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``We are already in the process of WAP-enabling our CRM platform (CustomerLeverage),'' says K Ganesh, 39, CEO, CustomerAsset, a Bangalore-based E-CRM company that has just acquired a US-based customer service outsourcing company. ``I see a future,'' he says,``where companies will just have CRM with multiple channels.'' Though at the moment, it may be early days for M-CRM, analysts feel, it is going to become increasingly important in future. ``There are currently close to a dozen E-CRM companies in the country such as Talisma, CustomerAsset and 24x7 customer and look at M-CRM as it emerges an important element,'' says P.C. Ramesh, 31, senior analyst, ITSpace.com. E-CRM market, for instance, is already estimated at around $ 40 million by way of outsourced E-CRM from India. Says Amit Khorana, 25, who is heading the convergence initiatives at Sharekhan, ``We are on the road to M-CRM as we are in the process of providing media abstraction which would mean providing access from any medium or device.''E-business,'' he says, ''is a self-service business and the task for companies is to ensure that the self-service experience---through the web, mobile phone, or PDA---is of the same quality as the more traditional voice or call centre service.'' Given that mobile commerce makes more demands than E-CRM interactions, he however feels, a successful M-CRM model will have to go beyond the basic attributes of: ubiquity, accessibility, security, and convenience. Elements that will need to be incorporated now would be: location sensitivity (as suppliers and marketers will be able to use this information to tailor their message to you in your precise whereabouts), instant connectivity, and personalisation. The last issue of personalisation, although present today to a limited extent, the aggregation of data, transactions and payment histories---especially by portals---mean it will be possible to personalise responses to a degree not possible up until now. But then, we still have a long way to go. There is still need to focus on quality of customer data, data integration issues still need to be sorted out. `It is still early for M-CRM, though I do not see this as a very distant future, but it involves larger issues of bandwidth and telephony,'' says, Ranjan Biswas, 33, Associate Director, Ernst & Young. More importantly, not many still order goods over the Net. After all, mobile penetration in the country is estimated at a low 3.5 million mobile phones. But, if lack of proper communication could make companies lose customers, mobile commerce will only ensure that this happens faster. Very costly, especially if, as Ramesh of ITSpace says, ''on an average retaining an existing customer is eight times cheaper than acquiring a new customer.'' |
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Customer
relations is gaining a new dimension. Online modes to interact, conduct
business and shop are in for a major change as one begins to see more
mobile access devices being sold in the country each day than ever before
(the sharp decline in the WAP phone prices is a case in point) and more
customers realising the need for a 24x7 service availability. Little
wonder therefore that customer relationship management (CRM) is beginning
to acquire a new meaning in the nascent E-CRM market of the Indian
e-world. Thoughts of M-CRM already wafting through the air as more mobile
device users begin to expect customer relations. E-CRM companies see this
as then only way ahead.