Electronic Commerce Semester 2 Term 2 Lecture 16

Challenges in Implementing Customer Asset Management Companies implementing Customer Asset Management systems face two major challenges First, the information needed to describe, track, and capture the customer as part of an asset base can be difficult or expensive to gather Further, the benefits are not obvious until that long, costly procecss is completed Second, the active managemen of cusotme rassts typically requires an unprecedented degree of coordination across various customer-facing functions

Overcoming the First Challenge The first challenge can be overcome by changing the economics for data acquisition and management e.g. using the Web or Intranets; by developing better software designed specifically for managing marketing-oriented customer databases; by creating opportunities to partner with other companies to share information of mutual benefit and by inventing incentive sfor consumers who wish to facilitate the collection of this information

Overcoming the Second Challenge The second challenge, related to coordination of the company’s information systems and its marketing programs, can be overcome by increasing cross-functional interaction in companies, including cross- function integration and pushing responsibility for customer orientation beyond the marketing function to include manufacturing and R&D

Customer Asset Management & Supply Chains It is important to clarify why Customer Asset Management is important in the context of supply- chain management It is estimated that markeitng and sales costs average 15 to 35 percent of total costs This means that the price a product can command is less a reflection of raw materials and labour than of marketing related services like selecting appropriate product features, determining the product mix, and ensuring product availability and delivery

Online Sales Force Automation The sales function is critical for the success of any business As businesses strive to address online business opportunities, the salesforce is faced with complexities never before experienced, such as intense product or service differentiation, increasing configurations and new specifications for products, improved customer service and reduced operating costs

Streamlining the Information Flow By streamlining the information flow between customers and companies, businesses are seeking to eliminate sales order mistakes and the resulting rework, increasing productivity The result is reduced order fulfillment costs and dramatically shortened delivery cycles

What is Sales Force Automation? Salesforce automation satisfies two basic functions –To support the salesperson in the field –To integrate sales activity into a corporate information structure to improve overall corporate efficiency and co-ordination with other business-critical functions However, in the context of supporting the sales person in the field, sales force automation means different things to different sales people

Different Meanings of Sales Force Automation To some, SFA is synonymous with contact managers i.e. personal computer-based applications used to collect data on customer leads and to maintain records of customer visits, phone calls, and correspondence To others, SFA is synonymous with opportunitiy management where an opportunity management system conssits of a database application that is used to store data on customer prospects, a marketing encyclopedia offering a content-searchable catalogue of marketing literature and other information and a sales sales and marketing process model that is used to interpret field data and predict when, and for how much, sales may occur

Elements of Online Sales Automation In general, sales force automation systems include: customer account management, direct sales, telemarkeitng, direct mail, literature fulfilment, advertising, customer service, dealers, and distributors, all of which offer opportunities for efficiency improvements

Elements of a Typical Sales Automation System Salesperson productivity tools Online telemarketing Direct mail and fulfilment Sales and marketing management Sales force compensation management Sales process management