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This part of the book is focused on
how to capture and develop e-loyalty in
Internet-based businesses. The first case profiles
the very successful Vancouver-based Pivotal
Corporation, and how the company has innovated to
enhance CRM for their customer base. Pivotal coined
the term eBRM, for “electronic business
relationship management”—a combination of CRM,
e-commerce, business portals, and Internet business
services. As such, eBRM encapsulates a wide range of
services in which companies interact with
clients using the Internet. Embedded within the case
is how Pivotal’s solutions are implemented in two
client companies—North Shore Credit Union and
Yorkton Securities. These client examples, and how a
relationship-based strategy meets the client needs,
can also be considered in the context of the
previous Theme of strategy and business models.
The
case “Reflect.com: ‘Burn the Ships,’”
examines how the company sells a personalized line
of beauty products and services only on the
Internet. Related to CRM, beauty-care expertise is
leveraged on the Internet to create a unique
experience unavailable in a bricks-and-mortar
environment. The site is highly customized, allowing
consumers to create more than 300 000 products and
packages. Each consumer’s needs are determined
using an interactive question-and-answer format,
followed by the creation of specialized products.
Rare personal follow-up with each customer is
provided at Reflect.com, making this a good example
of how repeat business and order fulfillment are
achieved.
The
readings outline various facets of how to facilitate
and reinforce CRM and customer loyalty. This
includes focusing on the right customers, and then
providing products and services that more than
satisfy expectations. A key consideration is the
rapid pace with which companies must improve
products and services to retain loyalty. Key factors
in building online customer loyalty are outlined,
and points for discussion are provided related to
how this is done in each of the companion cases.
Reading 1: Reichheld
& Schefter (2000) -
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business
Review from "E-Loyalty: Your Secret Weapon
on the Web" by F. Reichheld and Phil Schefter,
Harvard Business Review, July/August 2000. Copyright
© 2000 by the Harvard Business School Publishing
Company, all rights reserved.
Reading 2: Bajeva
et. al. (2000)
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