Using Information as a Basis for Segmentation and Relationship Marketing: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Leading Financial Services Firm

An important concern for service businesses is how to develop an appropriate segmentation and relationship marketing strategy that is tied to the value contribution of the customer base. This article presents a case study of the relationship marketing strategy for a division of a leading, worldwide financial services provider. The case firm segments customers into three tiers, using a framework similar to the one established by Berry and Parasuraman. Potential revenue from the customer is the primary segmentation variable used to assign customers to one of the three tiers, while the customer service response is tailored for each tier based upon customer information capabilities and needs. Although information is normally thought of as a supplemental service, rather than a core service, this case study shows how information is central to providing effective customer service and is a key to relationship marketing. The study also demonstrates how social and structural bonds can be used to refocus a customer's thinking from a cost perspective to a value perspective.     

Impact of Traditional Chinese Culture on Business-to-Business Relationship Marketing and Service Firm Performance

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This work addresses the mixed findings in relationship marketing studies regarding the importance of traditional culture-level (i.e., interpersonal) relationships on service firm outcomes.

Methodology/approach: This article leverages customer relationship marketing (CRM) theory to advance a framework for understanding the causal relationship between the Chinese cultural worldview and relationship marketing in order to better predict firm performance.

Findings: The author suggests that five major Chinese cultural characteristics—iren-qing, wa-pao, mianzi, chaxu-geju, and collectivism—can qualify the business-to-business (B-to-B) relationship building process and impact the effectiveness of interpersonal and/or group relationships on service firm outcomes.

Research implications: The study’s framework suggests that Chinese cultural characteristics, universal concepts manifest in the activities of Chinese society and organizations, have a positive effect on customer relationship marketing. Chinese culture characteristics can be used to generate excellent relationships with customers and thus create a consumer preference for certain companies and drive service marketing repurchase.

Originality/value/contribution: This study’s theoretical framework (a) distinguishes between Chinese cultural characteristic and relationship marketing relationships; (b) suggests that Chinese cultural characteristics and customer relationship marketing have a positive and substantial effect on service firm performance and that Chinese cultural characteristics are related to customer relationship marketing in their effect on service firm performance; and (c) provides managerially relevant guidelines for strategic sales planning.     

THE IMPACT OF INTERNAL MARKETING EFFORTS IN DISTRIBUTION SERVICE OPERATIONS

Marketing efforts can offer firms a greater competitive advantage by overtly stimulating the impact of frontline logistics employees on customer value creation. In such a situation, internal marketing becomes the strategy of choice in both service and product support contexts. A broad marketing mix framework is introduced shifting the traditional application from marketing products to marketing the workplace to logistics distribution employees. Research findings support a multidimensional operationalization of internal marketing. Holistic tests indicate that internal marketing on an interpersonal level is associated with satisfied and higher performing distribution center employees and increased interdepartmental customer orientation.     

Integrating Customer Satisfaction into the Strategic Marketing Plan

Demanding ever-increasing quality and value, consumers are having major impact on organizations. Ideally, marketing should be at the forefront of organizational change because of this new orientation to customer satisfaction. Marketing can increase its contribution to the organization to the extent it is able to integrate customer satisfaction into the strategic marketing plan. Manufactured products and delivered services generally arise from a need. As long as that need exists and it is fulfilled, the life of the business that procedures that product or service continues. Many businesses have faltered or even disappeared because they did not consistently keep customer needs, expectations, perceptions and attitudes as their first priorities in decision-making and planning. In a changing marketplace, focusing on customer satisfaction ensures a solid foundation on which continued growth and success can be built. This article presents a summary of the key concepts gathered from a review of recent literature on the customer satisfaction process. Examples are offered to illustrate that companies are integrating customer satisfaction to increase their competitive advantage. Finally, the article provides a framework for integrating customer satisfaction into the strategic marketing plan.     

大规模定制模式下基于顾客需求的物流服务商选择研究

以大规模定制(MC)为背景,根据企业顾客的服务需求,提出了一个基于质量功能展开(Quality Function Deployment,QFD)和TOPSIS(综合距离评价)算法相结合选择物流服务商的新方法。首先依据QFD的方法,对基于顾客需求的物流服务商进行了详细分析,然后运用TOPSIS算法,综合考虑几项指标,从候选物流供应商中选择满足顾客需求的"理想物流服务商"。最后,通过举例验证思路的科学性和合理性。     

E-service quality: an internal,multichannel and pure service perspective

This article contributes to the emerging e-service quality literature by adopting a different approach to the dominant focus in previous research. The work centres on the internal perspective of organisation, studies the pure service sector and subjects the personal sales channel and the Internet channel to joint examination. A new conceptual framework is proposed via an adaptation of the service pyramid model [Parasuraman, A. (1996). Understanding and leveraging the role of customer service in external interactive and internal marketing. Paper presented at the 1996 Frontiers in Services Conference, Nashville, TN], and employee-orientated internal marketing and technology-orientated internal marketing are analysed as integrated drivers of commercial performance, within the context of retail banking in Spain. The results suggest that both marketing activities constitute part of a coherent strategy that is geared towards making and meeting service promises, within a multichannel perspective, and is associated with high commercial performance.     

