Thinking of the research, the reader might imagine a collection of quantitative and qualitative data gathered with the help of surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and other methods. While the former are the basics of any research project, there is much more in between the data collection. The following pages of the work contain the research methodology of the thesis. The author explained in detail the choice of the research strategy, the research methods, the research approach, the methods and instruments of data collection.
The research strategy
A basic theoretical kind of research was applied to the project, aiming to develop knowledge about the factors defining the loyalty of sports fans. The proposed research examined the influences causing people to become avid sports fans and offered a fresh point of view on a topic of sports as a means of entertainment.
Research Methods
In compliance with the objectives of the thesis, the qualitative methods were used. Qualitative research involves the synthesis between the use of literature and the collection of the data with the eventual development of the conceptual framework. It ensures the detailed description and interpretation of a specific concept, providing in-depth insight into the given problem. Moreover, qualitative research is applied when dealing with peoples beliefs, feelings, and motivations. Therefore, it is especially useful for answering questions about the perspectives of the groups under study. The sports event is a kind of social activity that involves certain relationships and behavioral models that constitute the factors of fan loyalty studied in the project.
Quantitative research, on the other hand, is used when there is a need for measurement, categorization, or statistical modeling, which is not the case with the project in question, as its aim is observing the behavior of a specific group of people. Accordingly, the sole method of qualitative analysis was used in the thesis.
Research Approach
For the interpretive, qualitative purposes of the research, the inductive approach was applied to the study. The goal was to collect and analyze data on a specific observation and provide an explanation as to what causes a person to become a loyal sports fan.
Methods and instruments of data collection
Collecting accurate data was an integral part of the research. For this purpose, the qualitative data collection techniques, such as the participant observations and the interviews, were used. The methods allowed the author to collect first-hand data on the wide range of behaviors and motives of the sports fans to distinguish the factors of fan loyalty. The main advantage of the participant observation was getting the insiders perspective. The observations during the fieldwork at the various sports events included the systematic noting and recording of actions and behavior of the research group for a better understanding of the case under study. By volunteering at sports events, the researcher was able to participate in the daily activities of the study group gathering the data about the underlying causes of becoming a loyal sports fan.
The participant observation method required a special set of instruments to record and describe the data and events during the fieldwork. The author used specific protocol with criteria to judge the observations against it, as well as the dated field notes to accurately describe the setting, the interactions, and behavior involved in the sports event participation without being judgmental.
The interviews provided the author with the advantages of direct contact and impartial review of the studied group and its features. For the purpose of gathering relevant content, semi-structured interviews were conducted involving the use of open-ended questions. Such an approach motivated the interviewees to discuss the topics freely while helping the interviewer follow the general structure of discussion. Comprehensive questionnaires were used during the interviews with the subjects of study, as well as the cues to support the conversation flow.
The sample interview questions included:
How did you become a sports fan?
Did your geographic location influence your choice of a team?
Do your family and friends support your choice of a favorite team?
Is the team of your choice popular with the local population?
Are the colors and official merchandise of your favorite team important to you?
The disadvantage of the semi-structured interview, however, was that the author had to deal with a large number of subjective thoughts and personal interpretations, which required significant efforts from the researcher to produce an objective idea. The solution to this situation was the use of focus groups during interviews that involved group communication to generate the idea and clarify the views in ways not always existent with one interviewee. The ideal focus groups consisted of about 6 to 10 participants.
Data Analysis
Qualitative data analysis involved the classification of data as primary and secondary. Primary data was gathered directly from participants over the course of interviews and participant observation primarily in the form of field notes. The secondary data is collected from sources such as letters, documents, and research materials. Both types of data were processed by creating theoretical categories providing a structure for further analysis.
Homer, in his epic The Odyssey tells the story of the heroes of Trojan wars and the most enchanting of all the themes of the classic work is the loyalty of Odysseus to his wife Penelope, even when he enjoys the company of nymphs like Circe and Calypso. Odysseus, the Trojan hero and the protagonist of the epic by Homer exhibits vast amount of piety, manly valor and intelligence, and, most remarkably, loyalty to the nation as well as to his own wife.
It is the power of this heavenly quality that keeps him devotedly bound to Penelope and their son even while he enjoys the company of Calypso and Circe. The loyalty of this Trojan hero for his wife is evident from his great longing to return to his wife and son when he was trapped on the island of Ogygia with the beautiful nymph Calypso and the same characteristic feature drove him all the way home at the end of a long journey in which he needed to confront all lots of dangers and troubles. Odysseus is a perfectly moral man by Greek standards. In the Calypso episode, Odysseus demonstrates the value of faithfulness, and in the Circe episode, he illustrates Greek values in general. (Essay on Circe and Calypso. 2006).
Therefore, it is most remarkable that, though Odysseus willingly enjoys the company of Circe and Calypso beds down with them, he is, by the Greek standards, truly faithful and loyal to his wife Penelope.
The loyalty that Odysseus has for his wife is evident from the reply to Calypsos offer to stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet I flatter myself that at am no whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in beauty with an immortal. The true heros reply to this offer is most commendable, do not be angry with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as yourself.
She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest. (Homer 2000).
The faithfulness of the Trojan hero towards his wife can be very well seen in his longing to reach home to Penelope even after a long troublesome journey of ten years.
When we consider the question how Odysseus maintains loyalty to his wife even while he enjoys the company of Circe and Calypso, the significant character traits of Odysseus along with the standards of Greek needs to be kept in mind. Loyalty is the most reputed value for Odysseus and any person disloyal to Odysseus loses his life. Immortal woman like Athena, Circe, and Calypso were treated with more equality and respect by a man than any other mortal woman, but due to the love and respect that Odysseus has for Penelope, he rightfully treats her as his equal. Loyalty is the prime character trait that Odysseus looks for in any of his companions& Odysseus will treat the people that are loyal to him with kindness and respect. Penelope is a prime example of loyalty and fidelity. (Free Reports, Term Papers & Research Paper Database. 2005).
The same reason draws the Trojan hero to his wife in Ithaca, at the end of a long, trying, and dangerous journey of ten years following the Trojan War, without submitting to the immortal beauties of Circe, and Calypso for long.
Works cited
Essay on Circe and Calypso. Odysseus: A Mere Mortal, But Purely Moral. 2006. Web.
Homer, in his epic The Odyssey tells the story of the heroes of Trojan wars and the most enchanting of all the themes of the classic work is the loyalty of Odysseus to his wife Penelope, even when he enjoys the company of nymphs like Circe and Calypso. Odysseus, the Trojan hero and the protagonist of the epic by Homer exhibits vast amount of piety, manly valor and intelligence, and, most remarkably, loyalty to the nation as well as to his own wife.
It is the power of this heavenly quality that keeps him devotedly bound to Penelope and their son even while he enjoys the company of Calypso and Circe. The loyalty of this Trojan hero for his wife is evident from his great longing to return to his wife and son when he was trapped on the island of Ogygia with the beautiful nymph Calypso and the same characteristic feature drove him all the way home at the end of a long journey in which he needed to confront all lots of dangers and troubles. Odysseus is a perfectly moral man by Greek standards. In the Calypso episode, Odysseus demonstrates the value of faithfulness, and in the Circe episode, he illustrates Greek values in general. (Essay on Circe and Calypso. 2006).
Therefore, it is most remarkable that, though Odysseus willingly enjoys the company of Circe and Calypso beds down with them, he is, by the Greek standards, truly faithful and loyal to his wife Penelope.
