Customer Relationship Management Emerging Themes

This report discusses the importance and suitability of various themes such as tech touch, human touch, customer experience, and brand experience in Tesco's CRM. It also applies Total Quality Management and Continuous Improvement Model to improve the quality of services and products provided by Tesco.

Customer Relationship
Management Emerging
Themes

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
(A) Investigate the customer experience of Tesco PLC based on the following themes...........3
(B) Quality Models that will assist Tesco PLC in improving its CRM .....................................7
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Customer relationship management refers to the process that is used in the business in
order to effectively manage the interactions with the current and potential customers of the
business. CRM helps the business in maintaining the connection and developing trust and
credibility in the business (Alt and Reinhold, 2017). This overall impacts the long term
operations and sustainability in the business as customers are the prime resources and they need
to be well managed in the business. This helps the manager in understanding the needs of the
customers and maintaining an effective relationship with the customers. In this report suitability
and importance of several themes is discussed along with their impact on the CRM of Tesco
PLC. Tesco is a multinational grocery store that is based in United Kingdom and is currently
leading the market share of the industry with a huge margin. Along with this several quality
improvement model are discussed below which will help the organisation in improving its
Customer Relationship Management.
MAIN BODY
(A) Investigate the customer experience of Tesco PLC based on the following themes
Tech touch:
This refers to the situation in which the interaction with customers are minimal and the
product , customer and the seller interaction is done with the help of software and technology.
This kind of proactive management through the data driven techniques can help the customers in
feeling valued and ensuring that their queries and problems are solved effectively with the help
of technology used in the company (Baran, 2017). Tesco has an online grocery purchasing
application software that assists the customers to purchase their grocery by sitting in the
convenience of their home. There are several importance of using the tech touch in the firm.
Importance and suitability of tech touch in Tesco is discussed below: Manage CSM time better- With the advancement and innovation in the technological
field, the life of the human beings has become simpler. The tech touch ensures that the
queries of the customers are resolved and the team is engaging with the consumers on a
regular basis. This helps the business in assuring that the resources are well managed and
employed in the business.

 Enable scaling of enterprises- The CSM will be offered with personalized and proactive
value with the help of the data of the customers that's been leveraged (Beloin, 2018). The
process will help scale the organisation, CSM will be responsive due to the aspects such
as contract value, feedback forms and stage in customer journey. Deliver Relevant communication- Tech touch helps Tesco in effectively segmenting the
customers and the market. This helps them in effectively communicating with the
customers and creating value of the business (Maklan, 2019). Customer segmentation in
the business helps the Customer Support team in effectively communicating with targeted
customers so that they can encourage the use of product and further make the expansion
process effective. Offer self sufficient solutions to customers- Tech touch helps the organisation in
empowering the customer service. The organisation can offer such solutions to the
customers so that they can help the customers as they can reach out to the business
whenever they want to. Improving customer relationship- Since the part of communication with the customers is
targeted and automated, the unnecessary and delayed part of this process is discontinued
with the help of tech touch. Effective response from the company can help in elevating
the customer relationship of the business.
Human touch:
This refers to the process of interacting with the consumers face to face. This process is
dependent on the offline means and ignores the technological aspects as it may fail in some
cases. This signifies that the company is operating on an intentional purpose and wants to
develop more authenticity in the market and business environment (Carolina and Yasa, 2019). In
this new technological era, it is also essential to maintain the human element in the business as it
is highly crucial for the business. Tesco has a lot of grocery stores where they interact with the
customers and provide them with the services in order to satisfy their needs and wants.
Importance and suitability of human touch in Tesco is discussed below: Personalized experience- The organisation can effectively communicate offline by
seeing customers reactions and gesture during the interaction. They can collect feedbacks
on an immediate basis and use this information to further enhance the customer
experience and support in the business. The employees of Tesco can provide the

