Many Hong Kong companies will fail to expand their business on the mainland against more nimble and focused competition unless they have a customer relationship management (CRM) programme.
This perspective came from senior officials at the Bank of East Asia (BEA) and trading firm Jebsen & Co as the firms yesterday announced expanded customer relations initiatives that would drive their operations in China. Some frowned at the disruption, while others were wary of the cost, but all SAR companies would soon realise that investing in CRM had become a matter of survival in all markets, the officials said.
Helmuth Hennig, Jebsen managing director, said: 'Some Hong Kong companies might think it is their right to expand their business in the mainland. It is not. Without a CRM strategy, they are bound to fail in a large market like China.'
He said that customer-focused companies that could target profitable accounts and launch revenue-generating marketing campaigns were more likely to succeed and cash in on industry liberalisation in China under the World Trade Organisation.
David Li Kwok-po, BEA chairman and chief executive, said the bank's CRM strategy enabled it to interact with customers on a personal level, rather than a traditional product level.
CRM is about the technologies, processes and people involved in finding, obtaining and retaining customers.
CRM technology vendors NCR Teradata, which supplies BEA, and Oracle, which caters for Jebsen, said CRM allowed organisations to focus on a common view of the customer using integrated information systems and contact centre implementations. That meant CRM was also key to any e-business strategy.