Revised planning matrix of quality function deployment

Quality function deployment (QFD) has been adopted to improve product quality and development in many fields. Numerous studies have demonstrated that attribute importance and attribute performance have a causal relationship and the customer self-stated raw importance is not the actual importance of a customer attribute. These findings generate questions regarding the applicability of the conventional planning matrix (PM) of QFD. This study presents a revised PM that integrates a back-propagation neural network and three-factor theory to assist practitioners in determining the actual importance of customer attributes. An illustrative case demonstrates the effectiveness of the revised PM and identifies the shortcomings generated when applying the conventional PM.     

A new service development integrated model

Several scholars have proposed a new service development (NSD) process but the failure rate of NSD is high, due to the lack of an efficient development process and customer orientation and input. Quality function deployment (QFD) is one of the structured methodologies that is used to translate customer needs into specific quality development, but the effect should be improved, especially when used in service industries applications. This research integrated Kano's model with QFD to categorize the attitude, and proposed a revised improved ratio to strengthen the rise in customer satisfaction, then through the revised gap model the gaps are evaluated to provide an indicator to the manager about the importance, priority and direction of the service development. Two illustrative cases are applied to this research, which proves the obvious contribution of this integrated model.     

The service quality–loyalty relationship in retail services: does commitment matter?

The marketing literature has produced two schools of thought on the cause of customer loyalty in services industries. The service quality perspective puts forward that service quality evaluations substantially drive customer loyalty in services industries. The relationship marketing perspective puts forward that customer commitment to the service provider substantially drives customer loyalty in services industries. In addition, commitment is a complex construct with at least two forms, one based in liking and identification (affective commitment) and one based in dependence and switching costs (continuance commitment). These positions were examined in an integrated model of retail–service relationships. It was found that affective commitment and continuance commitment were mainly partial mediators of the service quality–loyalty relationship. It was also found that affective commitment to the retailer had a positive impact on customer loyalty while continuance commitment in marketing relationship had a deleterious effect on customer loyalty.     

Reversing the Logic: The Path to Profitability through Relationship Marketing

Many firms have experienced greater success through implementing relationship marketing strategies. This is achieved by gaining knowledge about their own customers through database marketing and about the general marketplace through marketing research. Over time, this has led firms to adopt a general framework which we call the conventional path to profitability. This conventional framework suggests that new product innovation leads to acquisition, acquisition combined with a rich experience leads to satisfaction, satisfaction leads to loyalty and customer retention, and loyalty/retention leads to profitability. However, we show that some of the links in the framework are weak based on both academic research and marketplace realities. Consequently, we reverse the logic of the conventional path to profitability. We introduce a new approach that starts the customer relationship management strategy with customer profitability and the notion that different customers should be rewarded and satisfied differently. In addition, we outline a strategy that relationship marketing firms can implement, leading to higher levels of customer profitability and offer directions for future research.     

Organizational Learning and CRM Success: A Model for Linking Organizational Practices,Customer Data Quality,and Performance

A high quality customer database is a cornerstone of successful interactive marketing strategies and tactics. Based on the notion that customer data quality is not only a technical but also an organizational problem, this study develops and tests an organizational learning framework of the relationship between organizational processes, customer data quality and firm performance. The findings show that high quality customer data impact both customer and business performance and that the most important driver of customer data quality comes from the executive suite. A large portion of the impact of organizational culture on performance is mediated by customer data quality and data sharing. The results support the presence of a hierarchy of effects for enhancing data quality that runs from organizational learning (committed to a shared vision for CRM data), to cross-functional learning (marketing/IT cooperation, marketing/IT integration) to functional learning (data sharing).     

Vertical performance management: Strategic implications for financial service

This paper examines the relationship between productivity and customer satisfaction in marketing consumer services. It presents a conceptual framework that highlights four dimensions of productivity measurement: capacity, perceived quality, profitability, and satisfaction. One of the more distinctive aspects of this presentation is its analysis of productivity from the dual perspectives of both the customer and the service provider. A preliminary formulation of the productivity model emphasizes the high degree of interaction between the evaluation of performance from these two perspectives. A recent service innovation in the area of electronic funds transfer illustrates this framework.     

