The need to retain consumers, ensure stability and repeat sales is increasingly associated with a strategy called partnership marketing. The peculiarity of relationship marketing is that the focus is on establishing an ongoing connection with consumers. The very fact of sales represents the result of a targeted strategy trust relationships between the manufacturer (intermediary) and the consumer.

Accordingly, the central point becomes the conclusion of targeted transactions of trust between partners. In the chain of relationships, the consumer (retailer and wholesaler, individual and enterprise) is characterized not from the position of a buyer, as a one-time client, but as a potential source of profit during his active purchasing life.

Partnership marketing is seen as coordinating the relationships of those who produce, sell and consume goods, as a form of overcoming contradictions between the possibilities of production and demand for goods and services from the standpoint of creating a balanced flow of supply and consumption of goods.

Partnership marketing is formulated by changing the emphasis with a question like: “How and when do children enjoy yoghurt?” instead of “How to convince children and their parents to buy yoghurt?”

This emphasizes the acceptability useful properties. In relation to food products, this means that a product of mass consumption must be tasty, healthy, safe, reasonably affordable and enjoyable in all its forms. The buyer must be satisfied with the purchase and sale process, and the seller and manufacturer must pay maximum attention to the buyer’s problems and complaints.

Interaction with the consumer begins before the physical distribution of goods to the final consumer. The buyer-seller relationship is determined by the variables perceived by consumers, which are interpreted in the form:

• - experience (user understanding of the benefits of water softening when using Calgon powder leads to an increase in its purchase from 20 to 50%);
• - trust in the product and the seller, which must be combined with persistence in recommendations;
• - knowledge (the nature of sales situations is relatively repeatable, which allows them to be reduced to standard scenarios);
• - adaptability (the seller’s behavior must adapt to any of the possible situations in the relationship with the buyer).

The role of individual customers in determining the value they want to acquire is increasing. Value is created with the customer, not for them. Value creation operates in real time. Moreover, establishing and strengthening permanent relationships with existing customers is supposed to be more important than searching for new customers. Therefore, the main task of entrepreneurs is to establish ever stronger relationships with consumers, stimulate long-term relationships in every possible way and prevent the outflow of customers to other areas of sales.

The concept of “value system” now denotes a system of priorities that determines human behavior and is formed by external and internal factors: the environment, the consumption culture of a given social group, the structure of layers of society as a whole in a specific period of time.

If you do not regularly dialogue with consumers, it is not possible to know their desires and requirements. Therefore, if you establish and maintain a dialogue with consumers, using existing values ​​and additional information obtained from communications about their life positions, families, habits, then entrepreneurs will find themselves in an ideal position for selling goods and services. Relationship marketing exploits the intersection of interests. The consumer perceives the value of a product when it meets his individual needs: it saves money, time, nervous and physical effort.

The role of marketers in partnerships is shifting from managing demand and product profitability to collaborating with buyers and managing buyer budgets. To do this, experts consider it necessary to coordinate a number of aspects of marketing activities:

• - identify priority groups of customers for subsequent service;
• - develop strategies for each of the priority buyers;
• - manage the process of product profitability for customers;
• - improve the potential capabilities of the enterprise, especially brand and service.

Creating customer value integrates production processes at all levels to form a mutually beneficial partnership with the customer as a company asset.

According to the Pareto principle, not all customers have clear sales results. In a properly organized business, only 20% of customers guarantee 80% of the income, including 10% of them bringing 90% of the profit. Therefore, the same approach to them is unacceptable; it is advisable to structure efforts. When conducting marketing, it is first important to attract as many possible consumers as possible, and then reasonably and scrupulously decide what to do with each of them (hold on with all your might, watch closely, or let go).

The partnership process begins with attracting buyers, avoiding the “leaky basket” effect, when each new buyer squeezes out the existing one. The consumer does not forgive a neglectful attitude towards himself. In conditions of unlimited supply of goods, he goes to another seller.

It is important to slow down the rate of emptying the “basket” from purely economic positions. Attracting a new customer costs 5-6 times more than retaining the previous one. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully monitor the reasons for leaving. This could be the buyer moving to another place of residence or work, a change in the scheme and cost of the transport route (the reason for 4-5% of the total number of buyer outflows, but they should not be ignored).

The negative consequences of unsatisfactory actions of entrepreneurs are much more significant. In search of low prices, 9-10% of consumers change their shopping addresses, due to inability to work with partners - 14-15%, due to lack of attention and interest on the part of the manufacturer and trade - 65-70%.

Effective relationships require that the relationship improves with each contact. Contact and interaction are becoming more and more valuable. Moreover, the manufacturer’s behavior should be based on the principle: the buyer provides a service to the seller, and not vice versa.

The manufacturer needs to build a communication strategy from the premise: “I’m here to persuade you to help me, to understand which buyer will pay me a salary every month?” The consumer rises above the level of traditional commercial interests, becomes my guide in the chaos of supply and demand and the desperate war of producers for survival with each other (Ya. Gordon).

This approach introduces significant features into the segmentation process, the criterion of which is often a rather complex interweaving of elements: the current and potential lifetime value of customers loyal to the proposed brand, the volume and frequency of purchases, methods of contact based on long-term partnerships.

The goals of partnership marketing, formulated in clear terms that really make life easier for customers, should include increasing the average and total cost of one-time purchases and attracting new stable customers.

Partnerships are based on a number of fundamental conditions for successful cooperation: information support, commitment, consumer characteristics, assessment of the level, expectations and potential of purchases (Fig. 7.1).

Rice. 7.1.

Information support involves creating a database with all the necessary parameters for establishing partnerships. The most important information data includes commitment, which involves establishing a constant, close connection between the brand and the consumer through communication channels. Knowledge characteristics of buyers involves maximum study of their resource potential in terms of income, family composition, aspirations, preferences and, conversely, everything that causes rejection.

Sales control includes forecasting the frequency, cost and timing of purchases. This ensures objective planning of sales volumes and the organization of rational commodity flows, accurate orders for the assortment and nomenclature of goods, and minimal inventories in the enterprise’s warehouses.

Forecasting expectations buyer from communication with entrepreneurs requires an accurate description of what their likes, dislikes and needs are based on. Grade potential partnerships are carried out in comparison with competitors. The capabilities of partners, the reasons for refusing to purchase products offered for sale, and the arguments that can convince the consumer to expand purchases are compared.

The assessment of customer loyalty should be constantly tested for the objectivity of the data. Based on the test results, the level of knowledge and understanding of the buyer’s requests, his openness and readiness to establish partnerships with us are determined.

Experts suggest testing a group of statements that are tested for truth:

• 1. Do we know the customers who bring in the most profit?
• 2. Are the incomes of my customers, their consumer product mix and the real requirements for them known?
• 3. Can we predict what customers expect from us in the next year and how they impact our capabilities?
• 4. Do we understand the pattern of income sources for our typical individual consumers and retail and wholesale businesses?
• 5. Do we know who makes the purchasing decision and their preferences?
• 6. Are competitors’ strategies clear and do we know how consumers feel about competitors’ brands?
• 7. Do we understand the behavior of our consumers. Can we measure the value of the products we create for customers?
• 8. Can we measure the value of our customers and know how to share it?

Partnerships are built along areas grouped into the so-called 11-C. The list of areas includes buyers, categories, capabilities, costs, control, cooperation, production to orders, communications, buyer evaluation, customer care, chain of relationships (Fig. 7.2).

The direction of partnership relations, formulated in marketing as a buyer, includes determining which consumers are preferable (from the product offered) and

Rice. 7.2.

which can ensure mutually beneficial cooperation with them. The category direction includes optimization of output from the point of view of demand, depth and breadth of the range of goods offered.

