Customer relationship management analysis at GIBCA Group Companies

CRM at GIBCA Group Companies

This chapter is structured onto three sections, each constructed on the three hypotheses previously issued. In terms of actual analysis, this is generically divided into two methods of approach -- qualitative and quantitative. Each analysis method reveals advantages as well as disadvantages. Qualitative research for instance is constructed on interaction with the members of a community and their observation. The main limitation of this approach is that it could lead to subjective findings and conclusions which only apply to the analyzed sample; in other words, the findings retrieved through a qualitative analysis might not be suitable for extrapolation.

Quantitative research on the other hand is constructed on numeric and factual information and the findings can be extrapolated outside the sample to the larger population (Walliman and Walliman, 2006). The ultimate selection of the analysis method depends on the specific particularities of a given analysis topic and the degree to which an analysis method can best serve the topic's goals. In the specific case of the customer data and the customer relationship management at the GIBCA Companies, the most adequate approach to analysis would be that of a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The combination of the two methods is generically referred to as triangulation and it has the main advantage of combing the benefits of the quantitative and qualitative methods. In their a critical introduction to social research, authors Matt Henn, Mark Weinstein and Nick Foard (2009) mention that "many […] researchers use 'multiple strategies of field research in order to overcome the problems the steam from studies relying upon a single theory, single method, single set of data and single investigator' (Burgess, 1984). This approach is frequently referred to a triangulation. It suggests that research conclusions that are derived from converging evidence -- using a variety of different research methods -- are likely to be more credible than research findings which are based on only one source of evidence" (Henn, Weinstein and Foard, 2009).

As it has been established throughout the previous chapter, the two means of retrieving data are those of direct communications (open interviews) and questionnaires. The direct conversations are integrated in the qualitative approach, whereas the questionnaires are integrant parties of a qualitative analysis. This means that a separation occurs in the treatment of the data gathering tools. Another separation is revealed in terms of the research communities to which the data gathering processes are selected. While some of the processes are applied to the GIBCA Group Companies' customers and others are applied to the companies' staff members, the data collected would have to be separated based on the sample. As a parenthesis, the questions related to customers and employees will support the research by revealing the nature of the respondents and consequently, the relevance of their answers. A new customer for instance, which has been a GIBCA Group Companies client for less than a year and has in this period made only two purchases, is perceived as a less important customer than one who has been a loyal customer for seven years and has made over 15 purchases. This importance is not given by loyalty or organizational preferences -- or discriminations -- but by the simple fact that a customer in a sustained, long-term relationship is better able to offer constructive feedback.

Given this understanding, it would now be useful to identify the two samples -- the customer sample and the employee sample -- onto which the analyses would be conducted.

Sample #1: The GIBCA Group Company customers

At the level of direct communications between the GIBCA Group Companies employee and the customers, the client characteristics would be identified throughout the following questions:

IC1. In an effort to improve our customers' satisfaction, we have set in motion an internal process of improvements in the relationship with the customer. Would you like to participate in this endeavor by answering some questions? -- the answer to this question, whether it is a clear Yes or No, a reticent answer or an excuse, will inform of the willingness of the sample participants to provide feedback.

2. For the purpose of improving our relationship with you, we will be recoding this conversation for future analysis. Is this accepted by you? -- This question reveals the customers' openness to literally helping the entity by allowing it to further assess the input; it also creates the necessity for input objectivity by revealing that the data offered would be verified.

3. First of all, how long have you been a GIBCA Group customer? -- This question will reveal the length of the relationship between the provider and the client.

4. And in this time, how would describe your relationship with the firm? -- This question allows the customer to introduce his own description of the relationship with the firm.

5. Would you say you were mostly satisfied or mostly dissatisfied with the company's products, services and customer interaction? -- This question allows the company to become more specific in the customers' perception of the firm and its efforts to increase customer satisfaction.

The total number of interviewed customers is of 100 (one hundred), divided into five categories, based on their relationship with the individual companies. In this order of ideas:

20 of the interviewed customers are clients of Arabian Profile Ltd.

