I was left thinking who the customer for this insurance provider is. All three of us – I, my wife and my daughter – have equal stake (or interest) in this policy. Should not all of us be considered as a customer of the company?
Often the person dealing with the company directly is considered as the customer. This is almost always never the case. We need to identify the ecology of this person to define what and who a customer is. A term used in ERP arena will fit in this scenario.
“Unit of Measure”
While setting up the material masters there are multiple options for the unit of measure. One of the options is for the unit to be defined as a “kit”. This implies the particular item is a collection of two or more other items. For example, take a tool-kit. It consists of various items such as the spanner, screw-driver, and so on. Each of these items is also individual items in the material master. Also, each individual component is tracked in its own identity.
So also, for the customer, it is imperative to define this “kit”. A customer is not just the one person.
Let’s consider Mr. John as the person who interacts with a financial company. Mr. John is the husband of Elaine. Both of them are parents of Julie and Stephan. By virtue of their children’s presence, they also take part in groups organizing children’s activities – like camping. John works for M/s ABC Corporation. John and his colleagues have formed the “9ers” who meet regularly at the local bowling alley. John also owns a private corner store vending items of daily needs.
In this scenario, we need to first define our “kit”. Based on the objective of contacting the customer, the necessary kits need to be defined. For example, if the company has a child’s education plan to be marketed. It will help to define a “kit” consisting of John, Elaine and their two children. Let’s call this “item” as “Family” in our material master.
Similarly, if the company wants to launch an adventure vacation finance plan, the “kit” would consist of John and his colleagues by virtue of their association with M/s ABC Corporation. This is the “Work club” item in the material master.
This forms the definition of the customer based on the unit of measure that is adopted. Once the kit is formed, it should be noted that each individual in the kit is an individual in their own right. Hence, it becomes critical for the customer service processes to be redesigned to treat each individual according to the kits they belong to.
Hence, in my case, all three of us should be treated as a “customer” kit for the policy. Maybe, its time, for this insurance provider to re-look and re-jig its customer database.
Just having a customer data base will not suffice. The human element of the individual needs to be built into the database. It will pay to have relationships configured and then grouped on the relevant unit of measure. All information will then need to be summarized based on the groupings.