The opportunity direction considers improving the enterprise's potential to primarily satisfy the needs of the entrepreneur and customers. Costs, as a direction, include assessing the buyer’s profitability, offering him a product of higher value, using it in the formation of an assortment, taking into account sales and after-sales service.

The direction of ensuring control includes careful monitoring of the processes of interaction with the buyer and actions that are aimed at increasing the mutual benefits of partnerships.

Cooperation reflects the solution to the problem of integral interaction of everyone involved in production, sales and customer service. Production to order involves taking into account the individual needs of the buyer in terms of composition, physical weight of the product, packaging, method of sales and other characteristics.

Communications - the prevalence of interactive communication with the consumer over impersonal interaction through advertising media. Buyer evaluation reflects the role of feedback and monitoring of sales evaluations by buyers.

The task of ensuring customer care involves constant readiness to: provide any information about the product, compensate for losses and provide any services that increase the value of the product. The chain of relationships is the unification of the efforts of everyone involved in the production, sale and servicing of consumer requests.

Organizing partnerships involves establishing levels of communication with the buyer. The following levels of communication are distinguished: structural, brand equity, relationships, personal, informational, control, value and zero choice (Fig. 7.3).

Rice. 7.3.

Structural communication presupposes coordination of interests. Communication based brand equity shows the value that the buyer receives from purchasing a product through the functional and emotional attributes of the brand. Connection relations includes the selection of a supplier taking into account his professionalism, attention to customers, production and supply culture, and efficiency of decision-making. Establishment personal communications involves the cooperation of consumers with specific managers involved in making purchasing decisions.

Information And control communication guarantees constant provision to the buyer of all necessary information about the product and its manufacturer. Value communication includes the introduction of programs to increase customer loyalty based on discounts, benefits, and financial incentives. Connection zero choice implies the absence of the option of another partner or the difficulty of attracting them additionally due to the excess of the increase in costs over the profit from the partnership.

• - the value (cost) of a specific buyer (individual, household or family) for an enterprise per month, per year, throughout his life or household (family) cycle;
• - frequency of purchases. The desired standard for partnerships in food sales is a buyer who makes purchases 2-3 times a week or at least weekly. Frequency assessment must be done individually. For example, 20% of buyers purchase goods once a month, 50% - once a week, and 30% - 2 times a week. However, those who come rarely generate half of the sales revenue, and those who come often mainly buy bread and a carton of milk;
• - profitability rating from the first to the last purchase, characteristics of the decision maker, criteria for choosing a product;
• - time of last purchase. If the frequency of purchases decreases, the reason is urgently determined and measures are taken to retain the buyer. Not all buyers make complaints; the majority considers this an empty hassle, and up to 65-90% simply change the brand, manufacturer or seller;

Rice. 7.4.

• - characteristics of the consumer segment, payment method, relationships, after-sales behavior;
• - results of work with complaints. The number of complaints is not always a sign of poor performance of an enterprise if, demonstrating your style of working with clients, you practice a prompt response to any manifestation of negativity. Showing attention to the slightest needs of the buyer is more beneficial than dozens of appeals. By doing this you demonstrate interest in the client and additional attention to him;
• - a list of circumstances that led to the termination of purchases (repairs, change of owner or purchasing manager). To represent this, you need to constantly be in contact with customers, know what they think and want.

It is advisable to differentiate buyers into four groups according to the level of cost and frequency of purchases (Table 7.2).

Table 7.2

Differentiation of customer attractiveness

Level of cost and frequency of purchases	Frequency of purchases per month, units.	Cost of purchases
1. High cost and high frequency of purchases
2. Low cost and high frequency of purchases
3. High cost and low purchase frequency
4. Low cost and low frequency of purchases

Not every consumer group is equally attractive. Buyers of the fourth group are the least interesting. You need to know who is included in the attractive groups, what and how much they can buy, external and internal influencing factors in order to interest them in additional purchases.

When organizing partnerships, based on the results of the dossier and differentiation of consumer groups, loyalty programs are drawn up for valuable customers (preventive contact, tracking preferences, etc.).

The significance of such programs is obvious. The level of customer satisfaction increases, reimbursement costs due to product returns are reduced and, accordingly, sales volume increases. Also important is the indirect effect, which manifests itself in customer satisfaction with being valued.

The organization of partnerships involves the implementation of a number of successive stages: from assessing customers to managing the system of partnerships (Fig. 7.5).

When assessing consumer behavior, you need to establish what a buyer means to you: how much and when he buys from you. We need to estimate the average number of months during which we deal with a buyer, weigh the quantity and the total amount of sales.

Such a statement involves the implementation of the concept and quantitative calculation of the so-called lifetime value of the buyer, his family and even the relationships of the next generation. At their core strong relationships, built on trust, understanding, effective communication and belief in the usefulness of a particular consumer.

The cost of the goods purchased by the buyer consists of the volume of his purchases for the entire period of cooperation, as well as the expenditure of time and financial resources that are required to establish and, even more, to develop and improve partnerships (Table 7.3).

Benchmarking includes the collection and analysis of information about the activities of leading partners and competitors (direct and indirect, potential and actual) regarding their use of sales management methods. The main goal of benchmarking is to increase the efficiency of an entrepreneur through advanced technology, more advanced production processes, methods of organizing production, sales and marketing.

Rice. 7.5.

An example of calculating the cost of goods purchased by the buyer

Table 7.3

Indicators		to the sales amount
1. Average one-time sales
2. Frequency of purchases during the year, units.
3. Total sales per year
4. Profit from sales
5. Costs of organizing partnerships
5.1. Establishing and maintaining feedback with the buyer
5.1.1. Product delivery costs
5.1.2. Amount of bonus payments to store staff
5.1.3. Cost of returning unsold products
5.2. Database organization
5.3. Salaries of sales managers
5.4. Other costs associated with organizing partnerships
6. Profitability of partnerships with the buyer for the enterprise

In the process of benchmarking, it is necessary to understand the reason for the strength and position of competitors. You need to know what competitors use to ensure production efficiency and whether it is possible to borrow the most advanced methods in the practice of your own enterprise.

Research into the potential capabilities of an enterprise includes an assessment of the width and depth of the assortment, delivery conditions and customer requirements for the product, market potential, market share inevitably raises the question of the production capabilities of enterprises (capacity, level of technical and technological development, production management methods).

When assessing its potential capabilities, the enterprise uses accounting and statistical data and expert parameters. The resulting assessment indicators include capacity utilization factor, technical level of production, raw material supply, management methods and profitability of the enterprise's output.

The production capacity utilization rate is an important indicator when assessing the use of an enterprise's production capabilities. If an enterprise has a higher utilization of production capacity, then it produces more product and has lower production costs.

The technical level of production is analyzed by product output and production equipment. The level of output can be characterized by the share of products in demand and its change (in physical and monetary terms) over the period under study. The technical equipment of production is assessed by indicators - the composition and cost of fixed production assets, the level of mechanization (automation) of production and processes.

The study of the raw material supply of an enterprise involves an analysis of the types and quality of products received for processing (natural and powdered milk, cream, butter, etc.). An assessment is made of the rhythm of deliveries, the size of carry-over current and seasonal stocks, and the level of use of secondary raw materials.

The profitability of an enterprise is assessed based on the amount of profit, the profitability of production and the price level, which are the basis for effective activities enterprises create additional opportunities for varying pricing strategies and stimulating sales.

An important section of the potential research program is the assessment of the economic security of the enterprise. The content of the research program for the potential capabilities of the enterprise to produce products is given in Table. 7.4.

