Customer intimacy analytics : leveraging operational data to assess customer knowledge and relationships and to measure their business impact

The ability to capture customer needs and to tailor the provided solutions accordingly, also defined as customer intimacy, has become a significant success factor in the B2B space - in particular for increasingly \"servitizing\" businesses. This book elaborates on the solution CI Analytics to assess and monitor the impact of customer intimacy strategies by leveraging business analytics and social network analysis technology. This solution thereby effectively complements existing CRM solutions

Developing B2B relationships by promoting customer intimacy in e-commerce

Developing lasting customer relationships is important for organizations in today’s competitive business environment. One strategy to accomplish this is customer intimacy, which refers to creating long and close customer relationships that benefit both parties. A prerequisite for customer intimacy is the acquisition of customer data and the understanding of customers' intentions, needs, and desires so that the company knows how to serve its customers best. At the same time, the e-commerce market is rapidly growing and is projected to grow even more in the next few years. The purpose of the research is to find out what constitutes customer intimacy in e-commerce and how it can be developed in order to improve B2B customer relationships. There is not much research on the subject yet, so this research seeks to provide new information on the field. The theoretical framework of the research includes definitions and different perspectives on how to develop customer intimacy, as well as presents e-commerce as a sales function. The approach for the research is qualitative, although quantitative methods are also used. The research is a multiple case study, and the empirical data consists of six e-commerce websites, one customer interview, and a survey. The research is conducted in two phases, the first one being analyzing what constitutes customer intimacy at the studied e-commerce sites and the second one includes the interview and survey, which provide insights into what e-commerce functionalities and features customers find important and why. Lastly, the findings are concluded and concrete suggestions for promoting customer intimacy in e-commerce are given. The research found ten main themes that affect building customer intimacy: communication, communality, product recommendations, customer experiences, product information, customer data collection, transparency, timeliness, customization, and concerns. The results show that customers value clear product technical requirement details and price and purchase information most. The results also highlight the importance of up-to-date and efficient data. This means for example detailed product descriptions with pictures, illustrations, and videos, product comparisons, downloadable documents, buying guides, and product updates. Communication is vital for customer intimacy, and quick responses to customer inquiries and clear contacting options are crucial. Customers are these days increasingly social and want to be included, thus reciprocal communication and the sense of communality promote customer intimacy. Communality features such as allowing customers to openly ask and answer questions, start conversations, comment, and socialize with other customers and the company representatives are especially effective for building customer intimacy. Transparency and openness in every action are important aspects since customers need to understand for example why certain information is collected from them and how it benefits them. They want to be active participants and have the possibility to configure products and personalize the website according to their needs.Kestävien asiakassuhteiden luominen on erityisen tärkeää nykyajan kilpailullisessa liiketoimintaympäristössä. Yksi strategia tämän tavoitteluun on asiakasläheisyys, jolla viitataan pitkäaikaisten ja läheisten, molempia osapuolia hyödyttävien asiakassuhteiden luomiseen. Asiakasläheisyyden edellytyksenä on asiakastietojen kerääminen ja asiakkaiden aikeiden, tarpeiden ja toiveiden ymmärtäminen, jotta yritys pystyy palvella heitä parhaalla mahdollisella tavalla. Samaan aikaan sähköinen kaupankäynti kasvaa nopeasti, ja sen ennustetaan kasvavan entisestään lähivuosina. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten asiakasläheisyys muodostuu verkkokaupoissa ja miten sitä voidaan kehittää B2B-asiakassuhteiden edistämiseksi. Aihetta ei ole vielä juurikaan tutkittu, joten tämä tutkimus pyrkii tuomaan uutta tietoa alalle. Tutkimuksen teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä esitellään asiakasläheisyyden määritelmiä ja erilaisia näkökulmia sen kehittämiseen, sekä avataan tarkemmin verkkokauppojen roolia myyntitoimintona. Tutkimuksen lähestymistapa on laadullinen, vaikka myös määrällisiä menetelmiä käytetään. Tutkimus on monitapaustutkimus, ja sen empiirinen aineisto koostuu kuudesta verkkokauppasivustosta, yhdestä asiakashaastattelusta ja kyselystä. Tutkimus toteutetaan kahdessa vaiheessa, joista ensimmäisessä analysoidaan, miten asiakasläheisyys muodostuu valituissa verkkokaupoissa. Toinen vaihe koostuu haastattelusta ja kyselystä, jotka avaavat tarkemmin, mitä verkkokaupan toimintoja ja ominaisuuksia asiakkaat pitävät tärkeinä ja miksi. Lopuksi tulosten pohjalta tehdään johtopäätöksiä ja annetaan konkreettisia kehitysehdotuksia verkkokauppojen asiakasläheisyyden kehittämiseksi. Tutkimuksessa löydettiin 10 pääteemaa, jotka rakentavat asiakasläheisyyttä: viestintä, yhteisöllisyys, tuotesuositukset, asiakaskokemukset, tuotetiedot, asiakastietojen keräys, läpinäkyvyys, ajantasaisuus, kustomointi ja huolet. Tulokset osoittavat asiakkaiden pitävän tuotteiden selkeitä teknisiä tietoja sekä hinta- ja ostotietoja tärkeimpinä. Tietojen ajantasaisuus ja tehokkuus ovat myös olennaista. Tällä tarkoitetaan esimerkiksi yksityiskohtaisia tuote-esittelyjä kuvien, kuvituksien ja videoiden kera, tuotevertailuja, ladattavia dokumentteja, osto-oppaita ja tuotepäivityksiä. Viestinnällä on keskeinen rooli asiakasläheisyyden muodostumisessa, ja nopeat vastaukset asiakkaiden kysymyksiin ja selkeät yhteydenottotavat ovat tärkeitä. Asiakkaat ovat nykyään entistä sosiaalisempia ja osallistuvampia, joten asiakasläheisyyttä lisää vastavuoroinen viestintä ja yhteisöllisyys. Erityisen tehokkaita keinoja ovat esimerkiksi mahdollisuus kysyä avoimesti kysymyksiä ja vastata niihin, aloittaa keskusteluja, kommentoida ja seurustella muiden asiakkaiden ja yrityksen edustajien kanssa. Myös läpinäkyvyys ja avoimuus ovat tärkeitä tekijöitä, sillä asiakkaat haluavat ymmärtää, miksi heiltä esimerkiksi kerätään tiettyjä tietoja ja miten se hyödyttää heitä. Asiakkaat haluavat olla aktiivisia osallistujia, ja että heillä on mahdollisuus kustomoida tuotteita ja verkkokauppasivustoa tarpeidensa mukaisesti

