Marketing and Customer Relationships, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Customer relationships are an integral part of marketing strategies because these connections allow businesses to connect with consumer needs in addition to having access to free promotion by word of mouth. While many businesses define success as achieving the greatest numbers sales transactions, others focus on customer retention and satisfaction. This strategy contributes to the extension of communication beyond typical advertisements, which allows companies to create stronger ties with their customer base. Ultimately, it is important to recommend an effective extended marketing mix in relation to the importance of customer relationships for the organization, determine how customer relationships can be developed and supported by the marketing mix, and to suggest budget and evaluation methods for the marketing plan with an emphasis on customer service. Wal-Mart is a company that emphasizes customer service as a component of its strategic plan. It would benefit other companies to study its focus on customer relationships in order to ensure a similar level of success.

The Extended Marketing Mix and Customer Relationships

Since Wal-Mart is a multinational corporation, it is essential for it to promote itself in a manner that allows it to have positive customer relationships with many diverse groups. If Wal-Mart were to continue to develop their marketing mix, it is necessary for them to consider the “people” aspect of their organization foremost. As a supermarket, Wal-Mart sells items that suit the majority of people’s needs, and as a consequence, each store contains a variety of specialty departments. Therefore, the interactions that occur between the store’s employees and customers are essential for ensuring that the company continues to have a good image. It would be beneficial for the company to hire only employees that appear willing and able to provide the best customer service experiences possible.

To ensure that Wal-Mart is able to obtain the best employees in order to build its customer relationships, it is necessary to begin by establishing an effective human resources team. Employees should be hired primarily based on their ability to project a positive attitude towards clients in addition to willingness to help them with their shopping in the store. Furthermore, they should be skilled at their particular position to ensure customer satisfaction even when they are not physically present. A training program should also be implemented to effectively train both managers and store employees to please customers, diminish the likelihood of problematic situations, and to resolve relevant issues. Positive customer interactions will increase the reputation of Wal-Mart, allowing it to gain a significant amount of word-of-mouth marketing.

Next, it would be beneficial for Wal-Mart to build its “positioning” (The Chartered Institute of Marketing 2). When people think about Wal-Mart, it would be helpful for them to associate the business with service and value. Consumers tend to appreciate stores that enhance their shopping experience, and allowing Wal-Mart to become affiliated with this description will help improve business. Establishing these two characteristics into the minds of consumers will help the company eliminate competition by providing similar products for the best cost and service. To do so, it is important for them to integrate aspects of marketing into their stores to remind customers of their tendencies towards positive customer relationships. The smile face that the store currently uses on its “rollback” prices is an excellent example of this. It is important for the store to reinforce the friendly behaviors of its staff using physical representation.

Wal-Mart’s positioning can be further enhanced by the “packaging” aspect of the marketing mix (Dev & Schultz 1). Since people make impressions about businesses quickly, it is important for the packaging of products to support Wal-Mart’s message for a positive customer experience. Therefore, it should be easy for customers to decipher the purpose and cost of each product, to allow them to enter and exit the store with the items they desire in a time efficient manner. Although the packaging of several of Wal-Mart’s products are out of their control since the store contracts other organizations for product acquisition, the company sells several items that are its own brand. Thus, Wal-Mart should make the packaging used on their personal products reflect their message.

Next, Wal-Mart should emphasize the organization of its “place” to support positive customer relationships as well. As a corporation, Wal-Mart has many different stores and needs to unify them in a manner that will provide the same customer service experience regardless of location. Therefore, it is necessary for the company to develop a strategic plan that considers a store layout that it easy for both its employees and customers to understand. In an ideal situation, customers will be able to access similar products in the same area, and employees will be able to explain precisely where each product is located. This will bolster Wal-Mart’s customer service performance, as it will allow employees to support customers in a manner that will make their shopping experience simpler.

For “promotion” purposes, it is important for Wal-Mart to combine its word-of-mouth rapport generated by the positive customer experience with in-store displays and external advertisements. In order to foster a feeling of positive customer relationships, Wal-Mart should depict families that have excellent shopping experiences in both television and online advertisements. Furthermore, in-store advertising could be enhanced by showing pictures of smiling customers around the store, such as on the signs for each department. In this manner, the marketing message will be both direct and indirect, which will allow customers to gain a greater feeling of satisfaction by shopping at Wal-Mart.