20 of the interviewed customers are clients of Glasshouse Co. Ltd.

20 of the interviewed customers are clients of GIBCA Furniture Industries Co. LLC

20 of the interviewed customers are clients of AIL Industries Ltd.

20 of the interviewed customers are clients of TEKAB Co. Ltd.

At the level of the questionnaires, the customer characteristics are identified by the following questions:

1. For how long have you been a GIBCA Group customer?

(a) for less than one year

(b) Between 2 to 4 years

(c) 5 years or more

2. During the period within which you were a customer, how many purchases did you make from GIBCA?

(a) Less than 5 purchases

(b) Between 5 and 15 purchases

(c) Over 15 purchases

3. How would you describe your level of satisfaction relative to the relationship you have developed with the GIBCA Group Companies?

(a) Highly unsatisfactory

(b) Satisfactory

(c) Highly satisfactory

The second question will reveal the strength of the relationship between the company and the customer. Combined with the first one, it will reveal the relevance of the customer's answers. The third question will reveal the general level of customer satisfaction. The answers retrieved for these questions are presented below:

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

a b c a b c

10

50

40

9

60

31

2

55

43

Relative to the sample questions in the open interviews and the questionnaires, the following characteristics of the customer sample have been identified:

The sample size is of 100 GIBCA Group Companies customers, divided as mentioned above

Initially, only 95 customers were willing to respond to the organization and they all offered clear YES answers; a second phone call was scheduled and the rest of 5 customers subsequently offered their input

10 of the interviewed customers have been GIBCA Group Companies customers for less than one year; 50 of the respondents were GIBCA customers for 2 up to 4 years and the remaining 40 respondents have been the companies' customers for over 5 years

9 of the interviewed customers have made less five than purchases from the companies; 60 respondents have made more than five, but less than 15 acquisitions and the remaining 31 have made over 15 purchases

Only 2 of the respondents have declared to be highly unsatisfied with the company; the majority of 55 customers have stated to be satisfied with the group's products and services; 43 of the respondents were highly satisfied with the GIBCA Group Companies.

Hypothesis 1: Customer data improves customer strategies

When the company becomes better able to collect and use customer information, it will be better able to implement customer relationship management strategies. In other words, as the marketing team at the GIBCA Group interacts with the customer at the superior level, it will become better able to understand his desires and to develop the adjacent strategies.

In order to test the validity of this hypothesis, it is crucial to assess the answers offered to the relevant questions in the open interview and in the questionnaire. This analysis would be constructed on qualitative tools of observation, adapted specifically to the operational environment of the GIBCA Group Companies.

In order to increase the clarity of the analysis, it is useful to introduce a notation system as follows:

IC -- interview question to customer

QC -- questionnaire question to customer

QE -- questionnaire question to employee

The questions relevant at this stage of the analysis are as follows:

From the open interviews with the customers:

IC1. And in the cases when you were dissatisfied, what generated this sentiment? -- This question allows the customers to reveal if there were any situations in which their dissatisfaction was pegged to an inadequate use of customer data.

IC2. What were the elements that mostly satisfied you? -- Similar to the previous question, this one allows the customer to pin point any specific situations in which the proper use of customer data might have generated better customer strategies.

IC3. What about in the direct relationship with the firm. What gave you most satisfaction in this respect? -- Offers a new opportunity for the respondent to identify potential customer data usages which generated high quality customer strategies.

IC4. Is there anything else you would like to add? -- This fourth question creates the last opportunity for the respondent to freely state any other elements which might have characterized the relationship with the firm -- in an either positive or negative manner -- or to re-answer a previously posed question based on elements he had remembered since the question was first posed.

IC5. Do you feel more comfortable negotiating your contracts with GIBCA employees with whom you are more familiar? -- This question reveals the perceived importance of customer data to the customers.

IC6. Do you feel that when you interact with a GIBCA employee who is more familiarized with your particular demands, your levels of satisfaction are higher? -- This question strives to once again -- but at a deeper level -- identify the means in which the clients perceive that properly used customer data leads to better customer strategies.