The loyalty that Odysseus has for his wife is evident from the reply to Calypsos offer to stay where you are, keep house along with me, and let me make you immortal, no matter how anxious you may be to see this wife of yours, of whom you are thinking all the time day after day; yet I flatter myself that at am no whit less tall or well-looking than she is, for it is not to be expected that a mortal woman should compare in beauty with an immortal. The true heros reply to this offer is most commendable, do not be angry with me about this. I am quite aware that my wife Penelope is nothing like so tall or so beautiful as yourself.
She is only a woman, whereas you are an immortal. Nevertheless, I want to get home, and can think of nothing else. If some god wrecks me when I am on the sea, I will bear it and make the best of it. I have had infinite trouble both by land and sea already, so let this go with the rest. (Homer 2000).
The faithfulness of the Trojan hero towards his wife can be very well seen in his longing to reach home to Penelope even after a long troublesome journey of ten years.
When we consider the question how Odysseus maintains loyalty to his wife even while he enjoys the company of Circe and Calypso, the significant character traits of Odysseus along with the standards of Greek needs to be kept in mind. Loyalty is the most reputed value for Odysseus and any person disloyal to Odysseus loses his life. Immortal woman like Athena, Circe, and Calypso were treated with more equality and respect by a man than any other mortal woman, but due to the love and respect that Odysseus has for Penelope, he rightfully treats her as his equal. Loyalty is the prime character trait that Odysseus looks for in any of his companions& Odysseus will treat the people that are loyal to him with kindness and respect. Penelope is a prime example of loyalty and fidelity. (Free Reports, Term Papers & Research Paper Database. 2005).
The same reason draws the Trojan hero to his wife in Ithaca, at the end of a long, trying, and dangerous journey of ten years following the Trojan War, without submitting to the immortal beauties of Circe, and Calypso for long.
Works cited
Essay on Circe and Calypso. Odysseus: A Mere Mortal, But Purely Moral. 2006. Web.
The above quality management journal focuses on the effects of retail service quality and product quality dimension, with Hong Kong being its location of study. When the economy faces recession, success is based on how retailers are able to acquire customer loyalty by responding to customers demand.
Customer loyalty is brought about by a long-term and stable relationship between the customer and the business owner. Needless to say, customers are highly concerned with quality of services, which is a major contributor to customer loyalty.
This article emphasizes on physical aspects, personal interaction, policy, reliability and problem solving as impacts of retail service quality (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p224). For instance, when individuals are asked to name their expectations and perceptions on a service, they tend to rate the former services higher. Retail service quality scale is a tool that has been rated as effective when dealing with retail businesses.
Retail businesses can fall under several dimensions, the first one being personal interaction whereby, owners are helpful to customers thus earning their trust and confidence. Secondly, policy involves operating hours, payment options, and parking space, which are required to be effective.
Thirdly, physical aspect involves the appearance of the business and reliability whereby, the retailer fulfills his promises to the customers (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.224). The authors further describe product quality in regard to eight dimensions, including performance, conformance, features, reliability, serviceability, durability, customer perceived quality and aesthetics (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.224).
However, only three dimensions are emphasized on. They include durability, which is a measure of a product life; serviceability, which refers to the speed and competence; and aesthetic and customer- perceived quality, which defines product quality construct.
Customer loyalty is defined as a positive feeling towards a certain product or service, hence always re-purchasing of that product or service (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p225). Loyal customers are willing to spend much more compared to less loyal customers, hence becoming an important asset to the business.
However, there are two types of customer loyalty; person- person loyalty and person to firm loyalty, whereby, firm relationships are short-term compared to person person relationships. Therefore, the link between retail service quality and customer loyalty lies in the fact that good service may lead to customer loyalty. There is a possibility that positive perceptions of service quality may increase the chance of a customer to be more involved in the firm.
The link between product quality and customer loyalty is evident: when a product satisfies customers needs, and thereafter, a customers communicates the positive aspect of that products to others, thus showing a high degree of customer loyalty. Therefore, for a firm to operate successfully, it should focused on products quality.
A research carried out by Yuen & Chan on a curtain retail shop indicated that the respondents had a positive attitude towards the retail service quality of the store. However, the personal interaction dimension acquired the highest score, thus reflecting the respondents satisfaction on service provided at the Hunter Douglas retail.
Aesthetic scored a mean of 5.59, indicating that the retail shop offered unique products, while customer loyalty was at 4.88, an indication that the respondents had a higher level of loyalty to the employees at the shop other than to the firm itself (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.231).
Therefore, the findings in this article conclude that retail service quality is linked to customer loyalty positively; however, product quality does not have a positive impact on customer loyalty. In addition, personal interaction was found to have a positive impact on customer loyalty to the employees, whereas physical aspect, reliability, and problem solving had a positive influence on customers loyalty to the retail shop (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.237).
The journal by Ojinnaka (2011, p.590) argues that quality is defined by the degree of excellence or superiority in a product, while quality improvement involves change that involves a process of improving the product. However, quality control is necessary, as it involves laws that ensure consumers are prevented from any danger by ensuring that they get the right quality and weight of a product, especially when food is involved.
Ojinnaka agrees that total quality management directs employees efforts towards customer satisfaction. In addition, total quality management is said to not only involve an organization, but also the employees. However, Ojinnakas journal fails to identify dimensions of product quality and customer loyalty in relation to product and service quality.
The Articles Contribution and Support to Quality Management Principles
According to Naik, Gantasala, & Prabhakar (2010, p.241), five dimensions of service quality are evident including tangibility, responsive, assurance and empathy. These dimensions are considered to have impact on a customers satisfaction. Just as the main article, this article focuses on retail service quality, where quality is emphasized on as the key towards attracting clients. Tangible items are measured according to their appearance.
In addition, customer satisfaction is emphasized on and just like in Yuen & Chan article, customer satisfaction is related to profitability. For instance, when a customer perceives quality service, he will market the business by informing his friends (Naik, Gantasala, & Prabhakar, 2010, p.242).
Kanji & Asher (1996, p.1) further add that, total quality management comprises four principles. The first is delighting the customer by doing what interests them the most. The second one is management by fact, whereby, product improvement is primarily based upon facts.
The third principle is people-based management, whereby, teamwork is encouraged, as it contributes to the quality of a product or service. Lastly, continuous improvement focuses on an improvement cycle that is directed towards customer satisfaction. These principles are evident in Yuen & Chans article, as it focuses on customer loyalty as a result of customer satisfaction.
Yuen & Chans article has incorporated some of the management principles, but they have mostly specified on customer focus through creating of customers loyalty and ensuring customer satisfaction (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.225). Continuous improvement of products is emphasized on and this proves that the curtain retail shop received customer loyalty due to its uniqueness. Therefore, the shop is willing to market the business by telling others about its products and services.
Discuss How the Content of the Article Relates to Quality Theory
Yuen & Chans article focuses on how retail service quality is related to customer loyalty; therefore, the article insists on quality throughout. Quality is defined as the customers perception on the product or service offered (Yuen & Chan, 2010, p.223). Therefore, the quality of a product can be measured via its feature, performance, reliability, durability serviceability among other factors. Nevertheless, quality service or product is key to enhancing customer satisfaction, which in time creates customer loyalty.
When customers have a positive perception about a product or service, they tend to repurchase the product. Therefore, there is a link between product quality and customer loyalty, whereby, quality of a product contributes to customers satisfaction.
