CUSTOMER FOCUS AND RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Abstract Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented strategy for managing a companys interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer relationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including customerinterface departments as well as other departments. Measuring and valuing customer relationships is critical to implementing this strategy. Keywords Customer service, Companys interaction with Customers

Hero Motor Corp Customer Relationship Management

Introduction Hero is the brand name used by the Munjal brothers for their flagship company Hero Cycles Ltd. A joint venture between the Hero Group and Honda Motor Company was established in 1984 as the Hero Honda Motors Limited at Dharuhera India. Munjal family and Honda group both own 26% stake in the Company. In 2010, it was reported that Honda planned to sell its stake in the venture to the Munjal family. During the 1980s, the company introduced motorcycles that were popular in India for their fuel economy and low cost. A popular advertising campaign based on the slogan 'Fill it - Shut it - Forget it' that emphasised the motorcycle's fuel efficiency helped the company grow at a double-digit pace since inception. The technology in the bikes of Hero Honda for almost 26 years (19842010) has come from the Japanese counterpart Honda. Hero MotoCorp has three manufacturing facilities based at Dharuhera, Gurgaon in Haryana and at Haridwar in Uttarakhand. These plants together are capable of churning out 3 million bikes per year. Hero MotoCorp has a large sales and service network with over 3,000 dealerships and service points across India. Hero Honda has a customer loyalty program since 2000, called the Hero Honda Passport Program.

Hero Hondas Mission statement

"Its our mission to strive for synergy between technology, systems and human resources, to produce products and services that meet the quality, performance and price aspirations of our customers. While doing so, we maintain the highest standards of ethics and societal responsibilities."

Customer Relationship Management

Hero Honda Motors launched a Customer Relationship Program in the year 2001. The program was completely managed manually and was difficult to manage and there were always challenges in ensuring authenticity of the data. This led to upgrading of the manual processes in the Passport program to an electronic platform called GOODLIFE wherein a smart card is issued to the customers. The new system began in January, 2009 and in a short span of 9 months the program was rolled out to almost 2000 touch-points of Hero Honda, covering all dealers and SSPs and around 4000 dealer staff were given hands on training.

1. More Value added services

In tune with effective customer relationship management, HHML has come up with the fresh idea of mobile service workshops: a complete workshop incorporated into trucks that travel predetermined routes, visiting small towns and villages where existing customers reside. Customers are informed that a workshop will be coming, so that they dont have to travel hundreds of kilometres to an authorized workshop for servicing or repairs. These mobile workshops also double as sales outlets and spare-part distributors.
2. The Hero Honda passport programme

The Hero Honda passport programme is one of the first of its kind in India. The company has secured over 1 million members in the last three years with the Passport Programme, which involves offering members a small card/booklet that looks like the Indian passport, complete with ''visa stamps for points, similar to those offered by credit card companies and airlines. The only difference in this programme is that the member need not always spend money to obtain points. With the passport programme, each time a Hero Honda customer visits a service centre, he gets points and depending on the profile submitted by the customer, he gets benefits like free passes to a cricket match sponsored by the company.
3. SBI-Hero Honda Credit Card

Another customer service initiative launched jointly by Hero Honda and State Bank of India is a co-branded credit card. This time SBI Cards & Payment Services (SBI Card) has teamed up with Hero Honda Motors to offer the Hero Honda SBI Card, the first card for the two-wheeler industry in India.SBI card is said to be Indias No 1 Visa card-issuer with over 11lakh cards issued. The co-branded card is designed to strengthen Hero Hondas Passport Programme. 4. Star Club and Treasured Rewards This unique club has been introduced for those members who get their bikes serviced regularly from authorized Hero Honda Service Centres. The Star Club membership not only identifies the member as special for the HHPP family, but also brings in some added Benefits like: - 30% discount on labour - 7.5% discount on spares, till the validity of the Passport Treasured Reward: For Passport Programme members who have crossed the 1 lakh point mark in the Hero Honda Passport Programme. The HHPP Treasured Rewards available at 8 prescribed milestones beginning from 1.25 lakh points and ending at 3 lakh points, with each milestone at a gap of 25,000 points. In other words, the milestones are placed at 1.25 lakhs, 1.5 lakhs and so on till 3 lakhs.

Each time a member reaches a milestone a Motorcycle Privilege Voucher of Rs. 1250/- will be given to him. This voucher may be used to avail a discount on the purchase of a new Hero Honda motorcycle. This voucher is transferable and can be given to friends or relatives who may be planning to buy a new Hero Honda motorcycle.

5. SECURITY FOR CUSTOMERS AND FAMILY: The moment customers apply for Hero Honda Passport they are automatically covered for free Rs.100, 000 Personal Accident Insurance policies for one year or for three years, as applicable. Rewards and points programme All these amazing rewards and benefits come to the customer as they earn points in the Different CRM Programme. Once become a member, they earn points for a host of regular transactions that they conduct at their local Hero Honda authorized Dealership or Service Centres. These include: Purchase of Hero Honda genuine spares. Purchase of accessories. Servicing of motorcycle.

Bonus points on: Free Service. Paid Service. Referrals i.e. recommending a friend to purchase a Hero Honda motorcycle.

Conclusion Customer relationship management is one of the main strategy followed to achieve the Objective of the Business, Measuring and valuing customer relationships is critical to implementing this strategy.