D i g i t a l i z a t i o n a n d N e w B u y e r B e h a v i o r i s C h a n g i n g B 2 B R e l a t i o n s h i p M a r k e t i n g

Problem definition: The increasingly informed customer will lead to an even greater demand for expertise and knowledge of marketers. Firms need to find new ways to utilize the informed customer as a co-creator of value by more proficiently analyzing behavior, both online and offline. An uncertainty lies in to which extent the operational standards of KIBS firms translate to their marketing and sales efforts, or to what degree they are using potential customers to help shape their value propositions. The research question that has been identified is how the relationships seen in knowledgeintensive B2B marketing are affected by the digitalization of society and the change in buyer behavior that is a result of these societal changes. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis will be to identify the effects of digitalization and changing buyer behavior on relationships seen across marketing and sales of knowledge-intensive services in a B2B context. This will lead to a recommendation for the case company’s future direction of its marketing and sales functions. Methodology: The research approach of this master’s thesis has been a combination of a descriptive and !! ! IV! Digitalization and New Buyer Behavior is Changing B2B Relationship Marketing Tobias Olsson Emil Uhlin an explorative study. The descriptive approach intends to describe the overall areas of the problem formulation, while the explorative approach aims to collect as much information as possible regarding these areas. The goal of research has been to put more weight on the explorative approach. The research is approached as a case study focusing on a company that is both B2B and in a sector that includes many interesting angles of the problem. Case company: The choice of Company X as case company for this thesis was rooted in three overall observations. First off, the area of digital marketing is currently seeing increased urgency in B2B. The sector of IT and business consultancy is also interesting. The companies in this sector often have many different ways of working within the same company. The choice of a B2B company is motivated by the fact that the new wave of digital marketing has seen greater advancements in B2C. B2B is historically stronger in much of the relationship marketing basics, like close network relationships. The digital advancements in B2B deviate from those in B2C, and are probably not as standardized. Lastly, an interesting aspect of Company X is that it offers business units on opposite sides of the spectrum in regards to overall digital advancements. Conclusions: Information really is the common denominator for everything that pertains to the power balance of supplier and customer. The authors believe that the presented framework provides a good intersection of assessing relational strength in B2B, the ability to grade strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats in digitalization, and lastly the level of current buyer insight. The models are secondary and may be modified, but the choice to observe relationships, digitalization and more in-depth buyer behavior should provide a holistic view for similar studies

