The Lifebelt

In a world where there is increasing choice for just about every kind of product and service, winning and holding the best customers is key to the success of any business. Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is a concept that senior managers in any kind of business ignore at their peril. At its heart is the successful management of customer retention by being customer-focused as an organization.
The concept is not rocket science, but its implementation is more of a challenge. It involves a fundamental change within the organization.
In this book, John Murphy introduces "The Lifebelt" - quite literally an aid to keeping afloat in this pressured environment. The Lifebelt is a framework that offers a practical way forward to integrating and mobilizing the entire oragnization toward a holistic CRM programme.
The proprietary framework features six key factors identified as being essential for consistent delivery of service: customer focus, processes, employee involvement, training, measurement, and continuous improvement.
John Murphy outlines how each of the factors should be owned by an appropriate member of the top management team. When this framework is systematically and effectively implemented and managed it will considerably enhance the customer retention capacity of the company.
The logic of the framework applies to virtually all industries internationally. Managers and marketers across the board will find this book one of the most practical gudies to retaining customers published to date.In jedem Unternehmen - gleichgültig ob Dienstleistungs- oder Produktionsunternehmen - spielt der Kunde eine zentrale Rolle. Ob ein Unternehmen überlebt, hängt zwar einerseits wesentlich vom Kunden ab, aber andererseits auch von der Fähigkeit eines Unternehmens, seine Kunden an sich zu binden. Deshalb ist Customer Relationship Marketing (CRM) nach wie vor ein brandaktuelles Thema. Dieser Band bietet einen einzigartigen integrierten Ansatz zum CRM, der Ihnen bei der Suche nach einer erfolgversprechenden Strategie hilft. "The Life Belt" ist ein praxisorientierter Leitfaden zur Verbesserung der Kundenbindung. Hier erfahren Sie alles über bewährte Methoden und Techniken im Rahmen des Service Qualitätsmanagement, der Kundentreue und Kundenbindung. Schritt für Schritt wird erläutert, wie Sie die entsprechenden Maßnahmen zur Kundenbindung in die Praxis umsetzen. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, mit welchem Verhalten man Kunden bindet oder aber vergrault. Dieses Buch sagt Ihnen auch, wie und warum jeder Mitarbeiter in die Aktivitäten eines Unternehmens zur Kundenbindung mit einbezogen werden sollte. Introduction.
Economics of Retention.
Understanding Customers.
Customer Focus.
Processes and Systems.
Employee Involvement.
Training and Development.
Measurement.
Continuous Improvement.
Communications.
Leadership.
Formalizing a Service Excellence Customer Retention Strategy.
Bibliography.
Index.

"John Murphy has touched upon every conceivable pertinent aspect of delivering the ultimate customer service. I predict that The Lifebelt will quickly be adopted as a reference manual for anyone looking to achieve the ultimate customer experience within their organisation. It should be used as a training tool and also as a benchmarking tool... a well-researched, well-written and well-presented piece of corporate literature. Every self-respecting customer-centric service leader should consider adding it to their library." (Winning Business, January 2001)

"The Lifebelt is a framework that offers a practical way forward to integrating and mobilising an entire organisation towards a holistic customer relationship management programme." (Teams, 12th April 2001)

"The book is well written and well argued...." (Marketing Business, May 2001)

"... a good primer." (Marketing, 19th May 2001)

Dr John A Murphy is Abbey National Visiting Professor in Service Quality at the Manchester Business School. Professor Murphy combines the roles of academic and international consultant specializing in service quality management and customer retention.

He has held a series of senior management positions both in Ireland and the UK. He is currently a non-executive director of Total Research, the London-based European operation of the International Strategic Market Research Company, headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, USA.

At Manchester Business School, he has established a unique cohort of PhD scholarship students in conjunction with leading UK compaies. These students are specalizing in service quality / customer retention research with an emphasis on issues that have a practical relevace to industry. This is the largest doctoral research group in this specialist area in Europe. He is a contributor to the MBA Programme and directs the Best in Quality Case Study Conference Programme. He is a regular contributor to the Management and Executive Development programmes of the MBS Executive Centre.

He holes five professioal fellowships and is a member of the International Academy for Quality, whose members are chosen from the most active protagonists in quality in the world.

John Murphy is a Food Science graduate of University College, Cork and has a Master’s degree in Science from Trinity College, Dublin, and Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Ulster, Ireland.

Most business depend on promotional gimmicks or special offers to retain customers, yet research provides compelling evidence that the most sustainable levels of customer loyalty and retention are achieved through consistency in service excellence delivery.

The Customer Service Integration Framework — the Lifebelt — introduced in this book is based on four years of research examining the key factors essential for consistent delivery of service. Whilst many organizations have some good practices in place, most appear to lack synchronization of endeavour.

The framework, which has been successfully applied in various industrial sectors, facilitates this essential synchronization and systemization.