In most manufacturing companies, a large portion of business is generated from resellers, distributors and dealers. Manufacturers sell to the distributors who in turn, sell to their end customers. In certain industries, distributors sell to dealers who sell to end customers.

1. In most manufacturing companies, a large portion of business is
generated from resellers, distributors and dealers. Manufacturers sell to
the distributors who in turn, sell to their end customers. In certain
industries, distributors sell to dealers who sell to end customers. Although
some CRM and ERP software have the ability to capture end customer
information, there are a number of challenges to overcome in this area.
Even when this data is captured, the question still remains how to turn this
into valuable and usable information. We believe end customer
information is critical in achieving the Customer 360 Degree Vision.
End customer information can be difficult to acquire because
distributors lack the incentive to provide it to manufacturers. Even when
distributors provide this data, it is challenging to uniquely identify end
customers when multiple distributors are in business with the same end
customer. Data quality is typically poor, often incomplete with misspelled
names and differing address formats.
Manufacturer systems are typically geared towards order fulfilment, theref
ore capturing end customer information is not a necessity or priority. The
self-service capabilities provided by the manufacturer either do not allow
capturing end customer information or offer it is an optional feature.
Companies in different industries acquire end customer information by
various methods including the following:
• In the HVAC industry, distributors make claims against marketing
promotions launched by manufacturers, where they are required to
provide end customer (dealer) information
• In the semiconductor industry, distributors provide POS (Point of Sale)
information, which potentially includes end customer information
• The traditional warranty and product registration forms fulfilled by
end customers (entered mostly online these days) offers limited
information
• In High-Tech industry, software and patch download is another way to
stay close and provide value to end customers
• Periodic surveys distributed to end customers measures
distributors’/retailers’ performance and acquires end customer
information
• Providing distributor access to opportunity/lead registration systems
and initiatives enables collaborative selling using manufacturer
systems
Point of View
Importance of End Customer in achieving Customer 360 degree vision
by Ashish Saxena, Accrete Solutions
Ashish Saxena is a Director with Accrete Solutions
Email: ashish@accretesol.com , Tel : +1(877)-849-5838
USA
Head Office
3350 Scott Blvd, Bldg 34
Santa Clara, CA 95054
South Africa
609 Lanseria Corporate Estate,
Falcon Lane, Lanseria,
Gauteng
Chile
Galvarino Gallardo 1638,
Providencia,
Santiago
India
Development Centre
102A, HARTRON, Electronics
City, Gurgaon
Copyright © Accrete Solutions 2017. All rights reserved.
• Drop-Ship orders include the accurate name and address of the end
customer
• Data mining from social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter,
Google+ and other sources.
The benefits reaped by some of the companies who have been able to
capture and cleanse end customer information are:
• Classify and group customers to provide differentiated levels of sales
and service, facilitating the opportunity for more lucrative
relationships
• Provide more productive and efficient customer service with customer
information readily accessible
• Acquire better feedback on products and services performance throug
h surveys, Voice of Customer (VOC), and social media, allowing com
panies to more quickly react to trends in social media
• Targeted campaigns to end customers for upgrade sales
opportunities
• Offer extended warranties to end customers whose warranties have
expired
• Beyond tactical advantages, greater intimacy allows better strategic
alignment with end customers
Many companies are coming closer to their Customer 360 Degree Vision,
but still have a long way to go. Capturing, cleansing, and correctly
identifying a unique customer record is a difficult task but worth the
effort, if companies can put the information to good use.