The Challenge of the 4 Cs

We are now in a customer-managed era where business value means customer value. Businesses have to rethink how they serve and manage customers because of the 4 Cs.

Customers: Customers have more options than ever before and are very discriminating. Customers can find exactly what they want from exactly the right supplier when they want it.

Competition: It is easier for competitors to begin offering similar services and products and get into markets they were unable to before.

Communication: Customers have higher access to information than ever before. Most customers have Internet access that allows access to information of competing products and services at a click. In a networked world, the communication gap between buyers and suppliers can be bridged rapidly.

Commoditization: The first 3 C’s mean that there is a general industry trend towards commoditization of financial services. Products and services have become so similar that they can be directly compared. Only when products are differentiated, can businesses break out from competitive pressure to reduce prices.

For more see - The Commodity Magnet

A customer-managed relationship (CMR) is a relationship in which a business uses a methodology, software, and information networks to encourage the customer to gain control of purchasing products. CMR is a different concept from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and can be viewed as complement to CRM and even as alternative to include in a CRM strategy.

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There are three aspects to CMR. The first is that customers should own their information including transaction history, preferences and profiles. The second aspect is that customers should have access to this information. The third aspect is that the entire system should be designed with the customer's needs and feelings as the fundamental priority.

For more see - CMR For Gaming, CMR For Retail, CMR For Banking

CMR allows a customer to define how they communicate with a business, what services or products they will purchase, and how they will pay for them.

Infonox solutions help businesses construct Customer Managed Relationships. Specifically, Infonox helps integrate a business's existing data and processes in such a way that the business can easily deliver products to meet the needs of their individual customers. A customer-managed relationship also has certain key benefits for the business:

• Interactive touchpoints shift business intelligence from the back-office to the devices used for customer service = Smart money
• Data can be aggregated across all systems that are used to deploy services = Zero latency
• Services to match the needs of each individual customer are configurable and are delivered at the touchpoint= Minimum waste and confusion