Consumer Relationship Management In Apple Assignment
1.0 Introduction - Apple Consumer Relationship Management Case Study
Background
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Businesses need to develop better and effective strategic management in the organisation which can help them in managing all the different stakeholders of the company in an effective manner(Raab, et. al., 2016). Among all the different stakeholders’ consumers are the most important and needs to be managed in an effective way. The businesses need to have better strategies which can help them in managing the customer relationships effective and for these different tools and practices can also be used by the companies. In the present report, the research explores the concepts of consumer relationship management and how the businesses are managing the customers(Buttle and Maklan, 2019). For explaining these concepts, the report will focus on the case of Apple Inc. which is an American multinational company offering a wide range of electronic gadgets to the customers across the world. Apple is having effective consumer relationship strategies due to which they are managing the wider customer base in an effective manner, having better relationships with their customers and satisfying the customers by the products and services offered by them.
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The aim of the resent research study is to analyse and evaluate the CRM activities which are being used by Apple and how it is affecting customers relationships for Apple.
Objectives
To analyse the importance of consumer relationship management for the businesses.
To evaluate the impact of CRM practices on customer mindsets.
To evaluate the CRM practices of Apple Inc in its retail stores.
To analyse the impact of Apple’s CRM activities on their customer relationships.
Research Questions
What are the key benefits of using CRM practices in an organisation?
Does the CRM help the businesses in gaining a competitive advantage over others?
How the CRM practices of Apple is helping them in building effective relationships with their customers?
Problem Statement
In the highly competitive business environment, it has become important for the businesses to engage the customer and develop brand loyalty among them. Managing better relationships with customers is important for businesses to sustain in this business environment. As Apple is offering a wide range of products and having consumers from different parts of the world for such a business organisation it is important to develop a better relationship with their customers and manage them effectively. The cited company is using different CRM practices, but it is important for Apple to analyse the effectiveness of these practices. This report will help the company in address the issue if any exist in the CRM practices of the company and apple can find the problem in this area with the help of this research.
Significance of the study
The major reason for selecting this research topic is that customer relationship management is an emerging and important concept for businesses. This study will help the other researchers and the case company in analysing the important of consumer relationship management practices and how effective are the CRM activities of Apple are. This research can also help other businesses in understanding how they can develop and manage better relationships with their customers.
Customer relationship management is referred to as the different practices and processes which are being developed by the businesses for developing and maintaining positive and long term relationships with their customers. CRM activities help the company in a number of ways as it helps them in effectively understanding their customers so better strategies can be developed based on it only. Hassan, et. al., (2015) had mentioned in their study that customer relationships are having a positive impact on customer satisfaction. The study mentioned that in a highly competitive business environment it had become important for the businesses to satisfy and retain the employees. According to this study better CRM activities should be implemented by the company as it is having a positive impact on the level of satisfaction of the customers by the products and services offered by the company and will help the company in increasing their profitability.
Dalili and Beheshtifar, (2018) had mentioned in their study regarding the advantages of customer relationship management for the businesses. The study mentions that customers are the most important and valued stakeholders of the company and it is necessary for the company to have better relations with the company. Better customer relationships help the company in connecting directly with the customers and provide better information regarding the needs and demands of the customers. Along with this customer relationships are having a positive impact on customer service, organisational performance and customer satisfaction.
Binns, 2020 had described a case study on CRM practices of Apple. In this study, the researcher had explained that Apple is implementing effective CRM activities within the organisations which is helping them in understanding the needs and demands of their customers and they are developing their product range on the basis of it only. For developing better relations, the company offers the best in-store shopping to their customers which helps them a lot in developing better relationships with their customers. The company invest higher capital on their physical stores and develop better training programs for the instore working employees of the company. The company focus on proving the best customer service to the customers which help them a lot in developing brand loyalty and satisfaction among the customers. Also, the company aims to prioritising their customers rather than the product and these practices are helping the company to a greater extent in developing better customer relations.
In support to this Joshi, 2015 had mentioned in their study that apple focuses on communicating effectively before and the after the product and service are being offered by them to the customers and this helps them a lot in building effective customer relationships. The study discusses that the cited company is implementing better communication with the customers which is helping them in satisfying the customers and having a positive impact on the way the company manages its customers. Along with this, the company use multiple platforms for connecting with the customers and sharing information regarding the products and services offered by them. These practices are helping the company in connecting effectively with the customers and engaging them which is having a positive impact on customer relations.