Answers and analysis

IC1. 50 of the 100 respondents stated that the element which generated the most dissatisfaction was the inability to get through to the company operators in time. 30 of the respondents stated that their highest levels of dissatisfaction were generated by fact that GIBCA employees sometimes mix up the orders. The remaining 20 offered other answers.

IC2. 50 of the respondents stated that it was the high quality of the products; 40 respondents mentioned the politeness of the staff members and the remaining ten offered other reasons.

IC3. Most of the respondents forwarded their ability to rely on the partnership.

IC4. The fourth question loses relevance as the responses cannot be integrated in a unified, conclusion driven, set of responses.

IC5 and 6 -- most of the answers were definite YES, meaning as such that customers felt safer with an employee who possessed customer data on them and that in such cases, their levels of satisfaction were increased.

All these findings point to the pivotal conclusion that when customer data is improperly used, customers are dissatisfied. In other words, when customer data is adequately used, it can create better customer strategies.

From the customer questionnaires:

QC1. Which of the following elements have generated the highest levels of satisfaction? Please assign a number from 1 to 5 to the following elements, 1 being the most important and five being the least important.

(a) the reliability of the company

(b) the high quality of the products and services

(c) the quick delivery

(d) the competitive prices

(e) the politeness and assistance of the staff

QC2. Which of the following elements generated the highest levels of dissatisfaction in your relationship with the GIBCA Group companies? Please assign a number from 1 to 5 to the following elements, 1 being the most important and five being the least important.

(a) the poor quality of the products

(b) the inability to rely on the company's promises

(c) the inability to efficiently communicate with the company (such as being kept on hold for prolonged periods of time)

(d) the fact that your orders have been mixed up

(e) the poor treatment from the GIBCA Group employees

QC3. Do you feel more comfortable negotiating your contracts with GIBCA employees with whom you are more familiar?

(a) Yes, definitely

(b) No, I prefer privacy

(c) This aspect does not matter

QC4. Do you feel that a GIBCA employee who is more familiar with your customer information is better able to serve your needs?

(a) Yes, of course

(b) No, not really

(c) I did not observe such a situation and I do not have a clear answer

QC5. What kind of information do you feel should be known by the company so that we are better able to serve your needs?

(a) My company's address, previous orders and preferences

(b) My personal preferences

(c) My previous complaints

(d) My previous satisfactions

(e) No information

Answers and analysis

Given the nature of the first two questions, their analysis cannot be integrated in a tabular format. The answers to the first questions reveal the following:

30 per cent of the customers stated that the high quality of the products was the main generator of satisfaction

30 per cent of the respondents stated that it was the ability to rely on the company

15 per cent stated that it was the quick delivery of the products

15 per cent forwarded the competitive prices

10 per cent mentioned the politeness of the GIBCA Group Companies staff members

It is noted that the proportion identified throughout the previous analysis has suffered some modifications, but this is explainable by the fact that the questionnaires introduce more possible answers and they as such influence the mind of the respondent.

The second question reveals the following:

the highest levels of customer dissatisfactions are given by the inability to adequately communicate with the firm (40 per cent)

30 per cent of the respondents stated that it was the order mix-up which created dissatisfactions

25 per cent argued that it was the poor treatment received from the GIBCA staff members

2 per cent forwarded the lack of company reliability and 3 per cent mentioned the poor quality of the products.

The responses for the rest of three questions are integrated in the following table:

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

a b c a b c d e

80

10

10

80

10

10

5

30

30

30

5

These findings lead to the conclusion that from the customers' standpoint, their highest levels of satisfaction are attained when the company possesses and uses customer data. As such, when customer data is adequately gathered and used, it leads to improved customer strategies.

From the employee questionnaires:

QE1. How would you define the relationship of the company with its customers?

(a) Very good

(b) Acceptable

(c) Very poor

QE2. How would you describe your relationship with the customers you serve?

(a) Very good

(b) Acceptable

(c) Very poor

QE3. Does GIBCA implement an organizational culture focused on customer satisfaction?

