http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?

docid=277593

Customer Relationship Management in Retail Banking

Topics: Call Center - Contact, CRM Software, Finance Tags: Advertising & Promotion, Marketing, Financial Services, Enterprise Software, Electronic Data Systems orp., Customer Relationship Management (CRM), CRM, Banking, Bank, Software Source: Electronic Data Systems Overview: Retail banks are facing greater challenges than ever before in executing their customer management strategies. Intensifying competition, proliferating customer contact channels, escalating attacks on customer information, rising customer expectations and capitalizing on new market opportunities are at the top of every bank executive's agenda. In looking for ways to drive growth, banks need to evaluate their customer management strategy. EDS' deep experience in implementing CRM solutions for global financial services clients has positioned them as a recognized leader in the CRM industry. They optimize the customer experience and increase satisfaction and profitability, while dramatically reducing their clients' operating costs. (Is this item miscategorized? Does it need more tags? Let us know.)

http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx? docid=971897&promo=100511&tag=content;leftCol

CRM in Banking
Topics: CRM Software, Infrastructure Management, ROI - TCO Tags: Banking, Roi/Tco, Managerial Accounting, Infosys Technologies Ltd., Financial Services, Financial Planning, Finance, Enterprise Software, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Customer, ... Source: Infosys Technologies Overview: Technology, not just analytics, not just an impressive story of how customer focused people is. All major banks have invested heavily in technology and infrastructure

over the last 5 to 10 years in this area, but hardly any of them have been successful in actually getting it effective. Neither has the customer felt a real difference nor has it contributed to higher ROI. The author says that optimizing every customer contact by effectively creating value for both their clients and their business, using customer knowledge, is the main differentiator compared to non-CRM focused companies. http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=971895&promo=100511

The 2nd Generation of CRM

Topics: Bank Management, CRM Software Tags: Advertising & Promotion, Bank, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software Source: Infosys Technologies Overview: Although the history of CRM in banking is dotted with failures, there are a few pioneering banks that succeeded in creating successful CRM programs, such as, Royal Bank of Canada, National Australia Bank, Lloyds TSB and US Bank. These examples only serve to highlight the need to create an enriching confluence of people, process and technology. This knowledge is now permeating down the rest of the industry. Buoyed by developments in technology that has made CRM deployment much simpler than before, banks are all set to ride the second wave of CRM. http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=280805&promo=100511

Anatomy of a Successful CRM Implementation

Topics: CRM Software, Customer Support Services, Sales - Marketing Tags: Advertising & Promotion, Sales Strategy, Sales, Marketing Research, Marketing, Jupitermedia Corp., Enterprise Software, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), CRM, Software Source: Jupitermedia Overview: After several years of limited growth, most industry analysts are predicting significant expansion in the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and services marketplace through at least 2008. This growth will result in an increase in the

number of CRM package software implementation projects that address the functional areas of sales, marketing, and customer service. Additionally, there will be significant growth in the areas of customer data integration and customer analytics. The growth of CRM parallels organization-wide initiatives across all industries to efficiently manage all aspects of the customer relationship, deliver the best experience, and optimize sales and marketing opportunities. Format: HTML | Date: Jul 2005 | Pages: 5 http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=351346&promo=100511

CRM For Beginners - Customer Relationship Management Basics

Topics: CRM, Software tips Tags: Advertising & Promotion, CompareCRM.com, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software Source: CompareCRM.com Overview: In order to maintain a successful business, the business must understand and maintain a positive relationship with its customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the process of bringing the customer and the company closer together. There are many different areas in which Customer Relationship Management can be implemented. The goal of CRM is to help a company maintain current customers, as well as gain new customers. Knowing the customer is the key to a successful business. Customer Relationship Management is the process through which a business analyzes their customers and makes changes accordingly. CRM vendors provide applications and advice on the best CRM methods. Most observers believe that CRM practices will continue to flourish as new CRM strategies and technologies are developed. Format: HTML | Date: Jan 2007 | Pages: 2

http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=278468&promo=100511

Customer Relationship Management: 10 Steps to Success

Topics: Business Management, CRM Software, Customer Support Services Tags: Advertising & Promotion, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Marketing, Reservoir Partners, Software Source: Reservoir Partners Overview: Customer Relationship Management, or as it is more commonly known 'CRM', is one of the most widely-used yet misunderstood terms in today's technologyenabled corporate environments. Put simply 'CRM' is a catch-all term that is most commonly used to describe software and related technologies that manage customerfacing business functions (most notably Sales, Customer Service and Marketing), business processes and data. This paper explains 10 steps to the success of customer relationship management. Format: PDF | Size: 326KB | Date: Sep 2005 | Pages: 18 http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=280129&promo=100511

