One of the most effective ways for practically any company to survive during the crisis is to have loyal customers whose commitment has been achieved by long, persevering and tedious work, as it is much more difficult to win somebody’s trust and adherence than to lose them.
Customer loyalty is not just a popular topic of today, but also a basis for activities of any successful company. In modern business conditions more and more emphasis is made on the CRM concept (Customer Relationships Management) that gives a chance to assess and, accordingly, undertake qualitative changes in relations with customers.  

In order to get to the core of this phenomenon, let us have a look back into history. CRM emerged in Western countries in 1970s and became generally accepted by the 1990s. One should realize that at the moment CRM is not a program product or a technology, but primarily a company strategy determining interactions with customers in all organizational aspects. It concerns advertising, sales, deliveries and customer service, design and new product manufacturing, issuing invoices, etc., i.e. all those aspects that may influence the decision of the customer to use the services of a particular company next time.

The basic CRM concept (focus on the customer, not on the product) has been known to entrepreneurs for a long time. When there were no supermarkets, the majority of goods were sold through lots of small stores, often family enterprises. The store keeper knew all the customers by sight and by name, knew their needs, habits, tastes, financial standing, facts from their personal life, etc. He knew who will come, when and what for. What is more, everybody else knew that.   The business was based on the loyalty of these regular customers. This is what one would nowadays call personalization.

Then came the consumer era. Supermarkets and shopping malls oriented at serving mass customers emerged. Everything is of high quality. Everything is beautiful, yet impersonal. Personalization was forgotten. After all, one cannot arrange for each customer to be accompanied by a personal shop assistant or consultant.  The maximum the customers get is a smile and a “Please come again" formula at the exit. 

There are lots of goods in the consumer era and the quality is pretty much the same everywhere. The main competitive advantage is the ability to stand out among other goods and services providers, to offer a product personally to each customers taking into account his/her individual; needs and peculiarities. One should also note that, considering the advanced level of modern computer technologies, it is possible to “turn to the past” and introduce personalization even for the mass consumer. In the past, a store keeper would keep information about a hundred customers in his memory.   A database can store and process one hundred thousand and offer every one of them exactly what one might need.

Thus, emphasis has been shifted significantly nowadays. Whereas a customer used to get an idea about a company basing on its product before, he/she now develops an attitude to the company in general as a to partner he/she interacts with through various channels from a telephone call to the Internet and personal visits. Customer demands became much more differentiated and interaction forms more personalized.    
Thanks to modern information technologies the required customer details are always accessible to a manager.  Modern software products make it possible to maintain contact with a customer even without direct personal interaction, to analyze incoming inquiries, offer services, novelties, evaluate the plausibility of providing a discount, and remind the account manager of a customer's birthday or any other important date.
What does it look like in practice? For example, let us consider AsstrA company that has already gained the trust of quite a large number of customers all around the world and has a rich experience in maintaining customer loyalty. What is the secret here?

AsstrA is oriented at its customers all around the world. This mainly involves:

• Rendering a full range of services compliant with world standards;
• Highly professional staff;
• Using modern information technologies;
• Quick response to market demands;
• And definitely an individual approach to each customer. 

In order to study its customers’ satisfaction level and preferences, AsstrA conducts customer polls in various regions. A poll includes not only a list of questions about the quality of a specific service, but also allows taking customer interests and wishes into account. An individual approach to customers according to their specific needs and demands may be worked using these data.
Consulting companies working on the international level are involved in conducting this kind of marketing research. The analysis of such polls makes it possible to evaluate in the needs of the main customer group against the background of market variability on time which helps to assess the situation realistically and to react timely.  A competent and - what is important - independent expert opinion on the issue in question is formed basing on the results of such research.

Asstra is always open for dialogue with its customers. Everyone who is willing to leave a comment about the experience of cooperating with the company and express his/her wishes right on the company website has an opportunity to do so. We try to create conditions for accumulating a base of exceptionally loyal customers, no matter whether they are big or small.   

We are proud of the fact that, according to the results of the customer satisfaction research conducted by Indecom marketing company in May 2009, 99% of customers having participated in the research are generally satisfied with Asstra’s ways of working.  When replying to the question about the reason why they have chosen exactly Asstra, the respondents most frequently talked of suitable conditions, especially prices, references (from partners and customers), company reputation on the market and required services rendered by the company. Evaluating Asstra, the respondents gave the highest degree of esteem to such criteria as quick response to inquiries, strict compliance with the terms and confidence in consignment safety in the way. The customer satisfaction index equaled to 8.69 with 10 being the highest value which is above average market values. Generally, it is a very high indicator and testifies to the high satisfaction level of Asstra customers. Insignificant index value fluctuations as compared the preceding period signal a stable service and company image level in the eyes of the customers. We are trying to meet the expectations of our customers! 

In conclusion, I would like to cite some interesting figures and facts noted by the leading marketing agencies:

• Average costs for attracting a new customer are five times higher than those for keeping an existing one.
• The majority of companies from the Fortune 500 list lose 50% of their customers every 5 years.
• A satisfied customer would talk about a successful purchase with 5 acquaintances on average and an unsatisfied one with least 10.
• The majority of customers start generating profits only after a year of cooperation with them (accordingly, if a customer goes away earlier, it brings losses).
• A 5% increase in maintaining customer commitment boosts company profit by 50-100%.
• About 50% of existing company customers are not profitable doe to ineffective interaction with them. 

Analytical Department of
AsstrA international group
of transport and logistics companies