customers with live assistance and they get to know if they are able to give solution to
their queries or not. The solution of the query given offline increases more of the
customer satisfaction with the brand. More efficiency and less hassle- The most essential factor in the human touch interaction
is that the customers and the employees do not have to depend on the tech platforms and
can directly approach in person. This helps in developing trust factor in the business and
the conversations done on a lively basis become more convenient and free flowing. Less dependence on technology- The company can effectively continue their operations
and interaction without depending on any software and applications. If the server of the
application gets down, then the customers won't be able to interact with the company
which will impact the image of the business. Therefore the human touch can be
advantageous in such situations.
Customer Experience-
This is also known as the CX which is related to the organisation that impacts the
customer's feeling and perceptions regarding the business. This includes all the interactions that
the organisation encounter with the customers. Customer experience is important in Tesco as
they are in the industry for a long period of time and this is one of the prime responsibility of the
company.
Importance and suitability of Customer Experience in Tesco is discussed below: Creation of immediate feedback- The feedback that the customers provide to the
business regarding the services and the products is important as it help the company in
improving their services and further satisfying the needs and wants of the customers. This
helps in building trust and ensuring that the business have good customer relationship. Building an Omni channel experience- Tesco improves the customer experience by
using several channels of distribution in the business. This further develops the
experience of interaction and purchasing the products in the business. The customer haS
option of interacting with the company on an online basis along with the traditional
methods of interaction. The tradition methods of interaction includes meeting one on one
and communication over the call.
Brand experience-

This refers to the sum of all the sensations, feelings and thoughts that the customers and
individual have towards the response to services of the business. This refers to the long term
impression that the company has on the customers and the factors in the business environment.
In order to compete with the other companies in the industry, the business must provide a good
brand experience over all the channels existing in the business environment (Dintsis, 2020).
Tesco has been in the industry for many decades and thus they have developed a good brand
image over the time. Their brand experience has been magnificent which helped them in
sustaining in the environment for a long period of time.
Importance and suitability of Brand Experience in Tesco is discussed below: Engaging the senses- While the business develops the power of sensory engagement, the
customers will develop a sense that this brand is more reliable and provides the best
services and experience in the industry. This also enhances the CRM as the company
effectively get in touch with the customers during this span (Kumar and Kalairaja, 2021).
The company can create effective products and services which will help them in
developing these senses in the mind of the customers. In context of Tesco, they have a
good brand engagement as actively communicate with the customers and solve the
queries that they have regarding the products and services. Participate in events- Organising events in the business help the employees and
managers to effectively communicate with the customers. These event can communicate
the idea of the business that can attract the customers towards the organisation.
Sponsoring an event in which the business thinks that their customer audience will be
targeted can be a great idea to develop brand experience. Tesco sponsors various events
in the public interest which helps the organisation in making a good position in the minds
of the customers. Participate in popular culture- Adapting to the popular trending culture of the youth
develops several opportunities for the organisation through which the company can
connect with the customers (Gajanová and Nadányiová, 2018). Getting included in the
social trends can help the business in developing and enhancing the management of
Customer Relationship. Tesco can use the strategy of effectively using these trends in
order to acquire new customers in the market. This will help the business in improving
the brand experience as the customers will be able to relate more with the brand.

Recommendations:
From the above discussion of various themes, it can be analysed that all of these aspects are
important in the business and somehow impacts the profitability of the company. Tesco currently
has adopted both means of CRM that is the tech touch and the human touch. They are
recommended to continue this strategy and further develop in these two areas as this will help
them in generating credibility and trust in the company. These two methods will help the
business in approaching the customers in the best means possible and they will generate a good
relationship with their current and potential customers. For CRM the company is recommended
to enhance both customer and brand experience as it is important and helps the business in
sustaining for a longer period of time. They can further use the techniques in order to enhance
these experiences so that they can retain current customers in the business and easily acquire the
potential customers.
(B) Quality Models that will assist Tesco PLC in improving its CRM
Quality refers to the quality of services and products that the company provide to their
customer, this is essential as it ensures that the business is customer centric and take cares of all
the essential factors that impact the CRM of the company. In order to asses the quality of the
services that the company provide in their business, further two models are applied on Tesco.
Total Quality Management (TQM):
This refers to the combined efforts of the top level management and the employees of the
organisation in order to form effective policies and strategies that will help the business in
delivering the services of high quality services and products. The products and the services
provided by the company should have capacity of delivering the satisfactions to the customers.
Total Quality Management assist the business to develop the quality in the organisation and
focus less on the quantity (Malik, 2018). According to this model, the customer's expectations
and feedbacks are important when the company is making strategies in the business. This also
helps the business in gaining competitive edge as the superior quality will attract the customers.
Primary elements of TQM that helps Tesco in improving CRM are as follows: Customer focused: The whole process of developing the quality of the business through
the various efforts such as employees training, designing process and the up gradation of
technology is all centred around the customers. If the customers are not satisfied with the
whole quality improvement procedure done by the business then it won't be of any use.