Customer Relationship Management - An Introduction

Topics: Business Management, CRM Software Tags: Advertising & Promotion, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Daffodil Software, Enterprise Software, Marketing, Software Source: Daffodil Software Overview: Customer Relationship Management entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it is sales or service related; it starts with the foundation of relationship marketing. CRM is a systematic approach towards using information and on going dialogue to built long lasting mutually beneficial customer relationship. The use of CRM technology forms the crucial front-end of any e-business strategy, essentially CRM has emerged as a convivial weapon in the hands of the industry laggards as well as leaders to cascade the business suites; the only touch point which is formulating this base is the awareness amongst the corporatists to suffice the customers already available to the companies to large extent. Format: PDF | Size: 225KB | Date: May 2005 | Pages: 14 http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=278838&promo=100511

Information Quality in Customer Relationship Management Systems

Topics: CRM Software Tags: Advertising & Promotion, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Information Quality, Marketing, Software Source: University of Houston Overview: Customer Relationship Management follows the increasingly necessary movement towards total integrated customer information in order to more adequately serve the needs of both business and consumer by tailoring services and products in the direction of both parties. This paper discusses the importance of information quality to customer relationship management and the problem of poor information quality, and proposes several hypotheses regarding the impact of different aspects of information quality on the effectiveness of CRM and costs of operations. Format: PDF | Size: 314KB | Date: Nov 2006 | Pages: 7 http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=284357&promo=100511

Linking Employee Relationship Management to Customer Relationship Management

Topics: Business Management,CRM Software, Human Capital Management Tags:CRM, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Relationship Management, Employee Satisfaction, Marketing, Product Marketing Source: Oracle Overview: While an organization can do many things to improve employee satisfaction, focusing on activities and processes that link employee effort to customer value will likely yield satisfaction for both customers and employees. Key employee activities that can provide a direct impact on customer satisfaction include planning, training, informing, collaborating, and supporting. This paper explains why each of these activities must be part of an organization's Employee relationship management (ERM) strategy and shows how customer satisfaction over the long term critically hinges on high levels of employee satisfaction.

Format: PDF | Size: 263KB | Date: Aug 2006 | Pages: 19 http://whitepapers.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?tag=content %3BleftCol&docid=277594&promo=100511

Customer Relationship Management in Banking Sector and a Model Design for Banking Performance Enhancement
Topics: Bank Management, CRM Software, Knowledge and Data Management Tags: Advertising & Promotion, Banking, CRM, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Software, Financial Services, Marketing, Software Source: Yildiz Technical University Overview: Nowadays, many businesses such as banks, insurance companies, and other service providers realize the importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its potential to help them acquire new customers retain existing ones and maximize their lifetime value. At this point, close relationship with customers will require a strong coordination between IT and marketing departments to provide a long-term retention of selected customers. This paper deals with the role of Customer Relationship Management in banking sector and the need for Customer Relationship Management to increase customer value by using some analytical methods in CRM applications. Format: PDF | Size: 242KB | Date: Sep 2006 | Pages: 9 http://www.cio.co.uk/whitepapers/4651/customer-relationship-management-in-bankingsector/?otc=37

Customer Relationship Management in Banking Sector

CRM is a sound business strategy to identify the banks most profitable customers and prospects
In literature, many definitions were given to describe CRM. The main difference among these definitions is technological and relationship aspects of CRM. Some authors from marketing background emphasize technological side of CRM while the others considers IT perspective of CRM. From marketing aspect, CRM is defined by [Couldwell 1998] as .. a combination of business process and technology that seeks to understand a companys customers from the perspective of who they are, what they do, and what they are like.

