December 17, 2014 at 06:49Guinness - "The Perfect Pint of Beer." Case of excellent CRM solutions
I have been studying CRM for a long time and have read a lot of literature on this topic. There are many definitions of what CRM is, but most of all I liked the definition from the book “CRM Guide. The path to improving customer management. ” Posted by Adrian Payne.
I believe that the problem with many modern companies is the desire for total automation of customer relationships. We can plan calls to customers, set ourselves tasks and reminders, we can forecast transactions and consider conversion. But how does all this help earn customer loyalty? After all, our competitors are doing the same. The definition given above tells us that CRM is not only information technology, but it is a new market thinking. A great example of this idea is the Guinness case, the “Perfect Pint of Beer,” which I also came across in this book. I bring it to you completely.
Guinness was founded in Ireland in 1759 by Arthur Guinness. In a short period of time, the company's thick dark beer gained such popularity that it squeezed imported beers from the Irish market, captured a part of the English market and revolutionized the brewing industry. By 1825, the strong porter Guinness began to be sold abroad, and by 1838, the Guinness' frish Brewery became the largest brewing company in Ireland. In 1881, the volume of Guinness beer produced annually exceeded one million barrels, and by 1914 St James's Gate became the largest brewing company in the world.
Today Guinness beer is brewed in more than 35 countries. All beer brewed abroad must contain an aromatic extract produced by Dublin's St James's Gate brewing company. Therefore, a special brewing art created by Arthur Guinness. present in each of the 10 million glasses of Guinness drunk daily around the world.
Today, Guinness, part of the public company Diegio, owns one of the most recognizable brands in the world with very loyal customers. However, the production of a consistently high-quality product has become one of the main problems faced by the company.
It is generally recognized that product quality is the most important factor in building customer loyalty, especially when it comes to getting loyal customers from among people who drink beer from time to time. Studies show that in order to develop addiction to thick dark beer, the product must meet the expectations of customers always and in all cases. At every brewery in the company, the production process is closely monitored. The ingredients for each brewing are strictly tested, and among them there is always a special ingredient made in Dublin.
Tasters of the company daily take samples from dozens of samples of beer. To guarantee their highest consumer quality, all products of the company are regularly tasted at all stages of their life cycle. Tasters evaluate beer by its aroma, smell and foam quality and notice any problems or deviations in the quality of the product.
However, as it turned out, the production of a standard product alone is not enough to ensure that each client drinks the same “Perfect Pint” anytime, anywhere. Studies conducted in the UK in the 1990s showed that consumers were often offered pint, "not reaching the ideal." Guinness Brewing GB recognized this as the biggest concern regarding overall supply chain management. Consequently, it was precisely this problem that had to be solved in order to guarantee customers an invariably perfect impression in places of beer consumption.
The solution to this problem lay far beyond the capabilities of individual departments of the company. In order to guarantee that the customer always gets the perfect impression in the places of consumption, the company has created a special group for establishing cross-functional processes. The group was tasked with creating the "Perfect Pint of Beer."
The group compiled a detailed map and calculated the entire process of product delivery from the brewery to the client. Based on the results, a detailed program has been developed that, when implemented, ensures that customers receive the “Ideal Pint of Beer”. The supply chain control, which Guinness calls the quality chain, has four main steps:
In the first two stages, quality control concerned the strictness of the requirements for procurement and the maintenance of production standards. Guinness's attention to quality begins with suppliers and buyers who try to meet company standards, and the production process itself is based on world-class methods and an integrated quality management system. All employees of the company share the point of view of quality and, thanks to excellent training, understand how important each of them plays in the quality chain. At each stage of the brewing process, samples are tasted. Even beer is bottled in kegs, cans and bottles to ensure that the beer has a standardized aroma and appearance.
At the same time, the group occupied by Ideal Pint found that problems sometimes started as soon as beer arrived at licensed establishments. Guinness, like any other draft beer, is a living product that requires careful handling. Often, beer was not properly stored and served. Although these issues did not fall within the direct control of the company, they were critical to the quality of the customer’s experience with the product.
The group undertook extensive research to find a way to constantly maintain high quality at the final stages of the supply chain, the results of their work were recommendations for pub owners, affecting all aspects of quality beer bottling. These recommendations included the correct gas mixture recipe for dispensing beer from barrels, the ideal dispensing temperature, washing beer racks and glasses, and the perfect presentation of beer.
Guinness spent a great deal of research and development on bottling equipment and glass filling methods. For example, creating a faucet through which Guinness is poured today in pubs cost the company £ I million. The faucet was designed to be able to easy to manage and thus guarantee the perfect look of every pint. Another development was the introduction of a gas mix program for draft beer pubs. The implementation of such initiatives helps the company ensure that the client receives the Perfect Pint every time .
The training of service personnel was not ignored. The Ideal Pint Group recognized how important the role of staff is in getting the client the Ideal Pint. For example, the implementation of the famous "two-stage loading" requires a long practice. In order to ensure the proper bottling of beer and the correct consumption by its customers, the company has developed detailed instructions and trainings:
Thanks to good training, every Guinness employee is aware of their responsibility. that customers everywhere and always get the “Perfect Pint”. Attendants in licensed institutions teach how to make two-stage filling, and encourage strict control of beer filling methods, monitor the height of the foam cap and the temperature of the pint. If any problem occurs, staff can immediately report it to the Ideal Pint support group, and the pub owner will receive additional advice or instructions.