网上银行信息安全产品服务定价策略研究

作为营销新观念,服务营销以客户需求为中心,以提供优质服务为手段和方式,除了向顾客提供满意的产品以外,还注重向顾客提供与之相关的各种服务。本文试图从服务营销中的顾客感知价值的角度出发,运用服务定价的基本理论,将顾客感知价值与网上银行信息安全产品的服务定价联系起来,从顾客感知价值的角度探讨网上银行信息安全产品的顾客服务与服务定价策略,不仅关注网上银行信息安全产品的销售,更加关注顾客的需求、顾客购买和使用产品全过程的感受,旨在通过取得顾客满意度、忠诚度,实现网上银行业绩的持续改善和长期增长。     

Rethinking the bottom of the pyramid: Towards a new marketing mix

The purpose of this study is to re-conceptualize the conventional marketing mix for Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) markets and propose a revised framework by reorganizing the elements based on the customer perspective while retaining the principles of services marketing. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire with a sample size of 400 people from both urban and rural markets in the BoP. Findings indicate that the needs and perspective of the BoP members is distinct from the Middle of the Pyramid (MoP). Managers should consider this point while formulating marketing mix strategies for BoP markets. The present study is the first of its kind to present a revised marketing mix framework for customers in the BoP markets. The framework comprises five Ps, including personalization, product, place, the process of service delivery and price. Thus, a theoretical contribution is made in the context of service marketing and the BoP.     

Quality Assurance Certification for Hospitality Marketing,Sales and Customer Services

The article proposes that there is a need to extend quality assurance schemes to encompass marketing and customer services. The hospitality industry's involvement in the consideration of quality assurance schemes is discussed and the degree to which they have been accepted. An explanation of the Marketing Quality Assurance Scheme (MQA) is presented with detailed examples of the objectives to be met in assuring the quality of marketing, sales plans and customer service. The study concludes that quality assurance schemes for services and marketing are essential for the hospitality industry, in order to guarantee the quality of provision and to offer a bridge from quality assurance to the concept of Total Quality Management.     

Customer contact and the evaluation of service experiences: Propositions and implications for the design of services

A contingency framework is developed as a means of understanding the relationship between the level of customer contact and service satisfaction. Level of contact is defined as the extent of interpersonal interaction between the service customer and the service provider's boundary personnel. Consistent with Oliver (1997), perceived service satisfaction reflects the customer's judgment that the service delivered a plausible level of consumption-related fulfillment. The article offers a series of research propositions derived from prior research and writings from the marketing, psychology, and operations literatures. Implications for the design of service strategies in efforts to improve customer satisfaction are also discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

营销组合视角下的服务质量差距分析

服务质量差距模型是专门用来分析服务质量产生差距问题的工具,从营销组合角度分析发现,服务质量产生的差距分为管理层认知差距、质量标准差距、服务传递差距、营销沟通差距及顾客期望服务与感知服务间的差距。可从管理认知、质量标准、服务传递、营销沟通和感知服务五方面弥补差距,解决服务质量的差距问题。     

7Ps服务营销策略在旅游企业中的应用研究

旅游业作为服务业的一种模式,发展服务营销是现代市场营销的一个新领域,7Ps是服务营销组合体系的核心。7Ps服务营销理念可以帮助旅游企业了解游客,留住游客,提供更好的服务。但大部分旅游企业仍暴露出不了解7Ps服务营销策略,没有分析旅游消费者的需求特点和差异性,不能满足消费者需求等服务水平低下的现象。而7Ps理念可以应用于产品策略、价格策略、渠道策略、人员策略、有形展示策略、服务过程策略、有形展示等方面。旅游企业只有不断的创新和与时俱进做好服务营销,才能在竞争中取胜。     

What's Behind CRM Research? A Bibliometric Analysis of Publications in the CRM Research Field

The diversity of approaches to customer relationship management (CRM) brings about the need for systematic reviews. The objective of this article is to identify and categorize the most used publications in the CRM field. We conducted a bibliometric analysis using the Web of Science database. To identify and categorize the subfields, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis. The most used publications were categorized into: (1) methodology in the CRM research field; (2) relationship marketing; (3) service quality and customer loyalty; (4) implications of market-oriented strategy; (5) CRM theory and its practical implications; (6) strategic management; and (7) customer value.     

Integration of standardization and customization: Impact on service quality,customer satisfaction,and loyalty

The basic objective of this study is to analyse the direct and indirect impacts of standardization and customization on customer satisfaction and loyalty through service quality. The service quality has two dimensions: technical quality and functional quality. A framework is developed by extending Grӧnroos’ model of service quality by including the antecedents of service quality. A questionnaire-based survey collected data from 315 customers of three service industries: healthcare, hospitality, and education. The data was analysed and the model validated using PLS-SEM. The findings show that: (1) integration of standardization and customization of service offerings is critical for improved service quality; (2) standardization has higher impact on service quality when compared to customization; (3) functional quality has higher impact on customer satisfaction when compared to technical quality; and (4) customer satisfaction has a significant effect on customer loyalty. The contribution of this study is the development of an integrated framework to analyse the roles of standardization and customization on service quality.