Relationship Marketing Tools in Customer Loyalty Development, Dissertation – Literature Example

Abstract

This paper will look at the current literature available in the relationship marketing tools used to achieve customer loyalty development. A definition of the concept from the perspectives of several leading experts in the field, especially Kotler and Armstrong.

The importance of direct marketing, database management, services marketing, quality management, the internet and other tools in the industry will be highlighted.

The theory behind customer loyalty, a key aspect of relationship market, and how it can be used to effectively ensure business organization achieve the desired levels of retention will form the basis of the third section of the paper.

In the fourth section, the paper looks at how tools like frequency marketing, loyalty programs and web browsers are applied in different global marketing environment to achieve customer loyalty.

Conclusively the wrier will review the importance of the discipline from the point of its power to affect the behavioral patterns of the consumer through the different mechanism, and the threat it poses to the traditional ways of doing business.

Introduction

Relationship Marketing, according to Berry and Parasuraman (1991), is a marketing approach that is principally concerned with attracting and retaining customer relationships, and can be viewed as an integrative activity that involve functions across organizational lines.

Additionally, according to Covielo et al (1997), the concept places significant emphasis on facilitating, building, and maintaining relationship over various periods of time.

Berkowitz et al (1999), defines the concept as the hallmark of developing and maintaining effective customer relationships, as well as a provider of links to individual customers, employees, suppliers, and other partners for mutual long term benefits.

Pride and Ferrell (1997), defines relationship marketing as long term, mutually beneficial arrangements, in which both buyers and the sellers focus on value enhancements through the creation of more satisfying exchanges.

The practice, once it is maintained, will deepen the customer’s dependence on the company, improve the firms understanding of the customer’s needs and expectations, and facilitate development to the point where relationships will evolve into cooperative problem solving projects (Pride, Ferrell, 1997).

According to Kotler and Armstrong (1999), relationship marketing involves every department of a company working as a team to serve customers economically, socially, technically and loyally, to ensure high levels of loyalty are achieved constantly.

Relationship marketing however, in light of today’s highly competitive markets, informational technology,  specific cutting edge technologies, as well as marketing processes that caters for mass customization, and  the tailoring of goods and services to meet tastes in high volumes and at low cost, may prove difficult and challenging to achieve, according to Berkowitz, (2000).

Researchers Fournier, Dobsca and Mick (1998), contends that the relationship marketing that companies desire from their customers, are almost untenable in terms of maintenance; in that customers are offered dozens of credit cards and other financial packages annually, by other competing organizations.

They also cite that Internet purchases pose significant threats to the process, in that it brings buyers and sellers into contacts without the involvement of resellers or middlemen in the distribution channels (Fournier, Dobsca, and Mick, 1998).

In the last ten years, according to Hastings (2001), there has been new development in commercial marketing that has escaped the attention of social marketers.  Relationship marketing it was noted, began in the business service section, but then began gradually to move across the discipline, shifting focus from transactions to long term perspectives that emphasized the importance of building mutually beneficial relationships with customers, and other stakeholders (Hastings. 2001).

Hastings (2001) also remarked, that the oversight was surprising, because relational marketing had considerable potential in social marketing, where behaviors are often targeted  in programs where high people involvement and trust are present, and  needed its influencing effects to help modify societal behaviors (Hastings G. , 2001).

In specific situations, government efforts to reduce smoking, the misuse of drugs and alcohol, and teenage immunizations programs in Great Britain for example, according to Evans et al (2001), could have benefitted from the application of the tools available in relationship marketing, to positively influence possible high percentage of the populations, by buildings trustworthy relationships.

The importance of relationship marketing as a discipline for changing, reinforcing, and   encouraging human behavior in order to seek win/win situations, has been forwarded by Andreasen (1994,1995), and Lefebvre and Flora (1998).

It is also the beliefs of by Maribach and Cotton (1995) that such behaviors should be socially and individually applied, and social marketers should exploit their understanding, by using it to target policy matters relevant to stakeholders, as well as towards individuals, as suggested by Hastings et al (2000).

