CRM: A Competitive Tool for FMCG Sector ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Special Issue on International Journal of Recent Advances in Engineering & Technology (IJRAET) V-4 I-1 For National Conference on Recent Innovations in Science, Technology & Management (NCRISTM) ISSN (Online): 2347-2812, Gurgaon Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon 26 th to 27 th February 2016 143 CRM: A Competitive Tool for FMCG Sector Sapna Dadwal Gurgaon Institute of Technology and Management Email: S.dadwalgitm@gmail.com Abstract : Highly competitive and dynamic business environment has forced organizations to aim to not only to attract, but also to retain their customers. Hence the need to build and maintain one to one, life long relationship with large number of customers has led the emergence of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is built on the philosophy of relationship marketing that aims to create, retain, develop and enhance relationships with customers as well as to enhance the customer lifetime value and organization profitability. The goal is to improve the customer experience so that it enhances satisfaction and loyalty which in turn will lead to increased profits. Customer relationship management is a companywide business strategy adopted by most modern organisations and it requires customer centric business approach to support effective marketing, sales, service and process. The study analyses CRM initiatives in the Beverage Industry. The competitive environment for FMCG manufacturers is changing rapidly. The Beverage industry has emerged as a big component of the industrial sector in India and has been constantly adding to the revenue of our country. Implementation of CRM in Beverage sector enables the organizations to build and leverage their brand values by ensuring that all trade promotions, campaigns and sales activities are executed with the right brand messages Key Words: Customer Relationship Management(CRM) Fast Moving consumer Goods Sector (FMCG ) INTRODUCTION Highly competitive and dynamic business environment has forced organizations to aim to not only to attract, but also to retain their customers. Hence the need to build and maintain one to one, life long relationship with large number of customers has led the emergence of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is built on the philosophy of relationship marketing that aims to create, retain, develop and enhance relationships with customers as well as to enhance the customer lifetime value and organization profitability. The goal is to improve the customer experience so that it enhances satisfaction and loyalty which in turn will lead to increased profits. Customer Relationship Management “Customer relationship management is a business strategy adopted by most organizations and it requires customer centric business approach to support effective marketing, sales, service and process. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a model for managing relationship and interaction of current and future customers. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.” “The purpose of adopting CRM practices and strategies is to improve marketing productivity, enhance customer satisfaction resulting into enhanced sales. In CRM, marketing efficiency is achieved because cooperative and collaborative processes help in reducing transaction costs and overall development costs for the company. Two important processes for CRM include proactive customer business development and building partnering relationship with most important customers. These lead to superior value creation.” “The success of CRM practices can be measured mostly by behavioural indicators like their length of the relationship, customer satisfaction, frequency and by increase in sales and profit by firm through them. A good customer is a customer who contributes a relatively large share to the return of the organization within a certain period”. “According to Galbreath and Rogers (1999, p 162) the definition of CRM can be described as :Activities a business performs to identify, qualify, acquire, develop and retain increasingly loyal and profitable customers by delivering the right product or service, to the right customer, through the right channel, at the right time and right cost. CRM integrates sales, marketing, service, enterprise resource planning and supply- chain management functions through business process automation, technology solutions, and information resources to maximize each customer contact. CRM facilitates relationship among enterprises, their customers, business partners, suppliers and employees.” Figure 1 describes different conceptual definition of CRM. Figure 1- Definition of CRM in nutshell