CRM - January 2008 - (Page 43)

LET’S GET DIGITAL Interactive, three-dimensional displays are just as good as, if not better than, having the real thing when showing customers new products. The physical presence of products is crucial to effective marketing at events such as trade shows—potential customers need to see to believe. However, for Ciena Corp., a Maryland-based provider of optical networking equipment, the product in question is heavy, expensive, and fragile. Consequently, travel began to take a significant toll on the company’s budget. From transporting the equipment to setting it up, costs often totaled $100,000 per event, not including reparation costs for any damages, and over 800 hours of labor and preparation time per year, according to Bill Rozier, vice president of global marketing at Ciena. The sheer bulk of the equipment also prevented customers from getting a high-quality, 360-degree view of the product. As a result, Ciena decided to create interactive, large-screen product displays, and turned to the v-OSK product from Kaon Interactive, a Massachusettsbased provider of 3-D marketing solutions. The burden of physically delivering the optical networking continued on next page www.destinationCRM.com Flying High on Customer Service Honeywell Aerospace had to plot an entirely new flight path to navigate often-turbulent CRM skies irlines often end up becoming customers as much by default as by choice. In a field where the average product costs $150 million, has components from hundreds of different suppliers, and has a lifespan of over 20 years, airline-industry executives often find themselves inheriting relationships with multiple manufacturers. For those manufacturers—and Honeywell Aerospace is one—the resulting matrix of relationships can lead to misguided CRM practices. Unwinding that mess often requires not just a strong-minded executive, but a major corporate refocusing. Honeywell’s problems stemmed from the nature of the B2B2C environment that aerospace manufacturers typically operate in. Commercial airliners are built by hundreds of suppliers: engines from General A Electric or U.K.-based Rolls Royce; wings, tail surfaces, or other body components from multiple aerospace manufacturers; and avionic, navigation, guidance, and radar systems. Final assembly and delivery is accomplished by the primary designer, such as Boeing or Airbus, which would be the customer from Honeywell’s perspective—that is, until Airbus sells an aircraft to a commercial airline carrier. At that point, service and logistical support for any Honeywell-manufactured components is taken over by Honeywell. The end result of this manufacturing maze? Airlines have little or no choice over which manufacturers—and product-support systems—they do business with. Operations for Honeywell and other manufacturers are built around R&D and are highly productcentric, with customer service an “aftermarket service,” says Adrian Paull, vice 43 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2008 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - January 2008

CRM - January 2008 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Facebook's About-Face On the Scene: Oracle OpenWorld 2007 CRM Market Set to Double Customers, Meet your Makers Required Reading Oh, Behave! Fine-Tuning the Channel Listen Up! The Master Piece Flying High on Customer Service Let's Get Digital The Big Rigs Get Revved Up Putting Asia in Your Pocket Secret of My Success Connect Re:Tooling Pint of View

CRM - January 2008

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