A marketing mix factor related closely to Wal-Mart’s current customer service initiative is offering the lowest “price” compared to its competitors (Goldstein & Lee 212). Wal-Mart should continue to offer the lowest price to its customers, as it makes the corporation appear to care about the finances of its customers more greatly than its competitors. Wal-Mart makes its money by drawing customers to the store and offering low prices. While customers are present, they often buy large quantities of the items they need, due to the availability and diversity of product in the store. As a consequence, Wal-Mart will continue to strengthen customer relationships, by making themselves appear to be greatly concerned for the well-being of the average family.

Lastly, Wal-Mart needs to offer its “product” in a manner that is both appealing and conveys its customer service message. Therefore, it is essential for Wal-Mart to carry as many items as possible, to suit the diverse needs of its customers and to provide a one stop shop to make their lives more manageable. To enhance this effort, it would be beneficial for the company to begin offering a wider array of products, to ensure that the needs of all of its customers are met.

Developing Customer Relationships

Customer relationships are important to Wal-Mart because they enhance its ability to do business. Since the company has been able to obtain a good reputation as a consequence of the goods and services it provides, Wal-Mart is a household name with many stores across the world. The company recognizes that customer relationships operate as a feedback mechanism; providing good customer service will provide the company with word-of-mouth marketing, but as customer expectations grow, they will need to continue to improve their quality to ensure that expectations are met. It is therefore important to enhance customer relationships by developing and supporting the marketing mix.

The marketing mix is directly tied to the ability of a company to generate customer satisfaction. According to a 2012 study, the marketing mix can be utilized to effectively alter customer behavior (Amypoh 1). Ultimately, companies are able to brand themselves in a manner that establishes customer thought about them. When we think of major brands, such Subway, we automatically think “eat fresh”. Therefore, this saying acts not only as a slogan, but general branding. It allows us to think that if we eat at Subway, we will be getting a healthy, fresh meal. Just as Subway uses its current slogan “save money, live better” to drive customers to associate their business with inexpensive products and good customer service. Therefore, the marketing mix can be used to support this image in several different ways.

First of all, it is important for the company to emphasize the importance of its customers in each aspect of the marketing mix. It is important for them to feel that every decision that Wal-Mart makes is for their benefit. Therefore, it is the store’s responsibility to offer a wide array of products to make customers feel that all of their shopping needs are met. In order for Wal-Mart to enhance the sense that customer relationships are of utmost importance, it would be ideal for the company to create a program that will allow customers to request products of their choice if they are not currently sold in stores. If these items reach high enough popularity, the store will promise to stock the item of choice. Furthermore, for products that are out of stock, it would be beneficial for the store to specially order the item to the client’s household to maintain its promise to service.

The marketing mix can also be utilized to optimize product price. Wal-Mart’s main goal is to offer products for prices lower than its competitors, while ensuring that the company is still able to profit. Therefore, it is essential for them to create a balance between these two factors to determine the lowest price that can be reasonably offered in addition to the lowest price that can be offered while continuing to generate the highest profit. It is useful for the company to use market research to determine the prices that would be customers would be most willing to pay in addition to the prices they consider to be reasonable discounts. In this way, Wal-Mart can develop customer relationships by ensuring the prices that they pay for their items are considered the best available.

To ensure that Wal-Mart’s promotions help build customer relationships, it is essential for these companies to promote the ways in which they are realistically able to offer the best customer service possible. For Wal-Mart in particular, this includes a diverse array of items, friendly and knowledgeable staff, competitive prices, and the ability to shop for all needs quickly. The company would benefit by reinforcing these principles in their advertisements. When customers learn that these claims are supported by the word-of-mouth experiences of their friends, they will be more likely to become loyal shoppers as well.

The place aspect of the marketing mix is important for Wal-Mart, as they intend to reach the largest number of customers possible. Therefore, they aim to improve customer relationships by being widely available. To develop this aspect of the marketing plan, it would be beneficial for the store to conduct demographic research and determine where the largest number of families live. On this basis, stores should be built to accommodate growing areas and remodeled according to the needs of populations where stores already exist. Furthermore, it is helpful for the store to offer the potential for customers to provide feedback concerning store location and organization. If customers feel that the advice they provide is valuable, they will be more likely to respect Wal-Mart as an organization and to continue shopping at these stores.

Packaging is important for building the customer relationship as well, as it is helpful to the success of the company to ensure that the packaging of each product it offers is clearly labeled and easy to use. Since Wal-Mart currently does not have complete control over this aspect of its business, aside from the products it contracts, increasing the potential for customer relationships would involve partnering with these companies to redesign the packing. If this results in greater customer satisfaction, this would be a beneficial endeavor.

