Understanding Customer Relations

This report discusses the importance of customer relationship management (CRM) and how digital technology can be used to enhance customer relations. It analyzes Optus Pty. Ltd's strategies for CRM and the use of social media for building customer loyalty. The report also covers the implications of digital technology tools for systems and processes and strategic customer management.

Running Header: Understanding Customer Relations
Understanding Customer Relations
Authors ID:
Authors Name:

Understanding Customer Relations
Contents
Contents......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Use digital technologies for enhancing the visibility.................................................................3
Empower employees to work better, smarter and faster............................................................4
Use of social media for advancing customer value and experience, building customer loyalty6
Implications of digital technology tools for systems and processes and strategic customer
management...............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................9

Understanding Customer Relations
Introduction
The kings of the market are the customers and hence developing relation with them has been
considered as one of the empirical task for any of the business organization. Establishing and
enhancing relations with the customers will be proven beneficial for the business entity on
various grounds. In simple terms, the concept of CRM (customer relationship management)
has been referred to the tools, mechanisms, practices and procedures adopted by the business
enterprises for interacting and analyzing the data of the customers throughout the customer
lifecycle. The prime objective of this mechanism is enhancing the services offered to the
customers and thus driving desired outcomes (Fitzgerald, Kruschwitz, Bonnet and Welch,
2014). In today’s era, every organisation needs a digital technology to promote its services
and products and enhances the visibility of an organisation. These tools enhance customer’s
behaviour by improving their experiences and building trust among customers. The below
presented report analyses the use of digital technology, social media and websites for
advancing the CRM and also the relationships with the customers of the Optus Pty. Ltd is
second largest telecommunication brand name in Australia.
Use digital technologies for enhancing the visibility
Organisation use digital technology to enhance the visibility by using apps, websites or social
media platforms. Digital technology helps an organisation to reach to wider audience and
learn more about the competitors market. These technologies are also used to promote the
goods by launching new programs to reach to larger customers and gain branding. Digital
marketing is an easy tool or better marketing and creating awareness among the audience. It
impacts the customer behaviour by boosting customer experience. It helps in building loyal
customers that improves customer engagement (Sia, Soh and Weill, 2016). These tools help
an organisation to design plans accordingly to the competitors. Numerous digital technologies
are available but focusing on social media platforms to develop customer relationship
management. Social media platform touches every door of customers. For business
perception social media helps in making good profit by showcasing the products online.
Social media platforms also allow users to give feedback so that improvement can be made.
Social media is a cost effective approach as marketing plans are designed according to the
customer’s interest (Matt, Hess and Benlian, 2015). Products and services are advertised on

Understanding Customer Relations
social media platforms, as everyone is present on the social media sites so that they will
become aware about the services.
Optus Pty. Ltd use these digital technologies to improve its services by gaining responsible
growth in the society. They promote their services for economic growth and have beaten their
competitors in the market. As Optus has started developing new digital products and services
by providing new ways to people for communicating the information. For example,
previously things which were done are now done electronically (Barrett, Davidson, Prabhu
and Vargo, 2015). Optus use various digital technologies for exploring the products digitally.
They develop products and services using mobile devices by suitable applications. The digital
portfolio of the company is also available that covers all the cloud based services available
like online storage and backup plans. They have effective digital services available which
enable them to take proper backups. They offer their services on any device may be mobile
phones or computers.
The business organizations have a need of to evolve for addressing the changing business
trends and landscapes (Barrett, Davidson, Prabhu and Vargo, 2015). And generally, making
expenses on IT has been considered as the fulfilment of one of the basic and prime
requirement for any of the business corporations and same is with Optus. As Optus is a
telecommunication brand the digital platform will be proven advantageous on various
grounds. Digital transformation has been defined as the methodology in which the business
corporations transform and develop business models, and cultures by utilizing digital
technologies. The below presented are some of the advantages that will be attained by Optus
in terms of enhancing customer relation by adopting digital technology:
Empower employees to work better, smarter and faster
One of the basic needs for any of the business organization is that the employees should work
smarter, faster and better and this is to be done for attaining the expected goals. And this is
made possible by providing them with innovative solutions for interacting collaborating and
exchanging data without any restrictions (Fitzgerald, Kruschwitz, Bonnet and Welch, 2014).
Being innovative worker will be leading the employees towards advancements in their
performance and productivity and delivery of services. Better performance and delivery of
services within Optus will tend to bring an enhancement in the services offered and
establishment of strong bonds will also be made possible. The below presented are some of