Strategic analysis of the implementation of a CRM technology in a telecommunications company

Después de desarrollar una práctica de 6 meses el proyecto de implementación de una plataforma CRM en una empresa Italiana de telecomunicaciones, se identificaron los principales factores que afectan el éxito del proyecto y se desarrolló un análisis a nivel estratégico. La investigación parte del análisis del proceso de ventas (proceso directamente afectado por la plataforma implementada) y su interacción con el sistema, seguido de la aplicación de un modelo que posiciona el CRM de la empresa a un nivel estratégico y finaliza con el desarrollo de un sistema de medición para evaluar el rendimiento del sistema CRM.After a 6-month internship in an Italian Telecommunications Company, in the project management of the implementation of a CRM system, the main issues regarding it were identified and a strategic analysis was developed. The study begins with the analysis of the business process affected by the CRM, then a theoretical framework that positions the company s CRM at a strategic level is applied, and finally, a measurement system to evaluate CRM performance is developed.Ingeniero (a) IndustrialPregrad

Towards a contextual understanding of B2B salespeople's selling competencies – An exploratory study among purchasing decision-makers of internationally-oriented technology firms

ABSTRACT Towards a contextual understanding of B2B salespeople’s selling competencies − an exploratory study among purchasing decision-makers of internationally-oriented technology firms The characteristics of modern selling can be classified as follows: customer retention and loyalty targets, database and knowledge management, customer relationship management, marketing activities, problem solving and system selling, and satisfying needs and creating value. For salespeople to be successful in this environment, they need a wide range of competencies. Salespeople’s selling skills are well documented in seller side literature through quantitative methods, but the knowledge, skills and competencies from the buyer’s perspective are under-researched. The existing research on selling competencies should be broadened and updated through a qualitative research perspective due to the dynamic nature and the contextual dependence of selling competencies. The purpose of the study is to increase understanding of the professional salesperson’s selling competencies from the industrial purchasing decision- makers’ viewpoint within the relationship selling context. In this study, competencies are defined as sales-related knowledge and skills. The scope of the study includes goods, materials and services managed by a company’s purchasing function and used by an organization on a daily basis. The abductive approach and ‘systematic combining’ have been applied as a research strategy. In this research, data were generated through semi- structured, person-to-person interviews and open-ended questions. The study was conducted among purchasing decision-makers in the technology industry in Finland. The branches consisted of the electronics and electro-technical industries and the mechanical engineering and metals industries. A total of 30 companies and one purchasing decision-maker from each company were purposively chosen for the sampling. The sample covers different company sizes based on their revenues, their differing structures – varying from public to family companies –that represent domestic and international ownerships. Before analyzing the data, they were organized by the purchasing orientations of the buyers: the buying, procurement or supply management orientation. Thematic analysis was chosen as the analysis method. After analyzing the data, the results were contrasted with the theory. There was a continuous interaction between the empirical data and the theory. Based on the findings, a