However, social marketers and marketing executives will definitely need the requisite tools, as well as appropriate moral codes according to Andreasen (2001a), to successfully effect the application of this concept in the desired target markets, where they hope to build the critical relationships that will enable desired goals and objectives, especially in terms of revenue, repeat customers, market shares, an attitude and behavioral patterns to be met.

Relationship Marketing Tools Used in the Industry

Relationship Marketing had started to fade away, due to the presence of mass marketing technology; which entails mass production, distribution and promotion, according to Aryan Hellas Limited (2005). This emergence had significantly reduced the need for businesses to develop and cement relationships with customers, but a shift later, according to Aryan Hellas Limited (2005), to reliance on Information Technology and Database Management, reversed the trend to the need for relationship marketing.

According to Lingreen (2001), the tools relevant to relationship marketing are direct marketing, database marketing, quality management, service marketing, and customer partnering. The author went further to state that these instruments have to be part of a comprehensive framework that includes objective as well as definitions of the construct relevant to the respective organizations (Lingreen, 2001).

In terms of objective Lingreen (2001), points out that companies serious about relationship marketing should have customer satisfaction, customer retention, customer delight, customer sharing, as well as loyalty on their agendas, in order to execute both the defining construct as well as the effective use of their tools (Lingreen, 2001).

The construct Lingreen (2001), points out has to be defined using trust, commitment, cooperation, communication, shared values, power, non-opportunistic behavioral patterns, and interdependence.

Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing according to Pride and Ferrell (1997), is the use of the telephone, and non-personal media to introduce products and services to consumers, who will then be able to effect purchases by mail or on the telephone.

Edward Nash (1982) authoritatively defines Direct Marketing as a tool that is more powerful than the sum of its component parts, and the act of harnessing the forces of arts, science, psychology, and common sense to achieve a marketing objective.

He further reports, that in order to effectively use this relationship management tool, the use of products, the  making of offers,  use of the media, and  employing creative strategies has to be the among the basic elements in all exercises, and must be done in conjunction with careful studies, perceptive problem definitions, innovative solutions, and logical decision-makings (Nash, 1982).

Mailing List

Direct Mailing according to Nash (1982), is the world’s largest advertising medium, and mailing lists are regarded as keys to achieve the desired successes, in that those who know how to use them, possess the techniques to select consumers from over one billion names on 50,000 different list, and will overtime realize they that they have the potential earn practically unlimited income from several streams.

Experts with this list Nash (1982) asserts, will know the difference between the response, compiled business, and house lists, and how to appropriate them to contact buyers, subscribers, donors, inquirers, members, warranty card registrants, automobile owners, fortune 500 executives, as well as government departments and consumers in diverse locations and institutions .

Other Direct Marketing Tools

Other tools used in direct marketing aspect of relationship marketing, include the print media, publications, the telephone, research, broadcast medias, and newspapers according to Nash (1982).who emphasized that some companies may use this tool to advertise and promote all their products and services, but should consider at times, the use of other   mediums to actualize their true potentials and capacities.

Database Management as a Tool

Database Management, according to Price and Ferrell (1997), allows marketers to tap into the abundance of information useful in making marketing and other decisions. Access into internet sales reports, newspaper articles, company news releases, government economic reports, biographies, bibliographies and much more, through computer systems that can efficiently manipulate raw data and present them in the formats desired, according to Pride and Ferrell (1982).

Data base Management is also effected by companies, when they use commercial databases developed by information research firms, to obtain vital information necessary for decision-makings (Pride, Ferrell, 1982).

According to Kumar (2004), an effective Database Marketing is essential for the success of Customer Relationship Management, as it allows marketers to analyze customers, get closer to them, and classify them into different groups, so that implementation of different kinds of marketing programs can be developed for specific target markets.

Customer Guided Marketing

Customer Guided Marketing, according to Shaver (1996), is a new kind of marketing that combines the personal approach of direct mail with the processing power of the modern marketing database, to create one- on -one marketing that is far more personal, and consequently superior in power to any previously used tools.

According to Shaver (1996), Consumer Guided Marketing helps to predetermines whether potential buyers are really interested in the sellers products before mailing decisions are made.

A difficulty with the tool according to Shavers (1996) is the ability of prospective users to determine their respective capabilities, but this can be overcome by following a nine step process.