Technological definition of CRM was given as .. the market place of the future is undergoing a technology-driven metamorphosis [Peppers and Rogers 1995]. Consequently, IT and marketing departments must work closely to implement CRM efficiently. Meanwhile, implementation of CRM in banking sector was considered by [Mihelis et al. 2001]. They focused on the evaluation of the critical satisfaction dimensions and the determination of customer groups with distinctive preferences and expectations in the private bank sector. http://www.coolavenues.com/know/mktg/lochan_1.php3

CRM in Banking Industry

- by Pritesh Y. Chothani, Arjun Siva & Lochan Naraynan * Executive Summary Consumers largely selected their banks based on how convenient the location of bank's branches was to their homes or offices. With the advent of new technologies in the business of bank, such as Internet Banking and ATMs, now customers can freely chose any bank for their transactions. The pressures of competitive and dynamic markets have contributed to the growth of CRM in the Financial Services Sector. 5% increase in customer retention can increase profitability by

35% in banking business, 50% in insurance and brokerage, and 125% in the consumer credit card market. Therefore, banks are now stressing on retaining customers and increasing market share. Private Banks have traditionally viewed themselves as exceedingly 'Customer Centric' offering what they believe to be highly personalized services to the High Net Worth Customers. The wealthier the customers, the more demanding they are - and the clients expect more and more from their banks, to understand what their wants and needs are, so that the organization can be built around serving those needs. The structured approach to CRM provides various benefits to the bank, viz., a distinctive and consistent customer experience, clear identification of the organizational, technological and process-related capabilities and prioritization of these capabilities. The structure and hierarchy of the customer experiences are discussed in the paper. Introduction
Traditionally, few people changed their banks unless serious problems occurred. In the past there was, to certain extent, a committed, often inherited relationship between a customer and his/her bank. The philosophy, culture and organization of financial institutions were grounded in this assumption and reflected in their marketing policies, which were product and transactionoriented, reactionary, focused on discrete rather than continuous activities. Today, financial institutions can no longer rely on these committed relationships or established marketing techniques to attract and retain customers. As markets break down into heterogeneous segments, a more precisely targeted marketing technique is required, which creates a dialogue with smaller groups of customers and identifies individual needs. Also, before the Internet revolution, consumers largely selected their banks based on how convenient the location of bank's branches was to their homes or offices. With the advent of new technologies in the business of bank, such as Internet banking and ATMs, now customers can freely chose any bank for their transactions. Thus, the customer base of banks has increased, and so has the choices of customers for selecting the banks.

This situation coupled with the pressures of competitive and dynamic markets has contributed to the growth of CRM in the Financial Services Sector. Customer Relationship Management: The Concept Customer Relationship Management is the establishment, development, maintenance and optimization of long-term mutually valuable relationships between consumers and the organizations. Successful customer relationship management focuses on understanding the needs and desires of the customers and is achieved by placing these needs at the heart of the business by integrating them with the organization's strategy, people, technology and business processes. At the heart of a perfect CRM strategy is the creation of mutual value for all the parties involved in the business process. It is about creating a sustainable competitive advantage by being the best at understanding, communicating, and delivering, and developing existing customer relationships in addition to creating and keeping new customers. So the concept of product life cycle is giving way to the concept of customer life cycle focusing on the development of products and services that anticipate the future need of the existing customers and creating additional services that extend existing customer relationships beyond transactions. Need of CRM in the Banking Industry A Relationship-based Marketing approach has the following benefits: Over time, retail bank customers tend to increase their holding of the other products from across the range of financial products / services available.

Long-term customers are more likely to become a referral source.

The longer a relationship continues, the better a bank can understand the customer and his/her needs & preferences, and so greater the opportunity to tailor products and services and cross-sell the product / service range. Customers in long-term relationships are more comfortable with the service, the organization, methods and procedures. This helps reduce operating cost and costs arising out of customer error.

With increased number of banks, products and services and practically nil switching costs, customers are easily switching banks whenever they find better services and products. Banks are finding it tough to get new customers, and more importantly, retain existing customers. According to a research by Reichheld and Sasser in the Harvard Business Review, 5% increase in customer retention can increase profitability by 35% in banking business, 50% in insurance and brokerage, and 125% in the consumer credit card market. Therefore, banks are now stressing on retaining customers and increasing market share. Private Banking and CRM Private Banks have traditionally viewed themselves as exceedingly 'Customer Centric' offering what they believe to be highly personalized services to the High Net Worth Customers. However, changes in the customer behavior and accumulation of wealth are resulting in the needs of HNW customers becoming more diverse and complex in terms of the sorts of products they want, the channels through which they want to access them and the associated range of advice. The

wealthier the customers, the more demanding they are - and the clients expect more and more from their banks. Competition for "Supremely elite" is increasing Customer Experiences The first step towards successfully winning, retaining and growing the profitability of private banking customers is to understand what their wants and needs are, so that the organization can be built around serving those needs. Only when an organization has done this and incorporated this into its strategy can it start to design its value proposition and a customer experience that will enable it to achieve a differentiated competitive position in the private banking market, and more importantly, do so in an economically viable way. The Basic Customer Experience

