The Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Caller Satisfactions in Customer Contact Centers: Evidence from Malaysia

Available literatures have established customer relationship management (CRM) as giving opportunity to both internal and external customers of an organization in exploring critical information through the integration of company’s telephone system, chat groups, Interactive voice response, facsimile transmission, electronic data interchange, voice over internet, web sites and e-mail touch points that will result in satisfying customer self services for new product purchases, assist in up-selling and cross selling and creating customer loyalty, value and profitability. Despite the enormous increasing acknowledgement of CRM importance, very little studies have focused on the impact of CRM applications on inbound customer contact center performance. This empirical research explored the relationship between CRM dimensions, first call resolutions, perceived service quality and caller satisfactions within the inbound call centers. A conceptual framework was developed based on the extant literatures and information that were obtained from initial interviews with call center managers. The research model incorporated key CRM constructs; customer orientation, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology based CRM and also investigated the impact of these dimensions on first call resolution (FCR), perceived service quality and caller satisfaction. Importantly, FCR and perceived service quality were considered as critical antecedents to caller satisfaction. In this quantitative study, a survey of 168 call center managers in Malaysia was analyzed through structural equation modeling, constituting an overall 43.3% response rate. The research findings indicated that out of the four hypothesized positive relationship between CRM dimensions and caller satisfaction, three were supported. The findings also indicated that first call resolutions have significant influence on caller satisfactions. Key benefits for practitioners and academia was finally discussed under the theoretical and practical implications, while necessary suggestions on new area of research were recommended for future researchers

Post choice satisfaction among Nigerian students studying in Malaysian universities: A pilot study

Purpose – This research aims at developing a conceptual framework and valid prepositions of the impacts of Nigerian students’ perceived expectation on perceived quality and satisfaction with Malaysian higher institutions.The result of this study will be used for a further research that will empirically establish the actual reason for the increasing influx of Nigerian students in Malaysia and how the stakeholders can best explore the inherent opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers primarily use qualitative approach and pilot study that involves detail literature reviews of academic literatures and industry reports on perceived expectation, perceived quality and student satisfaction.Findings – The extant literatures suggest that there exist positive relationship between perceived expectation, perceived quality and student satisfaction. The reliabilities of the proposed measurement instruments indicate valid internal consistency. Research limitations/implications – Given that this paper is based on qualitative approach, there is need to embark on empirical data gathering to validate the conceptual model. Practical implications – Evidence from existing literatures have established that for higher institutions of learning to achieve operational efficiency in their perceived service quality and student satisfaction, managements of higher institutions need to integrate high quality lecturers, reasonable cost of education, social orientation programs, modern facilities etc into their operations’ measurement practices. Originality/value – This research extensively review existing literatures on student satisfaction and measurements, specifically how it impact education industry.It primarily avails both the academic and higher institution’s management the benefits that are inherent in measuring the impact of perceived expectation on perceived quality and student satisfaction.The research finally proposed a model for future empirical testing

Does customer relationship strategy influence customer satisfaction and loyalty?: Evidence from Malaysia banking sector

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that explains the influence of Customer Relationship Strategy on the customer satisfaction and loyalty of Malaysia Banks.Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts qualitative method of reviewing related literatures.Findings – Evidences from the extant literatures have suggested that effective implementations of the five dimensions of CRM (Customer Orientation, CRM Organization, Knowledge Management, Technology Based CRM and Customer Involvement) will positively affect customer satisfaction and lead to loyalty within the banking industry.Research limitations/implications – The major limitation of this work is that it is qualitative and thereby requires empirical data to support the model that is presented. Practical implications – This paper practically suggests that for banks to gain satisfaction and loyalty of their customers, they must monitor level of customer trust through proper integration of CRM application.Originality/value – This paper primarily conceptualizes a measurement model that would assist in determining the impacts of CRM on customer satisfaction and loyalty of banks.It is the first study that incorporates customer involvement dimension along other four CRM dimensions that was developed by Sin et al (2005). It also considers trust as a moderating variable between satisfaction and loyalty

Knowledge management and organizational performance of mobile service firms in Nigeria: a proposed framework

Over the years, knowledge management has become a major strategic necessity that organizations require to succeed in the global business atmosphere. Knowledge as one of the most vital assets of all corporate organizations must be effectively identified, acquired, stored, shared and implemented in the most profitable way that could achieve sustainable competitive advantage. This study reviews the concepts of knowledge management and organizational performance and proposes a model for further research in the area of knowledge management on performance of mobile service firms in Nigeria.The study envisages that the effect of knowledge management dimensions on organizational performance of mobile service firms in Nigeria could be mediated by technological innovation in the industry.Hence, it is recommended that mobile operators should develop and implement strategic knowledge management policy proficient to providing appropriate organizational knowledge that satisfies changing customers’ needs and preferences

A review of the inconsistency in CRM measurement: evidence from the telecommunication industry