total of 19 major knowledge and skills were identified from the buyers’ perspective. The specific knowledge and skills from the viewpoint of customers’ prevalent purchasing orientations were divided into two categories, generic and contextual. The generic knowledge and skills apply to all purchasing orientations, and the contextual knowledge and skills depend on customers’ prevalent purchasing orientations. Generic knowledge and skills relate to price setting, negotiation, communication and interaction skills, while contextual ones relate to knowledge brokering, ability to present solutions and relationship skills. Buying-oriented buyers value salespeople who are ‘action oriented experts, however at a bit of an arm’s length’, procurement buyers value salespeople who are ‘experts deeply dedicated to the customer and fostering the relationship’ and supply management buyers value salespeople who are ‘corporate-oriented experts’. In addition, the buyer’s perceptions on knowledge and selling skills differ from the seller’s ones. The buyer side emphasizes managing the subject matter, consisting of the expertise, understanding the customers’ business and needs, creating a customized solution and creating value, reliability and an ability to build long-term relationships, while the seller side emphasizes communica- tion, interaction and salesmanship skills. The study integrates the selling skills of the current three-component model− technical knowledge, salesmanship skills, interpersonal skills− and relationship skills and purchasing orientations, into a selling competency model. The findings deepen and update the content of these knowledges and skills in the B2B setting and create new insights into them from the buyer’s perspective, and thus the study increases contextual understanding of selling competencies. It generates new knowledge of the salesperson’s competencies for the relationship selling and personal selling and sales management literature. It also adds knowledge of the buying orientations to the buying behavior literature. The findings challenge sales management to perceive salespeople’s selling skills both from a contingency and competence perspective. The study has several managerial implications: it increases understanding of what the critical selling knowledge and skills from the buyer’s point of view are, understanding of how salespeople effectively implement the relationship marketing concept, sales management’s knowledge of how to manage the sales process more effectively and efficiently, and the knowledge of how sales management should develop a salesperson’s selling competencies when managing and developing the sales force. Keywords: selling competencies, knowledge, selling skills, relationship skills, purchasing orientations, B2B selling, abductive approach, technology firmsTIIVISTELMÄ Kohti B2B-myyjän myyntikompetenssien tilannekohtaista ymmärrystä − eksploratiivinen tutkimus kansainvälisesti suuntautuneiden teknologiayritysten ostopäätöksentekijöiden keskuudessa Nykyaikaisen myynnin tunnusmerkkejä ovat: asiakaspysyvyys- ja uskollisuus- tavoitteet, tietokannan hallinta ja tiedonhallinta, ongelmanratkaisu- ja järjestel- mämyynti, asiakastarpeiden tyydyttäminen ja arvon luominen. Menestyäkseen tässä ympäristössä myyjät tarvitsevat monipuolisia kompetensseja. Myyjien myyntitaitoja on hyvin dokumentoitu myyjien keskuudessa kvantitatiivisilla menetelmillä tehdyissä tutkimuksissa. Sitä vastoin myyjän tietoja, myynti- taitoja ja -kompetensseja on niukasti tutkittu ostajan näkökulmasta. Myynti- kompetenssien kontekstiriippuvaisuuden ja dynaamisen luonteen takia niiden ymmärrystä tulee laajentaa ja päivittää laadullisella tutkimusotteella. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on lisätä asiantuntijamyyjien myyntikompetenssien ymmärrystä teollisuuden ostopäätöksentekijöiden näkökulmasta suhdemyyn- nin kontekstissa. Tässä tutkimuksessa kompetenssit koostuvat myyjän tiedois- ta ja taidoista. Tutkimusala käsittää tavarat, materiaalit ja palvelut, joita yrityk- sen ostotoiminto hallinnoi ja joita yritys käyttää päivittäin. Tutkimusstrategiaksi valittiin abduktiivinen lähestymistapa (”systematic combining”). Tutkimuksen aineisto luotiin käyttämällä puolistrukturoitua hen- kilökohtaista haastattelumenetelmää. Tutkimus suoritettiin teknologiateol- lisuusyritysten hankinnoista päättävien henkilöiden keskuudessa Suomessa. Yritykset edustivat elektroniikka-, sähkötekniikka-, koneenrakennus- ja metallien jalostuksen toimialaa. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin harkinnanvaraista otantaa ja siihen valittiin tarkoituksenmukaisesti kolmenkymmenen yrityksen ostopäätöksentekijät. Yritykset vaihtelivat kooltaan ja yritysmuodoltaan sekä jakautuivat omistussuhteiltaan kotimaisiin ja kansainvälisiin yrityksiin. Ennen aineiston analyysia se organisoitiin ostajien osto-orientaatioiden mukaisesti osto-, hankinta- tai toimittajahallintaorientaatioon kuuluvaksi. Aineiston analyysissä käytettiin teema-analyysimenetelmää. Analyysituloksia verrattiin aikaisempaan teoriaan systemaattisesti. Empiirisen aineiston ja teorian välillä oli jatkuva vuorovaikutus. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voitiin tunnistaa ostajan näkökulmasta 19 ylätason tietoa ja taitoa. Ostajan osto-orientaatioittain tunnistetut spesifiset tiedot ja taidot luokiteltiin geneerisiksi ja kontekstuaalisiksi tiedoiksi ja tai- doiksi. Geneeriset tiedot ja taidot pätevät kaikkiin kolmeen osto-orientaatioon, kun taas kontekstuaaliset riippuvat ostajan nykyisestä osto-orientaatiosta. Geneeriset tiedot ja taidot liittyvät pääasiallisesti hinnanasetanta-, neuvottelu-, kommunikointi- ja vuorovaikutustaitoihin ja kontekstuaaliset liittyvät tiedon jakamisen ja ratkaisun esittämisen taitoihin sekä suhdetaitoihin. Osto-orientaa- tiota edustavat ostajat arvostavat myyjiä, jotka ovat ”toiminnallisia asiantun- tijoita säilyttäen pienen etäisyyden”. Hankintasuuntautuneet ostajat arvostavat myyjiä, jotka ovat ”syvällisesti asiakkaaseen ja asiakassuhteeseen omistautu- neita asiantuntijoita”. Toimittajahallintaorientaatiota edustavat ostajat arvos- tavat myyjiä, jotka ovat ”yritystason asiantuntijoita”. Lisäksi ostajien näke- mykset myyjän tiedoista ja taidoista eroavat myyjien ja myynnin johdon näkemyksistä. Ostajat painottavat substanssiosaamista kuten asiantuntijuutta, kykyä ymmärtää asiakkaan liiketoimintaa ja tarpeita, kykyä luoda asiakas- kohtaisia ratkaisuja, kykyä luoda arvoa, luotettavuutta ja kykyä rakentaa pitkäaikaisia asiakassuhteita. Sitä vastoin myyjät ja myynnin johto korostavat kommunikointi-, vuorovaikutus- ja myyntiprosessitaitoja. Tutkimus yhdistää myyntitaitojen vallitsevan kolmen komponentin mallin koostuen teknisestä tiedosta, myyntiprosessi- ja ihmissuhdetaidoista sekä asiakassuhdetaidot ja ostajien osto-orientaatiot myyntikompetenssimalliksi. Tutkimustulokset syventävät ja päivittävät myyntikompetenssit B2B-ympäris- tössä ja luovat uusia näkökulmia niihin ostajien perspektiivistä lisäten täten myyntikompetenssien kontekstuaalista ymmärrystä. Tutkimus luo uutta tietoa myyjän kompetensseista suhdemyynnin, henkilökohtaisen myynnin ja myyn- ninjohdon kirjallisuuteen. Se lisää myös tietoa osto-orientaatioista ostokirjalli- suuteen. Sillä on useita seuraamuksia myynnin johdolle. Se haastaa myynnin- johdon näkemään kriittiset myyntitiedot ja -taidot nykyistä syvemmin sekä kontekstuaalisesta että kompetenssinäkökulmasta myyntitoiminnan johtami- sessa ja myyjien kehittämisessä. Tutkimustulosten avulla myynninjohto voi tehostaa suhdemyynnin vaikuttavuutta ja parantaa myyntiprosessin hallintaa ostajalähtöiseksi. Avainsanat: myyntikompetenssit, tieto, myyntitaidot, suhdetaidot, osto- orientaatiot, B2B-myynti, abduktiivinen lähestymistapa, teknologiayrityksetsiirretty Doriast

