分析型客户关系管理案例

SingaporeManagementUniversity

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SchoolofComputingandInformationSystems

5-2002

Acaseforanalyticalcustomerrelationshipmanagement

JaideepSRIVASTAVAJau-HwangWANGEePengLIM

SingaporeManagementUniversity,

eplim@.sg

San-YihHWANG

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SRIVASTAVA,Jaideep;WANG,Jau-Hwang;LIM,EePeng;andHWANG,San-Yih.Acaseforanalyticalcustomerrelationshipmanagement.(2002).6thInternationalConferenceonKnowledgeDiscoveryandDataMining(PAKDD-02).

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ACaseforAnalyticalCustomerRelationshipManagement

JaideepSrivastava1,Jau-HwangWang2,Ee-PengLim3,andSan-YihHwang41ComputerScience&Engineering

UniversityofMinnesota,Minneapolis,MN55455,USA

srivasta@

2InformationManagementCentralPoliceUniversity,Taoyuan,ROC

jwang@.tw

3ChineseUniversityofHongKongHongKong,PRC

aseplim@.sg

4NationalSun-YatSenUniversityKaoshiung,ROC

syhwang@.tw

Abstract.TheInternethasemergedasalowcost,lowlatencyandhighbandwidthcustomercommunicationchannel.Itsinteractivenatureprovidesanorganizationtheabilitytoenterintoaclose,personalizeddialogwithindividualcustomers.Thesimultaneousmaturationofdatamanagementtechnologieslikedatawarehousing,anddatamining,havecreatedtheidealenvironmentformakingcustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)amuchmoresystematiceffortthanithasbeeninthepast.InthispaperwedescribedhowdataanalyticscanbeusedtomakevariousCRMfunctionslikecustomersegmentation,communicationtargeting,retention,andloyaltymuchmoreeffective.WebrieflydescribethekeytechnologiesneededtoimplementanalyticalCRM,andtheorganizationalissuesthatmustbecarefullyhandledtomakeCRMareality.OurgoalistoillustrateproblemsthatexistwithcurrentCRMefforts,andhowusingdataanalyticstechniquescanaddressthem.Ourhopeistogetthedataminingcommunityinterestedinthisimportantapplicationdomain.

Introduction

Asbandwidthcontinuestogrow,andnewerinformationappliancesbecomeavailable,marketingdepartmentseverywhereseethisasanopportunitytogetinclosertouchwithpotentialcustomers.Inaddition,withorganizationsconstantlydevelopingmorecost-effectivemeansofcustomercontact,theamountofcustomersolicitationhasbeenonasteadyrise.Today,withInternetastheultimatelowlatency,highbandwidth,customercontactchannelwithpracticallyzerocost,customersolicitationhasreachedunprecedentedlevels.

Armedwithsuchtools,everyorganizationhasrampedupitsmarketingeffort,andwearewitnessingabarrageofsolicitationstargetedattheever-shrinkingattentionspanofthesamesetofcustomers.Onceweconsiderthefactthatpotentially

M.-S.Chen,P.S.Yu,andB.Liu(Eds.):PAKDD2002,LNAI2336,pp.14-27,2002.

Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2002

ACaseforAnalyticalCustomerRelationshipManagement

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JaideepSrivastavaetal.

goodcustomers,i.e.'thoselikelytobuyaproduct',aremuchmorelikelytogetasolicitationthanthosewhoarenotsogood,thesituationforthegoodcustomersisevenmoredire.Thisisreallytestingthepatienceofmanycustomers,andthuswehavewitnessedaspateofcustomerssigninguptobeon'nosolicitation'lists,toavoidbeingbombardedwithunwantedsolicitations..

Fromtheviewpointoftheorganizations,thesituationisnobetter.Eventhoughthecostofunitcustomercommunicationhasdroppeddramatically;theimpactofunitcommunicationhasdroppedevenfaster.Forexample,afteralotofinitialenthusiasm,itisnowwidelyacceptedthattheimpactofwebpagebanneradvertisementsinaffectingcustomeropinionispracticallynegligible.Ontheotherhand,theimpactoftargetede-mails,especiallywithfinancialoffers,isquitehigh.Inessence,eachorganizationisspinningitswheelsintyingtotargetthesamesetofgoodcustomers,whilepayinginsufficientattentiontounderstandingtheneedsofthe'notsogoodcustomers'oftoday,andconvertingthemintogoodcustomersoftomorrow.Aclearexampleofthismutualcannibalismofcustomersisthecellularphoneindustry,whereeachserviceproviderisconstantlytryingtooutdotheothers."Customerchurn"isawell-acceptedprobleminthisindustry.