Table 7.4

Potential Research Program

enterprises

Stages of an individual research program	Parameters of an individual research program for the potential capabilities of an enterprise
1. Enterprise relations	1.1. Analysis of the culture of relationships with consumers, its openness to the perception of different points of view 1.2. Analysis of production culture 1.3. Enterprise strategy analysis
2. Use of enterprise power	2.1. Determination of production capacity utilization factor
3. Technical level of production	3.1. Product quality assessment 3.2. Evaluation of products in demand 3.3. Assessment of technical equipment of production
4. Supply of raw materials to the enterprise	4.1. Analysis of the quality and types of incoming raw materials 4.2. Analysis of prices and nature of supplies 4.3. Assessing the use of recycled materials
5. Enterprise management methods	5.1. Production structure analysis 5.2. Assessment of the level of organization and production management at the enterprise 5.3. Enterprise personnel assessment
6. Profitability of production	6.1. Analysis of the mass of enterprise profit from products 6.2. Product profitability assessment 6.3. Analysis of prices for types of products
7. Economic security of the enterprise	7.1. Analysis of possible threats and risks to the economic security of an enterprise 7.2. Assessing the effectiveness of measures to ensure the economic security of an enterprise
8. Enterprise strategy	8.1. Analysis of investment collateral 8.2. Analysis of goals and objectives

Assessing the possibilities of partnerships presupposes awareness of the need to organize them with the consumer. It is necessary to select options for relationships and central processes that will ensure the formation of mutual values ​​and the emergence of new opportunities for the effective development of the enterprise. It is important to reassess the composition of buyers and identify the most promising ones from the standpoint of forming long-term partnerships.

At the same time, you should understand the risks that may accompany partnerships, the possibilities of neutralizing their negative impact, and above all those associated with the actions of competitors.

We must move from researching the possibilities of partnerships to assessing their prospects. It is advisable to build a forecast for the future of partnership relations with a focus on taking into account the maximum number of aspects of activity in the goods market.

Partnerships with consumers should be considered the most important factor in ensuring competitiveness and advantage. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify problems that need to be overcome and improved: the development of marketing communications, the individualization of orders, the growth of a culture of service and consumption. Simultaneously with the development of the forecast, effective monitoring of the proposals being developed should be ensured, taking into account compliance with the system of measures as part of the marketing elements. The monitoring process should represent a comprehensive and systematic study, giving a reasonable conclusion about the compliance of the actions taken with solving the overall problem of enterprise development.

The consumer can be directly involved in cooperation in the development of marketing activities. When Harley Davidson was developing a new multimedia model configuration so that consumers could customize the motorcycle to suit their tastes, the company enlisted the wealthy urban bikers it wanted as customers to help develop the solution. In relation to food products, this can be implemented according to the scheme: “To cook something as tasty as ours, you need to buy very good products that are sold only by us or associated with us.”

The development and approval of a business situation involves showing the benefits and values ​​that an enterprise should receive from organizing long-term partnerships. This could be an expansion of the scope of activity and penetration into new market segments, an increase in the share of buyers, the emergence of new opportunities and an increase in the profit of the enterprise.

The implementation stage of the plan for organizing partnerships includes the process of executing the plan: investing, planning a marketing communications system, implementation, evaluating results and adjusting actions.

The implementation process involves changes in marketing methods aimed at consumer behavior when deciding to purchase a product. For consumer awareness The use of marketing communications includes the formation of a database of end customers based on previous purchases.

It is necessary to create a profile of each high-value buyer, specifying the means of communication to which he is more receptive and the content of information in them. For maintaining interest In addition to demonstrating the benefits of the brand, various incentives should be provided to increase the frequency and size of purchases.

For positive evaluation of options When purchasing, it is necessary to provide the buyer with maximum information about the characteristic features and benefits of the product being offered. The buyer must imagine that only with your participation can he satisfy his needs to the best possible extent. It is necessary to track the evaluation process by recording all the questions that the buyer asks the seller about the sale, as well as the answers that he receives.

At the stage product testing You should not limit yourself to test marketing on the sales floor, you need to look for new non-standard ways. At the final stage experience evaluations When using a product, you need to be aware of the slightest manifestations of consumer dissatisfaction, conduct an open dialogue, using material incentives for repeat purchases. Forecasting consumer behavior allows you to present specific offers in advance that will be difficult for him to ignore.

The organization of consumer partnerships involves a new form of target market - targeted segmentation in relation to a narrow group and even individual buyers, if it is profitable, and the use of Internet technologies for communication and interaction at the consumer interface based on pull and push.

Pulling technology provides customers with the right to use the web page and make decisions about the choice of goods and information, as in the traditional method of shopping. Push technology involves a standing order for the regular production and maintenance of a specific product.

Successful online sales companies, even for groceries, can have tens of thousands of customers in several large cities, providing them with time savings on shopping, as well as quick provision of any information about products.

Point segmentation allows you to move to a small-scale type of production to order, which is directly or indirectly issued by the consumer himself. At direct order The consumer himself participates in the formation of the assortment. For example, companies engage customers to review eyeglass frames to ensure they fit everyone. The buyer's face is photographed, his wishes are recorded, and frame options are displayed on the display screen. The buyer looks at them individual parts finished, and then the glasses are made on site.

Questions and tasks

• 1. What is the essence and advantages of partnerships compared to traditional marketing methods as a form of overcoming the contradictions between production capabilities and demand for goods (services) and creating a balanced relationship between supply and demand for goods?
• 2. Determine what aspects of marketing activities will need to be coordinated when organizing partnerships? What conditions for successful cooperation are partnerships based on?
• 3. Using a specific example, justify the essence of the tasks, as well as the research program for the potential capabilities of the enterprise and the benefits of partnerships.
• 4. To track sales trends, you, as the company's sales manager, need to create a profile of buyer profitability. What sections will it include in relation to individual buyers, processing enterprises and retail trade?
• 5. According to research results, it was found that among families who received an advertising coupon, 20% of those who did not have coupons tried the product - 10%. The repeat rate was significantly higher for shoppers without discount coupons. How can this be explained? Does this fact refute the idea that advertising coupons stimulate sales?
• 6. What stages of work need to be carried out when organizing partnerships? How to calculate buyer's cost?

• See: Gordon Y. Marketing of partnerships. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. P. 215.

Building personal relationships involves collecting information about current and potential customers and using it as the basis for developing a personalized approach to selling your products. It is a highly effective and focused means of maximizing sales.

• Do I have to tell consumers that I am collecting personal information about them?

Yes, the Privacy Shield Act requires you to notify people that your data is being collected and used. A common good practice in business today is to publish a clear privacy policy detailing the company's procedures.

In addition, the company should tell consumers exactly how it intends to use the information collected. Experience shows that if people see that it provides them with certain benefits, they are happy to provide all the information that companies need to compile databases.

It must be recognized, however, that issues of confidentiality and privacy have been and remain the most serious obstacles to the development of electronic commerce.

• Does Personalized Marketing Guarantee Customer Loyalty?

For such marketing to be truly effective, the company must be sufficiently aware of its consumers, but it does not always have the necessary resources and capabilities for this.

However, if you have some information about groups of consumers with common interests, you can first use a useful technique such as direct mail to collect more detailed additional information about them.

And when there is enough consumer data, you can move on to communications on a personal basis.

Individualization of relationships with consumers

#1 Know your target market better. The more information you collect about your target audience, the more accurately you prepare your campaign, the more targeted it will be.

In an ideal world, direct marketing methods would allow us to communicate directly with every potential buyer and client, but in practice, we will most likely have to limit ourselves to communicating with groups of people with the same characteristics.

But even so, you will establish a unique relationship with them that is not available to your competitors, who, unlike you, are not doing this purposefully. In addition, through these activities, marketing and customer management costs can be significantly reduced by minimizing unproductive costs.