Impact of CRM practices on customer Behaviour
Customer relationship management is considered as one of the most effective bases to improve the customer base of the company. Customer relationship management is considered as the practices or strategy that is used by the organization to develop better relationship with employees. This is most important for the organization to develop effective relationship with employees to improve their profitability in the market place. There are different benefits of CRM for the organization and customer. This is important for the organization to analyse the impact of their customer relationship management strategy to evaluate effectiveness of it. This evaluation of the CRM policy can help the organization to make relevant changes in the internal practices to improve the performance of company in market place. As per the view of Bhat and Darzi, (2016), if the customer relationship management practices are effective and as per the need of customer, then it can improve the profitability of company in target market. There are some benefits of customer relationship management for organization. CRM is all about the relationship of customer with the company. The impact of customer relationship management should be positive on the customer to develop effective relationship with customer. The company needs to maintain long-term benefits of company in target market. In different ways, CRM can help the company to influence the customer to generate higher benefits in market place. The CRM strategy that is used by the organization to improve the impact of CRM on organization. Mainly factors that can affect cause impact on the customer behaviour are- motivational factors, perception factor, learning and attitude and beliefs. CRM of company is focused on the motivational factor and it is objective of the CRM to motivate the customer to improve their mindset about the company. For this process, various aspects are considered by company in customer services. For example, company use to provide different offers and discounts to the customer to motivate them to be loyal to the organization. Motivation process can help the organization to encourage the customer to purchase products and services from the company. The other thing that is needed to be considered by the organization is related to developing perception in the mind of the customer to improve the reputation and image of company.
According to Sigala, (2018), in this Process CRM strategy can be used by the organization to develop better relationship with the customers to improve the perception of the company. Next factor that is needed to be implemented by the company is related to analyse the customer behaviour and develop knowledge of company. This is all about learning from the researches and database of the company. For this process database of company and customer researches can be used by the company to analyse the customer behaviour effectively.
CRM Practices of Apple Inc. in Its Retail Stores
Apple is one of largest organization in global market and operational area of company is of global level. This is important for the organization to use effective CRM strategy and system to develop positive impact on the customer relationship and improve the customer base of the company. Different organization uses different strategies to improve the performance in the internal market. As the largest organization in the world, this is the most difficult part of the company to develop effective CRM practices to develop better relationships with the company. As per the view of Anshari and et. al., (2019), some changes are implemented by the Apple Inc. in the business process to improve the CRM process in the organization. For this process, some changes have been implemented by the company to develop better relationship with the customer. For this process, Apple has planned to develop partnership with different organization and platform that are connected to the CRM processes. The main objective of the Apple Inc. is to combine the CRM platforms and iOS to improve the relationship of the company with customers. Some areas are focused by the Apple in the business process to make effective improvement in the customer relationship management process. To meet the company objective some changes will be made in the system that is used by company currently. With a new strategy main objective of the company to improve the reach to the customer. In this process, apple will work with salesforce to make exclusive reach to the customer (Ritter and Geersbro, 2018). This is main objective of the organization to develop unique functions that can help the organization to attract the customer. For example, Face ID, Business chat and many other changes will be developed in the application of Apple to improve the satisfaction level of customers.
Buttle and Maklan, (2019), has said that there are some changes that will be implemented by the Apple in the sales force to develop effective relationship with customers. In this process, Apple is working on salesforce Mobile application that is consists of advance level programming language that is suitable for the company to develop better impact on the customers. The main purpose of this process to enable businesses and software developed to develop new and effective applications for the customer. In this CRM practice, Apple is trying to provide more facilities and functionalities to the customer to make positive impact on the customers. In this process, apple will promote the application developers and businesses to develop and deploy new applications in the app store to iOS to provide more options to the customers to satisfy their needs. This is how Apple is trying to make positive impact on the customer. There are some other CRM strategies are used by Apple in the business process to develop better impact on their customer. These strategies are also important to improve the customer relationship to gain more benefits from the market place. Most common strategies that are used by the Apple in the CRM strategy are- Apple Inc. is providing various products and services to the customer through the Apple stores. These stores are only used to sell the products that are manufactured by the Apple. No Other products or services are provided in the apple store that is not related to Apple. This is how customer are provided with a range of services at Apple store. The other process or practice that is used by the Apple to improve the relationship with the customer is related to the services that are provided by the company. All the products and services that are sold at the Apple retail store are developed and manufactured by the Apple Inc. This can help the organization to address the customer complaints effectively. Customers can be provided with all type of solutions within the store of the company. The campaigns that are run by the organization are focused on encouragement of the customer to purchase products with Apple branding (Rahimi and Kozak, 2017). This is how customers are encouraged to buy apple products. Company is also trying to sell its products with entry-level status. This is main objective of the organization to make reach to the more customers and develop effective relationship with them.