(a) Yes, it does

(b) Sometimes

(c) No, it does not QE4. Do you, currently collect any customer information?

(a) Yes, I always engage customers in open communications

(b) Sometimes, depending on my and the customer's mood

(c) No, I never do.

QE5. Did you ever notice that a customer on whom you possess and use data is better satisfied?

(a) Yes, of course they are

(b) No, I have not noticed that improvement

(c) No, because I do not use customer data to relate to the clients

Answers and analysis

The final part of the analysis at this stage is composed from the analysis of the employee answers relative to their own views and experiences with customer data. These answers are integrated in the table below:

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

a b c a b c a b c

30

50

20

30

50

20

5

5

90

0

20

80

80

10

10

These findings indicate that the GIBCA Group Companies do not focus on customer data, nor customer satisfaction, but the few employees who have -- for one reason or the other -- engaged in customer data collection and usage -- have noticed improvements in their own approaches to customers and in turn, improvements in the customers' levels of satisfaction. All in all, these elements lead to the final conclusion that when customer data is used, it leads to improved customer strategies, and adjacently, to improved customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction in turn leads to improved organizational results, the second hypothesis of the study.

Hypothesis 2: Increase in the amount of customer data collected leads to increase in customer loyalty

In the testing of this hypothesis, two sets of questionnaire questions are analyzed.

From the customer questionnaires:

QC1. Has a situation occurred in which, in the aftermath of customer data collection, you felt more inclined to make more purchases from GIBCA?

a) Yes, of course

b) I have not paid attention to the aspect

c) No, never.

QC2. After experiencing better customer strategies based on customer data collection and integration did you increase your loyalty to the firm?

a) Yes I did

b) No I did not c) I do not remember

QC3. Do you feel that in the future, if the company were to invest more in its relationship with you, you would increase your loyalty to the organization?

a) Yes, of course

b) No

c) I do not know

QC4. How many purchases would you say have been influenced by customer data integration?

a) One or two

b) Approximately five purchases

c) More than five purchases

d) None

From the employee questionnaires:

QE1. Did you notice a purchasing recurrence in the customers for which you collected information?

a) Yes, they seem to come back for more purchases

b) No, I have not noticed such a recurrence

c) I have not paid attention to this detail

QE2. In the cases when you observed a purchasing recurrence, what was the number of these additional purchases followed by usage of customer data?

a) One or two

b) Between three and four

c) Over five purchases

QE3. Have the customers signaled that a continuous attention to customer data would increase their future loyalty?

a) Yes, they have

b) No, they have not c) I have not paid attention to this detail

Answers and analysis

Customer answers

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

a b c a b c a b c d

70

15

15

70

20

10

60

15

25

30

40

20

10

Employee answers

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

a b c a b c

50

20

30

40

40

20

60

20

20

Hypothesis 3: The GIBCA Group Companies will focus more on customer relationship management

The GIBCA Group places an incremental emphasis on customer relationship management and will continue to do so in order to enhance customer satisfaction and organizational revenues. This hypothesis is supported by the analysis of the following questions:

From the open interviews with the customers:

IC1. Do you believe that a customer -- organization relationship in which the parties are more familiar with each other is more fruitful? -- This question opens the door to a new type of information and communication, constructed on the prospect of a future relationship based on adequately used customer data.

IC2. If GIBCA was to enhance its desire to get to know you a deeper level and to better satisfy your professional needs, do you feel you would be able to attain your goals at superior levels? -- This question specifically addresses the essential topic of whether customer data would improve the relationship and whether it is or not worthwhile for the company to invest in customer data and customer relationship management.

IC3. Would you be willing to trust us and invest in a relationship with us in order to achieve long-term successful outcomes? -- This last question would inform the company of the openness of customers in a solidification of the future relations, constructed on better collection and usage of customer data.

Answers and analysis

IC1. The large majority of the respondents -- 85 of them to be more precise -- stated that a more fruitful business partnership would be constructed on the familiarization between parties. The remaining 15 respondents stated that the two elements are not connected, but they did mention the necessity for professionalism and responsibility on both sides.