There is a basic 'generic' customer experience that many private banking customers are seeking. To be a credible player in the market, a private bank must be able to deliver this 'base' experience. This represents a common set of needs that are shared by most HNW customers. Therefore, the private bank must have the capabilities required to meet these needs for the majority of its customer base. All customers, regardless of wealth levels, have similar emotional needs, which drive their need for advice and their purchase of products. Different wealth levels impose different priorities on meeting these needs and open up new avenues for doing so. Take a simple example, HNW customers can afford on it to fund their retirement, so their priorities may be associated with growing wealth, rather than preserving it, allowing them to choose a product option with a higher risk/reward ratio. If this is true, it means all HNW customers start with a basic, common set of what they want and need from a bank, which might include:

Personal, long-term relationship Advice combining industry expertise and knowledge of personal circumstances

High quality, consistent quality Security, privacy, confidentiality

At this basic level, grouping together these core wants and needs produces a set of generic characteristics that an HNW individual seeks from an organization before he or she will even consider placing any of his or her wealth with it. Underlying these generic characteristics is a set of capabilities covering organization, process and technology, which the private bank must process to operate in the high net worth market The Segment-Specific Experience To build this 'base' experience, private banks also need to consider the segment-specific needs of their target customers. This in itself requires a capability to identify and justify target customers and understand their needs beyond banking, to ensure that their emotional needs are met. It is here that the customer is made to feel like an individual, but it is also at this point that costs and infrastructure spiral, as customers' needs start to diverge.

The segmentation process identifies groups of customers with similar wants and needs, who are seeking a similar experience from the provider. Importantly, from the organizations' viewpoint, this means that they can also be served by similar sets of capabilities. The experience at this level is made up of: The channel preferences of each segment and associated channel experience - for example, a self-directed group of customers will use internet for transacting, information gathering and even some advice, whereas advice seekers and less financially sophisticated segments require more access to an adviser / relationship manager and a more basic experience over the Internet.

The product and service preferences of that segment - for example, the more sophisticated customers are more likely to demand more complex products such as alternative investments, whilst others may prefer discretionary portfolio management.

The new components are added to the experience and the 'base' experiences elements become defined in more depth, according to the specific needs of the customer segment. Once the segment experiences have been defined, the associated capabilities must again be identified. The hierarchical approach to defining customer experiences helps filter these capabilities as: it is possible to identify experience elements that are common to more than one segment - this will carry a higher priority for development as they will benefit more customers;

the segmentation exercise will provide comparative sizings for the target segments.

Capabilities required for the larger, more profitable segments take precedence over those needed for smaller segments. The Organisation-Specific Experience Having identified the base and segment specific elements of HNW customer experience, the final step is to identify how the experience that each organization offers its customers is distinct from other banks. Now this would mean that one has to distinctly identify the components of the experience that are not only associated with a particular bank but also be the key differentiator. This process will define:

Elements of the organization style and culture.

Products and Services to be provided.

In the same way, every brand is different, so is the experience.

Conclusion Banking can be mysterious for consumers and how they interact with their finances can be a complex matter. The challenges faced by banks and their customers are many but the trick lies in de-mystifying complex financial relationships. Technical solutions deployed by banks today are flexible, user-friendly and meant to facilitate specific workflow and requirements in implementation processes. In order to simplify lives, banks have begun to implement end-to-end technologies through all departments with the intention of removing human error from processes. Previously existing manual environments could not have been adequate for future visions, growth plans and strategies. In this day and age, customers enjoy complete luxury in terms of customized technical solutions and banks use the same to cement long-term, mutually-beneficial relationships.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-189051997.html

Article: Variables influencing the customer relationship management of banks.(Journal of Financial Services Marketing, vol. 13, no. 1) (Periodical review)(Brief article)
Article from:

Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice Article date: October 1, 2008 Author: Rootman, C.; Tait, M.; Bosch, J.