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Impact of Apple’s CRM Activities on Their Customer Relationships
This is most important for the business organization to keep its customers loyal. This is important for the long-term business goals of company in target market. The impact of Customer Relationship Management that is implemented by Apple of highly important for their business on global level. Apple is considered as one of the largest business organization on global platform. As per the past data, customer retention of Apple was around 93 % and in current time, the customer retention rate of Apple has fallen to 73 %. It is also analysed in the market research that many of the iPhone users are trading their phones for replacement in other brands. After all this Apple Inc. is the largest organization in the world. After 2011 customer retention rate fell to the lowest level ever. Among all the smartphone companies performance of Apple is better than other companies. As per the view of Orenga-Roglá and Chalmeta, (2016), this is not possible for the smartphone companies to maintain customer retention constant forever. Customer retention of the organization depends on various factors in business organization. In last few years, customer retention is falling continuously and the organization needs to make some effective changes in the business process in customer relationship management to retain their existing customer and develop customer base by adding more people in the customer list of company. Currently, the performance of Apple is effective but this is important for the organization to improve the CRM strategy to get better response for the customer of the organization.
3.0 Research Methodology
Research Philosophy
The mind-set of the researcher is most important part of the research. The information, data, and concepts that are used in the research are based on mind-set of researcher. Complete concept of the research is led by the thought process of researcher. This is completely related to the research concept or idea that is used by the researcher for particular research topic. The research philosophy used by researcher is important to maintain the direction of research work. Without any mind-set, it is difficult to execute the research for specific topic. In research process different type of mindset and thought, processes are used by researcher to improve the research execution process. For the research process, three different research philosophies are commonly used. These common research philosophies that are used in the research process are- realism research philosophy, interpretivism research philosophy and positivism research philosophy. All these philosophies are mainly preferred by the researcher to improve the quality of information that is collected in the research. Realism research philosophy is based on scientific approaches and some assumptions related to the research topic. Scientific approaches, concepts, and assumptions that are used in the research process are used for the development of knowledge related to the research process. This approach is completely dependent on the idea of independence of reality from the human mind. This research philosophy is categorised in the two different types which are- direct realism and other is critical realism. In the direct realism, existing data is used for research work but critical realism philosophy is different from direct approach. In critical realism approach, it is real condition could be different from the appearance. The other philosophy that is used in the research process is positivism. According to this approach, the understanding of social world can be understood through the objective way. Specifically, factual information is used in this process to develop knowledge. In the interpretivism research, philosophy information that is provided by the respondents is interpreted to develop the knowledge of the research. For this research work interpretivism and positivism, research philosophies will be used to drive effective knowledge for the research topic.
Research Type
Researches that are performed by the researcher can be classified into two different categories based on the type of data that is used in the research process. Two types of information are collected in the research process- Qualitative data type and next is quantitative data type. Selection of the data type is based on the type of research topic. As per the requirement and research question type of information is collected in the research process. Qualitative research type is explained as research in which words, feelings, emotions and non-numerical information is used by the researcher to develop knowledge base. The information that is collected in this process cannot be analysed through mathematical analysis. The qualitative research mainly consists of theoretical and non-numerical data that can help the researcher to effectively analyse theoretical and conceptual information that is collected in the research process. The other research type that is commonly used in the research work is quantitative. Quantitative research mainly consists of numerical and mathematical information that is collected from various information sources. In this research work, qualitative information will be used to get better overview of the research topic.