The task assigned to the "Perfect Pint" is not limited to this. As the company studies have shown, in order for the customer experience to be stable over time, training of the customers themselves is required. The company needed to inform consumers about their role in creating the Perfect Pint. Laminated cards were placed at the points of sale of beer, on one side of which it was explained how to pour “Ideal Pint”, and on the back - the optimum temperature of beer delivery was indicated and a ruler was drawn with which customers could measure whether the foam height was correct on their pint .
Consumers were also influenced through a highly successful advertising campaign that praised the virtues of the Ideal Pint wait process, because Guinness should be allowed to stand one and a half to two minutes. So thirsty customers now began to patiently wait for their beer. They have become part of the process and are now convinced that the beer that is worth drinking is worth the wait. Even the company's main clientele has learned to endure the expectation of receiving a pint. As one of the pub owners says: “Regulars drink their glasses in three sips. They re-order immediately after the second sip, and as soon as the entire glass is drunk, a new one is ready. They are strong people. ”
This customer experience strategy has helped the company capture the largest draft beer market share in its history. Guinness acknowledged that the right presentation is to make sure that beer is bought again. And this requires the full integration of all links in the supply chain, including the customers themselves. The Perfect Pint project was so successful that its methods began to be applied worldwide to improve the delivery and quality of Guinness draft beer. "
As we can see, in order to become the most coveted beer brand, Guinness, having achieved a high, even ideal product quality, introducing new technologies and carefully trained personnel, involves customers in the process. And these are not just traditional marketing techniques. Enlisting audience loyalty by teaching and entertaining it is a completely different type of connection. This is the very new way of thinking, a new business approach that should become the basis of any customer management. And information technology is just a way to achieve a goal.
Source: CRM Guide. The path to improving customer management. ” Posted by Adrian Payne.
Regards, Kinzyabulatov Ramil
The CRM system, often referred to as customer management, is a business approach. Its goal is to create, develop and strengthen relations with carefully selected customers, increase customer benefits, increase corporate profits, and therefore maximize the profits of investors. CRM is often associated with the use of information technology in the implementation of relationship marketing: CRM COMBINES NEW TECHNOLOGIES WITH A NEW MARKET THINKING, CREATING SUCH A FAVORABLE LONG-TERM RELATIONS WITH CLIENTS.
I believe that the problem with many modern companies is the desire for total automation of customer relationships. We can plan calls to customers, set ourselves tasks and reminders, we can forecast transactions and consider conversion. But how does all this help earn customer loyalty? After all, our competitors are doing the same. The definition given above tells us that CRM is not only information technology, but it is a new market thinking. A great example of this idea is the Guinness case, the “Perfect Pint of Beer,” which I also came across in this book. I bring it to you completely.
Company
Guinness was founded in Ireland in 1759 by Arthur Guinness. In a short period of time, the company's thick dark beer gained such popularity that it squeezed imported beers from the Irish market, captured a part of the English market and revolutionized the brewing industry. By 1825, the strong porter Guinness began to be sold abroad, and by 1838, the Guinness' frish Brewery became the largest brewing company in Ireland. In 1881, the volume of Guinness beer produced annually exceeded one million barrels, and by 1914 St James's Gate became the largest brewing company in the world.
Today Guinness beer is brewed in more than 35 countries. All beer brewed abroad must contain an aromatic extract produced by Dublin's St James's Gate brewing company. Therefore, a special brewing art created by Arthur Guinness. present in each of the 10 million glasses of Guinness drunk daily around the world.
Today, Guinness, part of the public company Diegio, owns one of the most recognizable brands in the world with very loyal customers. However, the production of a consistently high-quality product has become one of the main problems faced by the company.
Problem
It is generally recognized that product quality is the most important factor in building customer loyalty, especially when it comes to getting loyal customers from among people who drink beer from time to time. Studies show that in order to develop addiction to thick dark beer, the product must meet the expectations of customers always and in all cases. At every brewery in the company, the production process is closely monitored. The ingredients for each brewing are strictly tested, and among them there is always a special ingredient made in Dublin.
Tasters of the company daily take samples from dozens of samples of beer. To guarantee their highest consumer quality, all products of the company are regularly tasted at all stages of their life cycle. Tasters evaluate beer by its aroma, smell and foam quality and notice any problems or deviations in the quality of the product.
However, as it turned out, the production of a standard product alone is not enough to ensure that each client drinks the same “Perfect Pint” anytime, anywhere. Studies conducted in the UK in the 1990s showed that consumers were often offered pint, "not reaching the ideal." Guinness Brewing GB recognized this as the biggest concern regarding overall supply chain management. Consequently, it was precisely this problem that had to be solved in order to guarantee customers an invariably perfect impression in places of beer consumption.