Awell-acceptedwisdomintheindustryisthatitcostsfivetoseventimesasmuchtoacquireanewcustomerthantoretainanexistingone.Thereasonisthattheorganizationalreadyhastheloyaltyofexistingcustomers,andallthatisrequiredforretentionistomeetthecustomer'sexpectations.Forcustomeracquisitionhowever,thecustomermustbeweanedawayfromanotherorganization,whichisamuchhardertask.Giventhis,itiscrucialthattheselectionofcustomerstotargetisdonewithcare,andtherightmessagebesenttoeachone.Giventheseneeds,itbecomesimportantforanorganizationtounderstanditscustomerswell.Thus,onecanconsidercustomerrelationshipmanagementtoconsistoftwopartsasfollows:

CRM=customerunderstanding+relationshipmanagement

Thisequationisnotnew,sinceintheclassical'neighborhoodstore'modelofdoingbusiness,thestorehadahighlylocalizedaudience,andthestoreownerknewpracticallyeveryoneintheneighborhood—makingiteasyforhimtomeettheneedsofhiscustomers.Itisthebigcorporations,servingamasscustomerbase,thathavedifficultyinunderstandingtheneedsofindividualcustomers.TherealizationofthisgapofknowledgehasbeenoneofthedrivingfactorsfortherapidadoptionofCRMsoftwarebymanycorporations.However,theinitialdeploymentofCRMsoftwarehasbeenforthesecondpartoftheCRMequation,namely'relationshipmanagement'.Asdescribedabove,relationshipmanagementeffortswithoutanunderstandingofthecustomercanbemarginallyeffectiveatbest,andsometimesevencounterproductive.

TheapproachthatresolvesthisdilemmaistheuseofdataanalyticsinCRM,withthegoalofobtainingabetterunderstandingoftheneedsofindividualcustomers.Improvedcustomerunderstandingdrivesbettercustomerrelationshipefforts,whichleadstobetterandmorefrequentcustomerresponse;whichinturnleadstomoredatacollectionaboutthecustomer—fromwhichamorerefinedcustomerunderstandingcanbegained.Thispositivefeedbackcycle—or'virtuousloop'asitisoftencalled—isshowninFigure1.

Figure1.'Virtuouscircle'ofCRM.

Whilethispictureisverydesirable,unfortunatelythereareanumberoftechnicalandorganizationalchallengesthatmustbeovercometoachieveit.First,muchofcustomerdataiscollectedforoperationalpurposes,andisnotorganizedforeaseofanalysis.Withtheadvanceofdataanalysistechniques,itisbecomingfeasibletoexploitthisdataforbusinessmanagement,suchastofindexistingtrendsanddiscovernewopportunities.Second,itiscriticalthatthisknowledgecoverallchannelsandcustomertouchpoints-sothattheinformationbaseiscomplete,anddeliversaholisticandintegratedviewofeachcustomer.Thisincludescustomertransactions,interactions,customerdenials,servicehistory,characteristicsandprofiles,interactivesurveydata,click-stream/browsingbehavior,references,demographics,psychographics,andallavailableandusefuldatasurroundingthatcustomer.Thismayalsoincludedatafromoutsidethebusinessaswell,forexamplefromthirdpartydataproviderssuchasExperianorAxciom.Third,organizationalthinkingmustbechangedfromthecurrentfocusonproductstoincludebothcustomersandproducts,asillustratedinFigure2.SuccessfuladoptionofCRMrequiresachangeinfocusbymarketingfrom"whoIcansellthisproductsto?"to"whatdoesthiscustomerneed?"Ittransformsmarketingfrom"tacticalconsiderations,i.e."howdoIgetthiscampaignoutofthedoor"tostrategicfocus,i.e."whatcampaignswillmaximizecustomervalue?"

Figure2.Changeoffocusfromproductonlytocustomer+product.

Thegoalofthispaperistointroducethedataminingcommunitytothedataanalyticsopportunitiesthatexistincustomerrelationshipmanagement,especiallyintheareaofcustomerunderstanding.Asthedatacollectedaboutcustomersisbecomingmorecomplete,thetimeisripefortheapplicationofsophisticateddataminingtechniquestowardsbettercustomerunderstanding.Therestofthispaperisorganizedasfollows:inSection2weintroducetheconceptofanalyticalcustomerrelationshipmanagement.Section3brieflydescribestheunderlyingtechnologiesandtoolsthatareneeded,namelydatawarehousinganddatamining.Section4describesanumberoforganizationalissuesthatarecriticaltosuccessfuldeploymentofCRMinanorganization,andSection5concludesthepaper.