Solution Sales Process Blueprinting (SSPB): A visual representation of value creating activities in sales process implementation

The dynamism and the increasing competition in the B2B market environment has forced many manufacturing organizations to transform their selling orientation and practices from purely product oriented sales to solution selling in order to maintain their competitive positions and adapt to the continuously changing customer’s needs. The transformation necessitates major changes within the organizations and also in its interactions with customers, most noticeably the sales process. Although, firms’ transition to solution providers is not a new phenomenon in sales literature, studies focusing on the changes in the sales process are fragmented. Additionally, most of the studies depicting the sales process have mainly concentrated on the different selling activities without incorporating the actors that are involved in the process, or visualizing the different customer touch-points, which are important in order to develop broader understanding of the firm selling practices and for identifying sources of opportunities. Therefore, by utilizing a process mapping techniques, known as blueprinting, this study contributes to existing knowledge by developing a sales process framework that visualizes different activities and customer touch-points in the sales process as well as actors carrying out those activities. A qualitative research method in the form of face-to-face interviews was utilized for collecting data from 8 Finnish manufacturing firms that are currently undergoing transitions to solution providers. Data analysis was carried out through a combination of within-case and cross-case analyses. The results show that firms are interacting with customers not only during the sales phase of the process, but also during manufacturing and post sales delivery to acquire and disseminate new information. However, the process blueprint that was developed in the research reveals the need for improvements in the firms’ sales process design, in order to better integrate the service function into the selling phase and to enhance the opportunities for post sales customer support.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

The effect of trust, communication, supplier's willingness to customize and switching costs towards customer retention in supplier relationship

Customer retention and its antecedents are significant concerns to managers and suppliers in electronic industries. A lot of research have been extensively conducted on this issue in numerous contexts but research in the Malaysian electrical and electronic (E&E) industry is still scarce. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of trust, effective communication, supplier’s willingness to customize and switching costs towards customer retention in supplier relationship. A total of 230 purchasing managers and supervisors of electronic manufacturing companies in the E&E industry in Malaysia participated in the study. Results of the partial least squares path analysis supported the hypotheses of this study regarding direct and indirect effects of supplier’s willingness to customize, effective communication, trust and switching costs on customer retention. Trust was found to have the mediating effects for the relationship between supplier’s willingness to customize, effective communication and customer retention. Switching cost has a moderating effect on the relationship between trust and customer retention. All dimensions of switching costs have different effects on retention, and financial switching costs has the highest moderating effect on the relationship between trust and customer retention. The findings of this research contribute to the empirical studies on the relationship marketing concept and social exchange theory in general and supplier’s willingness to customize, effective communication, trust, switching costs and customer retention particularly in the E&E sector in Malaysia. This study suggests the importance of knowledge of customer retention to assist managers of supplier companies to manage their customers effectively. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed and a conclusion is drawn

Electronic collaborative mass customization as a competitive strategy – Exploring the key success factors

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Electronic collaborative mass customization (ECMC) – online customer-centered product design – is an emerging discipline. The objective of the research is to examine ECMC as a competitive strategy through the identification of key success factors that have received inadequate attention previously. More specifically, the aim is to introduce a new framework for value co-creation. METHODOLOGY The data was collected through netnography and themed interviews. With regard to primary data, six (6) Finnish B2C companies’ marketing managers were interviewed in order to obtain a strategic perspective to the phenomenon in question. Moreover, in order to produce triangulation and emphasize customer-centrism, netnography was employed as a secondary method. The collected data was analyzed via theory-bound approach. FINDINGS Based on data analysis, several conclusions and implications were contrived. From the results, it becomes evident that practitioners need to carefully analyze and implement four central elements – systemic (interface, logistics), organizational (culture, resources), customer (experience, commitment), and competitive understanding (offering, promotion) – in order to provide superior customer value and obtain competitive advantage through ECMC. With regard to academics, it is suggested that future research continues the investigation of this new form of competition from different foundations and perspectives