The Important Role of Customer Relationship Management

I will discuss my experience providing material to customer relationship management staff

throughout Indonesia. There are 13 branches throughout Indonesia and 3 overseas branches as
well as head office representatives. At that time, I had just been promoted from head of the
North Sumatra branch to manager of the national partnership. I oversee customer relationship
management, school partnerships, CSR, and retail partnership divisions at the head office. At
that time there were 16 staff and 10 customer relationship management staff. So that the total
staff under my direct coordination is 26 people, not including the national indirect staff in 13
branches in connection with the national partnership.

The material I gave was about the division I lead and the strategic plan for the next 3 years. At
that time our organization was in the process of transforming and repositioning the brand to
the public. The position of the customer relationship management division is very important in
my opinion. One of them is managing tens of thousands of valid customer data and hundreds
of thousands of invalid customer data. They are tasked with maintaining good relations
between the institution and its customers so that they will always cooperate with us. It is not
only individual customers that must be protected, but also corporate customers, communities,
as well as international non-governmental organizations, and governments.

Every day they always send agency messages to customers. They are equipped with the
expertise and ability to always make customers comfortable and always help them. All
customer complaints are handled by them even though the number of staff is very limited. All
communication tools and communication channels are used by our staff to provide the best
service for customers. Some oversee calling customers, some are giving short messages via
SMS and WhatsApp, some are sending e-mails with the latest information, some are joining
cross-platform communities, and so on.

Sometimes they must face complaints directly from customers which must be resolved by the
relevant department. Dealing with angry and dissatisfied customers. Serve customers who are
confused about their donations. Serve customers who want to calculate how much they must
pay for religious donations and donations. Be a liaison with new people and institutions and
delegate to the relevant sections. Send greetings and signs of congratulations and condolences.
There are also customers who are fun and often joke and even do pranks. As the vanguard of
communication, the customer relationship management division is one of the divisions that
maintain a positive reputation and brand for the institution.

As an actor in corporate social and environmental responsibility programs and activities, I often
need their help to convey a message of kindness to foreign and domestic corporate partners.
The messages that I often convey are about the programs that will be implemented, the ongoing
programs, the programs that will be completed, and the sustainability of the corporate social
and environmental responsibility programs that are partners in the collaboration. I even
received an objection from a company that became a partner and we immediately handled it
well through customer relationship management. And it is successful and has an impact on
improving relations and cooperation.

I also describe my experience so far in fostering good relations with all partner companies.
Both when serving as the head of the branch as well as as the field implementer and the person
in charge of the CSR program. Sometimes the public relations function often stands out when
I am on duty in the field and meeting with partner companies. When carrying the name of the
institution, of course, all the rights and obligations of the institution that we carry become
mandatory to maintain a good name and a positive brand. Build natural closeness and bonding
with donors and collaborating partners. Good way of communicating with work partners and
encouraging each partner to get a positive view and support from every collaboration that we
do. In fact, we can also have a positive impact on partners to get their own awards and
trademarks from the CSR programs that are carried out.

At the end of the presentation session, I conveyed once again to all participants how important
it is that we provide positive service to all our customers and that they feel they are an
indispensable part of every activity. Sometimes there is nothing to worry about if a customer
needs help outside the context of our primary service. Like a friend who is always there in
times of sorrow and joy. It's important that they apply empathy to the life journey of everyone
who has been on good terms with the customer relationship management division. There is still
a lot we can discuss, but hopefully, we can meet eye to eye for more details. The spirit of CRM
warriors!