AnalyticalCustomerRelationshipManagement

SignificantresourceshavebeenspentonCRM,leadingtothesuccessofCRMsoftwarevendorssuchasSeibel,Oracle,andEpiphany.However,intheinitialstagessufficientattentionwasnotpaidtoanalyzingcustomerdatatotargettheCRMefforts.Simpleheuristicsand'gut-feel'approachesledtoprofitablecustomersbeingbombardedwithoffers(oftenturningthemoff),whiletherebeinglittleattempttodeveloptoday'sthe'lessvaluable'customersintotomorrow'svaluableones.Thislackofattentiontocustomerneedsisthecauseofdecreasingcustomersatisfactionacrossawidevarietyofindustries,asillustratedinFigure3[Heyg2001].

1

Figure3.Decliningtrendincustomersatisfactionindex.

Fortunately,however,thetremendousadvancementindatamanagementandanalysistechnologiesisprovidingtheopportunitytodevelopfine-grainedcustomerunderstandingonamassscale,anduseittobettermanagetherelationshipwitheachcustomer.Itisthisapproachtodevelopingcustomerunderstandingthroughdataanalysis,forthepurposeofmoreeffectiverelationshipmanagement,thatwecall"analyticalcustomerrelationshipmanagement(ACRM)".ACRMcanmakethecustomerinteractionfunctionsofacompanymuchmoreeffectivethantheyarepresently.

1Ofcourse,customerexpectationkeepsrisingovertime,andthesourceofdissatisfactiontodayisverydifferentthatthatofafewyearsago.However,thisisabattlethatallorganizationsmustconstantlyfight.

CustomerSegmentation

Customersegmentationisthedivisionoftheentirecustomerpopulationintosmallergroups,calledcustomersegments.Thekeyideaisthateachsegmentisfairlyhomogeneousfromacertainperspective—thoughnotnecessarilyfromotherperspectives.Thus,thecustomerbaseisfirstsegmentedbythevaluetheyrepresenttoanorganization,andthenbytheneedstheymayhaveforspecifiedproductsandservices.

Thepurposeofsegmentationistoidentifygroupsofcustomerswithsimilarneedsandbehaviorpatterns,sothattheycanbeofferedmoretightlyfocusedproducts,services,andcommunications.Segmentsshouldbeidentifiable,quantifiable,addressable,andofsufficientsizetobeworthaddressing.Forexample,avisionproductscompanymaysegmentthecustomerpopulationintothosewhoseeyesightisperfectandthosewhoseeyesightisnotperfect.Asfarasthecompanyisconcerned,everyonewhoseeyesightisnotperfectfallsinthesamesegment,i.e.ofpotentialcustomers,andhencetheyareallthesame.Thissegmentiscertainlynothomogeneousfromtheperspectiveofaclothingmanufacturer,whowillperhapssegmentonattributeslikegenderandage.

Acompany'scustomerdataisorganizedintocustomerprofiles.Acustomer'sprofileconsistsofthreecategoriesofdata,namely(i)identity,(ii)characteristics,and

(iii)behavior.ThesecategoriescorrespondtothequestionsWhothepersonis?,Whatattributesdotheyhave?,andHowdotheybehave?Twotypesofsegmentationcanbeperformedbasedontheprofile,namely

groupcustomersbasedoncommoncharacteristics,andidentifytheircommonpatternsofbehavior,and

groupcustomersbasedoncommonpatternsofbehavior,andidentifytheircommoncharacteristics.

Figure4.Segmentationofcustomersbyprofitability.

AsshowninFigure4,eachcustomersegmentrepresentsadifferentamountofprofitpercustomer;thetreatmentofeachsegmentcanbedifferent.Thefigureshowsexamplesofthetypeofquestionsthecompanycanaskaboutsegments.Alsoincluded

aresomeoverallstrategicquestionsaboutwhichsegmentstofocuson,andhowmuch.

CustomerCommunication

Akeyelementofcustomerrelationshipmanagementiscommunicatingwiththecustomer.Thisconsistsoftwocomponents,namely(i)decidingwhatmessagetosendtoeachcustomersegment,and(ii)selectingthechannelthroughwhichthemessagemustbesent.Messageselectionforeachcustomersegmentdependsonthestrategybeingfollowedforthatsegment,asshowninFigure4.Theselectionofthecommunicationchanneldependsonanumberofcharacteristicsofeachchannel,includingcost,focus,attention,impact,etc.