#2 Set clear goals. Personalized marketing aims to:

• improve the quality of customer service;
• strengthen relationships with consumers;
• maximize the benefits of relationships with each specific consumer;
• increase the retention rate of current customers;
• Maximize the return on investment in marketing and customer service.

#3 Create a database. The heart of effective personalized marketing will be a single, integrated data network where all consumer information is collected, stored, managed and distributed. These databases are updated from all possible sources, and all personnel directly working with consumers have access to them.

#4 Collect consumer insights on an ongoing basis. The more you know about your consumers, the higher your chances of getting maximum profit over the entire period of cooperation with each of them.

Therefore, collecting this data should be an integral part of your sales promotions, customer service campaigns and marketing programs. You can create detailed descriptions of consumer characteristics through their responses to your campaigns and through research and surveys; To manage, analyze and disseminate such information, the latest communication technologies and database management technologies, of which there are a great many today, should be used.

Take every opportunity to learn something new about your customers. Remember: personalized marketing provides a company with a significant competitive advantage.

#5 Invest in personalization. The rapid development of data storage and analysis tools means that we can now know much more about our consumers than before, and this information will not be limited only to their income, spending patterns, service preferences and frequency of product use.

Thanks to the information available today, modern companies can make real quantum leaps in consumer profiling. Investing in personalization can further enhance the value of these relationships and deepen customer commitment to your firm's services.

An individualized profile (or structured description, or portrait) of the consumer is the heart of personalized service. It usually includes the following information:

• Full name and address of the client;
• contact information;
• information about purchases made by a given consumer over a certain period of time;
• information about personal interests;
• information about preferences for goods or services.

#6 Give consumers the opportunity to complete information. If your website offers personal pages, your consumers can add additional information about themselves to their profile using lists with buttons to select the options they want.

However, it must be remembered that this information can only be used for permitted purposes. Overly aggressive attempts by companies to engage customers and persuade them to provide more information about themselves have often led to people raising questions about the confidentiality of personal data.

It is important to allow consumers to control the frequency and amount of information they provide. Companies must clearly understand the difference between legitimate uses of the information they collect and misuse of that data.

Available information must be used to better meet customer needs; consumers are well aware of the value of such information and are willing to provide it only if they see some real benefits for themselves.

Therefore, you must provide consumers with complete control over this data and allow them to choose the way they interact with your company.

#7 Develop personalized relationships. Today, the contact between buyer and seller via the Internet is increasingly approaching individual interaction in nature.

Modern database technologies support a level of personalization that allows the creation of fully customized products and services for specific customers. Consider, for example, this approach: every time a consumer visits a website, the system collects all the information about past purchases and personal preferences, this data becomes the basis for a highly personalized communication with him.

By offering consumers a single point of entry, you can greatly increase their level of commitment and learn more about their purchasing patterns. And this, of course, is an excellent basis for adding value to your relationships and for developing new products.

#8 Maintain relationships regularly and intentionally. Once you've collected consumer information, take action. Maintain regular contact with clients by constantly sending out information or special offers tailored to their individual needs and requests.

#9 Use email to strengthen contacts. Thanks to this communication tool, you can send messages to specific recipients at a very low cost. In addition, email allows for quick access to information.

Most people check their inboxes constantly and usually skim through almost all of their emails at least briefly. This makes email a powerful marketing tool with a high return on investment for a very modest investment.

Your messages go directly to consumers' inboxes, so you don't have to spend money on getting people's attention to your site. And once the consumer gets used to receiving messages from you, you will have a great opportunity to build a stronger relationship with them.

This tool increases the predictability of email marketing and allows organizations to form and develop personalized relationships with consumers.

#10 Allow consumers to customize products to their specific needs. By incorporating interactive features into your website, you will enable your customers to “design” products for themselves.

An excellent example of the use of this approach is the automotive and computer industries. The buyer selects a base model and then selects from a database the features and options that should be included in his specific product. The system displays the price of the future individualized product, after which the consumer has the opportunity to either order it immediately or make additional modifications to the design.

He can also simply save all the specifications on a personal web page so that he can change the product specifications later. This level of interaction provides the consumer with freedom of choice, and you, as a manufacturer, get the opportunity to study their requests and customer needs in as much detail as possible.

#11 Personalize your information service. Data on consumer preferences can be used as a basis for offering them personalized information services. Consumers indicate what type of information they want, and you send them emails whenever you have new information of that nature.

#12 Offer different levels of service. Through customization, you can offer different levels of service to different customers, for example:

• special rewards for the best clients;
• financial incentives for regular customers, persuading them to purchase more goods or services;
• special offers for customers who have recently left you.

There are the following common mistakes when using an individualized approach to building relationships with consumers.

#1 You ignore privacy issues. Personalized marketing is based on the collection and use of detailed personal information. You should publish a privacy policy on the site and ensure compliance with all laws protecting the privacy of citizens from misuse of information.

When you collect information about people, be upfront about how you intend to use the information and always ensure their privacy.

#2 Failure to develop relationships with consumers. The primary reason companies collect customer data is to gain insight into their customers' needs and wants, to develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with them, and to increase their commitment to their products.

It is extremely important to consistently and purposefully act on the information collected, analyze it and develop strategies for individualized, personal service.

#3 You're targeting the wrong people. Marketing programs are most effective when they target the right audience. The more you segment your chosen target audience, the more accurately you can appeal to her.

It is known that different groups consumers in the same target market may have completely different purchasing needs and income levels. By dividing your audience into segments and tailoring your marketing materials to the characteristics of each individual segment, you can meet individual consumer needs.

Traditionally, marketing was viewed as an activity aimed at finding new consumers willing to buy a company's products, for which companies regularly measured their market share. If it increased, they considered it a success. However, it could also be that market share is increasing and most consumers are feeling dissatisfied. This is because the size of your market share only tells you how much of the market you “own” at a certain time. The only way to know whether your customers are satisfied or not is whether they make repeat purchases or tell friends and acquaintances about your products.

Market share growth can be driven by an increase in the number of consumers purchasing the product for the first time. What is often hidden behind this growth is how much the number of existing consumers who are not buying again has decreased. This phenomenon is called the “leaky bucket”: some consumers fall into the bucket, others fall out of it. To determine whether this is so, it is not enough to know your market share. It is necessary to determine the number of repeat purchases, the degree of customer satisfaction and their commitment to the products.

The approach, which is focused on attracting new consumers, was called “transaction marketing” (transaction markerting) - “marketing of one transaction”. The emphasis is on completing one transaction at a certain moment, and all the organization’s activities are concentrated around creating conditions for completing a single exchange transaction with a new consumer.

Another approach, called "relationship marketing," focuses the organization's efforts on retaining customers "in the bucket." At the same time, new customers are, of course, needed, and the organization must think about how to attract them, but once customers have come into contact with the organization, it must think about how to create new or greater value for them. Chain stores and supermarkets, for example, regularly hold promotions and sales to attract customers, and also give away souvenirs, such as refrigerator magnets, pens and notepads. You can order the production of refrigerator magnets at https://promagnit.ru/

Relationship marketing suggests that the consumer can, and indeed should, play a role in determining what value they want to receive from the organization. His main principle: the more satisfied the consumer is with the relationship with the organization, as well as with the product, the more likely it is that he will remain committed to this organization. In other words, he will become a loyal consumer, connected to the organization. This “customer loyalty” will help create additional income for the organization.

