and channel options• Channel usage patterns• Channel economics• Integrated channel management strategy