Research Design
Research design can be considered as the complete strategy and framework that is developed by the researcher to execute the research process. In research design, various factors related to the research process are integrated to address the research questions effectively. In research process, various coherent, and logical ways can be considered in the research process to effectively provide solutions to the problems that are considered in the research process. It can be considered as blueprint or plan that is needed to be executed in the research process. In the research process, different plans and procedures are used to execute the research process effectively. In research work, different research designs are used by the researcher to improve the execution process of the research. Main research designs that are implemented in research work are- conclusive research design and exploratory research design. Both research designs are commonly and frequently used by the researcher to address the research problem that is considered in particular research process. Conclusive research can be explained as a research design in which all the information that is considered in the research process is used to generate specific solution for the particular problem. More specifically in this research design, the main purpose of the researcher is to analyse available data and information to provide specific solution to the research problem. The exploratory research is just the opposite of the conclusive design. In exploratory design range of information, sources are explored for the specific research problem. The main objective of this process is to explore the problem that is considered in the research process. For this research, exploratory research design is, use to analyse the research on vast level. This will improve the quality of result generated in the research.
Research Approach
In the research process, researcher has to consider some assumptions and concepts to complete the research work effectively. In research approaches, some process and plans are considered to conduct the research. Different research approaches are used in research work to maintain direction of the research for specific research problem considered in the research topic. The research approaches that are used in the research process are- inductive research approach, deductive research approach and abductive research approach. These research approaches are common in research work. These research approaches can help the researcher to maintain the research work relent to the research topic. The inductive research approach is most common approach that is mainly considered by the researcher to address particular issue in the research process. The inductive research approach is based on range of observations and after the observation research moves to the theories. Specifically in the inductive research approach range of data related to research and observations are considered to generate generalised theories. The theories that are generated in the research process can be used to address the problem or issue that is considered in the research. Later these theories can be used by the readers to understand the problem that is considered in the research. The other research approach that is used in the research approach is deductive. The deductive research approach is different from the inductive research approach. This approach is completely dependent on scientific investigations. In this process, existing theories and processes are considered in the research process to understand the problem that is considered for the research. Based on different type of information and theories, available data and information is analysed by the researcher use the existing hypothesis to generate a solution for the research problem. Abductive research approach is a complex approach that is used by the researcher to address the issues that are consists of surprising factors and puzzles. This research is applied in the research process where particular phenomenon cannot be explained in general process. In this research, the deductive research approach is used to analyse available data on various perspectives using different theories. This is how objectives of research can be achieved.
Data Collection
Data collection process is most important part of the research work. In this process, various sources are considered to collect data and information that is collected in the research process. There is two types of data collection processes are used in the research process. The selection of the data collection is based on the problem that is addressed in the research. Primary data collection approach and secondary data collection processes are two data collection approaches that are used in the research process. The primary data collection process can be explained as the process in with sources of information are considered for the data collection process. In the primary data collection process, various approaches to data collection can be used to collect data. For example, face-to-face interview, observations, surveys, and telephonic surveys are used in the primary data collection process. The other approach of data collection that is used in research is secondary data collection process. In the secondary data collection process, those sources of information are considered in the research process which is other than primary sources of information or origin of information. Both approaches to data collection are suitable for the research problem that is addressed in the research process. In this research, both primary and secondary sources of information are used for the research. The primary data collection process can be used to collect real-time information that is based on the observations of the respondents that are involved in the research process. Use of secondary data collection process will help the research to analyse the research problem using various existing theories and available information. By using mixed approach, the effectiveness of the research work can be improved.
Sampling
Sampling is most important concept that is used in the research process to improve the quality of the primary data collection process. Sampling is also considered as statistical analysis process in which the specific number of observations and considered from the large size population. In research process, different sampling process can be implemented in the research process. Type of sampling process is based on the type of analysis process used in research process. Sampling used in the research process is categorised in two types which are- probable sampling and other is non-probable sampling process. Non-Probable sampling process can be explained as process in which chances of being selected in the research process are known and specific criteria are used in the data collection process. In the non-probable sampling process, no specific criteria are used in the selection of the respondent from large population. In this research process, non-probable sampling is used to keep research process free from issues like data falsification and influenced information. In the non-probable sampling process, specifically simple random sampling process will be used to keep the research process effective.