The people involved in the daily operations of Wal-Mart are potentially the most important in demonstrating the positive customer relationship. They are responsible for the first hand interactions that the customers experience, and the customers therefore equate employee behavior to the image of the company as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary for them to engage in training programs to ensure that all of the employees utilize proper behavior and problem solving skills. Furthermore, it is essential for them to emphasize friendliness and knowledge of the product, which is what the company represents.

Wal-Mart’s word-of-mouth advertising ties in closely to its positioning. All of the other aspects of the marketing mix tie in to this characteristic because they help direct the impression that customers are given about the organization. Since the other characteristics culminate into positioning, it is important to consider each strategy and determine the impact it has on the customer’s overall perception of the corporation.

Budget and Evaluation Methods

Although understanding the elements of the marketing mix is a helpful way to ensure that the company’s message is promoted, it is necessary for the company to produce widespread advertisements in order to reach a large portion of the population. To determine whether Walmart’s current marketing plan is successful, it is necessary for the organization to determine the amount of transactions and profit it has incurred since the last time the strategy has been altered, while accounting for store growth as a cofounding variable. This is a quantitative way that marketing efficacy can be measured, which will provide the company with a concrete understanding of the effects of their marketing strategy.

Throughout the marketing plan, the company should assess areas of the market that it has not yet been able to access based on geography. These types of studies can be conducted using census data to determine how many members of the target market live in areas in which Wal-Mart is currently unavailable. A prime example of an area in which Wal-Mart should establish itself is within New York City. Despite the large population of the city, no stores currently exist within the five boroughs. If it is not possible to establish physical stores in this area, it would be beneficial for the company to promote its New Jersey and upstate New York stores to the citizens living within the city limits. By persuading them that Wal-Mart has excellent customer services and prices, many city inhabitants may feel that the travel to the store is worthwhile on occasion. Therefore, a one million dollar marketing campaign should be initiated within the New York City public transportation system in order to serve this purpose. This type of advertising will allow the greatest number of New Yorkers to encounter the advertisements on a daily basis.

In addition to this location specific campaign, it would be beneficial for Wal-Mart to spend at least 5% of its profit on marketing. Since the company earned 468.651 billion dollars in 2013, 9.36 billion dollars would be used for marketing purposes (Securities and Exchange Commission). This percentage will ensure that a large portion of the company’s profits will be continuously be invested in branding, which will in turn increase profits in the future. Ultimately, this strategy will contribute to continuous growth. This money can be used for a variety of purposes, including issuing store circulars, television ads, and in-store advertisements, although it should be divided equally between internal and external marketing campaigns.

Overall, marketing should be conducted in a manner that emphasizes customer relationship management (Hasan 121). By using automated systems, marketing teams can track customer wants and needs. In the modern era, this information is gathered primarily from purchase records in addition to the number of clicks received for each item on the website. In this way, Wal-Mart and similar companies are able to determine which items were not purchased and are in a position to find ways to make them more desirable. The marketing mix can be integrated into ensuring these customer needs are met while promoting the sales of specific products. As mentioned previously, each of these seven factors work together to establish the branding of a company, which allows them to promote products on the basis of their relationships with their customers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Wal-Mart’s marketing strategy will benefit by integrating the marketing mix. Since the company upholds their customer relationships as a priority, they can use these promotional characteristics to market themselves in a manner that makes them appear to cater to the diverse needs of their clients. To do so, Wal-Mart emphasizes low prices, a wide range of product availability, and customer satisfaction. These values are emphasized in both international customers and its in-store layout. The company understands that the most valuable method of advertising is word-of-mouth, and it uses its excellent customer satisfaction ratings to continue attracting new customers. If Wal-Mart continues to integrate the marketing mix in its strategy, it will be able to adapt to new customer needs and be successful.

Works Cited

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Dev DS, Schultz DE. “In the Mix: A Customer-Focused Approach Can Bring the Current Marketing Mix into the 21st Century”. Marketing Management14.1 (2005). Print.

Goldstein D, Lee Y. “The rise of right-time marketing”. The Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management12.3 (2005): 212–225. Print.

Hasan MR, Rahman M, Khan MM. “Rural Consumers’ Adoption of CRM in a Developing Country Context”. International Journal of Business and Management 2.9 (2013): 121-131. Print.

Securities and Exchange Commission. Filing Detail. 2014. Web. 15 August 2014. <http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/104169/000010416914000019/0000104169-14-000019-index.htm>

The Chartered Institute of Marketing. Marketing and the 7Ps. 2009. Web. 15 August 2014. <http://www.cim.co.uk/files/7ps.pdf>