Pursuing growth and continuity in customer accounts through consultative meetings
Laaksonen, Pekka (2016)
2016
Tuotantotalouden koulutusohjelma
Talouden ja rakentamisen tiedekunta - Faculty of Business and Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2016-09-07
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201608254457
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tty-201608254457
Tiivistelmä
This study was conducted in order to support the Case Company to retain its key customers and develop expanded business opportunities with them. A literature review indicated that communication is an essential tool to build trust and loyalty between the customer and the supplier firm. Trust and loyalty, in turn, enable the expanded business opportunities with the customers. However, no significant action research on the topic exists.
The goal of the study was to enhance customer relationships and improve the profitability of the Case Company. Reaching this goal was achieved by designing a consultative training session to improve communication between the Case Company and its customers. In order to accomplish all of this, I needed to find an answer to the research question of this study. Namely, how do companies retain their their key customers and expand business with them?
In action research, the impact of improved communication and enhanced customer loyalty can be observed as a process. Therefore, an action research approach was chosen for this particular case study: one in which the goal is to ensure the success of the Case Company’s core service with the help of new supporting service. This supporting service ultimately became part of the account management strategy after it was tested by four domestic customers. The content of this service, i.e. consultative training session, was created together with the sales team of the Case Company and developed in accordance with customer feedback. In the future, these tangible results will be directed to the Case Company’s customers abroad through an international reseller network.
The results of the action research approach clearly confirmed the causality between communication, customer loyalty and expanded business opportunities. Furthermore, developed training sessions with customers proved to be an effective way to build up relationships with current customers. As a result of customer pilots and customer feed-back, some recommendations for managers were presented. Firstly, all business-to-business (B2B) service firms should regularly communicate with their customers. Detailed reference stories serve as tools to demonstrate the value of the service for custom-er representatives. Secondly, since thorough interaction with all the customers is unrealistic, the firms should be able to systematically distinguish the customers of strategic importance. Scarce marketing resources should be aimed at these customers to detect their pain points, ensure the continuity of the relationship and enhance their loyalty. By doing that, the firms will be able to expand their business with existing customers and improve the firm’s profitability.
The goal of the study was to enhance customer relationships and improve the profitability of the Case Company. Reaching this goal was achieved by designing a consultative training session to improve communication between the Case Company and its customers. In order to accomplish all of this, I needed to find an answer to the research question of this study. Namely, how do companies retain their their key customers and expand business with them?
In action research, the impact of improved communication and enhanced customer loyalty can be observed as a process. Therefore, an action research approach was chosen for this particular case study: one in which the goal is to ensure the success of the Case Company’s core service with the help of new supporting service. This supporting service ultimately became part of the account management strategy after it was tested by four domestic customers. The content of this service, i.e. consultative training session, was created together with the sales team of the Case Company and developed in accordance with customer feedback. In the future, these tangible results will be directed to the Case Company’s customers abroad through an international reseller network.
The results of the action research approach clearly confirmed the causality between communication, customer loyalty and expanded business opportunities. Furthermore, developed training sessions with customers proved to be an effective way to build up relationships with current customers. As a result of customer pilots and customer feed-back, some recommendations for managers were presented. Firstly, all business-to-business (B2B) service firms should regularly communicate with their customers. Detailed reference stories serve as tools to demonstrate the value of the service for custom-er representatives. Secondly, since thorough interaction with all the customers is unrealistic, the firms should be able to systematically distinguish the customers of strategic importance. Scarce marketing resources should be aimed at these customers to detect their pain points, ensure the continuity of the relationship and enhance their loyalty. By doing that, the firms will be able to expand their business with existing customers and improve the firm’s profitability.