Data Analysis
Data analysis process is used in the research process to analyse the data that is collected in the research process. Process of data analysis also can be explained as systematic approach that can be used by the researcher to assess the information to develop the understanding of the specific topic or problem that is considered in the research. In the data analysis process range of tools and techniques are used by the researcher to analyse the data collection process effectively. For both qualitative and quantitative data type, process of data analysis is different. For the quantitative data, various mathematical tools and techniques are used by the researcher to make the relationship between different variables to develop proper conclusion or result for the research process. For example, in analysis of quantitative data, various tools like SPSS, Microsoft Excel and different other tools are used by the researcher to find and evaluate relationship between variables in data collection process. For the qualitative research various type of processes are used by the researcher to analyse the wide range of data effectively. For the qualitative data, researchers mainly use thematic data analysis process in which collected data is analysed on a vast perspective to generate more understanding about the research problem. In this process, different themes are considered by the researcher to analyse the collected information for a specific theme. This is most effective way to analyse the theoretical data. In this research process, thematic data analysis process will be used to analyse the information collected in the research process.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical considerations in the research process can be considered as some standards that are needed to be followed in the research process to keep the research work relevant and authentic for the readers. Ethical considerations also can be considered as process in which various rules and standard procedures are used by the researcher to maintain the decorum of the research process. In this research process, some ethical considerations have been used to keep the research relevant and effective to address specific research topic.
People who are involved in the research process are not subjected to any kind of harm in the research process. The respondent who is involved in the research process is treated with respect and dignity. The respondents who are considered in the research process are provided with a consent form in which complete information related to the research process and privacy norm will be mentioned. This also will be ensured that privacy of respondents should not be compromised during and after the research process. All the information sources that are considered in the research process are authenticated and verified from officials. During all the research process transparency and honesty is maintained to avoid misunderstanding. Any type of misleading type of information will be avoided in the research process to keep research relevant. This is how different considerations have been made in the research process to keep it relevant for the research process.
4.0 Data Analysis and Result
Q.1 The corporate strategy of the company gives importance to the needs of customers.
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
10
Agreed
70
Not Sure
5
Disagreed
10
Strongly Disagreed
5
Chart
Interpretation
As per the responses that are collected from the respondents in the research process. 10 respondents out of 100 have said that they are strongly agreed to the above statement and other 70 respondents were also agreed with the statement. 5 respondents have not provided any specific answer for the question. Total of 15 respondents was not agreed to the statement. Among these 15 5 people were strongly disagreed to the above statement. As per the responses above it can be interpreted that customers of the organization are given high importance in corporate strategy.
Q.2 Relations with the customer is given high value in the organisation?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
20
Agreed
60
Not Sure
10
Disagreed
8
Strongly Disagreed
2
Chart
Interpretation
In the data collection, process 20 respondents out of 100 have said that customers are on the high value in the organization and 60 other respondents were also agreed to the above statement. 10 respondents were not sure about the particular answer. 8 respondents have provided a negative response for the statement and 2 other respondents have strongly denied the statement. From the above responses, it can be interpreted that customer value in Apple Inc. is too high and customers are considered in all the decision-making processes to keep organization productive in the market place.
Q.3 The surveys that are performed by the company are focused on customers and their needs?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
25
Agreed
45
Not Sure
10
Disagreed
10
Strongly Disagreed
10
Chart
Interpretation
In the data collection, process responses of respondents have been taken. For the above statement, 25 respondents have shown strong support and 45 other respondents also have shown agreement for the statement. 10 people have not provided any specific answer for the above statement. Total 20 people have provided a negative response for the statement and among these 20 respondents, 10 people have shown strong counter for the statement. According to the responses collected from the respondents, it can be interpreted that the surveys that are performed by the organization are developed by considering customer perspective. The surveys that are launched by the organization are based on customer needs and requirements.
Q.4 Customers of the organization are satisfied with the services that are provided by the company?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
20
Agreed
60
Not Sure
5
Disagreed
10
Strongly Disagreed
5
Chart
Interpretation
In the data collection, process responses of respondents have been taken for above statement. For the above statement, 20 respondents have shown strong agreement and 60 other respondents are also shown agreement for the statement. 5 respondents have not provided their opinion for the above statement and 15 respondents have provided a negative response for the statement. Among these 15 respondents, 5 respondents have reflected disagreement with the above statement. As per the responses that are collected in the research process, it can be interpreted that the customer is highly satisfied with the services that are provided by the organization to them. Customers are satisfied with the services and products of the company.