Customers are the deciders of every efforts given by the company, they determine if the
efforts are worthwhile or not. Total employee involvement: All employees are participative in this process, this can
only be attained if the employees are empowered in the organisation (Mkawuganga,
2018). Dedicated employees help the business in improving the relationship of the
customers with the organisation. Process centred: TQM is totally based on the process thinking , this takes a series of
steps to take input from the suppliers and transform it into the best delivered services
(Ryan, 2019). The steps to deliver the best customer service are defined in this and
further the performance measure helps in evaluating the performance and CRM. Integrated system: Although, the organisation consists of several types of functional
specialities which is structured into departments. The CRM gets benefited with these
several types of functional specialities. Strategic and systematic approach: Systematic and strategic approach helps the business
in accomplishing the goals and objectives. The business further needs to follow a
systematic approach in its CRM also (Moharramzadeh, Pashaie and Hoseyni, 2019). As
this assists the business towards achievement of success. Fact based decision Making- The business is expected to take the quality improvement
and CRM decisions based on the facts and figures that the company have. This requires
the organisation to continuously collect data and figures so that the decision making can b
e accurate. Communications- The company is required to effectively communicate in their day to
day operations so that the business ca understand the ways in which the quality of the
services needs to be developed (Redjeki, 2021). Communication helps in effectively
managing the customer relationship as the employees of the organisation will know the
feedback and queries of the customers.
The continuous improvement model
This refers to the continuous process that the organisation deploys in the business in order
to ensure that the improvement in the functions and services of the business. The business is
required to adapt to this model in order to ensure that the business provides the best quality of

service which increases the customer satisfaction. Further the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) is
applied on Tesco:
This model is a popular approach that helps the organisation in achieving continuous
improvement over the time. This was first developed for the quality control but later on became
an instrument that helped in achieving the continuous improvement in the business. In the
planning phase of the business, the organisation needs to establish the objectives that are
necessary in delivery the quality results that are expected from the business (Pour, Mamani and
Rahimzadeh, 2018). Setting up of expectations related to the output that the company is willing
to deliver in the business is a major part of the improvement process.
Principles of the Continuous Improvement model that helps the business in improving its
CRM: Improvements are based on small changes, not only on major paradigm shifts or new
inventions: The services and customer relationship can be effectively changed by using
small shifts of changes, Tesco is not required to implement major changes in order to
ensure good customer relationship management, they can apply small changes in
improvement of the quality which will help them in attaining the objective of establishing
good customer relationship. Employees ideas are valuable: The ideas of the employees must be appreciated in the
organisation as this can help the business in developing the quality of the their services
(Nhlengetwa, 2018). Further the business can take ideas from the employees regarding
the ways in which they can effectively manage their customer relationship in the
organisation. Incremental improvement are typically inexpensive to implement: The small changes
and continuous changes are generally inexpensive in terms of implementation. This will
assist the company in enhancing their services and quality which will ultimately improve
the CRM of the business. Tesco keeps implementing small changes in the business and
these changes help a lot in developing the customer relationship management in the
organisation. Employees take ownership and are involved in improvement: Engagement of the staff
into the improvement model is one of the most essential thing that empowers the
employees in achieving more and more. Involvement also improves the quality of the

services and the ideas which the staff suggest to the top authority(Xiaojun and Fuxing,
2021). The company often produces great ideas for the CRM because of the involvement
of the employees. Improvement is reflective: Constant process of feedback helps the organisation in
development factors. The company can analyse the areas in which they need to improve
their quality and further use these areas to master the CRM (Owii, Wasike and Ntale,
2018). Open communication between the organisation and the customers can develop
good relationship and opens the road for improvement and success.
 Improvement is measurable and potentially repeatable: The process of improvement in
the organisation is not just limited to one time implementation but it must be well
measured and repeated in the organisation in order to ensure good quality practices
Ploder and et. al.,2021). Tesco should develop good practices and improvement which
will help in enhancing their CRM in the business along with this they should measure the
improvement applied in the business and further the business must reapply the whole
process of improvement in the quality.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that CRM is most essential as the customers
are the prime priority of the business. The CRM techniques must be good enough to support the
business and its ideas on which it is established in the environment. Customer Relationship
management is dependent on several themes such as tech touch, human touch, brand experience
and customer experience. The business can adopt to several models in the business in order to
improve its CRM. Improvement in this areas would significantly enhance the image of the
business in the environment and would also help in developing the business for a sustainable
environment. Quality models such as TQM and Continuous improvement model helps the
business in developing its ways in which they can improve the customer relationship and
services.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Dintsis, D. ed., 2020. Customer Relationship Management and IT. BoD–Books on Demand.
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Mkawuganga, E., 2018. Customer relationship management (CRM), customer satisfaction,
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Ryan, C., 2019. On Optimization of Sequential Decision-Making in Customer Relationship
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