CRM practices adopted by Indian banks

Management and marketing strategy is particularly targeted towards attaining a competitive edge in the marketplace (Kotler et al., 2001). This enables the organization to offer outstanding quality and value to the customers vis-à-vis the offerings of the competitors.  According to Porter (1980), competitive advantage can be acquired in two ways.  It could be either through identifying a cost effective supply source or by packaging the service offerings and an irresistible manner.  This requires out-of-the-box thinking on the part of the service provider so that its presence can be felt in the market as well as provides its scope and opportunity to grow better than its competitors.  It is paramount for the banks to understand it is not possible for a single bank to offer the total and complete range of products and services and achieve the highest rank for all customers.  This appreciation has compared to the banks to present innovative concepts for acquiring the competitive edge as well as for enhancing the quality of their products and services (Zineldin, 1996).

Traditional banking systems have passed through a stable market scenario for a long time.  However, the aggressive competitive setup of the market has shaken the banks out of their complacence.  Ultimately, as suggested by Zineldin (1995), trends indicate that as a result of intense competition and new legislations, the intra-country dealings of the traditional banking organizations have been severely hit by the non-banking organizations which have joined the fray.  It is evident that competition would be a key factor affecting survival in the market. Banks have increasingly realized that maintaining their position and more importantly surviving the competition is the key to ensuring their continuous run of profitability and its basic existence.  However, the competitive environment does not threaten them since they are aware that most of the new entrants are vulnerable to competition and maybe by wiped out from the market soon.

It is important to understand the determinants of quality before evaluating relationships in the context of quality, positioning and productivity (Zineldin, 2000). It stands to reason than that the intangible dimensions of service quality can be enhanced only by incurring higher expenses.  Even then it is likely that service quality may not be clearly perceptible due to the lack of definition of the intangible aspects of service.  This is the cause of concern for many banks.

This underscores the fact that only an experience can make it possible to appreciate quality. Customer relations and quality are the two significant elements which can put any business in a tight spot when it comes to the question of measuring their economic and business impact (Trepper, 2000).  It is possible to address the issue of evaluation by adding tangible attributes to dimensions like competitive positioning, client relationship and quality.  Positioning refers to the various dimensions aimed at addressing the expectations and requirements of the consumers accompanied by a range and quality of services in the competitive marketing.