Budget 09 is a mix bag of hits and misses

Budget 09 is a mix bag of hits and misses Taking the Human Resources Development Minister, Kapil Sibal's vision forward of revolutionising the education system (primarily school level), in India, Finance... Read more...				EXPERT SPEAK FBT gone, but pay perquisite tax on ESOPs ONE can't help but get the feeling that the tinkering exercise that Budget 2009 eventually turned into is a precursor to the new tax code. Budget 2009 has indeed been strange. Read More

Abolishment of FBT will help common man Budget 09 has focused on consumption and inclusive growth. Budget 2009: Bad for personal finance In the sphere of Personal Finance, the Budget 2009 -2010 provides for meagre tax concessions. LOANS I defaulted on my EMIs five times; what happens now? Have you insured your home loan? CREDIT CARDS Losing money is easy The myth of the free lunch STOCKS & FUNDS Simple ways to spot multibaggers What you just should not believe!		Car insurance and monsoon safety ASK anyone reeling under the sun, what a good escape from the heat would be. In most likelihood, the answer Read More TOOLS YOU MUST USE Contingency fund calculator What is your ideal asset allocation PROFILES Don't let higher EMIs ruin your budget MEET Jaidev Iyer, a middle management professional with a media company in Mumbai. In April 2007, he took a 20-year floating rate loan of Rs 44 lakh (Rs 44,00,000). With this, he purchased a two-and-a-half bedroom-hall-kitchen flat, in a Central suburb in Mumbai. Now, home loans with floating interest rates can be tricky; the moment you take the loan, the rate seems to start climbing, upwards. PROFILES Franchising: Their money, my profit Haresh Kukreja fancied the stock market a great deal. This Mumbai boy knew that a career in this field was his calling. After a few hurdles, Haresh, along with a partner, set up Investhub Financial Services, a franchisee for a popular broking house. After the initial struggles, they now run a successful firm.

CRM marketing mantras for recession

Marketing budgets are most at risk during economic downturns, but Gartner Inc has identified six marketing processes that can be automated to drive revenue and cut costs, maximizing marketing budgets and return on investments (ROIs).

“Blindly cutting marketing budgets during an uncertain economy will impair a company’s ability to retain and grow its customers, now, as well as when the market returns to more stable growth,” said Kimberly Collins, managing vice president at Gartner.

The research firm advocates the use of six key marketing processes to help marketing drive revenue, cut costs and drive ROI, thus justifying its spending. Three of the processes - customer retention management, lead management and online marketing - focus on driving revenue; while the other three - creative production management, marketing fulfillment and financial management - are designed to improve accountability and cut costs.

Retention management

Retaining high value or potential high-value customers is essential in difficult economic times. Gartner advises that organizations calculate the profitability and value of customers, identify those they want to keep and develop retention programmes based on their customer segment and identified needs.

This includes understanding how a customer may be affected by the economy and developing programs to support them. Event triggers can proactively identify when a customer’s circumstances may be about to change and staff should be trained and empowered to recognize this. Gartner predicts that in 2009, companies that develop effective retention management processes will reduce churn of profitable customers by at least 10 percent within six months.

Lead management

By expanding marketing’s role in the lead management process, companies can improve lead quality and ensure higher conversion rates by sales. The company advocates leveraging marketing insights, such as using marketing data and content to augment leads prior to sending them to sales.

It is expected that companies that automate lead management processes in 2009 will increase revenue by at least 10 percent within six to nine months, despite the uncertain economy.

Online marketing

The Web is a cost-effective way to reach customers and one of the easiest channels in which to measure marketing ROI. Companies are advised to identify and prioritise three to four online marketing initiatives and measure marketing ROI, increasing budget programmes for those delivering high ROI.

The company foresees that in 2009, companies that invest in new online marketing processes will drive at least a 10 percent increase in revenue within six months.

Creative production management

Automating creative production or product launches reduces time to market and improves resource allocation and efficiency, cutting marketing costs without cutting programs. A marketing resource management (MRM) module for creative production management can incorporate calendaring, tasks, project management, business rules and workflow, freeing up time for more creative work.

Gartner predicts that in 2009, companies that automate creative production will save 15 percent or more of their creative advertising budgets within three to six months.

Marketing fulfillment

Marketing fulfillment solutions (often a module of MRM) provide 24/7 access to collaterals via portal, print-on-demand and procurement capabilities, helping companies save on paper, shipping and physical storage costs.

In 2009, companies that invest in marketing fulfillment solutions will be able to eliminate 5 percent or more of marketing waste within three to six months.