Much evidence has already been published, including quantitative evidence, of how much more profitable it is for an organization to concentrate its efforts on developing relationships with existing customers rather than attracting new ones. Forum Consulting (Boston, Massachusetts) and the Customer Service Institute (Silver Spring, Maryland) found that acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing one (Gordon, 1998). ). These cost savings are determined by calculating the cost to the company of one customer over the period of time of his active relationship with the company. One of the car manufacturers in the United States believes that its consumer brings an average of $200 thousand to the company over the entire period of their purchasing life. If you look at it from the other side, the loss of one consumer after the first purchase will cost $200 thousand plus the cost of his initial attraction , minus the cost of the car. This will equal approximately $190 thousand over the lifetime of the consumer.

The main characteristics of the two approaches we considered: relationship marketing and transactional marketing are presented below.

Relationship Marketing:

Focus on repeat purchases

Close, frequent customer/supplier contacts

Focus on customer value

Focus on long-term performance

High level of customer service

The goal is to “delight” the consumer

Quality is the responsibility of the entire organization as a whole.

Transactional Marketing:

Focus on a single purchase

Limited direct supplier/consumer contact

Focus on product benefits

Focus on short-term activities

Low level of customer service

The goal is to satisfy the consumer

Quality is the concern of the production department.

However, the above statements do not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive. In relation to different products different strategies can be used. Transactional marketing and relationship marketing are located on two opposite ends of the continuum, with different product categories placed in between. The boundaries of categories are fluid. This means that consumer goods firms will benefit more from a transaction-oriented strategy and service firms will benefit more from a relationship-oriented strategy. However, this is not always the case. Some consumer goods firms are trying to develop relationships with their consumers.

A good example is the Heinz company, which supplies its products directly to four million consumers based on a database. To market its products, the company sends free copies of At Home magazine to people's homes. As for service companies, their interaction with consumers is determined by such a characteristic of services as inseparability, which creates the basis for the development of closer relationships. This is why services are on the opposite side of the continuum from goods.

For durable goods such as washing machines, VCRs and computers, the transaction strategy is not the only possible one, although it is most often used by manufacturers. Manufactured goods lie on a continuum between durable goods and services. Despite this, in industrial sectors, close relationships develop between supplier and consumer. For example, an organization purchasing a new computer system will likely seek to build a long-term relationship with the supplier. She needs to be sure that the system meets her needs, is installed according to all the rules and that if problems arise, she will receive help. In order for this to happen this way, the buyer must provide the supplier with a lot of information about himself: what and how he does. It is in the buyer's interest to develop a relationship with the supplier.

In order to create products that consumers want and to establish relationships with them, it is necessary to obtain information about these consumers. One way to get this information is to ask them questions. But consumers, as shown in the previous example, will only want to respond if they receive some benefit in return. This brings us back to the concept of exchange and indicates that the process of collecting information, as well as the process of selling and buying, should be mutually beneficial.

This information confirms the fact that consumers are willing to help organizations manage their relationships with them, but in return they expect an increase in the level of quality of services provided. The role of services in developing and managing relationships will be discussed in more detail below.

Ladder of relationships with consumers

Building relationships is a long process. Payne et al. (1997) introduced the concept of the “customer relationship ladder”, according to which the process of developing long-term relationships consists of several stages. At the bottom of the ladder is the potential consumer, in other words, the target market. Organizations must convert him into a consumer. In this model, a consumer is someone who has dealt with the organization or has had at least one contact with it. After this, consumers become customers, i.e. those who make repeat purchases.

This does not mean that the consumer has established a relationship with the organization. He continues to buy the products she produces not because he has any special feelings for her, but simply because it is convenient for him to do so. For example, most people use the same bank. This does not mean that they have a relationship with him, much less their loyalty. The reason for this state of affairs may be inertia or the fear that moving from one bank to another will take time and require effort.

Typically, organizations are hungry to turn their customers into advocates. At this stage, the strength of the relationship becomes apparent. Such people are happy to be somehow associated with the organization, and over time, if treated appropriately, can turn into its supporters or propagandists, recommending this organization to others. The last step on the ladder will lead us to a “partner” - someone who, together with the organization, will look for ways to achieve mutually beneficial relationships. Partnerships are a long-term goal for some organizations, although, like relationship marketing principles, they are not suitable for all consumers and product types. For example, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the UK has almost one million members, some of them passive, while others take part in various conferences and protective actions. They spend their time and energy for a cause in which they believe. In other words, they feel like they are part of the organization.

Benefits of Relationship Marketing

The development of relationships should lead to increased customer loyalty and, as a result, to a higher degree of commitment to the organization. For companies, this becomes a goal of activity, as it provides a number of benefits.

Reduced costs. The cost of serving an existing customer is lower than attracting a new one. Cost savings may also result from using more efficient operations. Gordon (1998) notes that business-to-business relationships eliminate duplication of transactions involving customers and suppliers.

Reducing time to market. One of the features of relationship marketing is to involve consumers in the process of developing new products. This allows you to reduce the time it takes to bring a new product to market and increase its attractiveness.

Reducing the degree of business risks. The presence of consumers such as “promoters” and “partners” (on the ladder of relationships) in the organization allows reducing the risk of consumers switching to another supplier. As a result, it becomes possible to increase income rather than spend money on attracting new consumers.

Increased customer satisfaction. Another benefit is the likelihood that greater customer involvement in service improvement and delivery will increase customer satisfaction. For commercial organizations, this leads to increased revenue.

Conclusion

Relationship marketing and transactional (single transaction) marketing are two different approaches to relationships with consumers. For different types of products and consumers, one of these two types of relationships is more preferable.

The Customer Relationship Ladder describes different types consumers of the organization in terms of their loyalty to the organization. The organization's marketing activities are aimed at transforming consumers into the category of promoters and partners.

Introduction

The objectives of relationship marketing can be formulated as follows: to identify and establish, maintain and strengthen, and, if necessary, terminate relationships with clients and other stakeholders (the circle of people interested in working in the company) profitably - so that the goals of all those involved in them are achieved parties; and this was done through the mutual exchange of promises and their fulfillment. Unlike traditional marketing, relationship marketing:
1) aims to create new value for customers and then share its benefits with them;
2) recognizes the key role of customers as both buyers and those who determine what kind of value they would like to receive;
3) optimizes processes, communications, technology and personnel to maintain customer value;
4) continuously tries to implement cooperation between buyers and sellers;
5) recognizes the value of customers' "customer lifecycle";
6) seeks to build chains of relationships within the organization - in the interests of creating value demanded by consumers, as well as with other organizations, including suppliers, distribution channels, intermediaries and shareholders.

One of the differences between relationship marketing and traditional marketing is that it extends the company's primary focus beyond the buyer-seller dyad to include the organization's relationships with other groups such as suppliers, internal customers, and other external organizations.

Relationships with clients

Relationship marketing, unlike traditional marketing, does not prioritize capturing the abstract consumer or manipulating the consumer for short-term gain. In contrast, relationship marketing focuses not on what to get from the customer, but on what can be done for the customer to ensure customer satisfaction. The goal of relationship marketing is to treat the consumer as a valued partner who is valued by the company, to identify his needs and gain his loyalty through quality, attentive service. The modern approach is dictated by the following conditions: the transition to a buyer’s market that is much more aware of market conditions, and on a global scale; the emergence of an increasing number of undifferentiated products and services on the market; The services provided by the company to the consumer are often more important and acceptable than the product itself.

One of the prerequisites for the emergence of relationship marketing is the development of the service sector. The specific characteristics of services are traditionally considered to be intangibility, inseparability, changeability, non-storability and non-ownership. Despite the differences between product and service, an increasing number of authors question the fact that a clear line can be drawn between product and service. In addition to the service sector, “service” in marketing is manifested in the phrase “customer service,” implying that as a result of contact between the seller and the buyer, additional value arises, the benefit of maintaining the relationship. From this point of view, relationship marketing considers two concepts: “service industry” and “customer service”. The concept of relationships is constructed from a series of episodes, and the critical interactions should be considered specific interactions between customers and employees of the firm that are particularly satisfying or dissatisfying to customers. Service orientation calls for a shift in management thinking—from emphasizing transaction value to developing and enhancing relationship value.

