IPA IP 2024 Question 34
A question IPA Japan published in 令和6年度 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問34, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
A company wants to build a mechanism that builds good long-term relationships with customers by providing attentive responses according to the characteristics of each customer, leading to improved customer satisfaction and the continuation of business relationships. As one of the components of that mechanism, it has decided to introduce a system that accumulates attribute information about customers obtained in sales activities, the history of negotiations with customers, and other such information, and that enables them to be shared within the company. Which of the following is the most appropriate system that can achieve this purpose?
Explanation
SFA system — a system that records customer information and negotiation history from sales activities and shares it within the company.
The mechanism described as a whole is CRM (Customer Relationship Management): long-term relationships built by responding to each customer's characteristics. One of its components supports the sales force itself. SFA (Sales Force Automation) stores customer attributes, contact and negotiation history, deals in progress and sales know-how, and shares them across the sales department and the company, so anyone can pick up a customer where the last contact left off.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) CAE system — computer-aided engineering: simulation and analysis of a product design on a computer
- •(b) MRP system — material requirements planning: calculating the parts and materials needed from the production plan and the bill of materials
- •(c) SCM system — supply chain management: optimizing the flow of goods from procurement through production and distribution to sales, across companies
Key rule: CRM is the customer strategy; SFA is the sales tool inside it that accumulates and shares customer and negotiation information.
Business Strategy Management · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.