Database Reference
In-Depth Information
planning. Thus, SAP CRM bridges the gap between the supply and demand chains, improves the
customer service at the front office, and optimizes the cost-effectiveness at the back office.
SAP CRM offers companies all the market analysis functions they need to be able to
analyze and report on customer-related information, which is necessary to give a
better understanding of customer behavior and value. Companies can use this infor-
mation to plan campaigns, promotions, and events, make their customers effective
product proposals, increase customer satisfaction, enhance the use and profitability of
products, and retain customers in the long run.
Important functions of marketing planning are
◾
Collaborative planning functions with embedded marketing workflows and approval pro-
cesses for faster planning cycles and reduced planning and execution costs
◾
Interactive and personalized marketing calendar functions to manage campaigns, market-
ing planning, and trade promotions
◾
Integration in supply and demand chains for higher efficiency and accuracy (it enables simu-
lation of different supply chain scenarios)
◾
Proper ROI reporting functions based on current financial data and not on estimates
◾
The possibility to formulate and communicate marketing strategies across the company;
enables the flexibility in distributing and coordinating plans, which allows companies to
perform top-down and bottom-up planning
◾
The possibility to coordinate and optimize the use of internal and external marketing
resources and initiatives across the company
◾
The availability of snapshots—versions of modified marketing plans—which offer detailed
budgeting functions as well as better understanding of plan modifications over a particular
period
◾
Individualized planning of key performance indicators to enable planning on a financial,
supply logistics, and product level
8.1.2.3 Segment Management
The SAP CRM Marketing includes a tool called the Segment Builder that can be used to build
large groups for marketing campaigns based on marketing attributes such as age, income, geo-
graphical location, hobbies, buying behavior, and RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) values.
Groups of customers who possess similar attributes and needs fall into what are termed as
customer
segments
. Customer segmentation, which is the basis of marketing campaigns, can be performed
using various attributes or other criteria. To help marketing fine-tune its selection of target groups,
SAP CRM offers all the tools required for analytical and ad hoc segmentation. Business users can
create target segments for customers, partners, organizations, prospects, and groups and integrate
them separately with market campaigns.
The Segment Builder can access customer data from a variety of sources, including SAP
NetWeaver BI, SAP ERP, or even purchased customer lists. To speed up the process of search-
ing for and retrieving customer data, it uses the TREX high-speed engine; additionally, it offers
a number of other advanced features such as predictive modeling, dynamic filtering, segment