According to Yuen & Chan (2010, p.227), it is evident that quality revolves around meeting a customers expectations; therefore, achieving quality is always a continuous process, especially for organizations seeking a competitive advantage. However, quality improvement process involves the organization and its staff as a whole.
According to Liang (2010, p.66), quality is essential in an organizations strategy, whereby, it involves inspection of products with an aim of eliminating any defects. The author further adds that theoretically, quality is defined as customer satisfaction. In addition, different tools have different impacts on quality improvement in an organization.
Yuen & Chans article focuses on quality and customer loyalty, whereby, they emphasize that quality definitely contributes to customers loyalty in relation to quality theory. It is rather clear that quality is important to any organization in relation to their products and services, as it contributes greatly to customers satisfaction.
Writers Findings and Application
Yuen & Chans findings indicate that retail service quality is positively related to customer loyalty; however, product quality does not contribute positively to customer loyalty based on research. In addition, three dimensions were found to have a positive impact on customer loyalty; they include physical aspect, reliability, and problem solving. Physical aspect involves a business layout including the attractive products being sold which give a customer a good impression.
Problem solving is evident in this study and it implies that customers ask for help since they cannot solve the problems on their own, hence, they need assistance from staff to tackle the problem. When a customers problem is solved, the customer is satisfied, hence is likely to market the curtain shop to others.
In addition, the chance that a customer will repurchase the items is very high. Findings of this research also revealed that customers relationship to the store was high as compared to the staff relationship. This is as a result of the great services offered by the staff which in return attribute to the customers attachment to the store.
In the modern world, customers perception on a product or service can either contribute to higher sales of a business or not. This is because most customers are keen on quality of an item rather than its price. Customer loyalty in this study was measured in two groups the store and the staff.
These findings can be applicable in modern organizations, whereby, the business owner emphasizes on quality as the key towards a competitive business. Secondly, in case a business is trying to attain a competitive advantage, the manager should ensure that the staffs are well trained, especially on communication and customer service. This will aid in assisting customers while shopping and on fast problem solving process.
Yuen & Chans findings indicate that personal interactions played a significant role in customer loyalty; this was evident in the interactions between a customer and the staff. Such interactions in a business create a strong relationship between the staff and customers, hence creating loyalty in customers.
According to Faed (2011, p.141), customer relationship management is important in an organization, as it increases business intelligence, effective decision-making and enhances customer relations. Therefore, there is need for training employees on issues relating to customer handling, such as customer service and marketing.
Conclusion
Yuen & Chans article acknowledges customers loyalty & product quality which are some of the principles of quality management. In addition, gender is considered in terms of customer loyalty, since this research included both female & male genders, whereby, the multiple regression hypothesis was applied.
This article portrays the rule of quality management which is guided by several principles aimed at providing customer satisfaction, and improved performance. It contains quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. These components result in a desired level of excellence in customers.
Organizations tend to depend on customers since they are the determinants of sales made. Business gains customer loyalty when the needs of customers are considered and fulfilled, thus, repurchasing is evident and returns are high. However, this article covers only one type of store, hence, research is centralized, as many purchasers are likely to be women.
Reference List
Faed, A., 2011. The Impact of Integrated TQM and Interactivity on Customer Retention Process. International Journal of Information Processing and Management, 2(2), pp. 139-150.
Kanji, G., and Asher, M., 1996. 100 methods for total quality management. London: Sage Publisher.
Liang, K., 2010. Aspects of Quality Tools on Total Quality Management. Modern Applied Science, 4 (9), pp. 66-74.
Naik, K., Gantasala, S., and Prabhakar, G., 2010. Service Quality (Servqual) and its Effect on Customer Satisfaction in Retailing. European Journal of Social Sciences, 16 (2), pp. 167-315.
Ojinnaka, M., 2011. The food industry in Nigeria: development and quality assurance. Asian network for scientific information. Journal of Nutrition, 10 (6), pp. 589-593.
Yuen, E., & Chan, S., 2010. The effect of retail service quality and product quality on customer loyalty. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management, 17, pp. 222-240.
Healthcare leadership, like any other leadership, is mandated to ensure that employees remain loyal to the organization they (employees) are working for. Loyalty of employees benefits an organization and helps to avoid unnecessary expenses such as training new employees by reducing the turnover rate. Leadership earns the loyalty of employees by first earning their trust.
The purpose of this research paper is to show how leadership in the healthcare sector can earn trust and loyalty from the employees. It will be emphasized that these two virtues can only be earned and not demanded. Earning trust and finally loyalty are depicted as processes which the leaders have to be committed to persistently.
In order to achieve the purpose of this research, secondary sources of information are utilized. Books and internet resources are used. Only those materials which focus on healthcare leadership are used. Personal insights are also added, especially in the discussion section.
The order of this research starts with an abstract, findings section, discussion, and a conclusion. There is also a list of the references used in the research paper.
Findings Section
Loyalty
Leadership in healthcare institutions presents various challenges. It has been noted that loyalties in these institutions are divided (Umiker, 2005). More often than not, workers are more loyal to workmates or unions than to their leaders. Specifically, it has been found that scientifically trained employees display more fidelity to their technical societies than to their leaders.
Middle level leadership has been said to be dilemmatic because of the split loyalty they need to show to their subordinates as well as to their superiors. Leaning too far to one side leads to airing of grievances and accusation of disloyalty by the other side (Umiker, 2005).
Loyalty is of great significance in the healthcare sector. Umiker (2005) argues that productivity is a primary casualty of absence of corporate loyalty which is then followed by sloppy workmanship, apathetic employees, mediocre quality, and poor service (p. 235). Umiker (2005) further notes that loyalty is lost when the morale of employees is destroyed and goes further to list the factors that destroy morale: poor working conditions, poor compensation, and poor leadership skills (Umiker, 2005, p. 235).
Therefore, loyalty is of great significance, but then how can it be fostered? Some of the actions that foster loyalty are as follows providing a safe work environment and reasonable opportunities for advancement, offering first-class benefits, rewards for high performance, and demonstrated respect for ability (McConnell, 2010, p. 345).
Strengthening Loyalty
There are various measures that can be taken to strengthen loyalty. These measures also increase the level of trust between the leadership and the employees.
One of them is honesty. Leaders are advised to be honest with their employees (McConnell, 2010). Honest in this respect entails informing the employees about policies and plans that will and/or may affect them directly and/or indirectly. In this manner, trust is built between the leadership and employees and suspicion of ill motives by the employees on the leadership have no chance of developing.
Leadership should also ensure that what it expects the employees to accomplish is made clear to the employees and that they (employees) are empowered to do that. Leadership can do this by thoroughly carrying out position descriptions, performance standards, orientation, and training (McConnell, 2010, p. 345).
Other measures to building loyalty include consistency, fairness, impartiality, and trustworthiness. Leadership should significantly play a supportive role more than a judicial role. It should also be ensured that leadership values all the employees (McConnell, 2010). Gunderman (2009) airs similar sentiments concerning building loyalty.
He argues that physicians are not so much interested in giving their services to the highest bidders but rather are interested in working in organizations that cultivate trust, foster pride in work, and encourage physicians to enjoy what they do (Gunderman, 2009, p. 17).
Trust
According to McConnell (2010), loyalty and trust are inherently connected. Loyalty is a function of trust and trust must be earned. All the efforts that lead to earning of trust eventually have a final result of building loyalty. Trust has been singled out has being very beneficial to healthcare organizations.
