2 Customer Relationship Management System Introduction What needs to be invested in is the customer relationship management (CRM) system. It is software that is developed to facilitate the management of customer interaction for organizations such as the food processing company. CRM would be a valuable investment because of its capability to monitor and record client interactions, provide assistance in customer service, and facilitate the management of sales (Khan et al., 2022). Repeat business is considered extremely important in any food processing organization. As a result, it means CRM will be a valuable investment because the system will be integral in ensuring the organization has a better relationship with its customers. Having a better relationship and connection with the customers means that there is a high likelihood the customers will return. Also, CRM will allow the company to get feedback from the customers. This may include but is not limited to the client's opinion on the food products' quality. This will be valuable information that will help the food processing company enhance its products. Alignment to the Business Strategy For the food processing company, producing and selling quality food products can be considered as the organization's key business strategy. Therefore, CRM can integrate into this strategy by first improving customer services, which are integral in producing quality services. According to Gil-Gomez et al. (2020), a CRM system has the ability to help the organization track customer interactions. This will allow the company to get valuable information on providing better services. Achieving the business strategy of producing and selling quality food products depends on understanding the target customers. In this regard, CRM has the ability to 3 enable a company to achieve a targeted marketing campaign, which allows the segmentation of the customer base to a specific group based on taste. Another key factor for achieving the business strategy is the reduction of costs. CRM aligns with this as it minimizes costs by automating the company's operating tasks. Expected Benefits The system will have tangible benefits, such as increasing the sales revenue. For instance, the system will automate the company's routine sales tasks, such as order processing. As Anshari et al. (2019) argue, this can be considered a short-term tangible benefit as it will allow the company to focus more on other tasks, such as establishing new markets. In the long term, the CRM system will help the food processing company improve aspects such as customer relationships, sales automation, and targeted marketing. This will enable the company to attract more customers, ultimately attaining more revenues. On the other hand, there will be intangible benefits, which will include improved decision-making. The CRM system will help the company make better decisions by providing insights into its sales data and existing customers. As a result, it will be able to enhance its marketing campaigns and identify new market opportunities. Another intangible expected benefit is an enhanced brand image for the food processing company. CRM will improve customer interaction, which will positively impact the company's reputation and brand. Cost (Short and Long Term) Although investing in CRM is worth it and has its benefits, it also has short and longterm costs. The short-term costs will include its acquisition (the cost of purchasing and implementing the software), training cost (cost of training the employees who will be using the 4 system), and integration cost (other costs linked to integrating the CRM system into the existing IT infrastructure within the food processing company). The long-term costs will include maintenance and support to ensure the system will be running smoothly and the scalability costs, which will be needed in scaling the system as the food processing company grows. Return on Investment The NPV of the investment is $622,000, meaning that the investment is expected to generate a positive return on investment of $622,000 over a five-year period. 5 References Anshari, M., Almunawar, M. N., Lim, S. A., & Al-Mudimigh, A. (2019). Customer relationship management and big data enabled: Personalization & customization of services. Applied Computing and Informatics, 15(2), 94-101 Gil-Gomez, H., Guerola-Navarro, V., Oltra-Badenes, R., & Lozano-Quilis, J. A. (2020). Customer relationship management: Digital transformation and sustainable business model innovation. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 33(1), 2733-2750. Khan, R. U., Salamzadeh, Y., Iqbal, Q., & Yang, S. (2022). The impact of customer relationship management and company reputation on customer loyalty: The mediating role of customer satisfaction. Journal of Relationship Marketing, 21(1), 1-26.