IC2. The proportion from the previous question was maintained as the people who answered YES before answered YES again. In other words, 85 of the customers interviewed stated that their levels of satisfaction would increase through company customer data efforts.

IC3. Similar to the previous two questions, the customer feedback retrieved was positive as most of the interviewed clients stated their willingness to invest in a more familiar relationship with the GIBCA Group Companies. Yet, their percentage was smaller. The fact that only 70 per cent of the interviewed customers agreed to invest more in the relationship with the company is explained by the fact that each customer emphases his own goals and that more intense relations with the firm would require more efforts. Despite this however, the large majority of the customers would be opened to investing more in the creation of a more fruitful relationship with the company, constructed on the collection and use of customer data and a more intense customer relationship management program.

From the customer questionnaires:

QC1: Would you be willing to share this type of information with us so that we can further invest in the development of our relationship?

(a) Yes

(b) No

Answers and analysis

This question comes as a continuation of a previous interrogation which asked the customers which type of information would they consider pivotal in the construction of a more fruitful relationship based on higher levels of customer satisfaction. The respondents identified customer preferences, complaints and satisfactions as the most important types of information. To the current question, 99 per cent stated that they would be willing to offer this type of information to the company and support the customer data development process. In other words, since the company has the support of customers and has realized that CRM and customer data will improve profitability, it is highly likely for them to focus more on this particular business component.

From the employee questionnaires:

QE1. Do you feel that the satisfaction of the customer could be enhanced through a better usage of customer data?

(a) Yes, definitely

(b) No, it would not (c) I do not know

QE2. Would you agree that the company needs to implement more customer data and CRM in order to better satisfy the customer?

(a) Yes, definitely

(b) No, it has more important priorities

(c) I do not know

QE3. Do you recognize that customer satisfaction is your own goal, as it ensures your own professional growth and your own revenues stability?

(a) Yes, that is why I constantly strive to satisfy my customers

(b) No, that is just organizational interest

(c) Partially

Answers and analysis

The final point on the agenda of proving that the GIBCA Group Companies would be investing more in the collection and usage of customer data and its integration in better customer relationship management would increase is that of assessing the standpoint of the group's employees. Their answers are integrated in the table below:

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

a b c a b c

80

5

15

80

10

10

60

10

30

With the aid of qualitative analysis, the numbers in the table above can be translated into the following:

The large majority of the GIBCA Group Companies believes that a more comprehensive collection and usage of customer data would lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction

The large majority of employees feels that the company needs to implement more programs to customer relationship management in order to better satisfy its clients

Finally, more than half the employees recognize customer satisfaction as their personal goal as sales employees

In light of the previous findings according to which the company would register benefits from CRM and in a situation in which customers would offer their support for more CRM implementation, these last findings come to solidify the basis of the third hypothesis according to which the group would, from now on, focus more on customer data collection and its integration in customer relationship management.

Conclusions

All in all:

The scope was that of analyzing three hypotheses: customer data improves customer strategies; increase in the amount of customer data collected leads to increase in customer loyalty; and, the GIBCA Group Companies will focus more on customer relationship management

The analysis was simultaneously conducted onto two samples -- the GICBA Group Companies employees and the GIBCA Group Companies customers

A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was implemented

With the aid of valid and reliable sources of information and analyses, the three hypotheses were proven right.

References:

Bryman, a., Bell, E., 2007, Business research methods, Oxford University Press, 0199284989

Ghauri, P.N., Gronhaug, K., 2005, Research methods in business studies: a practical guide, Pearson Education, ISBN 0273681567

Henn, M., Weinstei, M., Foard, N., 2009, a critical introduction to social research, 2nd edition, SAGE Publications Ltd., ISBN 1848601794

Marschan-Piekkari, R., Welch, C., 2004, Handbook of qualitative research methods for international business, Edward Elgar Publishing, ISBN 1843760835

Walliman, N.S.R., Walliman, N., 2006, Social research methods, SAGE, ISBN 1412910625

Website of the GIBCA Group, http://www.gibca.com / last accessed on June 2, 2010