Q.5 Customers complaints are provided with high priority in company?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
30
Agreed
50
Not Sure
5
Disagreed
8
Strongly Disagreed
7
Chart
Interpretation
For the above statement response of the respondents have been recorded in the primary research process. As per the data collected in the research process, 30 respondents have strongly agreed to the statement above. 50 other respondents are also agreed to the statement, 5 respondents have not provided any answer in the process, and 15 respondents have provided negative response for the statement. Form the above responses it can be interpreted that the complaints that are filled by the customers are considered on high priority in order to maintain their satisfaction level high. This is how by providing high priority to the customer complaint reputation of the organization can be improved in target location.
Q.6 CRM can improve the customer relationship of the organization?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
40
Agreed
50
Not Sure
0
Disagreed
5
Strongly Disagreed
5
Chart
Interpretation
For the above statement, most of the respondents have provided a common answer. 40 respondents were strongly agreed to the above statement and 50 other respondents have reflected positive response for the statement. 5 respondents have strongly opposed the statement and 5 other respondents have shown disagreement to the statement above. As per the responses collected for the above statement, it can be interpreted that CRM can help the organization to improve the customer experience with the company and it will improve the productivity of the company in market place. The profitability of company also can be improved with it.
Q.7 Do the CRM policy of the company is focused on improving customer experience in operations?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
10
Agreed
70
Not Sure
0
Disagreed
20
Strongly Disagreed
0
Chart
Interpretation
As per the responses collected from the respondents regarding above statement most of them have provided positive answer for the statement. 10 respondents out of 100 have shown strong agreement for the statement and 70 other respondents have supported that above statement. 20 respondents have not supported the above statement. According to the responses, it can be interpreted that the CRM policy of the organization is focused on improving the experience of customers with organization.
Q.8 Do your company uses customer database to improve its customer relationship policy
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
20
Agreed
50
Not Sure
15
Disagreed
10
Strongly Disagreed
5
Chart
Interpretation
In the research process, responses have been collected for above statement. According to the responses of the respondents, 20 respondents have shown agreement to the statement and 50 other people also have shown support for the above statement. 15 respondents have not provided any specific answer for the comment and 15 respondents have provided negative response for the above comment. Among these 15 respondents, 5 of them were strongly against the statement. Form the above statement it can be interpreted that policies and decisions that are taken in the organization are based on the customer data. The main purpose of considering data based on the decision-making process and policy-making process is to improve the effectiveness of the customer relationship management process in organization. This database can help the organization to generate higher productivity in the market place.
Q.9 The impact of company CRM is positive for the customer?
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
30
Agreed
50
Not Sure
10
Disagreed
5
Strongly Disagreed
5
Chart
Interpretation
As per the research, process responses of respondents have been considered in the research process. 30 respondents have said that the impact of CRM policy is positive on the customer base of the company and 50 other respondents have supported the above statement. 10respondents have not provided any response for the above statement. Among the 100 respondents, 10 respondents have provided negative response to the statement. From the responses that are gain in the research, process it can be interpreted that CRM policy and practices that are used by the organization are highly effective for the productivity and profitability of the company in the target market.
Q.10 Better CRM practices can improve the productivity of company in market place.
Frequency
Strongly Agreed
30
Agreed
60
Not Sure
0
Disagreed
10
Strongly Disagreed
0
Chart
Interpretation
In the research process, Different responses have been collected for the above statement and a large number of respondents have provided positive comment for the above statement. 30 respondents have provided a strong and supportive statement for the statement above and 60 other respondents also have provided positive comment for the above statement. Total 10 number of respondents have provided negative response for the above statement. As per the information and responses collected in the research process, it can be interpreted that – by developing effective and well planned CRM strategy organization can improve its productivity and profitability in market place.
5.0 Discussion
Impact of CRM on Customer Behaviour
As per the information that is collected in the research process, some processes are implemented by the business organization to develop a better relationship with the customer. For business organization, the value of a customer is too high because all the revenue that is generated in business process comes from the customer of the company Javed and Cheema, (2017). The impact of Customer Relationship Management very high on customer behaviour. Customer behaviours are directly related to the sales of the company. If the customer of the organization is not showing interest, in the company, products or they are not satisfied with the products and services of the company, then it can affect the productivity of the organization in the market. Poor customer retention and falling number of sales can be considered as result of poor CRM practices of the company. In different ways, an organization can influence the mind-set of the customer by developing effective marketing and CRM policies for company. With effective Customer Relationship Strategy, the organization can positively influence the customers to generate higher benefits from business operations Soltani and Navimipour, (2016). Better CRM strategy also can help the company to improve customer retention rate. By CRM, strategy customers can be motivated, influenced, and encouraged to stay loyal to the organization.