Understanding Customer Relations
the methodologies through which the digital technology will be advancing the customer
relations within Optus:
The objective of Optus in terms of customers relations management is creating steadfastness.
There's no preferable method to do that over to offer quality items and benefits and to be
receptive to the clients. Be that as it may, as new innovations have come to market to make it
less demanding for organizations to give client benefit, they may likewise be expanding the
quantity of channels through which the workers cooperate with clients and the multifaceted
nature of those connections (Valentine and Stewart, 2015). Accenture, the innovation
counselling firm, recommends that organizations that need to utilize innovation to raise the
nature of their client benefit centre around the accompanying:
 Data administration and examination: Utilizing information gathered from client to
break down their inclinations.
 Insight-driven advertising: Picking up bits of knowledge into your business from
client information so you would more be able to successfully target showcasing.
 Marketing computerization. Streamlining and robotizing business procedures to
enhance proficiency and minimize expenses (Straker, Wrigley and Rosemann, 2015).
 Self-benefit advancement: Discovering routes for clients to associate with your
business when they need.
 Workforce viability: Urging your staff to grasp new ways enhancing client treatment
by giving apparatuses and preparing to convey better administration.
Optus maintains the customer relationship management by serving the products that meet the
expectations of customers by delivering the services in a way that long term trust is built. As
for Optus customer’s satisfaction is the major concern (Rodriguez, Peterson and Ajjan, 2015).
They maintain the relation by keeping them in touch and introducing new ideas to beat the
challengers serving the same products.
Moreover, there are some prime areas in which the digital technology will be providing
advantages to the business corporations in engendering customer loyalty by advancing the
customer services:
 Websites: Optus Pty. Ltd should provide feedbacks and also allowing ground and
space to the customer where they are able to revert and give their opinions freely and

Understanding Customer Relations
seek answers from others will be proven a significant step in developing relations
with the customers (Jaber and Simkin, 2017).
 Emails: Making use of emails for regular interactions with the customers, replying on
their queries and acknowledging their feedbacks will be proven an advantageous step
for Optus in terms of developing and advancing relations with the customers.
 Communications: Amalgamating communications will be proven beneficial for the
entity as in case if the customers have sent a voice note with the email few days ago.
Use of social media for advancing customer value and experience, building customer
loyalty
Considering social media platforms like Facebook and twitter, they are used for promoting
services delivered by Optus as these sites are easy to use and have engaged audience of every
kind. Facebook can be considered as the most active social media platform because majority
of population is active on Facebook all day long (Palacios, Peñalvo, Stantchev and Misra,
2017). Other than that twitter is also useful as it engages customers by simply posting
services and gaining interest from audience. These channels are beneficial for Optus to gain
more customers. Digital marketing can be treated as a best marketing channel for engaging
new customer or keeping the old customers stable. Social media marketing helps in
expanding the business by providing various facilities through promotion. Optus being a
telecommunication company helps in nurturing the customer relationship by promoting the
services and offers in the section where wider audience are present. The business
organization focuses on keeping the customers stable and for a longer run this is attained by
posting the offers on regular basis (Mozaheb, Alamolhodaei and Ardakani, 2015). This helps
in pitching the customers by actually providing what they want.
Moreover, social media plays a significant role in increasing and driving the value and
experience of the customers (Kaur, 2016). Driven by innovation, the client journey has been
considered not any more consecutive. It's hard to achieve clients given the quantity of
channels accessible to them on the web. The sheer volume of messages went for leaders
makes it trying to emerge among contenders and a since quite a while ago, divided
purchasing venture makes it hard to remain best of brain. Basically, the purchaser is presently
in full control (Kumar, 2015).

Understanding Customer Relations
Social media will offer Optus the capacity to affect a client's choices and conduct at each
phase of the purchasing venture, so it's nothing unexpected that social is turning into a
favoured channel for organizations around the globe. As per Hootsuite and We Are Social's
recent Digital in 2018 report, worldwide online networking use has expanded by 13% over
the most recent a year, achieving 3.2 billion clients (Maven 2018). This implies 80% of the
world's web clients are likewise dynamic online networking clients. This dynamic has
perpetually adjusted the client travel as customers and B2B experts progressively lead
explore, settle on purchasing choices, look for help, and suggest marks on social.
One of the biggest and empirical organizational goal of any of the business firm is not only
creating customer satisfaction but also developing and generating customer value. There are
some factors or elements that can be provided by Optus for offering and increasing customer
value:
 Quality products and services
 Value pricing
 Unique and differential services and products
 Offering a feeling of belongingness and togetherness by making them feel that they
are part of the firm or are a part of the group (Nair, Khasgiwala, Mishra and Student,
2016).
Social media has been considered as a supporting marketing strategy that can be adopted by
the business corporation for increasing the customer value. Social media can be an integral
element a supportive marketing strategy and communication channel for spreading
information about the features and characteristics of the products and services (Josiassen,
Assaf and Cvelbar, 2014). It has been observed that the customer largely trusts and depends
on the opinions posted on the social networks and platforms as compared to the commercial
messages. This as a whole will also lead the customer to show their repeat intention and will
result in an increase in the customer loyalty.
Implications of digital technology tools for systems and processes and strategic
customer management
Digital technology has been proven as a revolutionary concept and has provided the business
environment with varied range of advantages. One of the prime benefits of the making
adoption of this mechanism is proper management and advancement of the customer