Typicalcommunicationchannelsincludetelevision,radio,printmedia,directmail,ande-mail.Televisionisabroadcastchannel,whichisverygoodatsendingacommonmessagetoaverylargepopulation.Whileitisveryeffectiveinbuildingbrandrecognition,itisdifficulttotargetaspecificsegment,aswellastomeasureresponseattheindividualcustomerlevel.Radio,liketelevisionisabroadcastmedium,andhencedifficulttousefortargetedcommunicationtoindividualcustomers.Sometelevisionandradiostations,e.g.publicradioandpublictelevision,developafairlyaccuratesampleoftheirlistener/viewerbasethroughperiodicfundraisers.Printmedialikenewspapersandmagazinescanbeusedformuchmorefocusedcommunication,sincethesubscriber'sprofileisknown.However,thereadershipofprintmediaisusuallymuchlargerthanthesubscriptionbase—aratioof1:3intheUS—andhenceforalargepartofthereadershipbase,noprofileisavailable.Directmailisacommunicationchannelthatenablescommunicatingwithindividualcustomersthroughpersonalizedmessages.Inaddition,itprovidestheabilityofmeasuringresponseratesofcustomersattheindividuallevel,sinceitenablesthecontactedcustomertoimmediatelyrespondtothemessage—ifsodesired.Finally,givenitsnegligiblecost,e-mailisbecomingthemediumofchoiceforcustomercontactformanyorganizations.

Figure5.Formulatingtheoptimalcustomercommunicationstrategy.

Figure5,courtesyof[Stev1998],illustratestheproblemofformulatingthecustomercommunicationstrategy.Eachcommunicationchannelhasitsown

characteristicsintermsofcost,responserate,attention,etc.Thegoalofcommunicationstrategyoptimizationistodeterminethe(setof)communicationchannel(s)foreachcustomerthatminimizescostormaximizessale,profit,etc.Whilecommunicationchanneloptimizationhasbeenawell-studiedprobleminthequantitativemarketingliterature,characteristicsofnewchannelssuchase-mailandtheWebarenotwellunderstood.Thus,thereisaneedtorevisittheseproblems.

Figure6.Analyzingtheresponsetocustomercommunications.

Sendingthemessagetoeachcustomerthroughthechosencommunicationchannelisnotenough.Itiscrucialtomeasuretheimpactofthecommunication.Thisisdonebyusinganapproachcalledresponseanalysis.AsshowninFigure6,responseanalysismetrics,e.g.numberofrespondents,acquiredcustomers;numberofactivecustomers,numberofprofitablecustomers,etc.canbecalculated.Theseareanalyzedto(i)determinehoweffectivetheoverallcustomercommunicationcampaignhasbeen,(ii)validatethegoodnessofcustomersegmentation,and(iii)calibrateandrefinethemodelsofthevariouscommunicationchannelsused.Whileresponseanalysisfortraditionalcommunicationchannelsisfairlywellunderstood,fornewchannelslikee-mailandtheWeb,hardlyanythingisknown.Understandinghowcustomersrelatetothesenewmedium,whichaspectstheylikeandwhichtheydon't,andwhataretherightsetofmetricstomeasuretheusageofthemedium,areallopenquestions.

CustomerRetention

Customerretentionistheeffortcarriedoutbyacompanytoensurethatitscustomersdonotswitchovertothecompetition'sproductsandservices.Acommonlyacceptedwisdom,acquiredthroughsubstantialexperience,isthatitis5to7timesmoreexpensivetoacquireanewcustomerthantoretainanexistingone.Giventhis,itisofparamountimportancetoretaincustomers,especiallyhighlyprofitableones.Agoodloyalcustomerbasethatpersistsforalongtimeisoneofthebestadvertisementsforabusiness,creatinganimageofhighquality.Thishelpsinattractingothercustomerswhovaluelongtermrelationshipsandhighqualityproductsandservices.

Figure7.Treatmentofvariouscustomersegments.

Figure7showshowacompanythinksofitsvariouscustomersegments,fromacurrentandfutureprofitabilityperspective.Clearly,thequadrantsontherightbottomandtherighttopshouldbetargetedforretention.Inaddition,therighttopcustomerquadrantmustbetargetedforstrengtheningtherelationship,asthereissignificantunrealizedpotential.

