Scribd
Upload
131 views2 pages

CRM in Banks

Indian banks had traditionally focused on regulations rather than customers, but now face increasing competition from foreign banks. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) places the customer at the center of a business's processes and culture in order to improve customer satisfaction and maximize profits. CRM involves understanding customer needs, integrating them into strategy and processes, and using technology to improve the customer interface over time through an iterative approach. For banks, adopting a true CRM philosophy will be important for retaining market share as regulations change and competition increases.

Uploaded by

Kaushik Sameer
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
131 views2 pages

CRM in Banks

Indian banks had traditionally focused on regulations rather than customers, but now face increasing competition from foreign banks. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) places the customer at the center of a business's processes and culture in order to improve customer satisfaction and maximize profits. CRM involves understanding customer needs, integrating them into strategy and processes, and using technology to improve the customer interface over time through an iterative approach. For banks, adopting a true CRM philosophy will be important for retaining market share as regulations change and competition increases.

Uploaded by

Kaushik Sameer
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

CRM in banks — Serve thy customer

Saumitra Bhaduri

FOR long, Indian banks had presumed that their operations were customer-centric,
simply because they had customers. These banks ruled the roost, protected by
regulations that did not allow free entry into the sector. And to their credit, when the
banking sector was opened up, they survived by adapting quickly to the new rules of
the game.

Many managed to post profits. For them an unexpected bonanza came from
government bonds in which most were hugely invested.

Ironically, the Reserve Bank of India's moves to cut aggressively the interest rates
after 1999, pushed up the prices of bonds. So banks had a windfall doing almost
nothing. The bond profits, like manna from heaven, improved the balance-sheets of
all banks irrespective of their core performance.

However, the era of lazy banking is soon to end. The mesh of rules that propped up
the Indian banking industry is now being dismantled rapidly.

According to a RBI road-map, India will have a competitive banking market after
2009. As one of the most attractive emerging market destinations, India will see
foreign banks come in, what with more freedom to come in, grow and acquire.

Therefore, it is imperative that Indian banks wake up to this reality and re-focus on
their core asset — the customer. A greater focus on Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) is the only way the banking industry can protect its market
share and boost growth.

CRM would also make Indian bankers realise that the purpose of their business is to
"create and keep a customer" and to "view the entire business process as consisting
of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, and satisfy customer needs."

What is CRM, and what will it deliver to the banks? CRM is, probably, one of the
least clearly defined business acronyms, as there is no single definition for it. It is
probably easier to say what CRM is not. Unfortunately, CRM has also become a
misnomer for a range of solutions from IT vendors, each providing its own spin on
the idea.

CRM is variously misunderstood as a fancy sales strategy, an expensive software


product, or even a new method of data collection. It is none of these.

CRM is a simple philosophy that places the customer at the heart of a business
organisation's processes, activities and culture to improve his satisfaction of service
and, in turn, maximise the profits for the organisation.

A successful CRM strategy aims at understanding the needs of the customer and
integrating them with the organisation's strategy, people, technology and business
process.
Therefore, one of the best ways of launching a CRM initiative is to start with what
the organisation is doing now and working out what should be done to improve its
interface with its customers. Then and only then, should it link to an IT solution.

While this may sound quite straightforward, for large organisations it can be a
mammoth task unless a gradual step-by-step process is adopted.

It does not happen simply by buying the software and installing it. For CRM to be
truly effective, it requires a well-thought-out initiative involving strategy, people,
technology, and processes. Above all, it requires the realisation that the CRM
philosophy of doing business should be adopted incrementally with an iterative
approach to learn at every stage of development.

Only time will tell how Indian banks embrace the CRM philosophy and take on
thecompetition from foreign entities.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy