A customer relationship management programme is a management tool that enables organisations to identify, satisfy and retain customers profitably by leveraging information technology. In addition to this the programme also links all the functional business units of the organisation together to operate as a single cohesive unit. This paper investigates whether or not SAB Miller should utilise a customer relationship management programme to provide off-trade retailers with world-class customer service. An important reason for this investigation is that the local beer market has experienced declining growth over the past few years. Furthermore SAB Miller which has had a monopoly in the South African beer market now faces increased competition in the premium segment of the beer market, which is experiencing growth and has good margins. In order to determine whether or not SAB Miller should institute a customer relationship management programme, a theoretical and empirical investigation was undertaken. The theoretical investigation provided a background to what components make up a customer relationship management programme and how these components are used to develop a customer relationship management strategic framework. Due to customer relationship management programmes not operating in isolation, the various key functions that support a customer relationship management programme were also introduced. Both the advantages and disadvantages of using such a programme were also introduced. The information technology aspects of the customer relationship management programme were also investigated. In terms of the empirical study it was determined that SAB Miller is not currently using a customer relationship management programme. The company, however, does make use of a tailored service package to segment their customers, to determine call frequencies by representatives, the financial needs of customers and what level of service to provide to customers. However, after conducting personal interviews with a sample of off-trade retailers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality, it was determined that SAB Miller and Namibian Breweries Ltd (Brandhouse) provided very similar levels of service in terms of key functions supported by a customer relationship management programme. Therefore, by introducing a customer relationship management programme, SAB Miller could enhance their service levels and profitability to off-trade retailers in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:10883 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Dias, Ricardo |
| Publisher | Port Elizabeth Technikon, Faculty of Management |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MBA |
| Format | xi, 107 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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