Asuccessfulcustomerretentionstrategyforacompanyistoidentifyopportunitiestomeettheneedsofthecustomerinatimelymanner.Aspecificexampleisofabankthatusedtheevent"ATMrequestforcash"isrejectedduetolackoffunds"toofferunsecuredpersonalloanstocredit-worthycustomersthenextday.Thisofferwasfoundtohaveaveryhighsuccessrate,withtheadditionaladvantageofbuildingcustomerloyalty.Classically,thisanalysishasbeendoneatanaggregatelevel,namelyforcustomersegments.Givenpresentdayanalytictools,itshouldbepossibletodoitatthelevelofindividualcustomers.

CustomerLoyalty

Fromacompany'sperspective,aloyalcustomerisonewhoprefersthecompany'sproductsandservicestothoseofitscompetition.Loyaltycanrangefromhavingamildpreferenceallthewaytobeingastrongadvocateforthecompany.Itiswellacceptedinconsumermarketingthatanaveragecustomerwhofeelsclosertoacompany(highloyalty)issignificantlymoreprofitablethanonewhofeelslessclose(lowloyalty).Thus,ideallyacompanywouldlikeallitscustomerstobecomeloyal,andthentoquicklyadvanceuptheloyaltychain.

Figure8,courtesyof[Heyg2001],illustratestheconceptoftrackingacustomertoidentifyeventsinhis/herlife.Manyoftheseeventsofferopportunitiesforstrengtheningtherelationshipthecompanyhaswiththiscustomer.Forexample,sendingagreetingcardonacustomer'sbirthdayisavaluablerelationshipbuildingaction—withlowcostandhigheffectiveness.

Figure8.Lifetimeimpactofcustomerloyalty.

Inmarketinglanguagethisiscalled'eventmarketing',wheretheideaistousetheoccurrenceofeventsasmarketingopportunities.Sometimesevennegativeeventscanbeusedtodrivesales.Forexample,abankadoptedthepolicyofofferingapersonalloantoeverycustomerwhosecheckbouncedortherewereinsufficientfundsforATMwithdrawal.Thisprogramwasverysuccessful,andalsoenhancedthereputationofthebankasbeingreallycaringaboutitscustomers.

Thedataminingcommunityhasdevelopedmanytechniquesforeventandepisodeidentificationfromsequentialdata.Thereisagreatopportunityforapplyingthosetechniqueshere,sincerecognizingapotentialmarketingeventisthebiggestproblemhere.

DataAnalyticsSupportforAnalyticalCRM

InthissectionwedescribethebackendsupportneededforanalyticalCRM.Specifically,wefirstoutlineagenericarchitecture,andthenfocusonthetwokeycomponents,namelydatawarehousinganddatamining.

DataAnalyticsArchitecture

Figure9showsanexamplearchitectureneededtosupportthedataanalyticsneedsofanalyticalCRM.Thekeycomponentsarethedatawarehouseandthedataanalysistoolsandprocesses.

DataWarehouse

BuildingadatawarehouseisakeysteppingstoneingettingstartedwithanalyticalCRM.Datasourcesforthewarehouseareoftentheoperationalsystems,providingthelowestlevelofdata.Datasourcesaredesignedforoperationaluse,notfordecisionsupport,andthedatareflectthisfact.Multipledatasourcesareoftenfromdifferentsystems,runningonawiderangeofhardware,andmuchofthissoftwareisbuiltin-houseorhighlycustomized.Thiscausesdatafrommultiplesourcestobemismatched.ItisimportanttocleanwarehousedatasincecriticalCRMdecisionswillbebasedonit.Thethreeclassesofdataextractiontoolscommonlyusedare-datamigrationwhichallowssimpledatatransformation,datascrubbingwhichusesdomain-specificknowledgetoscrubdata,anddataauditingwhichdiscoversrulesandrelationshipsbyscanningdataanddetectsoutliers.

Figure9.Dataanalyticsarchitecture.

Loadingthewarehouseincludessomeotherprocessingtasks,suchascheckingintegrityconstraints,sorting,summarizing,andbuildindexes,etc.Refreshingawarehouserequirespropagatingupdatesonsourcedatatothedatastoredinthewarehouse.Thetimeandfrequencytorefreshawarehouseisdeterminedbyusage,typesofdatasource,etc.Thewaystorefreshthewarehouseincludesdatashipping,whichusestriggerstoupdatesnapshotlogtableandpropagatetheupdateddatatothewarehouse,andtransactionshipping,whichshipstheupdatesinthetransactionlog.