Many authors of works on relationship marketing visualize its benefits using the concept of the “customer relationship life cycle”, or “profit chain”. A comprehensive model of “return on relationships” includes the following components:

1. Quality of service as perceived by the client: the client’s conscious assessment of the service, which he judges based on a number of episodes, comparing the level of services provided with generally accepted or own standards;
2. Value as perceived by the client: the quality of service is compared by the consumer with the sacrifices that are required in return for receiving it;
3. Sacrifices that the customer agrees to make for the sake of the relationship: this refers to everything that is required of the customer to maintain a relationship with the supplier throughout the entire set of episodes: the money he shells out for the product, the effort he expends in getting to the place where he ends up services. At the same time, the consumer compares these “sacrifices” with those that would be required to communicate with an alternative supplier, guided by generally accepted or his own standards;
4. Commitment: the parties' intentions to interact and their attitudes towards the idea of ​​interacting with each other; the high value placed by the parties on the relationship has a positive effect on commitment;
5. Customer satisfaction: the consumer's logical and emotional assessment of the level of service based on his personal experience, which he acquired during all episodes of his relationship with the supplier;
6. Provider-client ties: barriers that prevent client departure, bind the client to the provider, and ensure the maintenance of the relationship. Several types of connections can be distinguished: legal, economic, technological, geographical, temporary, social, cultural, ideological, cognitive and psychological;
7. Alternatives: alternative providers of the same services known to the consumer as provided by the supplier;
8. Relationship strength: measured by both purchasing behavior and communication behavior. Loyalty (i.e., repeat business), which is also based on the customer's commitment to that supplier, indicates a stronger relationship. The relationships that arise between the service provider and the client also influence the latter's behavior;
9. Critical Episodes: Service episodes that are critical to the continuation of the relationship. An episode can be assessed as critical if the values ​​exchanged between the parties constitute a relatively large share of their available resources, and based on the experience gained during the episode;
10. Patronage: the share of cash spent by a client in a given market and attributable to a given supplier;
11. Relationship longevity: the length of time the relationship lasts;
12. Essence of episodes: types of episodes and the number of episodes of each type occurring between the client and provider during the relationship;
13. Relationship Revenue: Total revenue generated from a customer relationship during the fiscal year;
14. Relationship profitability: relationship income minus relationship costs;
15. Relationship Costs: The total costs incurred to support the customer relationship during the financial year.

As we can see, numerous difficulties in the way of cooperation between supplier and client are beyond the control of most supplier companies and cannot be measured quantitatively. Even “unprecedented service” does not guarantee that it will certainly retain the consumer. Therefore, by calculating all aspects of the activity, as well as the profit and return from relationships with consumers, the company must decide how acceptable the relationship is and whether it is worth continuing or abandoning it.

Internal relationships

The quality of a company's relationships with its customers is determined, to a large extent, by how well its frontline employees treat them. Where the client’s interaction with the supplier’s employee is carried out directly, without intermediaries, the internal moral climate of the supplier significantly affects the degree of customer satisfaction and their retention, although a direct cause-and-effect relationship between these factors is difficult to trace. At the same time, if in the service sector a company, as a rule, contacts its clients through its own employees, then manufacturing companies use either intermediaries or technology (for example, a hotline) to interact with clients.

By comparing and analyzing the theoretical foundations of internal marketing, we can conclude that internal marketing contributes to the improvement of a customer-oriented organization, helps to improve communications, and develop responsibility, responsiveness and unity of aspirations in employees. “The fundamental goal of internal marketing is to develop an understanding of the organization's internal and external customers and to remove functional barriers to organizational effectiveness.”

The divisions of any organization always, to one degree or another, interact, and the results of attitudes towards both the service product and its “delivery” depend on how these interactions occur. Internal marketing focuses on three activities of an organization that add value to its product: innovation, process efficiency, and customer support. It is associated with retaining employees who are sensitive and attentive to the client in the company, improving the practice of empowering employees to most fully satisfy the client’s needs. The concept of internal partnership means that if a company's management expects its employees to provide outstanding customer service, it must be willing to do more for the employees.

The decisive factor on the path to business success is increasingly the presence of people with the proper skills, “intellectual capital”, consisting of individual and structural capital. Individual capital, in this case, is understood as the qualities, knowledge and skills of employees, their motivation and the totality of relationships in the internal and external environment. Structural capital is built-in knowledge that is inseparable from the environment in which it is applied and developed, these include organizational culture, the organization’s operating system, contacts, image and the totality of efforts aimed at maintaining the brand.

An organization is a social construct that is formed from a collection of people and their activities, thoughts, emotions and other intangible elements. Therefore, it is now generally accepted that organizational climate and organizational culture form the basis on which a company's long-term marketing performance is built. Organizational climate and organizational culture can be manifested in the company's attitude towards employees and the attitude of employees towards organizational change. As organizational changes, it is proposed to expand the powers of employees and provide them with information previously available only to top management.

We should not forget that empowering ordinary employees who come into contact with clients can have both positive and negative sides. The relationship marketing program should be “viewed as the company's circulatory system, permeating all hierarchical levels, divisions, functions and assets and ultimately mobilizing the company's efforts to simultaneously offer and receive value at all levels. Marketing, management, production, finance and human resource management should be the vital organs that help the organization develop, generate and maintain a constant circulation of an inexhaustible flow of value among the company's valued customers.

Vertical relationships

The organization's external relations develop in vertical and horizontal directions. Vertical relationships unite all or several links in the supply chain - component suppliers, manufacturers, intermediaries. Horizontal relationships arise between organizations that occupy the same position in the distribution channel (including competitors) and seek to cooperate to achieve mutual benefit.

“Supplier partnership” broadly refers to any two-way relationship between individual parts of a vertical supply chain. A partnership with a supplier is the flip side of a partnership with a client, so it includes general aspects of the relationship between partners, most often such relationships develop in the industrial goods sector (B2B, business to business). Marketing concepts applied in this sector have been used and known for quite some time: personal relationships between employees and the director or owner, mutual obligations between traders. Throughout the twentieth century, the relationship between suppliers and consumers in the sector did not remain unchanged. Thus, during the “golden age of marketing”, from the mid-50s to the mid-70s, the supplier of branded products had market power; it was he who financed the development of individual brands, which allowed him to manage the means and methods of distribution. In the second half of the twentieth century, the balance of market power began to shift towards retailers. During this period, information regarding production volume and sales volume was considered a trade secret, so mistrust of the supplier or the client was normal. The situation changed somewhat only when vertical integration began to take on a massive nature through the mixing or absorption of neighboring companies in the distribution chain. Unfortunately, almost 90% of acquisitions did not bring the expected return; only at the end of the twentieth century it became clear that the theoretical benefits that corporations were trying to achieve by coordinating elements of the distribution chain could be obtained by others, more effective means, for example, outsourcing and partnerships.

A partnership is a relationship between a supplier organization and a customer organization in which both parties recognize them as partners, with the main goal of both parties being to share the benefits of increased efficiency and productivity of the joint commitments made within the relationship. The benefits of partnership include: lower transaction costs; guarantee of uninterrupted supply; improved coordination between supplier and client; stronger barriers to preventing outsiders from entering the market.