This study explores the varying contradictions in CRM measurements and proposed a conceptual model in association with customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry.The model was developed based on observed practical issues, industry reports and explicit review of empirical literatures on CRM in multifaceted disciplines using qualitative technique.Findings from this research revealed an optimistic relationship between CRM measurements, customer satisfaction, switching costs and customer loyalty.Although few literature have established the influence of CRM measurements on customer loyalty effectiveness, this study has further availed scholars/practitioners knowledge of the theoretical ties and the role CRM maintenance as key measurement has in predicting successful CRM implementation. Furthermore, it is recommended that CRM implementing organizations integrate the need for CRM maintenance as a prerequisite for CRM sustainability in organizations

The concept of relationship quality in Government Linked Companies (GLCs): Evidence from Malaysian automotive industry

Government Linked Companies (GLCs) represent 36% of total market capitalization in Bursa Malaysia. This percentage contributes a significant role in Malaysian economic backbone.Some GLCs are not performing well and their poor performance has tainted the public perceptions on GLC specifically Proton Holdings Berhad as one of the non performing GLC in automotive industry.Alarming weak performance and declining market share has diverged from the main purpose of its existence and consequently impact public confidence on its ability to preserve the country’s asset.Product quality and customer service are the means to capture the further weakening in Proton’s market share. Although previous literatures have established the importance of quality towards business profitability, this study has further explored another aspect of quality which is the role of relationship as an important ingredient to strengthen the long term bonding between customer and firms.This study examines relationship quality (RQ) and proposed a conceptual model linking quality performance dimension, customer value especially the price as mediating variable between product quality dimension and RQ. The model was developed based on observed practical gap, industry reports and review of empirical literatures on RQ in multi-dimensional disciplines using RELQUAL measurement technique.Findings from this research revealed a significant relationship between quality performance measurements, customer value and RQ.It finally recommends that in order to increase level of customer retention and business profitability, firms specifically automotive industry should strengthen their customer relationship, quality performance and simultaneously increase customer value to remain competitive in the industry

Does Customer Relationship Management (CRM) implementation influence the performance of telecommunication services: Evidence from Nigeria

This study examines CRM implementation and proposed a conceptual model linking customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry.The model was developed based on observed practical issues, industry reports and explicit review of empirical literatures on CRM in multidimensional disciplines using qualitative technique.Findings from this research revealed a significant relationship between CRM measurements, customer satisfaction, switching costs and customer loyalty.Although few literatures have established the influence of CRM measurements on customer loyalty effectiveness, this study has further availed scholars/practitioners knowledge of the theoretical relationships as well as the importance of CRM maintenance in predicting successful CRM implementation.It finally recommends that CRM implementing organizations should integrate CRM maintenance as a precondition for CRM sustainability in their organizations

The strategic impact of technology based CRM on call centers' performance

The primary objective of this paper is to test a model that can explain the impact of technology based CRM on inbound call center performance. To do this, data were collected from 168 call center managers and analyzed through structural equation modeling. The research findings indicate that technology based CRM significantly affects first call resolution and perceived service quality, but weakly influence caller satisfactions through the mediating role of first call resolutions.Observably, this research believes that customer contact centers as the first touch points to company are dependent on other factors such as company policy, product quality, customer characteristics, etc. to influence caller satisfactions, but unfortunately most of these factors fall outside the operational control of contact center activities. The findings in this research has empirically provided the long waiting evidence that technology based CRM applications within the inbound contact center industry can only influence caller satisfactions through first call resolution and perceived service quality. A major implication for call center managers is that this research findings has availed them the opportunity on how to effectively develop, implement, and evaluate their CRM applications

Relationship marketing dynamics, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in retail banking: The role of long-term orientation culture and service recovery

Extant literature has amply reported the associations between relationship marketing dynamics, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. However, these reports are contradictory and thus, inconclusive. Meanwhile, past studies have argued extensively on the influence of individual customer values on perception, decision making and buying behaviour.Yet, very little is known of the interaction effect of long-term orientation culture on the link between trust, bonding, communication, personalization and customer satisfaction in retail banking sector. Similarly, while several studies have documented the significant effect of customer complaints on customer loyalty, there is no noticeable research evidence on the intervening effect of service recovery on the relationship between customer complaints and customer loyalty.To fill these gaps, this conceptual paper is writte

A conceptual investigation of e-banking usage and adoption in Nigeria

Practical and theoretical evidences have revealed that e-banking adoption in Nigeria is abysmally low when compared with some other African countries.This paper has therefore conceptually developed a framework that would investigate the causes and suggest some implications for going forward.This paper is basically a review of literature.Theoretical findings from this study indicate that for e-banking to be significantly adopted, issues relating to usefulness, ease of use, facilitating conditions and security must be seriously addressed by the banks management. Asides, efforts must be put in place to make sure that awareness about the availability of e-banking and its benefits spread to actual and potential users.When all this is done, the rate of satisfaction and trust among users will definitely improve and will significantly lead to high rate of adoption.The main limitation of this study is that it is conceptual in nature; future researchers can empirically test the proposed model of this study.The paper clearly shows the relationship between e-banking adoption, its determinants and mediating variables.This paper has added value to the current content of e-banking literature as well as offer some recommendations especially for banking practitioners, and policy makers about how to improve the rate of e-banking adoption