Focus on customer relation management

Could you please tell me something about CRM? Is it a new branch of management?

Sathya Ranganathan

Customer Relation Management (CRM) is a strategy and a tool (incorporating systems and processes) for developing and managing customer relationship while recognising the special need of each customer ? one-on-one. The purpose is to acquire new customers while retaining (servicing and delighting) the existing ones and distinguishing the most valuable customers.

With growing competition between brands vying for the customer?s mind share and wallet share, the product and the cost are no longer the key differentiators. Quality of service becomes the key reason why a customer wants to continue doing business with an organisation.

CRM hinges on consistent customer focus ? right from the top to the bottom of the organisation. A complete CRM solution addresses the entire customer life cycle, from prospecting to transacting to fulfilling to servicing. It?s not just about running a call centre operation.

CRM is tightly linked to the company?s back-office, supply and design capabilities. It integrates customer service seamlessly with other business functions like sales and marketing and allows the organisation to measure, predict and optimise customer behaviour with the help of sophisticated analytical tools.

Besides increasing sales volumes, a good CRM system can open up new and cheaper channels of delivery. For instance, by using call centres and the Internet, CRM?s two primary delivery channels, ICICI has managed to slash their cost per transaction by 90 per cent!

So far, most organisations have only been focussing on the marketing aspect, and stretched it to cover services. From automobiles to white goods, today we have state-of-the-art technology available in most product categories. But what we lack is support services.

In fact, CRM has been identified as the key focus area in India. The total market size of the e-CRM channel segment is over US $ one-billion worldwide. ITES, and call centres in particular, are a key part of this 360-degree solution. The global market for CRM or 24/7 services is pegged to grow to $30-50 billion by 2005 by which time Asia?s share is expected to touch $5 billion.

In a survey, 88 per cent firms across Asia have said that they will invest in CRM and 55 per cent say they have a strategy in place. With Indian companies fast entering the competitive global arena, addressing the growing requirement for training and expertise in the area of services marketing has become a critical issue.

MBAs and engineers who are familiar with some of the specialised CRM software packages like SAP, Oracle, or Siebel at the higher end and e-Piphany, SalesLogix, Talisma or e-Gain which are designed for medium-size businesses, are increasingly in demand, as is apparent from the recent appointment notices in the press as well as on leading job-sites.

The beauty of CRM is that it is one technology that companies invest in even when the going is bad ? to ensure that they retain and delight their existing customers. While IIM-L offers a special module on CRM, Apeejay School of Marketing, New Delhi has introduced a Postgraduate Diploma in Customer Relations Management.

The way to international marketing

I am a working in sales in the FMCG sector but I want to move into international marketing. How should I proceed?

Raja Ganguly

Since you are already in sales, perhaps the best route would be to move into domestic sales in an international firm. As you are working, you might like to consider some courses offered by reputed B-schools like IIFT or Narsee Monjee Institute of Management through the distance/online/part-time mode. Even IGNOU offers a one-year PG diploma in international business operations.

Incidentally, international business/ foreign trade is also offered as an elective subject in many MBA courses. These programmes acquaint you with the international business environment, international marketing management, India?s foreign trade, export-import procedures and documentation, international marketing logistics and business finance.

While few FMCG companies (i.e. Nestle, Colgate Palmolive, Gillette, Dabur, etc.) hire people specifically for international marketing, you can look for jobs in shipping companies (like P&O and Maersk) and large clearing and forwarding agencies.

You could even look at export-import firms (there are more than 5,000 in Mumbai itself) or large companies, including MNCs, dealing with the flow of goods between countries. India is expected to emerge as the world?s third largest economy in the next 10 to 15 years. And since all economies are driven by trade, this sector is poised for growth. Being well travelled and familiar with a foreign language is an asset in this field.

All you need to know about CGFNS

Please tell me something about the CGFNS exam.

Preeti Kumar

The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) is an independent non-profit organisation sponsored by two principal nursing bodies in the US ? the American Nurses Association and the National League for Nursing. Passing the CGFNS qualifying exam is the first step to be taken by foreign nurses who want to practise in the U.S.

The exam, prepared by nurses, leading US educators and practitioners, tests a nurse?s knowledge of medical, surgical, obstetric, paediatric and psychiatric nursing. It also covers the five areas of the nursing process: assessing, analysing, planning, implementing and evaluating that first level registered nurses are taught in the US. The exam is designed to measure an applicant?s qualification and background in the practice of nursing and proficiency in English, which is imperative in this context.

The exam is conducted thrice a year, i.e. in March, July and November, simultaneously from 40 centres throughout the world, including Bangalore, Delhi etc. in India. Exam Structure: The full-day exam is broken down in the following parts: Two-and-a-half hours for Part-I of the nursing section of the exam, one hour for lunch, one hour for TOEFL, and one hour and forty minutes for the second part of the nursing section.

The nursing section consists of multiple-choice questions in English, covering the major areas of nursing and the nursing process. TOEFL consists of multiple-choice questions in three parts: listening comprehension, vocabulary and sentence structure. You need a minimum score of 540.

The following qualifications are mandatory for the exam: A degree in nursing (after Class XII) from a government-approved institution whose two or more general nursing programmes include both theory and clinical practice in each of the five areas of nursing ? medical, surgical, obstetric, paediatric, and psychiatric.

A valid license/registration to practise as a general nurse in the country, province or state where they obtained their general nursing education. For details, log on to: www.cgfns.com.