Lakme Lever has come up with a unique
customer service -– interactive kiosks that allow its customers to choose
products that suit them. Branded as Lakme Beauty Zones, these kiosks first
take a picture of the customer's face. Then as the customer chooses different
shades of eye shadows or lipsticks, these are superimposed on the image in
frontof her at the press of a button. This allows her to decide whether the
colour suits her before she buys the product.
Godrej GE Appliances has found its own innovation solution –
customer cell centres manned by executives who have a complete description of
all the appliances sold under the Godrej GE brand name. Everyday, the call
centres across Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi receive about 3,000 calls. These
centres go a long way in helping customers make up their mind regarding any
purchase.
ICICI is sparing no effort to integrate its most priviliged
asset -– customers. It is setting up a data warehouse that will hold all the
information about each customer. The Customer Information System is being
deployed to understand the multiple relationships a customer has with different
parts of the organization. All the customer information will be centralised in
ICICI's server farm in Mumbai. Apart from the data warehouse, which will allow
executives to mine all kinds of customer information, there will also be a live
production house, which will be linked to various communication channels to
gather information real time.
CRM's biggest task is to constantly track customers, so that
the firm knows its best customers. That way it gives the organization a better
chance to hold on to them and reward them for their loyalty.
Bharat Petroleum Ltd, has come up with a smart card
programme, enlisting select petrol pumps where the customer is assured of a
minimum quality of service. The Petro card functions as a pre-paid card.
Everytime you use the card, the value of the transaction is debited. You also
get points for transactions made on the card – items worth Rs 100 bought at
the pump's convenience store means 100 points, while Rs 100 worth of lubes
bought is worth 250 points. These bonus points are redeemable through gifts.
The RPG group has invested in data mining software that
allows it to understand‘product
adjacencies'. These help in figuring out which products are typically bought
together -– do customers buy cosmetics along with medicines or with soaps and
detergents?
Samsung Electronics is using technology to provide prompt
cost-effective customer care. If you want to report a defect in the hard disk
drive which is replaceable during warranty, all you have to do is log onto the
company Web site and key in the product serial number and your address. Out pops
the address and contact name and number of the nearest Samsung dealer as well as
a complaint number. If the dealer does not have the part, then the software
deflects the customer to the nearest dealer who has the part.