RESEARCH. Journal of Financial Services Marketing (UK), Vol. 13, No. 1, p. 52 (11 pp) Considers the need for banks (in South Africa) to retain customers through effective CRM strategies--that is, by first attracting customers and then maintaining a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with them. Notes that a service firm's relationships with its clients are created and maintained by its front-line employees. Distinguishes strategic CRM, or establishment of a customer-centric culture, operational CRM, dealing with customer-facing automation, and analytical CRM, or the exploitation of customer data. Seeks to identify which variables in employee behavior
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-109575127.html

Article: Unlocking CRM Value Through Segmentation: Banks have customer insights. Now put them to work.(Industry Overview)
Article from: Bank Technology News Article date: November 1, 2003 Author: Dicke, Alexander P. Copyright

their efforts to organically attract, grow and retain profitable customers, banks face daunting challenges. They want to know their customers better and track their changing preferences, but struggle to process and analyze huge amounts of complex data spewed out by their customer relationship management systems. Many financial institutions initially approached CRM principally as a technology fix. Expensive desktop solutions and sales tools were rolled out, but were often poorly understood or cumbersome-generating mountains of seldom used data and lower-than-expected investment returns. CRM, however, is not an application, technology or integration
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a785820567

Towards a Successful CRM Implementation in Banks: An Integrated Model

Author: Riyad Eid - Riyad Eid, Wolverhampton Business School, Wolverhampton University, Compton Park Campus, Compton Road West, Wolverhampton, WV3 9DX, UK. Email: DOI: 10.1080/02642060701673703 Publication Frequency: 12 issues per year Published in: The Service Industries Journal, Volume 27, Issue 8 December 2007 , pages 1021 - 1039

Abstract
In recent years, customer relationship management (CRM) has been the favoured theme for numerous studies and reports. Yet, there is a lack of systematic empirical evidence regarding the critical success factors (CSFs) for the CRM implementation, the activities that are affected by the use of the CRM programmes, and their consequent performance outcomes. In this article, we document the role of the CRM programmes in the banking sector and identify marketing activities that are affected by CRM usage. Taking a sample of 159 banks that utilise a CRM system, we found a substantial positive effect of the CRM usage on relationships effectiveness and marketing objectives. The results of this study have major implications for marketing people, as they suggest the notion that the CRM critical success factors should be implemented holistically rather than piecemeal to achieve the full potential of the CRM. The findings also stress the central role of customer services in the successful implementation of CRM programmes within banks.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3252/is_2_117/ai_n29001061/ (C omE ARTICLES)

Banks and CRM: the unmet challenge: customer relationship management is a powerful marketing tool but many banks have yet to discover the key to successful implementation
Journal of Banking and Financial Services, April, 2003 by Mudiarasan Kuppusamy, Bala Shanmugam, Mahendhiran Nair Competition in the financial services industry has intensified in recent years, owing to events such as technology changes and financial industry deregulation. Conventional banking distribution has been gradually supplemented by the emerging use of electronic banking. Many bank customers prefer using ATMs or a website rather than visiting a branch, while technology has also reduced barriers to entry for new customers. Today, customers have more power in deciding their bank of choice. Consequently, keeping existing customers, as well as attracting new ones, is a critical concern for banks. Customer satisfaction is an important variable in evaluation and control in a bank

marketing management. Poor customer satisfaction will lead to a decline in customer loyalty, and given the extended offerings from the competitors, customers can easily switch banks. Banks need to leverage effectively on their customer relationships and make better use of customer information across the institution. CRM--a powerful tool CRM is a powerful management tool that can be used to exploit sales potential and maximise the value of the customer to the bank. Generally, CRM integrates various components of a business such as sales, marketing, IT and accounting. This strategy may not increase a business's profit today or tomorrow, but it will add customer loyalty to the business. In the long term, CRM produces continuous scrutiny of the bank's business relationship with the customer, thereby increasing the value of the customer's business. Although CRM is known to be a relatively new method in managing customer loyalty, it has been used In the long term, CRM produces continuous scrutiny of the bank's business relationship with the customer, thereby increasing the value of the customer's business. Although CRM is known to be a relatively new method in managing customer loyalty, it has been used previously by retail businesses for many years. Measuring CRM benefits A key basic CRM challenge is establishing the measurement method. Banks may find it hard to build the initial business case justification and then to prove the worth or success of their investment. What makes the latter task even more difficult is the fact that the metrics that are best used to justify a significant IT investment are not always the most appropriate for evaluating ongoing success. When banks seek to justify the cost of their investment in CRM-related technology they usually focus on hard numbers, typically those related to decreased costs and increased sales. In other words, the proponents look to justify the top-line expenses with bottomline benefits. Traditionally, banks have determined the success of any project or product mainly in terms of internal business gauges such as return on investment, units sold, asset growth, or service level agreement measures. One exception to the typical practice of focusing solely on internal data for gauging success is market share, or market performance. Interestingly, most CRM practitioners quickly default to marketing and sales measures when asked about the success of CRM implementations. The tendency to frame the discussion of CRM measurements in terms of sales and marketing measures is completely understandable given the phased nature of most CRM projects.