CRM of Apple Inc.
CRM of Apple Inc. is considered as the most effective strategy on the global platform. The customer retention rate of Apple is also higher than other organizations in the market place. This most important for the company to maintain its performance in the global market. In current time, Apple’s CRM is not that effective that is used to be Krishna and Ravi, 2016). Percentage of the loyal customer also has reached 73 % from 93 % in 2019. This major fall for Apple Inc. in the market place. The organization have to make some changes in the customer relationship management process to improve the performance and customer retention of organization in the target market. On the global level, loyal customer has decreased by around 20 %. This is crucial stage for the organization to make positive development in the CRM practices and processes to get better response from the customer. These changes can help the organization to improve productivity in the market place.
Apple is trying different ways to improve the CRM strategy to develop effective relationship with existing customers and develop effective relationship with new customers. The main objective of the organization is to stay in the news lines. Different bloggers are interested to write articles and stories about Apple and its products (Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh, 2016). This is how Apple can keep people aware of the activities and practices that are implemented by apple in the operation process. It can be considered as strategy to make organization visible to the customers regularly. Apple is also using various other processes to make people interested in the products of Apple. Apple is providing various products to the colleges and university to make the students familiar with the interface of their products. By this process Apple if developing interest in the students for Apple products (Li, Huang and Song, 2019). As a part of the CRM, organization is providing the best products and services to the customers. By this process, organization is providing a better experience to the Apple users and it can help the organization to develop better relationship with customers. There are some processes and methods that are used by the organization to improve the relationship with customers. For example, Apple Inc. is maintaining its consistency in the marketing operation to keep the organization visible to the customers and develop an effective relationship with them (Yerpude and Singhal, 2018). This is how the range of processes and methods are used by the Apple in retail stores and business operations to improve the effectiveness of Customer relationship management.
Impact of Apple’s CRM on Customer Relationship
The impact of CRM that is used by Apple if effective as compared to other organization in current time. There is a range of practices and strategies that are used by the organization in the CRM process to provide better services to the customers and develop a better relationship with them. In the current scenario, some changes are required in the CRM processes of Apple to develop a better relationship with customers. In the current time, some actions are taken by the company to improve their CRM processes (Raab, Ajami and Goddard, 2016). This is important for the organization to focus on the learning process to develop practices that are used in CRM. The learnings that are gained from the market research can be implemented by the company in customer relationship management strategy to make a positive impact on the customer and develop a better relationship with them. Knowledge developed form the market research and customer data is used by the organization in CRM strategies to make effective changes in their products and services to provide satisfactory services to the customers (Rahimi, 2017). CRM also have an impact on the customer behaviour and their attitude towards the company. If the CRM strategy that is used by the organization is effective then it can improve the attitude and belief of customer for company. This is how customer relationship management can help the organization to influence customer behaviour to generate higher benefits for the business practices.
6.0 Conclusion
Finding of Research
This research is concluding the importance of CRM policy of the company to develop better relationship with customers. In this research, various things have been analysed related to customer relationship management practices that can help the organization to generate higher benefits in the market place (Cvijovi?, Kosti?-Stankovi? and Relji?, 2017). Initially, the impact of customer relationship management practises has been analysed on customer behaviour. The impact of customer relationship management is high on customer behaviour in the buying process and staying loyal to the organization. It has been found that with effective Customer Relationship Management practices organization can improve its customer base in the specific market place and these strategies also can help the organization to retain existing customer for longer time (Yadollahinia, Teimoury and Paydar, 2018). Various Customer relationship management strategies and processes that are used by Apple Incorporation has been analysed in the research. Some of the strategies that can be used by the company to improve the customer relationship management process also has been discussed in the report. In the research process impact of customer relationship management practices that are used in Apple retail store has been analysed for customer retention. Different resources have been used in the research process to collect data about customer retention. Based on current and past data, it has been analysed that Customer Relationship management policies and practices that are used by the business organization are highly important for the business organization and these strategies and processes can be used by the company to generate higher productivity in the market place (Ruivo, Oliveira and Mestre, 2017). As per the responses that are collected in the primary data, collection it can be concluded that customer relationship management is highly beneficial for the business organization. From the responses of respondents, it can be evaluated that customer relationship management process can be used by the organization to improve the profitability of the company in the target market.