According to Gunderman (2009), trust fosters high levels of collaboration. Lack of trust among employees lead to lowering of cooperation and raises the level of suspicion that employees have on each other and on the leadership. If the leadership cannot be trusted by the employees, the impression created in the minds of the employees is that they (employees) are not valued and are being treated as interchangeable parts in a machine. This attitude is likely to fiercely eat into the commitment of such employees (Gunderman, 2009).
Trust has also been deeply associated with improving customer support in the healthcare sector. Gunderman (2009) argues that if physicians feel trusted, they are more likely to reciprocate by giving good service to the patients without any fears. He notes that In a (trust-based) healthcare organization, fear that mistakes will be detected and punished is a less powerful motivator than a genuine commitment to provide the best care (Gunderman, 2009, p. 15).
Studies on creating trust-based organizational climate have shown that healthy relationships play a significant role in fostering trust in organizations. Manion (2005) outlines several advantages of a trust-based organization: it commands trust from the public, has a competitive advantage, can draw the best people, inspire customer loyalty, reach out successfully to new markets, and provide more innovative products and services (p. 50).
Earning Trust
The significance of trust in an organization has pushed scholars to propose ways which can be used by leadership to develop trust-based organizations.
Communication: This implies that all communication should always be clear and straightforward. There should not be any form of ambiguity that may breed confusion. Duties should be assigned to specific people and it should be made clear what details and specification are to be accomplished.
Commitment: It is very important that the leadership show commitment to agreements made with the employees. If for some reasons this is not possible, then there is a need for immediate disclosure.
Transparency: This is very important. There should be complete transparency of the way an organization is run. Rumors should not be allowed among the employees and information should not be withheld unnecessarily from the employees.
Speedy resolution: Trust is earned when conflicts are solved as soon as they are noted. Refusing to acknowledge the presence of conflicts will erode any trust that employees have in the leadership and this will actually make it harder for the leadership to solve the problem when the situation gets out of hand.
Respect: The leadership needs to show respect to the employees in order to earn trust from them.
According to World Congress (2012), fostering trust in healthcare settings leads to great financial benefits. It has been shown that customers who trust their healthcare insurers associate them with the following qualities clarity, understanding, caring, generosity, fairness, compassion, flexibility, helpful, believable, effectiveness, warm-hearted, cooperative, friendly, informative, reliability, kindness, up-to-date, accessibility, organization and transparency (World Congress, 2012, p. 4). Four steps have been suggested for leadership in healthcare insurance to follow in order to earn the trust of their customers.
Step One: The leaderships should have a thorough knowledge of their customers. They should study the behavior and what the customers value most.
Step Two: The knowledge collected about consumers should be used to develop packages that are convenient to the consumers. This will show the consumers that they are understood and that their needs are taken care of.
Step Three: Leadership should engage the consumers in programs that empower them. Programs on wellness behaviors stand to benefit the consumers and in turn the consumers are likely to trust the providers.
Step Four: Transparency is highly appreciated and valued by consumers. This is especially when there is a mistake committed coming out clearly and explaining the situation including how such a mistake will be effectively taken care of will stir the consumers to have trust in a leadership.
Discussion
The literature review section has shown that loyalty and trust are indeed inherently connected. It is clear that loyalty cannot be earned before earning trust. For employees to be loyal to a leadership or to an organization, they first have to find some form of trust in the leadership or the organization. Leadership in healthcare organization must be aware of this fact. I believe the following model will work well for healthcare leadership.
A model showing how loyalty and trust are dependent on each other
Employees/customers who trust a leadership/company will intuitively develop loyalty
Basically, the studies reviewed above have shown that building a healthy relationship is a way to ensuring that trust is earned. Leadership is tasked to ensure that it has fostered a good relationship with the employees and also that the employees relate well.
It is amazing that huge compensations are not viewed as a means the healthcare leadership can use to earn employee trust. Specifically, Gunderman (2009) notes that physicians are not really interested in offering services to the highest bidders but rather in working in areas where they can enjoy their work.
There are many values highlighted in the literature section which healthcare leadership needs to embrace in order to earn trust. I am of the opinion that for leadership to earn trust from the employees, it has to engage in a genuine quest for justice and ensure that they are in good friendship terms with the employees. In the table below, I have divided the values highlighted in the findings section into two those that will result due to the quest for justice and the others that will be products of genuine friendship.
Table 1 (Showing how the need for commitment of leaders to justice and healthy relationships with employees)
It might be argued that some of the values in one column might be switched to the other column depending on the situation at hand.
It is still amazing to note that the values in the table above do not really require a lot of resources to implement. All that the leadership requires to do is being dedicated to carry out their roles in a just way. Since earning trust seems to be so easy to undertake, a question arises why is it that it is not a popular practice among leadership?
Trust is earned. It cannot be demanded from customers or employees. Healthcare leadership needs to be aware of this fact. According to Hassan (n.d), trust must be earned every day. Earning the trust of employees is a process which requires time hence the need to continually earn it every day. Due to the difficulty in defining trust, Romano (2003) uses its defining characteristics to define it.
The defining Characteristics of Trust
Referents of Trust
Attitudinal
Social
Versatile
Functional
Defines the phenomena to which trust refers.
Components of Trust
Hypothetical
Consequential
Motivational
Defines the sentiments that trust contains
Dimensions of Trust
Symmetrical
Incremental
Conditional
Defines the judgments that levels of trust infer
Table 2 (Romano, 2003)
This table makes it clear why it is not possible to demand trust. The defining characteristics of trust are quite abstract and they can only earned. For instance, trust is viewed as an attitude (Romano, 2003) and we know that an attitude displayed is dependent on the relationship that exists.
It should also be noted that trust can only come into play in a social context. Trust therefore is a process that requires nurturing to grow. It takes time and requires commitment it is conditional. It is after a leadership has earned trust from the employees that the employees in turn become loyal to the leadership and the organization in question in general. Therefore, employees cannot be loyal without first trusting whoever they are being loyal to.
Conclusion
This research paper has dominantly researched on how leadership can earn trust and loyalty from employees. It has focused on what leaders can do right to ensure that employees are and/or remain loyal to the leadership/organization. It has been noted that trust should be earned first and loyalty will then come in naturally. It has also been noted that earning trust from employees is a process which should be carried out persistently. This process is hinged on good relationship between the leadership and employees.
This research paper has great implications which should be noted by leaders in the healthcare sector and generally by all leaders. To start with, leadership should note that loyalty is a virtue that is intentionally cultivated in employees by the leaders. For employees to be loyal, they first have to trust the leadership, and thus for the employees to be loyal or disloyal is all dependent on the leadership.
Leadership should also note that cultivation of loyalty is a process not a one-time action. For leadership to earn trust, and consequently loyalty, it has to continuously foster a good relationship with the employees and ensure that justice, honesty and transparency prevail.
The healthcare field is a participative field and exchange of ideas and information is highly encouraged to ensure best evidence based practices prevail. For this to happen, cooperation among employees in the healthcare sector should be encouraged. However, for these employees to freely share information on their various researches, they will need to build trust in each other. I therefore recommend that studies should be carried out on how employees in the healthcare sector can earn trust from each other.
References
Gunderman, R. G. (2009). Leadership in Healthcare. New York, NY: Springer.
Hassan, F. (n.d). We cant just demand trust first we have to earn it. Leadership. Web.
Manion, J. (2005). From Management to Leadership: Practical Strategies for Health Care Leaders. New York, NY: John Willy & Sons.