This type of cooperation between buyers and sellers can take many forms, such as the establishment of long-term contractual obligations, the disclosure of confidential information, and the adaptation of production, delivery and purchasing processes to the requirements and needs of both the one who sells and the one who buys. The meaning and purpose of the partnership is to increase the efficiency of the value-added system. When choosing a partnership strategy, you should carefully weigh all the benefits and costs of cooperation with a given partner, taking into account that partnership can have both positive and negative sides. In relationships that are not renewed and rethought, social contacts between employees turn into friendships, and at a certain point, undemandingness and willingness to forgive each other's mistakes turns into economic ineffectiveness of the partnership.

Horizontal relationships

Horizontal cooperation implies relationships between competitors, as well as between commercial organizations and complementary players, i.e. partners who are at the same level in the hierarchical position. Horizontal partnerships have become widespread in recent decades, and these types of relationships significantly change the face of the competitive situation and add complexity to interorganizational relationships. Horizontal relationships are characteristic almost exclusively of the B2B sector, “business to business”. The terms communication and collaboration are used to characterize relationships in this sector.

Networks are personal connections between individuals, using formal and informal channels of cooperation that business owners and managers seek to build with each other in order to obtain the necessary information and knowledge that would allow them to optimize the effectiveness of their organization. Personal connections between employees of different companies can play a significant role in the activities of some companies, because they can be quite tight and long lasting. On the other hand, we should not forget that legislation can suppress such official ties in order to prevent market manipulation.

Cooperation is a more formalized type of relationship, because its subjects are organizations. Most often, these are contractual relations, official meetings, development of general directions, forms and methods of cooperation. Collaboration is often used by companies to compete in international markets, and can take the following forms: alliances, joint ventures, partnerships, joint research and development, cross-licensing, co-branding, joint marketing, etc. Cooperation, however, should not be confused with altruism or considered capable of putting an end to competition. In some industries, the spread of collaboration has led to a significant increase in competition, moving it from the level of individual companies to the level of alliances fighting for market share. Collaboration can be divided into two types: industry collaboration and external collaboration. Industry cooperation is the cooperation of companies competing in the same market sector. The purpose of this type of cooperation is to ensure the efficiency and productivity of distribution channels, the provision of services and other forms of support, ensuring the growth and dominance of the market sector.

External cooperation is carried out by companies belonging to different industries. Companies bring their specific skills, competencies and assets to the relationship. Such cooperation is aimed at taking advantage of a new market sector or differentiation in an existing market sector. The greatest potential for growth in cross-industry collaboration is believed to be in “new business sectors,” especially those associated with technological breakthroughs.

In addition to these cooperative relationships and personal connections of commercial organizations, there are other relationships, which include relationships with local, national and supranational legislative bodies; with national and international agencies; with pressure groups - organized forces lobbying for certain public interests.

Conclusion

The life cycle of relationship development is a path of the following stages: formation - experimentation - identification - constant renewal or rupture, each of which has its own goals and objectives. Such relationships create a certain interdependence of partners, which, to a certain extent, limits the ability to leave cooperation, and this creates certain difficulties for them. In addition, it should be noted that the model does not reflect all possible options for the development of relations, which can develop either in a zigzag pattern or stop at any stage, without reaching the stage where the boundaries of organizations are blurred.

The trend in the development of partnerships is caused by increased competition, the difficulties of winning new consumers, and the significance of each individual contact with a consumer as a “critical episode” in the development of relationships. This concept plays a significant role in internal marketing, i.e. the interaction of an organization with its employees and, ultimately, the attitude of the organization's employees towards its customers. The organization's relationships with suppliers, competitors, public and government organizations are determined by personal (informal) connections and interaction and cooperation, the creation of formal alliances, alliances, partnerships, joint ventures and joint research and development. The development of partnerships between all groups of influence (stakeholders) is necessary to choose the right direction for the development of the organization and ensure its effective implementation.

In the theory of digital digital marketing, CRM is considered as a personalized macro process that provides competitive advantages to the supply chain in the modern market - the consumer market. The goal of CRM is to ensure a stable position of the supply chain in the market and a guaranteed sales volume based on long-term, trusting and mutually beneficial relationships between the focal company and end consumers.

In modern conditions, an interconnected, harmonious combination in DRM of the concepts of marketing, logistics and the level of service provided by CRM technologies is a necessary condition for its success. A characteristic feature of the CRM macro process is its focus on powerful, modern IT support in the form of CRM systems. Thus, from the perspective of information integration in supply chains, CRM is often considered as application software for organizations designed to automate strategies for interacting with customers (clients), in particular to increase sales, optimize marketing and improve customer service by storing customer information and history relationships with them, establishing and improving business procedures and subsequent analysis of the results.

An example is Oracle Siebei CRM, a customer relationship management system developed by Siebei Systems Corporation, which was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2006.

This system includes the following solutions:

• business analytics;
• sales management;
• marketing management;
• contact centers and call centers;
• order processing management;
• managing relationships with partners;
• employee relations management.

Its advantages:

• wide functionality;
• flexibility and extensibility – the architecture and customization tools allow you to configure the product in accordance with business requirements;
• The modular structure allows companies to select and use only the modules they need. This makes it possible to implement the system in stages, starting with basic modules, gradually increasing capabilities;
• quick implementation - achieved due to ready-made configuration and large quantity standard objects;
• the presence of more than 20 full-featured industry solutions - industry CRM solutions, adapted to the characteristics of specific industries, reduce the cost of the service share in the CRM project (as well as the time to implement the system).

In the context of DRM CRM is a model of supply chain interaction that assumes that the customer is at the center of the entire supply chain business philosophy, and the main areas of activity are measures to support effective processes of marketing, sales and logistics in servicing customers. Supporting these business goals includes collecting, storing, and analyzing information about customers, suppliers, intermediaries, and the focal company's internal processes.

An IT CRM system may include:

• front part, providing customer service at points of sale with autonomous, distributed or centralized information processing;
• the operational part, which provides authorization of operations and operational reporting;
• data warehouse;
• analytical subsystem;
• distributed sales support system: data replicas at points of sale or smart cards.

Basic principles CRM are the following.

• 1. Availability of a single information repository where information about interactions with customers in the supply chain is collected.
• 2. Using multiple interaction channels: point-of-sale service, phone calls, email, events, meetings, website registration forms, advertising links, chats, social networks.
• 3. Analysis of collected information about clients and preparation of data for making appropriate decisions - for example, segmentation of clients based on their significance for the company, potential response to certain promotions, forecasting the need for certain company products.

This approach implies that when interacting with a client, the SC manager has access to all the necessary information about the relationship with this client and a decision is made on the basis of this information (information about the decision, in turn, is also saved).

The main goal The implementation of CRM in the concept of digital marketing is to increase the degree of customer satisfaction by analyzing accumulated information about customer behavior, regulating tariff policy, setting up marketing and logistics tools. Thanks to the use of automated centralized data processing in the supply chain, it becomes possible to effectively and with minimal participation of employees take into account the individual needs of clients, and due to the speed of processing, to carry out early identification of risks and potential opportunities.

Classification of CRM by functionality:

• sales management (SFA - sales force automation);
• marketing management;
• management of customer service and call centers (systems for processing subscriber requests, recording and further work with customer requests);

Classification by levels of information processing:

• operational CRM – registration and prompt access to primary information on events, companies, projects, contacts;
• analytical CRM – reporting and analysis of information in various sections (sales funnel, analysis of the results of marketing activities, analysis of sales effectiveness by product, customer segments, regions and other possible options);
• collaborative CRM - the level of organizing close interaction with end consumers, clients, up to the client’s influence on the internal processes of the company (surveys to change the quality of a product or service order, web pages for customers to track the status of an order, notification of events related to an order or personal account , the ability for the client to independently configure and order products and services in real time and other interactive features).