Understanding Customer Relations
relationship (Dar and Ahmad, 2015). Optus one of the leading brand names in the sector of
telecommunication and for attaining high peaks of success and growth implementation of
digital technology will be proven an effective step towards advancing the relations with
customers. Moreover, making use of other mechanisms and tools of digital technology such
as e-mails, social media will also aid the entity in enhancing the relations with the customers
all over the globe.
Conclusion
In the limelight of the above executed analysis it has been inferred that making use of digital
technology for enhancing the customer relations and increasing their value and experience
will be proven an advantageous step. Optus a telecommunication brand in Australia needs to
make adoption of digital technological tools for developing CRM.

Understanding Customer Relations
Bibliography
Barrett, M., Davidson, E., Prabhu, J. and Vargo, S.L. (2015) Service innovation in the digital
age: key contributions and future directions. MIS quarterly, 39(1), pp.135-154.
Colomo-Palacios, R., García-Peñalvo, F.J., Stantchev, V. and Misra, S. (2017) Towards a
social and context-aware mobile recommendation system for tourism. Pervasive and Mobile
Computing, 38, pp.505-515.
Dar, W.M. and Ahmad, M. (2015) Impact of Customer Relationship Management
Capabilities on Organizational Performance with CRM Technology as Mediator. Arabian
Journal of Business and Management Review (Oman Chapter), 4(10), p.30.
Josiassen, A., Assaf, A.G. and Cvelbar, L.K. (2014) CRM and the bottom line: Do all CRM
dimensions affect firm performance?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36,
pp.130-136.
Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D. and Welch, M. (2014) Embracing digital
technology: A new strategic imperative. MIT sloan management review, 55(2), p.1.
Jaber, F. and Simkin, L. (2017) Unpicking antecedents of CRM adoption: a two-stage model.
Journal of Strategic Marketing, 25(5-6), pp.475-494.
Kaur, S. (2016) Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the Indian
banking Sector. Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, 2(12).
Kumar, V. (2015) Customer relationship management (CRM) in services companies.
International Research journal of Management Sociology & Humanities, 6, pp.521-525.
Matt, C., Hess, T. and Benlian, A. (2015) Digital transformation strategies. Business &
Information Systems Engineering, 57(5), pp.339-343.
Maven, M. (2018) Marketing’s role in driving customer value through social media [Online].
Available from: [Accessed on 12th April 2018].

Understanding Customer Relations
Mozaheb, A., Alamolhodaei, S.M.A. and Ardakani, M.F. (2015) Effect of customer
relationship management (CRM) on performance of small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
using structural equations model (SEM). International Journal of Academic Research in
Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 5(2), pp.42-52.
Nair, A., Khasgiwala, R., Mishra, S. and Student, S.S. (2016) Improving Customer
Relationship Management Using Data Mining. International Journal of Scientific &
Engineering Research, 7(2).
Rodriguez, M., Peterson, R.M. and Ajjan, H. (2015) CRM/social media technology: impact
on customer orientation process and organizational sales performance. In Ideas in Marketing:
Finding the New and Polishing the Old (pp. 636-638). Germany: Springer, Cham.
Sia, S.K., Soh, C. and Weill, P. (2016) How DBS Bank Pursued a Digital Business Strategy.
MIS Quarterly Executive, 15(2).
Straker, K., Wrigley, C. and Rosemann, M. (2015) The role of design in the future of digital
channels: Conceptual insights and future research directions. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 26, pp.133-140.
Valentine, E. and Stewart, G. (2015) January. Enterprise Business Technology Governance:
Three competencies to build board digital leadership capability. In System Sciences (HICSS),
2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 4513-4522). IEEE.