ThekeyentitiesrequiredforCRMincludeCustomer,Product,Channel,etc.Usuallyinformationabouteachoftheseisscatteredacrossmultipleoperationaldatabases.Inthewarehousetheseareconsolidatedintocompleteentities.Forexample,theCustomerentityinthewarehouseprovidesafullpictureofwhoacustomerisfromtheentireorganization'sperspective,includingallpossibleinteractions,aswellastheirhistories.Forsmallerorganizationstheanalysismaybedonedirectlyonthewarehouse,whileforlargerorganizationsseparatedatamartsmaybecreatedforvariousCRMfunctionslikecustomersegmentation,customercommunication,customerretention,etc.

DataMining

ThenextgenerationofanalyticCRMrequirescompaniestospantheanalyticalspectrumandfocusmoreeffortonlookingforward.The'whathashappened'worldofreportwritersandthe'whyhasithappened'OLAPworldsarenotsufficient.Time-to-marketpressures,combinedwithdataexplosion,areforcingmanyorganizationstostruggletostaycompetitiveinthe'lesstime,moredata'scenario.Coupledwiththeneedtobemoreproactive,organizationsarefocusingtheiranalyticaleffortstodeterminewhatwillhappen,whattheycandotomakeithappen,andultimatelytoautomatetheentireprocess.Dataminingisnowviewedtodayasananalyticalnecessity.Theprimaryfocusofdataminingistodiscoverknowledge,previouslyunknown,predictfutureeventsandautomatetheanalysisofverylargedatasets.

Thedataminingprocessconsistofanumberofsteps.Firstthedatacollectedmustbeprocessedtomakeitmine-able.Thisrequiresanumberofstepstocleanthe

data,handlemismatchesinformat,structure,aswellassemantics,andnormalizationandintegration.Averygoodbookonthesubjectis[Pyle99].Oncethedatahasbeencleanedup,variousdataminingalgorithmscanbeappliedtoextractmodelsfromit.Anumberofdataminingtechniqueshavebeendeveloped,andtheonetobeapplieddependsonthespecificpurposeathand.[HMS00]providesandexcellentintroductiontovariousdataminingalgorithms,while[Rud00]showshowtheycanbeappliedinthecontextofmarketing.

Onceamodelhasbeendeveloped,itcanbeusedfortwokindsofpurposes.Firstistogainanunderstandingofthepresentbehaviorofthecustomers.Amodelusedforthispurposeiscalledadescriptivemodel.Secondistousethemodeltomakepredictionsaboutfuturebehaviorofthecustomers.Amodelusedforthispurposeiscalledapredictivemodel.Thedescriptivemodel,extractedfrompastbehavior,isusedasastartingpointfromwhichapredictivemodelcanbebuilt.Suchanapproachhasbeenfoundtobequitesuccessful,asisbasedontheassumptionthatpastbehaviorisagoodpredictorofthefuturebehavior—withappropriateadjustments.Thisholdsquitewellinpractice.

OrganizationalIssuesinAnalyticalCRMAdoption

WhilethepromiseofanalyticalCRM,bothforcostreductionandrevenueincrease,issignificant,thiscannotbeachievedunlessthereissuccessfuladoptionofitwithinanorganization.InthissectionwedescribesomeofthekeyorganizationalissuesinCRMadoption.

CustomerFirst'Orientation

Companiesthatofferanumberofproductsandserviceshavetraditionallyorganizedtheircustomerfacingteams,e.g.sales,marketing,customerservice,etc.alongproductlines,called"LinesofBusiness(LOB)".Thegoalofanysuchproductmarketingteamistobuildthenextproductinthisline;thegoalofthesalesteamistoidentifythecustomerswhowouldbelikelytobuythisproduct,etc.Thisproductlinefocuscausescustomerneedstobetreatedassecondary.

Thecustomerfocusingteamsofanorganizationmustbere-orientedtomakethemfocusoncustomersinadditiontoproductlines.Theseteamscanbeorganizedaroundwell-definedcustomersegments,e.g.infants,children,teenagers,youngprofessionals,etc.,andeachgiventhecharterofmappingourproductdesign,marketing,sales,andservicestrategiesthataregearedtosatisfyingtheneedsoftheircustomersegment.Aspartofthis,someoftheactivitiesmightbetargetedtoindividualcustomers.

AttentiontoDataAspectsofAnalyticalCRM

Themostsophisticatedanalyticaltoolcanberenderedineffectiveiftheapprop