Decision
The solution to this problem lay far beyond the capabilities of individual departments of the company. In order to guarantee that the customer always gets the perfect impression in the places of consumption, the company has created a special group for establishing cross-functional processes. The group was tasked with creating the "Perfect Pint of Beer."
The group compiled a detailed map and calculated the entire process of product delivery from the brewery to the client. Based on the results, a detailed program has been developed that, when implemented, ensures that customers receive the “Ideal Pint of Beer”. The supply chain control, which Guinness calls the quality chain, has four main steps:
- quality control of raw materials supplied to the company;
- quality control of boiling and bottling;
- control that the owner of the pub serves the "Ideal Pint";
- making sure that the client knows how to have fun at the final stage of consumption of the product.
In the first two stages, quality control concerned the strictness of the requirements for procurement and the maintenance of production standards. Guinness's attention to quality begins with suppliers and buyers who try to meet company standards, and the production process itself is based on world-class methods and an integrated quality management system. All employees of the company share the point of view of quality and, thanks to excellent training, understand how important each of them plays in the quality chain. At each stage of the brewing process, samples are tasted. Even beer is bottled in kegs, cans and bottles to ensure that the beer has a standardized aroma and appearance.
At the same time, the group occupied by Ideal Pint found that problems sometimes started as soon as beer arrived at licensed establishments. Guinness, like any other draft beer, is a living product that requires careful handling. Often, beer was not properly stored and served. Although these issues did not fall within the direct control of the company, they were critical to the quality of the customer’s experience with the product.
The group undertook extensive research to find a way to constantly maintain high quality at the final stages of the supply chain, the results of their work were recommendations for pub owners, affecting all aspects of quality beer bottling. These recommendations included the correct gas mixture recipe for dispensing beer from barrels, the ideal dispensing temperature, washing beer racks and glasses, and the perfect presentation of beer.
Guinness spent a great deal of research and development on bottling equipment and glass filling methods. For example, creating a faucet through which Guinness is poured today in pubs cost the company £ I million. The faucet was designed to be able to easy to manage and thus guarantee the perfect look of every pint. Another development was the introduction of a gas mix program for draft beer pubs. The implementation of such initiatives helps the company ensure that the client receives the Perfect Pint every time .
The training of service personnel was not ignored. The Ideal Pint Group recognized how important the role of staff is in getting the client the Ideal Pint. For example, the implementation of the famous "two-stage loading" requires a long practice. In order to ensure the proper bottling of beer and the correct consumption by its customers, the company has developed detailed instructions and trainings:
- Hold the glass at an angle of 45 ° near the spout of the tap so that large bubbles do not form in the foam.
- Turn the tap completely and fill the glass by 75%, before adding the glass, let the beer stand well.
- Let the creamy foam separate from the dark base.
- When topping up the beer, slightly move the tap forward so that the foam protrudes slightly from the edges of the glass.
- Never allow beer to spill over or drip down the side of a glass.
Thanks to good training, every Guinness employee is aware of their responsibility. that customers everywhere and always get the “Perfect Pint”. Attendants in licensed institutions teach how to make two-stage filling, and encourage strict control of beer filling methods, monitor the height of the foam cap and the temperature of the pint. If any problem occurs, staff can immediately report it to the Ideal Pint support group, and the pub owner will receive additional advice or instructions.
Summary
The task assigned to the "Perfect Pint" is not limited to this. As the company studies have shown, in order for the customer experience to be stable over time, training of the customers themselves is required. The company needed to inform consumers about their role in creating the Perfect Pint. Laminated cards were placed at the points of sale of beer, on one side of which it was explained how to pour “Ideal Pint”, and on the back - the optimum temperature of beer delivery was indicated and a ruler was drawn with which customers could measure whether the foam height was correct on their pint .
Consumers were also influenced through a highly successful advertising campaign that praised the virtues of the Ideal Pint wait process, because Guinness should be allowed to stand one and a half to two minutes. So thirsty customers now began to patiently wait for their beer. They have become part of the process and are now convinced that the beer that is worth drinking is worth the wait. Even the company's main clientele has learned to endure the expectation of receiving a pint. As one of the pub owners says: “Regulars drink their glasses in three sips. They re-order immediately after the second sip, and as soon as the entire glass is drunk, a new one is ready. They are strong people. ”
This customer experience strategy has helped the company capture the largest draft beer market share in its history. Guinness acknowledged that the right presentation is to make sure that beer is bought again. And this requires the full integration of all links in the supply chain, including the customers themselves. The Perfect Pint project was so successful that its methods began to be applied worldwide to improve the delivery and quality of Guinness draft beer. "
As we can see, in order to become the most coveted beer brand, Guinness, having achieved a high, even ideal product quality, introducing new technologies and carefully trained personnel, involves customers in the process. And these are not just traditional marketing techniques. Enlisting audience loyalty by teaching and entertaining it is a completely different type of connection. This is the very new way of thinking, a new business approach that should become the basis of any customer management. And information technology is just a way to achieve a goal.
Source: CRM Guide. The path to improving customer management. ” Posted by Adrian Payne.
Regards, Kinzyabulatov Ramil