Feb 2005 Newsletter

POSability Point-of-Sale Customer Relations Management (CRM)

Did you know that from a filtered list of your customers you can:

Print mailing labels
Print personalized letters
Email a promotion to customers that have supplied their email address
Print reports showing summary and detail purchases by customer or by postal code

For example, to print a report of sales by postal code:

From the Reports menu on the left menu bar, click on "Sales Report", then select the "Customer Filter Grid" from the Reports/Customers report list.

Click on the Binoculars icon when the filter form is displayed. The system will prompt you to “Search by Customer” or “Search by Transaction”. Typically you would search by transaction if you wanted to look at transactions within a date range, or possibly sales of a specific brand. You would search by customer if you wanted to look at sales for customers with a specific attribute (for example, customers who are CAA members).

The system will then present you with an additional filter form based on the search type specified earlier. Since I have selected “Search by Customer”, the following filter form is displayed. For this example, I’m selecting only customers that live in Alberta (Prov/State code = ‘AB’).

When I click <OK>, the system will search for customers matching the “AB” province code & the following grid will be displayed with the customers matching my filter criteria.

Once you have customers in the “Customer Grid” displayed above, you can print mailing labels, mail merge letters, transaction reports, email lists, etc.

In this case I want to find out where my sales are coming from (geographically), so I’m going to choose the transaction report. I do this by clicking on the bottom far right icon (the magnifying glass on paper).

The above transaction filter is displayed so I can select additional criteria for my report. I’ve selected a date range of Feb 1, 2004 to Feb 1, 2005. I’ve also specified that I want a Postal Code report.

When I click <OK>, the following print preview screen is displayed

The summary by Postal Code is a great tool to help you evaluate the impact of indirect mail programs. That’s all there is to it!

ReACT DSS - Store Backroom

Did you know...

You can include 'notes' on PO, RCF, or QRCF line items. These notes can optionally be printed on the document printout.

For example, let's say that you want to order specific colors for a product, but you do not want to create a color chart to use for this purchase (typically this would be a clearance purchase and you would not want to re-order the item).

In this example, I’m entering a Purchase Order.

I need to be in “List” mode. After entering the SKU#, I can <right-click> anywhere on the line and the following pop-up window appears to let me Add or View notes for this line item

This is a special, one-time order and I don’t want to track the sales by size and color, but I’m going to specify that I would like BLACK & WHITE.

Once I’ve entered any notes on a line item, a small red triangle appears in the corner of the item # to specify that there are notes attached.

I can also enter notes that I don’t want printed on the PO document; in this example, I have talked to the supplier and they have confirmed that the colors are okay. I have added another note to this line item, but I don’t want to print it on the PO document, so I <right-click> and View Notes, and then check the Print Suppress box (shown below).

Here is the PO Confirmation that shows the notes that I want printed and doesn’t print the notes that I have suppressed from printing:

A relevant article from CBC.ca - Bad experiences for shoppers

The number one problem reported by customers was having to wait to be served or to pay. Please click on this link. Read article...

Successful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Implementation

The CRM strategy is all about how to develop a valuable asset: the customer base.

1. Develop the vision for CRM at all levels of the company.
2. Define incentives for customers to release personal information.
3. Develop contact strategies that enhance the customer's experience.
4. Continually measure results and reengineer processes.

1. Develop the vision for CRM at all levels of the company.

It is important to have clearly-defined goals for a CRM program. Is it in place just to generate more sales? Or should it increase customer retention? Or should it identify top customers so programs can be developed to service them better?

The goals must be communicated to all levels of management and staff. Additionally, when people collaborate on strategies, that enhances each individual’s acceptance and buy-in to the program.

Methods to motivate staff to collect customer information should be considered. Performance-based rewards or recognition will motivate front-line staff.

Train staff in new procedures, so that the customer is not inconvenienced and so the program runs as efficiently as possible.

2. Define incentives for customers to release personal information.

Customers who value your products and services will be willing to provide you with basic information if:

it is easy to enroll
there are potential rewards for giving up their information

There must be a good reason for customers to enroll, and there must also be a good reason for them to respond to communication efforts.

Some strategies:

have signage in the store that communicates to customers that they will be contacted when there are special promotions.
offer draws for free merchandise
offer a chance for a gift certificate each time they make a purchase

3. Develop contact strategies that enhance the customer’s experience.

Once you’ve succeeded in getting basic customer information, your communication efforts must be of value to them. Thought and effort must be placed in your mail or email campaigns in order for them to stay out of the junk pile.

Some strategies:

personalize mail outs
Studies have shown that when direct mail is personalized, the response rate increased by 10%.
target mail outs to specific customer groups (for example, a group of customers that has a preference for a specific brand of product)
contact customers regularly
Industry studies indicate that you should stay in touch with your customer at least twice a year … so that when they’re ready to buy, they will think of you first.
include valuable content with your communications (for example, you may want to include hints on keeping the products they have purchased functioning in top form)
Differentiate yourself from the competition by making the message valuable as well as promotional. Some of your communication should only provide information that is valuable to the customer. If you show your customer that you care about them, it increases your “brand equity”, and they will have you on the top of their mind when they’re ready for their next purchase.

4. Continually measure results and reengineer processes.

Measurement is one of the most important aspects in implementing a successful, long-term CRM program. Organizations that don’t measure activities and continually reengineer their efforts will fail.

Clearly define what measurements you will observe and the frequency that you will observe them. For example, you may want to measure the response rate from a direct mail advertisement three weeks after the advertisement has been.

Measure your on-going investments in the CRM program in relation to the benefit achieved from the program. This will show you the ROI (Return on Investment) and will help you evaluate the success of a campaign.

Some strategies:

work and re-work your direct mail campaigns, and keep track of which customers respond to specific promotional material. By keeping track of which pieces of promotion worked best over time, you’ll be able to effectively communicate with customer groups that respond to certain appeals.
identify frequent purchasers, big spenders, seasonal purchasers, etc. and group your customers into different categories. Keep in touch with all your customers, but only invest in those that will provide a return.

Conclusion

It will take effort from all levels of your organization to successfully implement a CRM program. Success also depends on continual measurement of what is of value to your customers and what they respond to. It is something that requires long-term effort, but will provide long-term rewards.