McConnell, C. R. (2010). Umikers Management Skills For The New Health Care Supervisor. New York, NY: Jones & Barlett Learning.
Romano, D. M. (2003). The Nature of Trust: Conceptual and Operational Clarification. Louisiana State University. Web.
Umiker, A. (2005). Management Skills for New Health Care Supervisors. New York, NY: Jones & Barlett Learning.
World Congress. (2012). Measuring the Value of Trust in Healthcare. World Congress. Web.
It is difficult to achieve something in this world, a world they called a global village. There are computers and high technology tools available for us to make like easy.
But life has always been difficult, more so with marketers and people who have the intent of introducing or selling a product to the world. You may be successful today, tomorrow might be for another persons triumph.
That is because of the stiff competition in the world of business, in the world of selling whatever there is to sell.
In the age of intense globalization, changes and innovations are not a rarity. The world of business is constantly facing new innovations and applications, thus marketers have to cope with constant change.
Managing change should be one of the priorities of the new global organization; change is an opportunity for improvement. The marketer has to adopt and continuously train and improve because of these changes.
Adoption and improvement are significant here because outsourcing companies (or those who provide outsourcing services) are a source of competition. This means there is a strong competition when it comes to talents and capabilities and output.
Organizations have to introduce various changes in their marketing strategies, product orientation, employee management, and other organizational strategies. Cultural diversity is a trend in the age of globalization.
Marketers have to choose between adaptation and standardization in their products and marketing strategies in order to gain an edge in the competition. The demand for localized products is also growing.
Adaptation is one innovation that marketing organizations have to apply in their marketing strategies to adjust to cultural differences.
Introduction
In the age of globalization, knowledge is both a product and resource. Organizations are now focused on knowledge-based economies, and are more concerned with the knowledge people possess; this is termed people-embodied knowhow.
Firms take care of their workforce because of the knowledge they possess. They have invested much on their workforce.
Organizations aim for talents and customers focus and loyalty. This is the job of the marketing manager. But firms also see the importance of focusing on their employees because they see the relation between contented employees and contented customers. Satisfied employees result in satisfied customers.
Meeting the customers needs and wants is a business trend in the age of globalization. Organizations now aim for customer loyalty while keeping cost of production low.
This is shooting two birds in one shot but difficult to achieve; difficult because meeting the customers needs and wants at the same time minimizing cost of production do not ensure quality product or service.
Customer satisfaction must be an important strategic part of marketing. Products and services must be geared towards customer focus, and customer satisfaction is a goal in a value added supply chain.
The main body
Supply chain management excellence is crucial to customer satisfaction; consequently, customer satisfaction is critical to customer loyalty, and loyalty critical to profitability.
In order to address the problem of customer loyalty, firms apply product and service innovations. Supply chain learning should be a part of the firms strategies to address customer satisfaction and loyalty.
This is also the main objective of market orientation customer satisfaction through superior performance of products and services.
Companies attain competitive edge through constant innovation. Organizations keep constant contact with customers, looking for ways to satisfy their needs and wants. Good customer relation is an important aspect of business.
Identifying and working out to strengthen customer satisfaction, supply chains can help in having a good relationship with customers, but supply chains have two attributes which are cost and service.
Service is itself responsiveness to the customers demand, but demand can also increase cost. Putting on a lot of innovations on the products means adding cost on production.
Customer relationship marketing (CRM) creates value for the customer1. Kotler et al. includes the idea of value in the definition of marketing, which is the relationship between what is paid and what is received, and can be increased or reduced by marketing activities. 2
Marketing involves a lot of issues to include the marketing mix, and these can be about selling and product development. A business organization must sell products to survive and to grow.
The marketing concept looks at the depth of selling which is searching for ways to satisfy the needs and wants of the customer. The organization has to find out what will satisfy customers, and create satisfying products.
The marketer must continue to apply innovations in marketing, selling and answering the complaints of customers. This is what they call continual improvement in the companys product.32
New trends in supply chain include seeing to it that the customer longs and wants for a remake of the product. In other words, it aims for the customers coming back to want for more.
That is customer loyalty. But customer satisfaction does not necessarily mean loyalty on the part of the customer. Many authors suggest that having a continuous communication with the customer is one step to loyalty. Customers have to be asked to rate the importance of particular attributes and performance levels of the product/s.
They have to be asked about their willingness to repurchase and to recommend the products bought. These steps can lead us to a thinking of customer loyalty.
As consumers, people make decisions and ultimately adopt products for use and consumption. Companies endeavor to educate their target customers. This is done through promotional activity which explains product usage, presents an image for the product and convinces customers that they have a reason to purchase.
Supply chain goes with the demand chain in order to see to it that complexities in the market are properly addressed. Demand chain points to a network of trading partners which include manufacturers and end users.
It is also linked to the customers who have to be consulted on the product quality. It starts with the manufacturer, goes to the customer or end user but has to link back to the manufacturer because the customers ideas and opinion regarding the product are significant.
In a research conducted by Edward Morash and Daniel Lynch4 , which involved surveys on global capabilities and performance measurement practices, they found that customer closeness is important in demand-oriented capabilities and performance.
Customer closeness is supported by responsiveness to customers and customization. The research also found that some supply chains are also experimenting with mass customization, which is a strategy that combines operational excellence with customer closeness.
Companies have to be flexible in dealing with customers, and should have the ability to change and react. Flexibility is defined as the ability to change or react with little penalty in time, effort, cost or performance .
A flexible organization should respond to rapid changes in product mix, delivery, or volumes demanded by the customer. Flexibility can also mean financial performance.
Customer interaction is now enhanced by technology and the internet or the World Wide Web. Customers can ask questions or complain through company websites which have many features.
Modern information technology used in supply chain includes Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) which is the information transmission backbone of manufacturing companies and supply interfaces. The popularity of the Internet has led to the introduction of Internet-based EDI.
Supply chain management is traditionally focused on least-cost transaction, but the new trend in business-to-business transaction is long-term relationship. It is almost similar with customers and consumers. The question that is always in the mind of the marketing manager is: will the customer come back?
One significant strategy in meeting the needs and wants of customers is introducing an approach to supply chain that aims back at the customer. Satisfying their needs and wants is always a challenge to marketers. Knowing the customers needs have become a foundation for which a company is founded.
For a firm to be marketing orientated requires that a number of changes take place in organization, in practices and in attitudes. Implementing the marketing concept requires more than paying lip service to the ideas inherent in the concept.
Behavioral sciences can lead to an understanding of buyer behavior; another example is the development of quantitative and qualitative techniques of marketing research for analyzing and appraising markets.
Marketers have to be open to the customer and be customer focused.
A customer can be defined in several ways. For an airline company, a customer can be a travel agent, corporation, or consumer. For a pharmaceutical company, a customer might be a physician or a patient.
In other words, marketers have to manage and collate their interactions with different kinds of customers. Gathering the information for the company requires a lot of job to include networking with different organizations within the industry.
By having a database of customer information, firms can have a program of activities for innovations, or to change what are lacking in the supply chain.
From analyzing the customers information, companies can shift focus to analyzing what the future holds for the customer and the company. This may include determining if the customer may still want to deal with the company, or buy products from the company or shift to other competitors.
The information on the customer satisfaction is vital in the improvement and enhancement of the product. This information and data can be linked back to the manufacturer for further quality enhancement.
Customer focus is vital to the supply chain. The customer wants to be understood, and the marketer can interpret this by answering what he/she wants of the product.
The information can be inputted back to the customer for enhancement of the product. If it is service-oriented, the company has to modify the service.