Within the framework of modern practice, CRM can be considered as an expression of the concept of transition from production and technological orientation in management to orientation towards the end consumer. This transition is due to the formation of a consumer market, which is characterized by an excess of supply of goods and services over demand while leveling out their quality. Under these conditions, the business strategy of the focal supply chain company changes significantly, in which marketing tasks are primarily associated with customer retention and reducing the uncertainty of demand for goods and services. Customer loyalty is seen as a new and extremely important resource - a sales resource.

Functionally, CRM is the end macro process of the supply chain. CRM logically completes the ideology of end-to-end, process management in SCM implemented by modern supply chains. Thus, CRM systems expand the capabilities of ERP-class systems in planning and operational management of key business processes by taking into account external resources - sales resources.

The need to use CRM in digital marketing is associated with the emergence of a new type of consumer - a consumer sensitive to speed, availability and quality of service. Such a consumer is considered by the focal company as a business partner. Important aspects of service management that stimulates the loyalty of such consumers are value analysis and ensuring a balance between the price of services and the values ​​of time and place created by the supply chain for both the focal company (the value of customer loyalty) and for its customers (the value of goods and services, including including logistics). Actually, CRM management is built on the basis of value exchange. The values ​​acquired by the client as a result of transactions in the supply chain can be different - speed and quality of service, quick response to changes in demand, complexity of logistics services, accuracy of order execution, after-sales service, discounts for repeated use, etc. The value can be measured by the ratio of the cost expression of benefits from the purchase of a service (good) to its actual cost or the difference between the assessment of the total benefits and costs in monetary (points) form.

CRM-class information systems are a strategic tool for obtaining customer knowledge. In this way, they differ significantly from simple accounting systems, which implement only the functions of storing general data about customers (customer databases). CRM-type information systems are based on the concept of individual marketing, which provides a holistic view of the needs and preferences of customers based on the history of interaction with them. Collected and processed information about customers (for example, their purchase history, returns, claims, requests, etc.) is used for more accurate, targeted sales management in the supply chain. Based on this information, CRM systems implement various management automation tools - territorial sales management, customer service management (including logistics), marketing management, contact and activity management based on specified regulations, etc.

Indications for the use of CRM systems are high costs for the interaction of counterparties in supply chains, active business, a wide geography of sales of services, a complex distribution structure, as well as systemic motives (Table 5.4).

Marketing based on the use of CRM systems allows one to successfully solve one of the most important tasks of any supply chain in modern conditions - the task of retaining consumers. The importance and economic significance of solving this

Table 5.4. The main motives for using CRM systems in DRM

Motive, problem		Required solution, goal, necessity
Crisis situation	Risk of losing business due to low qualifications and dishonesty of personnel, low debt collection, loss of large contracts, high dependence of the order portfolio on managers	The need to control information flows and databases, streamline the activities of employees responsible for sales
High rates of development	The risk of losing customers due to limited resources for interacting with them in the supply chain (lost profits). The flow of interactions exceeds the organizational and managerial capabilities of SC departments	Automation of standard, routine operations that ensure interaction with customers in the supply chain
Supply chain status	Risk of supply chain strategy misalignment. Pressure from external factors, including market factors	Ensuring a positive image of the supply chain (brand), investment attractiveness (CRM databases are an intangible asset of the supply chain)

the challenges are explained by the significant difference in the costs of finding new customers and retaining them. According to statistics, the cost of attracting a new client is 5–10 times, and the cost of returning a lost one is 50–100 times higher than retaining an existing one. In addition, the functionality of CRM systems (Fig. 5.5) ensures objectivity in assessments of the marketing activities of the focal company and identification of the importance of the after-sales customer support service, a significant (almost halving) reduction in the order fulfillment cycle, increasing

Rice. 5.5.

increasing income due to the accuracy of sales forecasts and correct ranking of customers, etc. (Table 5.5). In general, the effectiveness of successful CRM projects in supply chains is very high. They pay for themselves in an average of 8–12 months.

CRM systems are often integrated with ERP-class enterprise planning and management systems, significantly expanding their capabilities. CRM software offered by developers can be integrated (CRM systems themselves) and highly specialized, complementing classic CRM functionality (Table 5.6). The most common CRM-type information systems presented on the business software market are shown in Table. 5.7.

Table 5.5. Characteristics and performance indicators of using CRM systems

Indicator		Increase in efficiency, %
Sales cycle	Reducing the time for concluding, processing and completing transactions
Number of transactions	Increase in the number of concluded (won) transactions
	Reduced sales and customer support costs
Profitability	Increased profitability of transactions
Number of clients	Increasing the share of retained (own) profitable customers
Operating time	Reducing the time it takes to complete customer service operations
Sales forecast	Improving forecast accuracy
Marketing	Increasing marketing efficiency (based on final financial results)

Table 5.6. Types of CRM-type systems and technologies used

System type	Purpose	Basic functions
SFA – sales force automation	Sales automation	Automation systems for operations for the sale of goods in retail outlets. Tool for sales managers: planning operations and flow organization of work, order processing, online trading, generating commercial offers, reports, configuring goods (services), etc.
MA – marketing automation	Marketing automation	Organization, support and analysis of marketing campaigns, including via the Internet: automatic distribution of offers, grouping of clients, repository of information about products, prices and competitors, etc.
CSA&CSS – customer service automation & support	Automation of customer service and support	Tools for call processing and customer self-service via the Internet (individual online stores): monitoring of demand and mobile sales, priority sales, etc.
BCM – business contact management	Managing contacts (interactions)	The first versions of CRM systems: recording interactions with customers, contact history, customer ranking and sales forecast, sales funnel, etc.
Call/contact center management	Call and contact management center	Personalization of the company’s interaction with clients: round-the-clock reception and processing of requests received by phone, through regular mail, fax and mobile communications, the Internet, SMS, etc.
FSM – field service management	Managing services for geographically remote users	After-sales service management: warranty and post-warranty service, monitoring the execution of applications and contracts, resource planning for service
PRM/SRM – partner/supplier relationship management	Relationship management with partners/suppliers	Coordinated sales/supply planning taking into account available channels and resources. Interaction with dealers and analysis of their work. Trainings and interactive meetings, etc.
	User technical support	Automation of office work and dispatching activities

Table 5.7. Examples of CRM-type systems

	Main Features	Additional data
Siebei System ("Oracle")	A complex, multimodular system with high functionality for large companies. Leader in the field of CRM solutions. Industry versions available. ERP interface. Belongs to the category of expensive systems	siebel.com, siebel.ru Implementation company "Sputnik IT" (spklabs.com) Up to 30% of global sales of CRM systems for large businesses. Solutions for medium businesses
Sales Logix. Interact Commerce	Leader in the field of CRM solutions for medium and small businesses: service-marketing-sales. E-commerce technology support		saleslogix.com Implementation company "Sputnik IT" (spklabs.com)
MS CRM. Microsoft	A new generation system, fully integrated with the company’s office and ERP solutions		microsoft.com Solution for large companies
NauRP/CRM. NAUMEN	System of the company "NAUMEN" (Russia) for small and medium-sized enterprises, integrated with a data exchange system		naumen.ru We offer a set of interconnected solutions based on Call Center: CRM, EDI, IP telephony
WinPeak. WinPeak Int.	Russian CRM system with mobile support function for sales agents (WP Link)		naumen.ru Technology call center
	Inexpensive, effective solution for medium and small businesses. More than 20 industry solutions		tscrm.ru, terrasoft.com.ua, ls-crm.ru Implementation company "Lineservice"
	CRM solution based on the 1C system		rarus.ru Implementation center "1C-Rarus". Technology call center

• URL: oracle.com