Investigating the factors affecting the establishment of the customer relationship management process in the Bank of Agriculture (case study of Ardabil city)

Dissertation to receive a master's degree (M.A)

Department: Business management

Abstract

Customer relationship management is one of the achievements of the age of information and knowledge, and according to its characteristics, today organizations are seriously seeking to benefit from its results. The present research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the factors influencing the establishment of the customer relationship management process in the Agricultural Bank of Ardabil city. The statistical population of this research includes all the management employees of the Bank of Agriculture branches in Ardabil city. From the total number of questionnaires (49 people in the statistical population), due to the absence of some officials and in some cases the lack of cooperation from some of them on the one hand and the existence of some incomplete questionnaires on the other hand, a total of 44 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The data collection tool was the standard Nielsen (1996) questionnaire and the t-test was used to analyze the data. The results of the research variables test showed that focusing on the main and key customers, paying attention to knowledge management, having modern and up-to-date technology, and organizing business processes have an effect on the establishment of customer relationship management in the Bank of Agriculture.

Key words: Knowledge management, information and communication technology, customer relationship management, Bank of Agriculture

Chapter 1

Research overview

1 1) Introduction

Over time and with the evolution and development of business and commercial issues, the position and position of customer relationship management [1] in the organizational structure of institutions of value and strength has enjoyed more. In traditional societies, due to the small number of production establishments and the unsatisfied demands and needs of people and groups, there was no serious competition between the establishments and they could easily sell everything they produced according to the production philosophy. However, at that time, there were no comprehensive and organized efforts to sell products, and it is natural that there is no communication with the customer in the organizational structures of the institutions. But with the passage of time, due to the existence of higher and higher profits due to the difference in the purchase and sale of goods or their production and supply, the number of commercial and production establishments was added, and small branches and circles were created under the supervision of sales management, which tried to measure satisfaction and receive patterns and needs of customers. Then these efforts became more organized and the position of marketing increased because the marketing departments no longer met the needs of the institutions and therefore the previous small marketing unit was a management and on par with other managements such as production management, purchase management and revenue management and carried out sales promotion activities, advertising and marketing research. In addition to the things mentioned above, in today's world, buyers are faced with many questions and buts and ifs to make a decision in the purchasing process, which is considered a requirement for the current efficiency growth of countries. The variety of goods and products have caused customers to face many choices. On the other hand, companies have realized that the cost of attracting new customers is five times the cost of keeping current customers, and losing a customer is not only the loss of a sales item, but beyond that, it means the loss of the entire flow of purchases that the customer has been able to make throughout his life (Tahmasabi Ashtiani and Nowrozi, 2016). In addition, the existence of a strong relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty and profitability has been accepted, and ensuring and promoting customer satisfaction and loyalty has become a very important operational goal of most organizations. Therefore, companies should always monitor and take care of the interaction between themselves and their customers and provide them with valuable goods and services by knowing and understanding the needs and values ??of customers in order to create loyalty in them by gaining satisfaction. Researchers have examined customer relationship management from various dimensions, one of which is emphasizing the correct selection and use of all communication, research, study, consulting, and educational resources and factors to better manage the customer communication system (Ghafari Ashtiani, 2016). With these interpretations, in this chapter, it was mentioned to give an introduction about the research topic. In the rest of the chapter, the statement of the problem, the importance and necessity of the research and the goals of the researcher are pointed out, and the hypotheses and theoretical framework of the research are explained in detail, and finally the conceptual and operational definitions.In the rest of the chapter, the statement of the problem, the importance and necessity of the research and the goals of the researcher are mentioned, and the hypotheses and theoretical framework of the research are explained in detail, and finally, the conceptual and operational definitions of the research variables and the scope of the research are explained. This has made the use of mechanized and integrated systems in this field inevitable. Successful customer relationship management is one of the major competitive advantages that financial institutions and banks can exploit to prevent customers from switching to competitors. The more a bank can establish a more effective relationship with its customers, the more opportunities it will have to provide more services to those customers. While banks have more or less solved the problems related to their one-dimensional functions by using organizational resource planning systems, now by choosing customer relationship management systems, they are focusing on improving their multi-dimensional and new functions in order to increase the value they provide to customers (merchants and customers) (Dehmardeh et al., 2019). Customer relationship management as a process consisting of customer monitoring, collection Appropriate data is the management and evaluation of data and ultimately creating a real advantage from the information extracted in their interactions (Kim et al., 2010). Customer relationship management is a type of marketing strategy whose purpose is not only to increase profits temporarily, but also to increase customer satisfaction and increase profits in the long term (Stefano et al., 2003). Customer relationship management is the process of designing an organization around customers, which at the operational level examines the development of sales, marketing and integration software applications, and at the other level considers how to create and maintain long-term relationships, how to develop strategies and policies to achieve it. Customer relationship management is an organization-wide approach, not only in gaining knowledge about customers, but also in improving and automating work processes that create value for customers, suppliers and employees of the organization (Khu and Watton, 2005). On the other hand, the establishment of the customer relationship management process in many organizations has increased the competitive power, increased income and reduced operating costs, and increased market share. Efficient and effective customer relationship management leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty (Amiri, 2018). Sin, Tse and Yim enumerate the elements of CRM as follows;

The first dimension, emphasis and focus on key customers: includes extensive focus on the main customer and continuous delivery of added and superior value to selected key customers through personalized and customized offerings. This dimension includes: 1. Recovery of the main customer; 2. Understanding the value of the key customer life cycle; 3. Customization (personalization) and 4. Interactive marketing of re-creation.

The second dimension, the organization of business processes: which necessarily means fundamental changes in the way of organizing the bank's business processes. We should pay more attention to the basic challenges of the bank in relation to the beginning of CRM. This dimension includes: 1. organizational structure; 2. Requirement of organizational level resources and 3. Human resource management.

The third dimension, knowledge management: this dimension includes; 1. Learning and creating knowledge; 2. Publishing and sharing knowledge and 3. Knowledge accountability.

Fourth dimension, CRM based on technology: accurate customer data is vital for the successful performance of CRM, and as a result, technology plays an important role in CRM and in increasing the intelligence of the bank.

According to Pareto law [2], 80% of a company's income and profits are provided by 20% of its customers, so these customers are of special importance to the company, and in order to serve these customers, the company must be organized in such a way that it can use all its resources. to mobilize them to get their satisfaction, and on the other hand, this requires managing customers' information and knowing them well (knowledge management), and this whole process will not be practical without technology (Sin et al., 2005).