Conclusion
A number of subjects have been emphasized in this essay customer satisfaction, focus, loyalty and supply chain. Supply chain has to be always improved in order to attain customer satisfaction and loyalty, while customer focus can reflect satisfaction and loyalty.
An excellent supply chain management can attain customer satisfaction; at the same time, customer satisfaction may lead to loyalty, although satisfaction does not necessarily lead to loyalty.
Before loyalty can be attained, customer closeness is crucial; meaning some activities have to be geared towards contacting the customer in order to acquire more data and information about the product, and how the customer reacts to the product, including suggestions for improvement.
Acquiring more profits, which is one of the major goals of companies, seems to be not a sure goal. It is also one of the difficult objectives to achieve.
There are more and more products being manufactured everyday, but there are less customers who buy these products. Companies, or global business and organizations, have to find their segments and customers because they have more products to sell. There is a surplus of products and less customers.
In other words, organizations around the world compete to gain more customers, and one way of gaining more customers is to win their trust, answer and meet their needs and wants, and make sure that they come back.
It is not enough that they buy the companys products; it is important that they come back. Customer satisfaction should be able to gain customer loyalty. A lifelong partnership between the company and the customer can make the company last a lifetime.
Supply chain is an important factor to consider in attaining customer satisfaction. When a product is being bought by a customer, it must be delivered quickly, with ease and comfort of delivery, and must have the desired quality that the customer asks for.
Bibliography
Blythe, Jim. Principles & Practice of Marketing. London: Thomson Learning, 2006).
Chan, John. Toward a unified view of customer relationship management. The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge [e-journal], Available through: Staffordshire University Library, 2005.
Jobber, David and George Lancaster. Selling and Sales Management, Sixth Edition. England: Pearson Education Limited, 2003.
Footnotes
1 John Chan, Toward a unified view of customer relationship management, The Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge [e-journal], Available through: Staffordshire University Library, 2005.
2 Jim Blythe, Principles & Practice of Marketing (London: Thomson Learning, 2006), 5.
3 David Jobber and George Lancaster, Selling and Sales Management, Sixth Edition (England: Pearson Education Limited, 2003), 15.
One of the most discussed issues in the financial services sector around the world is the improvement of the services that are given to customers. This discussion has taken a strategic shape because of the perceived influence of the customers in securing competitive advantage for firms in this sector. There is a belief that customer satisfaction leads to high revenues in the financial services sector and the media has been fueling this belief. The media and the regulators in the financial services sector have been fighting to protect the customers from perceived inequalities that may affect their bargaining power. The belief that customers in the financial services sector are not treated properly is propagated by the media and the regulators. In any competitive industry, the role of the customer cannot be underestimated and mistreating a customer can lead to administrative problems that can easily result in liquidation. This means that for any player in the financial services sector to remain competitive, great services must be provided to the customers. This is one of the greatest challenges facing the financial services sector because the coordination of processes and operations that enhance customer experience is some how difficult because the existing cultures and infrastructure often hinder such processes. Therefore, constant reengineering processes are necessary for the players to keep in touch with the changing preferences of the consumers. These challenges notwithstanding, players in the financial services sector have realized that there is a direct relationship between customer confidence and customer satisfaction and the two variables create customer loyalty which in turn boosts revenues. Customer preferences are constantly changing and the setting of customer service standards should be an ongoing process because if a bank views the customer service standards as a destination and not a journey, it will definitely struggle to attain a competitive advantage in the financial markets. Management of customers and enhancement of their experience need to be improved continuously so as to inspire customer satisfaction; loyalty and lifetime values and this will have a positive impact on the balance sheets of the financial services providers. Therefore, banks must use customer centered approaches that identify the needs of individual customers instead of the one fits all approach that treats the customers as one homogenous mass perceived to have same problems that need the same solutions.
There are some resources and capabilities that have been found to be the best source of competitive advantage (Seymour, 2003). The first resource is the customers. Without the customers, there can be no market to for businesses to compete in. Any market is driven by the customers, their preferences and their purchasing powers. This means that for a firm to have a competitive advantage, it must be able to determine the central role of customers in its operations (Smallbone , 1995). There are various processes that can enhance the value given to customers by a business. One of them is market segmentation. A bank should identify the segment of the market it wants to serve. Secondly, it must identify the needs of the targeted segment of the market so that it can work to satisfy them. Then it must identify how the needs will be satisfied so as to create customer loyalty and attract more as they retain the existing ones. A bank must also set strategies that will strengthen relationships with customers by giving them a high quality value than any other competitor in the market (Seddon, 1995). There are some key factors that can help players in the financial services sector to retain their customers. One of the key factors is differentiation of products and services. Differentiation is a business level strategy that delivers goods and services to the customers at an acceptable cost using unique strategies that guarantee customer satisfaction. According to Fred smith, the founding director of the FedEx, the main tenet of differentiation is innovation. For a firm to create products that will constantly appeal to the mass market without losing its luster, it must enhance them through differentiation. The price of the goods and services can be more than what the clients are willing to pay so long as the differentiation creates value that was not there initially (Jones &Farquahar, 2003). Customers are known to have a knack for unique goods and services and sometimes the quality maters more than the cost. A customer can go for a unique product that is more expensive than the ordinary version of the product because they expect more value from the different product. This means that the business level strategies of firms in the financial sector should adopt differentiation strategies that offer the customers unique products even if it means at a higher price. Unique products at a higher price fetch more revenue than ordinary ones at a lower price and this is a factor that can give a business competitive advantage over its rivals in the market that have ordinary products at low cost (Senge , 2004). The advantage of the differentiation strategy to a firm is that the value that is provided by the unique products and service features usually attract a premium price and give the customers a higher level of satisfaction. The products and the services have superior quality; they are exclusive and more prestigious. For a firm to succeed through this strategy, it must design new ways of doing things and develop new systems. It must also shape perceptions of the differentiated products and services through intensive marketing campaigns and rigorous advertising because this is another way in which competitive advantage is created. The firm must also focus on the enhancement of quality that will make the product exclusive and prestigious. The other key factor that can help in customer retention is market segmentation (Jarrar, 2002). Financial services providers should gather and measure structured information that will help them to comprehend the needs and the preferences of all their clients so that they can effectively respond to these needs. This process will lead in the prediction of the consumer outcome behavior which will in turn help in the creation of consumer management strategies (Thomas, Reinartz and Kumar, 2004). The process will help the banks in creating segments in the market based on the needs of the customers. For example, the high income earners do not have the same needs as the middle earners or the low income earners meaning that the three groups cannot be addressed as a homogenous group(Lusch 2007) Segmenting the market will therefore help in customer retention because it enhances individualized customer attention and service. The customer loyalty ladder can be used the players in the financial services sector. The customer loyalty ladder has five distinct levels; the suspect, the prospect, the customer, the client and the advocate. Most of the marketing strategies that are used by any business focus on the first three levels. The last two levels consists of customers whom the business have managed to satisfy and have chosen to continue buying their goods and services (Lusch, 1987). They are referred to as retained customers. For the financial services sector to be able to transform the occupants of the first two levels into retained customers, the sector must invest in aggressive marketing practices that will draw customers so that the business level strategies mentioned above can spearhead the transformation process.