Since the majority of CRM projects are expensive multiphase and multiyear projects that often involve multiple technologies, the funding for CRM projects is also often phased. CRM sponsors grant funding to project leaders at the completion of one phase and start of the next. To ensure that the subsequent phases will get funding, project leaders typically build into each phase of a CRM project demonstrable business benefits. At completion of each phase of a project, business benefits are expected to accrue rapidly to the bank. Revenue generation--whether through sales or marketing improvements--is the preferred business benefit for CRM project sponsors. Not surprisingly, it is far easier to continue funding large, intricate IT projects when incremental revenue generation can be squarely identified. One significant problem is that banks let their customers use the bank's products and services in an unprofitable way. By providing a lower level of service to these customers, the bank faces the danger of driving them away to institutions that provide better service. Given the step-fixed nature of bank costs as discussed, banks should not view losing unprofitable customers as the way to improved profits. Measures to take Banks can take several steps to strengthen their customer relationship management in an effective manner. 1. Acknowledge email enquiries At the very minimum, banks should send out an automated email response that acknowledges receipt of a customer's email and lets the sender know when to expect a more complete response. It is then vital to get back to the customer within the promised time frame. Banks can earn more customer goodwill if they respond faster than the imposed deadline. To handle significant volumes of email, banks need adequate routing technology. Many banks regard a voice call centre as a cost of doing business, but they don't look at it the same way with email. 2. Develop the right contact strategy By knowing which offers and incentives to offer to which customers and when, banks will not annoy customers with unwanted marketing offers, building customer loyalty along the way. Such goals can be at least as important as realising cross-sell opportunities. 3. Providing online `chatting'

An alternative to telephone support, online chatting is providing a service via emails or any other form of immediate response. This service also offers some of the immediacy of the phone but primarily allows customers to remain online. With online chatting, service agents can usually handle between one and three customer inquiries at once. For a CRM implementation to be successful, decision makers within the bank need to make sure that all the stakeholders understand and support the required process changes. 7. Change accounts into customers Traditionally banks have closely associated customers with accounts, to the point of calling the account the customer and vice versa. Customers will tend to feel alienated when they are treated like a number instead of a person. A conventional account structure usually contains very little information about customers and their needs, or their relationship with competitors or other divisions within the bank. The way ahead Banks have excellent reasons to adopt comprehensive CRM strategies to cultivate a lifetime customer relationship. As banks move from transaction-centric to a relationshipcentric business approach, effective leveraging of customer relationship becomes all the more critical. Today, customers are expecting even more individual attention, responsiveness and product customisation, yet are unwilling to pay a premium for these services. They are willing, however, to build a long-term relationship with banks that offers differentiated and more personalised services. This is where electronic banking can offer a competitive advantage. Successful CRM implementation in electronic banking needs to integrate data from all customer touchpoints, employee feedback and even shareholders' perceptions. If used effectively and in an innovative way, this approach will enable banks to develop a strategy to deliver to the customer the most appropriate products and services. MUDIARASAN KUPPUSAMY IS A GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT AT SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, MONASH UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA. BALA SHANMUGAM IS THE CHAIR OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE AND MAHENDHIRAN NAIR IS THE UNIVERSITY'S DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. EMAIL: MUDIARASAN.KUPPUSAMY@BUSIT.MONASH.EDU.MY COPYRIGHT 2003 Australian Institute of Banking and Finance http://gbr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/99

Learnings from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Implementation in a Bank M.P. Gupta
Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi

Sonal Shukla
Price Waterhouse Coopers, New Delhi

This article attempts to highlight the learnings from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) imple mentation in the banking sector. CRM systems are particularly relevant to Retail Financial Services companies, allowing much of the management of the customer relationship to be automated with the objective of maximizing the profitability of individual customer relationships whilst minimizing the cost of managing those relationships. The study is supported by a case study of CRM systems in a major Japanese Bank- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi and also a field survey of scenario in Indian banking sector. The various issues examined include organizational information, the CRM strategy, strategic changes resulting from CRM implementation, implementation priorities for the banks and the factors indicating the performance after CRM implementation. The study revealed that CRM is gradually picking up and is definitely considered as a viable proposition by banks in improving services to their customers. One of the major challenges experienced during implementing CRM is resistance to change. To get CRM to work, high commitment is required in those who are implementing it.