The steps are:

• Marketers must think in new ways at all levels within their organizations
• They must develop an understanding of the personal medium and the data processing power foundations
• They should fast track complete strategic plans to evaluate change over to Consumer Guided Marketing
• Develop Consumer Guided Databases
• Acquire expertise in performing Database- Loading Research
• Train all players how to create the Customer Guided Test Matrix
• Ensure all players know how to combine the personal medium with the New Consumer-Specific Information
• Inculcate the cultural norm of treating all customers as best friends
• Create a Direct Mail Package in Consumer Guided Marketing with specific attention being paid to appearances, appeal statements, and formats (Shavers, 1996).

Quality Management

Managing Quality according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999), is perhaps the best measure of a firm’s ability to hold on to its customers, because if it can consistently deliver the goods and services to meet their needs and expectations, and as such will be able retain them as constant sources of revenues.

Studies of well managed service companies, according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999) have revealed a number of common virtues regarding service quality.  In the research, top service companies were found to be customer-obsessed, and in constant pursuit of high quality standards.

According to these marketing experts, there are cases where companies will set targets like 100% defect free products and services. This was observed in Federal Express operations, and was a critical standard that was based on their daily global volume of deliveries which numbered in the millions.  A 2% defect meant that 64,000 parcels would be lost on a daily basis (Kotler, Armstrong, 1999).

Service Marketing

Many service companies, according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999) have invested heavily to develop streamlined and efficient delivery systems, to ensure their customers consistently receive quality services during all encounters. By this methodology, they will be able to successfully differentiate their products and services from the competition, and in the process, ensure high levels of retentions are achieved from among their customer bases (Kotler, Armstrong, 1999).

Globally, Kotler and Armstrong (1999) infers that  as companies move to provide marketing services, attention should be paid to the intangibles, inseparables, variables, and the perishables that are inherent in the application of  relationship marketing tools.

The intangibles are those aspects of servicing that cannot be seen, felt, smelled, or tasted, while the inseparables are concerned with the theory that customer satisfaction cannot be isolated from the services being offered, according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999).

Marketers engaged in relationship marketing, also has to be cognizant that services can vary, the authors argue, as it depends largely on the service providers, as well as the environment surrounding the deliveries (Kotler, Armstrong, 1999).

Finally, it must also be realized that the services being offered at any point in time are perishable, and cannot be stored like inventories on shelves that can be delivered on request.  Service providers therefore have to be able to constantly rise to the challenges and meet the needs and expectations of the customers on the spot (Kotler, Armstrong, 1999).

The Internet

The Internet as a marketing tool from an Irish perspective, according to Geiger and Martin (1999), has three approaches, namely ornamental, informational, and relational. According to Gronroos (1996), relationship marketing at any level of operation, should rest on three cornerstones, which are, (a) direct contact with customers and other stakeholders, (b) a database to store customers information, and (c) a service system that is customer orientated.

These separate practices according to Geiger and Martin (1999), can be supported by the internet, which offers business organizations unique opportunities to advance relationship marketing. Additionally, according to Hoffman and Novak (1996), the revolutionary impact of the new communication technology, offers a medium where the relevant parties can successfully interact without physically meeting.

Progress can be made in this area when the different relationship marketing tools are fully utilized, according to Schlegelmich and Sinkovics (1998), and will assert the belief in the market place, that the traditional market games are fast becoming redundant, and only those who make adjustments will be able to survive.

Geller (1998), also support the concept, when he argues that the ability to customize and interact with customers on a one- on-one basis facilitate the emergence of relationship marketing as a separate discipline of marketing.

The Internet as a marketing tool provides a physical network where business associates can interact without any physical impediments, in real time, and in a democratic fashion (Geiger and Martin, 1998). Meanwhile in terms of companies desirous of minimizing transaction cost, the medium is ideal for such objectives to be achieved (Buttle, 1996).

Buttle (1996) also highlighted the low and the practically insignificant communication cost that businesses engaging in repeated information search will experience, as a result of using the internet as a relationship marketing tool.