Objectives of Research
There are three main objectives of this research process. Main aim of the research process to evaluate the importance and effectiveness of CRM practices of business organization. From the various perspectives importance of customer relationship management has been analysed in report. Importance of the customer relationship management has been analysed for Apple Inc. in the research. The first objective of the research process to analyse the impact of customer relationship management practices on the behaviour of the customers. In this process impact of CRM, practices have been analysed on customer behaviour. The other objective of the research is to analyse the practices and actions that are performed by the organization to develop a better relationship with the customer. Effectiveness of these CRM practices has been analysed in research. Various actions that are planned by Apple Inc. for customer relationship management has been analysed in the report. The last objective of the research process to analyse the impact of current CRM practices on customer retention that are performed in the Apple stores. This is how to complete research has been planned for a particular research topic.
Implication of Research
In the research work range of sources are used to develop effective result for the research topic. This is the research is really helpful for different business organization. This research can be used by business organization to evaluate the effectiveness and importance of CRM practices on the business organization (Kantorová and Bachmann, 2018). Mainly in this report importance and effectiveness of customer relationship management practises has been evaluated for the business organization. The information that is collected in the research process can be used by the organization to make positive development in their CRM process and practices to gain higher profitability in the market place (Hendriyani and Auliana, 2018). The challenges and issues that are considered in the research process also can be considered by the organizations to improve the effectiveness of the CRM practices and get higher profit from the business operations. This is research is highly beneficial for the organization that are facing issues in maintaining a customer base and customer relationship.
Limitation and Recommendations
There is some imitation in this research that is needed to be considered to make the research work more effective and implement some changes in the research process to improve the quality of information that is collected in the research process. Major limitations have been faced in the research methods that are used in the research process. The main limitation is related to the number of people that are included in the research process. This limitation can be avoided by involving more people for the data collection process. This change can improve the effectiveness of the research process. Secondary information sources can be increased to analyse the research problem on vast perspective to generate better result.
7.0 Reflective Account
Customer relationship management is one of the most effective processes that is used by the business organization to improve the performance of the business organization in the target market. Different processes can be used by the business organization to improve the effectiveness of customer relationship in the company. In my opinion, there are different changes can be implemented by the business organization in the customer relationship process to avoid various issues related to customer in business organization. Effective customer relationship management can be used by the business organization to develop loyal customer base for the company and reduce the customer turnover. I have analysed that customer-focused strategies and processes can be used by the organization to reduce the challenges for the company and improve the profitability of the company in target market.
References
Books and Journa
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Cvijovi?, J., Kosti?-Stankovi?, M. and Relji?, M., 2017. Customer relationship management in banking industry: Modern approach. Industrija. 45(3).pp.151-165.
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Sigala, M., 2018. Implementing social customer relationship management. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Soltani, Z. and Navimipour, N.J., 2016. Customer relationship management mechanisms: A systematic review of the state of the art literature and recommendations for future research. Computers in Human Behavior. 61. pp.667-688.
Yadollahinia, M., Teimoury, E. and Paydar, M.M., 2018. Tire forward and reverse supply chain design considering customer relationship management. Resources, Conservation and Recycling. 138. pp.215-228.
Yerpude, S. and Singhal, T.K., 2018. Internet of things based customer relationship management–a research perspective. International Journal of Engineering & Technology. 7(2.7).pp.444-450.
Online
Dalili, A. and Beheshtifar, M. 2018. Exploring the benefits of customer relationship management [Online]. Available through: <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Malikeh_Beheshtifar/publication/332369383_Science_Arena_Publications_Specialty_Journal_of_Knowledge_Management_Exploring_the_Benefits_of_Customer_Relationship_Management/links/5cb017fea6fdcc1d498e2582/Science-Arena-Publications-Specialty-Journal-of-Knowledge-Management-Exploring-the-Benefits-of-Customer-Relationship-Management.pdf>. [Accessed on 3rd Dec 2020].
Hassan, R.S. et. al., 2015. Effect of customer relationship management on Customer satisfaction [Online]. Available through: <https://core.ac.uk/reader/82039630>. [Accessed on 3rd Dec 2020].
Joshi, A. 2015. The impact of Apple’s Communication and French and Finnish consumers’ product perceptions [Online]. Available through: <https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38123772.pdf>. [Accessed on 3rd Dec 2020].