The customer loyalty ladder can be used to explain the customer lifetime value. The first level of customer loyalty is the suspect. The suspect is a person who hears about a certain product or service mainly during a promotion or through the media. The suspect is not very important to a company if they do not gain interest in the product. The second level is the prospect. The prospect is the suspect who is interested in the product being promoted. The prospect is a very vital asset to a firm though especially in the future. The third level is on the ladder is the customer. The customer is the prospect who has proceeded to buy the products or the services. The customer lifetime value of a company begins at this stage. A customer may buy a product or a service but if this customer fails to buy again, this customer is not useful to the company. Most of the revenue made by any business comes not from repeated purchases. When customers are satisfied by the initial products and services they purchase, the repeatedly purchase those products in the future and this is what constitutes the customer life time values. A customer who buys a product or a service repeatedly is called a client and such a customer becomes an advocate if they influence other people to buy the product because they give free advertising services to the company. The most important asset for a company is the advocate because they create a higher life time value than all the occupants of the lower rungs of the customer loyalty ladder. For a company to create advocates and clients out of its customers, it must have efficient customer satisfaction and retention strategies. Business growth is actually determined by the ability of business to retain customers. One of the best approaches that can enhance customer retention strategies in the financial services sector is called Psychographics. Psychographic approach helps a company to divide its target market using variables such as personality, social class, lifestyle and consumer patterns. The aforementioned variables determine how people perceive a product and spend their money on it. The study of the social class considers the interests of the demographic group in the class and their spending power. Personality focuses on the need of the targeted people to automate their lives while lifestyle focuses on consumer needs. This segmentation of the market helps to establish what different groups require which enables a company to effectively respond to the needs of the people. Taking the market as one can be suicidal because a business can end up satisfying one group and relegating the others to the periphery. This is how businesses lose vital customers. Players in the financial services sector should be enhance customer satisfaction using coordinated sets of activities that are in line with the philosophy of the marketing. This will ensure that the financial products to stay ahead in the market as the banks achieve their goals at a very good profit. The trick is not making and selling a product, it is to learn the needs of the people and make the product in a way that satisfies the needs.
Marketing should focus on customer acquisition and customer retention. In the process of marketing, information gotten thorough advertising should be utilized to create reinforcing messages that connect the product with the needs of the consumers. This means that marketing functions should ensure that the consumers are satisfied. Players in the financial services sector should therefore look at the central goals of the consumers to ward off the competition which may be more appealing (Harrison, 2003). To start with, the companies must ensure continuous improvement of the products they offer and the services they provide to support their efforts of attracting and retaining customers (Sherwin, 1998). Balancing the demands of the customers with profit making results in the total satisfaction of both parties and this is the basic tenet of marketing that bank should pursue while trying to attain a competitive advantage. This means that the banks should have precisions of the market situation and buyer decision making to ensure that its marketing strategy is effective. The banks should first create awareness of the product then help the consumers throughout the diverse stages of the marketing process to make decisions (Haskell, 2007). The clients cannot start making considerations of a product without awareness because marketing is a solution to need strategy. For the banks to be able to implement this marketing mix, they must therefore create strategic marketing plans that give a timeline of the achievement of the marketing objectives. This can be effectively done through a proper analysis of the macro environment where a bank looks at its strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats. After this analysis the company should work to enhance its strengths, to manage its weaknesses, exploit its opportunities and minimize the threats. This will help the banks and their products to enjoy a competitive advantage, ensuring that their services remain competitive dominant and the company acquires more clients as it retains the existing ones.
In conclusion customer retention strategies should first focus on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction creates confidence which in turn translates into loyalty (Evans, 2002). A loyal customer is a retained customer who can easily become an advocate who provides free advertising services through the referrals they make. For banks to attract and retain customers, they should strive to provide the right products and services to the right customers and also ensure that the exceed the expectation of the customers because this clearly indicates that they comprehend the needs of their customers. The strategies should work on customer defection and attrition rates and also ensure that quality services are provided at the lowest cost possible. Defection and attrition rates should remain low for the banks to enjoy the competitive advantage created by customer loyalty. Most banks tend to drive their income through customer acquisition which has been proven to be more expensive that customer retention. Banks should realize that customer retention is also a form of customer acquisition because when the customers rise to the level of an advocate on the loyalty ladder, they help the banks to acquire more customers through referrals. This will be a key factor that will address the challenges in the identification of the routes that an organization will take in order to achieve the strategic visions by creating the critical success factors that will ensure that there is optimum leverage and customer satisfaction. Since successful strategic planning is about unleashing the whole organizational potential, it is important to realize that most of this potential lies in the customers, both new and old. Customer service departments must realign their functions in order to create a mindset that revolves around satisfaction of customers. Mixing long term and short term strategies that underpin the strategic direction of the business is one of the best strategies for customer retention. If the aspirations of the business are the major assets of the business, the only other asset that can work hand in hand with those aspirations, goals and objectives is the customer.The customer services in many organizations have become strategic meaning that they are an integral part of the realization of the visions and missions of the organization. Therefore, organizational leadership system that inspires the human resources to share in the vision for the mutual embracement and fulfillment is necessary. The use of the correct customer attraction and retention practices will enable an organization to adopt a holistic approach that will enable it to capitalize on the competitive market trends avoiding internal divisions and personal agendas that end up blocking the path to the realization of the strategic plans.
List of references
Evans, M. (2002). Prevention is better than cure: Redoubling the focus on customer retention . Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 7(2), 186
Haskell, S. (2007). Onboarding Getting the first 90 days right. Financial World.
Harrison, T. (2003). Why trust is important in customer relationships and how to achieve it . Journal of Financial Services Marketing, p. 206.
Jarrar, Y. (2002). Cross-selling in the financial sector: Customer profitability is key . Journal of Targeting, Measurement & Analysis for Marketing, 10(3), 282
Jones, H., & Farquhar, J. (2003). Contact management and customer loyalty . Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 8(1), 71.
Lusch, V. N. (1987), Principles of Marketing. Kent: Kent Publishing.
Sherwin, R. (1988) A Dictionary of Economics. NY: Sage
Seymour, W. I. (2003). Intellectual Capital in Twenty-First-Century Politics. MA: Paideia,
Seddon, J. (1995). Changing Management Thinking: The Key to Success TQM. London: Chapman & Hall.
Senge, P.M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline, London: Chapman & Hall,
Smallbone, P. (1995). The Characteristics and Strategies of High Growth, London: Chapman & Hall
Thomas, J., Reinartz, W., & Kumar, V. (2004). Getting the Most out of All your Customers . Harvard Business Review, 82(7/8), 116-123.
ABN AMRO, a banking institution decided to implement an e-mail marketing program in 1988. However, the bank faced two challenges in reaching its goal. Firstly, the bank was faced with the challenge of collecting genuine e-mail addresses from customers. Secondly, there was a challenge on how to construct and convey meaningful information on the addresses consistently. In order to tackle these problems, the bank teamed up with Financial Publishing Services (FPS), a marketing communication company, thus collecting 500 e-mail addresses so as to commence the program. This strategy enabled ABN AMRO to enhance its marketing strategy through the internet by the way of sending customized articles to the banks clients.
According to Mr. Goldwin, Senior Vice President of Transaction Banking-Marketing & Communications for ABN AMRO, the email distribution expanded to over 10,000 clients in the past decade due to more recipients being added by clients. Furthermore, ABN AMRO realized that the e-newsletters achieved more than average open rates, thus facilitating the popularity of the banks program. The publications distributed by the bank include the bimonthly Cash Solutions newsletter and quarterly newsletters Commercial Card Solutions and Global Trade Advisor. More so, ABN AMRO offers Treasury Tips to users of its CashPro treasury management system and MaxTrad Exchange to users of its MaxTrad trade services system. With such information to clients, the bank is able to: enjoy customer loyalty, experience brand image improvement, create cross-selling opportunities, and enhance client relationships.
