Recommendations

The results analysis and discussion showed the following key milestones that need to be developed in order to reach the ultimate benefits from adoption of CRM concept in CMWU daily operation. These milestones are,

• Quality of the provided services.

• Effective system for dealing with customer’s complaints and quires. • Developing the communication channels with the customers. First: The quality of the provided services.

1) The CMWU must set continues and stable water distribution schedule that needs not to be changed unless it’s absolutely necessary. In the mean while, the CMWU must provide the customers with prior notice before any changes in the schedule.

2) The water distribution schedule must meet the principles of equity among all the customers in Rafah city with no distinguishing approach or conversion system that ought to be deserted.

3) The CMWU must develop and improve the quantity and quality of the water resource and if allowed raise the per capita consumption.

4) The CMWU must deal with services network breakdown in a fast, efficient and effective way, especially those breakdowns which might lead to services deterioration.

5) The CMWU must empower the performance of the technical team especially those in direct contact with the customers (maintenance and water distribution operational team) by involving them into training programs in order to nurture and improve their capabilities in dealing with emergencies situation.

Second: Effective system for dealing with customer’s complaints and quires.

1) It is recommended that the CMWU must develop a Customer Complaints Structure CCS in order to deal and response to customer’s complaints, and ensure that the customer requests are being taking care of in an efficient manner and proper response timing.

2) The developed CCS must be tied with a time frame for fulfilling each query, review, evaluate and assess the performance of the involved employees in that regard.

3) The CCS must start form receiving the complaint and ending it with getting customer feedback about the CMWU reaction and the employees’ performance in resolving the complaint.

4) Developing the CMWU call center and adopting the principles of calls registration will ensure higher level of quality assurance and enforce the commitment of the CMWU employees with higher standard in responding and dealing with customers.

5) The CMWU have to be committed to any promise been given by its employees to the customers during the customer complaints resolution.

6) The frontline officers should be acquainted with the tools which empower them to efficiently serve the customers and synchronizes customer’s interaction, information, and complaints across all related channels. This can be efficiently done when the CMWU insists on granting its employee the right skills as the customer’s centric focus should be the principle behind that.

Third: Developing the Communication channels with the customers.

1) In order to enhance customer satisfaction, acquisition, retention, and decreasing customer loss, the CMWU should focus on adopting and implementing CRM strategies that aim to seek, gather, and store the right information, validated and share it through the entire organization levels; in order to create unique experience and deliver high services quality.

2) The updated information should include customer address, number of beneficiaries from each subscription, their names, phone numbers, cell phone numbers, Emails and if possible dates of their special occasions. Such information will help the CMWU in establishing the proper contact with the customers at the proper time

3) The CMWU should encourage its employees to embrace the concept of the private sector practices, especially in dealing with the customers, and evaluate the performance of the frontline officers accordingly.

4) The CMWU should develop its organizational structure, in a way that ensure the full support from the CMWU technical and administrative departments to the customer service department so as to ensure that the customers complaints , quires, and suggestion will be circulated to the concerned department in the right time and no delay will take place during processing the complaints.

5) Developing the customer tracking and communication unit for continuous study and analysis of the customer’s bill paying behavior, and to establish the proper communications (by phone, Email, SMS , or Private visits) in case it notices a change in that behavior to which it might affect the customer revenue stream and acts upon it.

6) Develop the CMWU web site by adding new customer interacting services such as electronic services, customer account check, payment schedule, consumption behavior, water distribution schedule, payment options …etc.

7) Develop and intensify the bill paying encouragement campaigns, in order to maintain continues commitment of the CC and PCC and try to acquire as much new customers as possible. In parallel the campaigns must be accompanied laterally by remarkable improvements in the provided service areas, in order to ensure high levels of response.

8) The CMWU should develop new and improved ways of communication with the customers, especially in the process of paying the water bills. Plans such as paying through the local banks (either by accepting cash payments from customers or by making auto discount) or through the private companies could be a good approach in facilitating the bill paying operations.

9) Develop a new accounting process which ensures the flexibility of water bill payments for the customers with large arrears. This will encourage the customers to pay their water bills and help the CMWU acquire more UCC.

In addition to the 3 cornerstones recommendation that were specifically addressed above, the following general recommendation could support the approach provided in this research

General Recommendations

1) Senior management levels must assure creating customer oriented culture in the CMWU in order to become more positive responsive to customers’ needs and expectations.

2) CMWU should examine carefully the existing private companies and its experience dealing with customers and promoting for establishing the proper cooperation strategy. The combination between the public sector characteristics and the private sector approaches could be of high benefit for CMWU in its start-up stage.

3) After the adoption of CRM concept, criteria of success measurements should be clearly illustrated in order to evaluate the performance, drive and monitor the success and set the proper plans for future development.

5.4 Recommendation for further studies:  

In light of this study and the results that have been achieved the researcher recommend the following studies.

1. The Effect of human Resource Development operation on the success of CRM implementation.

2. The Effect of Top management support on achieving successful CRM system implementation.

3. Organizational Structure development toward a customer centric organization. 4. The critical success factors of CRM implementation in the Palestinian Market.

5. Feasibility study of application and implementation of customer relationship management CRM in the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility.