| Author: | Li, Chen Cathy |
| Title: | CRM system study for billiard SME in China |
| Degree: | M.Sc. |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Subject: | Customer relations -- Management -- Data processing. Billiards -- China. Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Engineering |
| Pages: | xvii, 221 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Since the 1980s Billiard industry develops in China, with now more and more people joined in this activity. After 2002, the billiards population begins to rocket. During the development of this industry, notable changes can be seen that there are more billiards customers, with higher customer quality and varieties. Correspondingly, there are much more billiards clubs in China and the facility quality of those clubs' are also much higher than before. However, most of the clubs are small sized and are privately-owned. They are also managed in a simple primitive way. In order to stand out in the keen competition, some club managers begin to think about new management strategy such as customer relationship management (CRM). To many Chinese small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) such as those billiards clubs, the cost and high failure rate of implementing a CRM system impeded them from moving ahead. Moreover, the existing purchasable CRM systems have the problems such as is too big and complex, unnecessary functions, and low conformance to the company. Therefore, if a cost-effective CRM system can be implemented for those billiards SMEs, it will help them to manager both their internal customers, who are their employees, as well as their external customers in a more efficient way, and eventually gaining competitiveness in the billiards market. A Shanghai luxury type billiards club is chosen to study the design and implementation of suitable CRM system. This billiards club is managed mainly in a primitive way. Except a few Excel Tables about its employees and customers, this company does not have other CRM tools or systems. The customers of this billiards club also complain for lack of communication with the club. Careful case study about the company background, structure, business model, etc. was conducted, which shows that better customer relationship management is needed. In order to understand the customer demands, both internal customer interview and external customer survey took place, and the results are recorded and analyzed. According to the customer demand, a pilot CRM system was designed, which innovatively makes use of the power of social media and cloud technology. Based on the classic three-layer system design, this thesis proposed a modified two-layer system for the billiard SMEs in consideration of the features of the billiards SMEs. To realize the objective of cost-effectiveness, the components of user interface in the presentation layer are chosen from Chinese free or low-cost softwares and on-line social network services. The internal customer management module is comprised of a cloud calendar, an instant message (IM) software, and a cloud file sharing service. Bringing in the latest CRM concept of social CRM, one special feature of the proposed system is the use of social network service (SNS). Therefore, the external customer management module is comprised of Chinese hottest social networking platforms such as Renren, Douban and Sina Weibo, as well as some traditional communication channels such as email, telephone and IM software. The implementation of this system is found to be effective according to the feedback from the billiards club. The test implementation of the proposed CRM system demonstrates a feasible CRM for other billiard SMEs in China, which can help to upgrade the internal customer management level in a short time, and to increase external customer management level in the long run after persistent and careful use of the system. The development lead time of the proposed system is comparatively short and the procedure and development resources conforms to the human resources situation and financial situation of most billiards SMEs in China today. Above all, the proposed CRM system is practicable in the age of 4th and 5th generation Internet, and is feasible for most Chinese billiards SMEs. Also, it can be used for reference by other Chinese SMEs of other service industries. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b26593944.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 8.96 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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