case study 10

1、CaseStudy10(Chapter9)Wanted–ProfitableCustomersOnlyAllcustomersarecreatedequal–rightWrong!Whereastraditionalmarketinghasinvolvedcastingawidetolureasmanycustomersaspossibletoday’ssmartcompaniesnowfocusonkeepinggrowingonly

2、themostprofitablecustomerstheyalreadyhave.“Theyareaggressivelyminingtheirwidedatabasestoweedoutlosersatleasttogethemmetotargetthebestcustomersfpampering”saysRickBrooksoftheWallStreetJournal.Someindustrieshavelongfavoured

3、‘good’customersoverlesserones.Fexampleairlineshotelscreditcardcompaniesthrowloadsofspecialservicesattheir‘premier’‘platinum’customers.Howeverrecentadvancesintechnologynowallowcompaniestoassessthevalueofeverycustomermepre

4、ciselythenweedoutthelessprofitableones.Herearesomeexamplesofhowcompaniesareusingcustomerprofitabilityanalysistoweedoutlosingcustomerstargetthewinningonesfpampering.TwoyearsagoshippinggiantFedExbegananalyzingthereturnsoni

5、tsbusinessfabout30largecustomersthatgenerateabout10percentofitstotalvolume.Itfoundthatcertaincustomersincludingsomerequiringlotsofresidentialdeliveriesweren’tbringinginasmuchrevenueastheyhadpromisedwhentheyfirstnegotiate

6、ddiscountedrates.SoFedExwentontheoffensivedemingthatsomecustomerspayhigherratesimposingdoubledigitincreasesinahfulofinstances.Acoupleofcustomerswhorefusedtobudgeweretoldtheycouldtaketheirshippingbusinesselsewhere.“Wewere

7、willingtoriskapointtwoofthemarketsharetocrectaproblem”saysaspokesmanfFedEx.“Youhavetobewillingtosuckitupwalkaway.”AtThomasCookTraveldifferentiatingthebestwstcustomersrequiredahugechangeinthecompany’sculture.Agentshadalwa

8、ysbeencoachedtodelivertoplevelservicetoeveryone.Realisingthatsuchanattitudejustisn’tprofitabletheagencydivideditscustomersintoAs(thosewhobringinUS$750meinannualrevenues)Bs(thosebringinginUS$250749)Cs(thosebringinginlesst

9、hanUS$250).Itfoundthat80%ofitscustomerswereCs.“It’snotthatyoudon’twantthemit’sjustthatyoudifferentiate”saysWendyWhiteamarketingmanagerfThomasCookTravelCanada.Youstilldeliverprofessionalservicesheobservesbutnoteveryclient

10、requires–deserves–twohours’wthofservicetopurchaseanairlineticket.ThetravelagentsatThomasCooknowknowwhichcustomersdeservethefulltreatmentwhichonesdon’t.WhenCclientsdemtimeconsumingservices–fexample–askinganagenttoresearch

11、atripthey’renotpositivetheywanttotake–theyarenowaskedtopayUS$25deposit.Clientswhoareseriouspayupthefeesimplygoestowardstheirbookingcost.ifthey’renotseriousdon’tpayupitfreesupagentstodealwithmeprofitableABclients.Agentsal

12、soreceiveaquarterlyprintoutfmadatabasethatliststhecompany’stop500clientstherevenueeachgenerates.Ithelpsagentslookfmissedsalesopptunitiesget“ahleonthetargettheirneeds”Whiteadds.ThechangeinfocushasbeenlucrativefThomasCookT

13、ravelresultingin20percentgrowthinthecompany’sABclients.Thustoday’smarketersarelookingcloselyattheprofitabilityoftheircustomers.AnalystErikaRasmussonsummarises:“Allmenmaybecreatedequalbutincreasinglyallcustomersarenot……Le

14、arningwhereyourcustomersrankintermsofprofitabilityisthefutureofbusinesscompaniesthataredoingitnowhaveadistinctadvantageovertheircompetits.Callitiverelationshipmarketingmanagement–companiesneedtopickwiselywhichcustomersth

15、eyaregoingtohaverelationshipswith–whattypeofrelationships.”Answerthefollowingquestions.1.Servicemarketingisgenerallyseentobemechallengingthanmarketingofphysicalgoods.Elabateonthreeacteristicsofservicesthatdifferentiateth

16、emfromphysicalproducts.RelatetheseacteristicstoFedExwhichismentionedinthecaseabove.2.Whatdoyouunderstbytheterm‘iverelationshipmarketing’Explainclearlytheuseofthisstrategybyhighlightingbrieflytwoexamplesofganizations(othe

17、rthanthosementionedinthecase).Discussifhowthisstrategyhaswked(notwked)fyourchosenganizations.3.Accdingtoyourtextservicequalityhasfivedimensions.UsingatablesimilartoTable9.2(firsttwocolumns)ofthetextelabateonthesefivedime

18、nsionshowtheymightapplytoThomasCookTravel.4.Manyserviceganizationsuselogossymbols(toovercometheproblemofintangibility)whenpromotingtheirservices.twoexamplesofserviceganizationsthelogossymbolstheyuse.Whatmessagesdothesesy