To enhance its customer loyalty and market share, ABN AMRO constantly provides updates on banking services and industry changes. Also, e-marketing enables sales advisors from financial institutions to reach out to clients more efficiently. Miller, First Vice President of Marketing & Communications at ABN AMRO asserts that sales specialists rely on the e-marketing strategy to reach their customers electronically when they cant always call customers. Despite the benefits of the e-newsletter program, the company is still faced with the challenge of further customizing messages and constantly developing communications that are client-driven rather than ABN AMRO-driven.
Statement of the Problem
As discussed in the case summary, even though the company has been able to deal with the problem of acquiring genuine email addresses from clients and routing meaningful information to customers, ABN AMRO still faces a challenge. The major problem that still exists is to develop customized messages that shall be controlled mainly by the clients rather than the bank itself.
Proposing a Solution
In solving the mentioned problem, ABN AMRO needs to have a clear understanding of its long-term and short-term information requirements through the incorporation of appropriate information systems in its business processes. Since the company is involved in banking services, setting up a company website that caters to the information requirements of customers would be much appropriate. From this website, clients can be allowed to log in with their email addresses, select the publications that they are interested in, or even participate in discussion groups. Furthermore, the company can register for an email domain so as to effectively control secure internet communication; this might enable clients and sales specialists to have good integrated communication. Thus, from the website, a client can have full control of requesting the information he/she is interested in.
Learning application
The proposed solution will ensure that all the companys information is available in a wider market through the website. Allowing customers to select their desired newsletters enables the company to develop more customized messages. In addition, the clients have total control of the information they get. Another important aspect of the proposed solution is that ABN AMRO can be able to enhance the relationship with clients and thus increase its popularity.
Reference
ABN AMRO (n.d). Brand Loyalty through Internet: E-Mail Marketing Positions ABN AMRO as Trusted Advisor.
As of May 2022, Teslas brand loyalty has reached 63%. The number can be genuinely considered exceptional regardless of the perspective. Not only has it more than doubled since the loyalty level of May 2021, which was almost 30%, but it is also the highest luxury brand loyalty and any brand industry-wide.
Discussion
The sophisticated customer personalization levels that Tesla provides result in the highest customer satisfaction. The only logical recommendations left in such an excellent state for a company to be in lie in further increasing brand awareness, developing the infrastructure of charging stations, and reaching the most expansive customer range possible by diversifying the product line and lowering prices.
The most recognizable Teslas personalization effort is its driver profiles. Each driver can adjust their settings with the help of specialized software. Instead of manually adjusting the wheel or mirror location, Tesla adjusts automatically based on the current driver. These driver profiles go beyond typical vehicle personalization to set lights, suspension, braking, driving style, and even radio presets to match each user. Apart from that, Tesla leads the industry in terms of integrated data. Each car registers movements from various sensors, which it then combines to create a complete picture of the driving experience. That data creates a powerful navigation system, strengthens Teslas self-driving technology, and provides valuable customer insights.
Conclusion
Therefore, every customer feels like the company is invested in him, which results in a substantial emotional benefit. In addition, by using an electric vehicle, people can associate themselves with environmentalists, whose priority is addressing the Earths current problems. This way, the emotional benefits of using Tesla products reach their peak.
Brand Loyalty is not a very difficult concept to understand, a person becomes loyal to a brand when he/she is completely satisfied with the performance of the brand. In other words, if a brand meets or exceeds the expectations of a consumer, that consumer in return starts showing loyalty towards that Brand. This paper will throw light upon what Brand loyalty exactly is and why a person becomes loyal towards a brand.
It is very important to focus upon consumer buying behavior when taking into account brand loyalty. Consumer buying behavior depends on certain factors like interest in the product, the intensity to buy the same etc. The factor which matters the most is the interest and the intensity to buy the product. Without the interest and the intensity no consumer can ever become loyal to a brand. It is also important to understand what high involvement products are; high involvement goods are those which are highly prices. These products come with different kind of risks, these risks may be Economic, personal or Social. These are nothing but factors which go on to determine the consumer buying behavior. Consumer behavior includes factors like routine response behavior, extensive decision making, limited decision making and another important thing in this is impulse buying, which refers to the consumer thinking very little about the product and just buying it without giving a good thought about the product. Routine response or program behavior refers to the buying of goods by consumers which are low priced, these constitute as day to day items used by a consumer. For instance the snacks and the soft drinks come under Routine response; these are items consumed by the customer and form the day-to-day items of any consumer. Unfamiliar brand in familiar product category is ought to be understood in order to know the concept of brand loyalty better. In order to know the same better considerate amount of information is required, it basically refers to things which require information in understanding the psychology of the customer, a classic example can be clothes purchased by a customer.
Brand Loyalty
Brand Loyalty is the consumers conscious or unconscious decision, expressed through intention or behavior, to repurchase a brand continually. It occurs because the consumer perceives that the brand offers the right product features, image, or level of quality at the right price. Consumer behavior is habitual because habits are safe and familiar. In order to create brand loyalty, advertisers must break consumer habits, help them acquire new habits, and reinforce those habits by reminding consumers of the value of their purchase and encourage them to continue purchasing those products in the future. (Brand Loyalty, 2008).
Brand loyalty has become the sole aim of many companies; companies are aiming to make customers loyal to their brands. Brand loyalty focuses upon making more and more people loyal to a particular brand. If this is achieved by a company then the profit margin is ought to go up. This will happen because the people who are loyal will pay even extra money to get their hands on the brand. The satisfaction which the consumers get also plays a vital role in determining how loyal they will be to the brand in the future. If there is no or very little satisfaction then the consumer will not be loyal to the brand on the contrary if the consumer derives lot of satisfaction he/she will surely be loyal to the brand in the future. It is all about satisfying the needs and wants of consumers.
Brand Nike
Brand Nike over the years has made many loyal customers; especially sportsmen usually prefer wearing Nike. The sportsmen find Nike the most satisfying brand and this is why they keep buying the brand Nike over and over again. Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1962. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoemaker Onitsuka Tiger, making most sales at track meets out of Knights car.
The companys profits grew quickly, and in 1966, BRS opened its first retail store, located on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end. BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the newly designed Swoosh.
The first shoe to carry this design that was sold to the public was a football shoe named Nike , which was released in the summer of 1971. In February 1972, BRS introduced its first line of Nike shoes, with the name Nike derived from the Greek goddess of victory. In 1978, BRS, Inc. officially renamed itself to Nike, Inc. Beginning with Ilie Nastase, the first professional athlete to sign with BRS/Nike, the sponsorship of athletes became a key marketing tool for the rapidly growing company. (Nike, 2008).
Nike is undoubtedly one of the biggest sports goods manufacturers. A key strategy of Nike to grow as a brand is marketing. It is extremely important to do marketing in order to develop more and more loyal customers. The company handpicks top athletes to market the various Nike brands. The advertisement plays important role in Marketing; Nike spends a lot of money on advertisement and advertisement is the lifeline of Marketing.
Conclusion
Brand loyalty is the ultimate aim of marketing. The same is very difficult to achieve. A company should try and manufacture a product which satisfies the needs and wants of a customer. It should be a perfect product and these days only a perfect product can make more and more loyal customers hence achieving the goal of Brand loyalty.