Heidi and John (1992) echoes the direction companies whose objectives are to build relationships with their customers should take, when they emphatically stated that if regular, ongoing, and frequent exchange of information is a pre-requisite for any business entity, then the internet is the ideal medium to facilitate these communications requirements..

Building Relationship Skills

The Gallup Management Consulting; a division of Gallup Polling organization, conducted a poll in which one half million people were interviewed to determine what qualities separate the best and masterful salespersons from the mediocre performers, according to Brewer (1994) and Farber (1995).

The research revealed that these personnel possessed four common attributes; intrinsic motivation, disciplined work styles, the ability to close sales, and most importantly, the ability to build relationships with customers (Brewer and Barber 1995).

The presence of the ability to build relationships in prospective employees should therefore be a key characteristic desired by companies engaging in relationship marketing, and are seeking personnel to fill key positions within their organizations.     Employees possessing these skills are armed with very powerful social tools that could assist companies to achieve their objectives of building relationship with customers.

Customer Partnering

According to Brewer (1995) and Farber (1994), top sales executive when interviewed regarding the qualities present in their top performers, uttered  descriptive laudatory terms like patient, empathetic, good listeners, caring, honest, and responsive, in addition to knowing what their customer wants.

These personnel according to Brewer (1995) and Farber (1994), in an effort to build relationships between their organizations, became partners with the customers, and place themselves on their sides so that they can see things from their perspectives, and be better able to meet service delivery expectations.

Actions of this nature will no doubt increase the trust and confidence on the part of customers, and ensure they remain loyal to their respective suppliers over the long term.

Professional and Reliable Services

In a survey in Poland conducted by Michalska-Dudek and Rapacz (2008), it was revealed that the most important tools used in building up and strengthening lasting relationships between travel offices and clients, was by the provision of professional services, as well as delivering high quality product and services.

Catalogues, folders, the internet, and other tools were used to take advantage of new opportunities in creating and strengthening ties with clients, according to Michalska-Dudek and Rapacz (2008), and enabled travel offices to serve their customers in individualized manner, especially in the provision of support services.

Several travel offices according to Michalska-Dudek and Rapacz (2008), were able to retain the services of their clients, achieve financial build up, and improvement in customer loyalty.

Customer Loyalty Theory

Satisfied Customer, according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999), are more likely to be loyal customers, but the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty varies across industries and in competitive situations.

Jones and Sasser (1995), measured customer satisfaction and loyalty in five different markets, namely, the local telephone, the airlines, hospitals, personal computers, and the automobile, and in all scenarios as satisfaction increases, there were proportional increases in the levels of loyalty.

In highly competitive markets like automobile and personal computers, very little differences were found between the loyalty of less satisfied customers and those who were merely satisfied, but tremendous loyalty gaps existed between those who were satisfied and those who were completely satisfied (Jones and Sasser 1995).

Kotler and Armstrong (1999), argues that even slight drops in customer satisfaction can create enormous differences between loyalties, and made reference to an AT&T study that showed 70% of customers who said they were satisfied with a product or service were willing to switch to other competitors, while customers who were highly satisfied were found to be more loyal.

Loyalty from a marketing perspective, according to Jacoby and Kyner (1973), and Fournier (1994), is defined from two perspectives, one of which is by the attitude whereby different feelings create an overall attachment to a service, product, or organization. These feelings it was held are purely cognitive and are thought to contribute significantly to the degree of loyalty customers develop and maintain (Fournier, 1994).

The second perspective regarding the definition of loyalty, is from a behavioral approach, which according to Yi (1990), was seen when customers maintain their continuance of purchasing goods and services from the same sets of suppliers.

Loyalty behavior of this nature, according to Reicheld and Sasser (1990) increases the scale or scope of relationship and emanates from customers personal feelings that the quantity of goods received from their suppliers are greater than those of other competitors.

Recommendations from these customers benefit the suppliers, in the sense that they will experienced significant cost reductions to attract new customers to their businesses, reductions in customers price sensitivity, as well as decrease in expenses incurred in effecting deliveries, due to the familiarity of  clients to their  products  being marketed (Reicheld, Sasser, 1990).

The development of loyalty, according to Geffen (2002), and Rowley and Dawes (2000), revolves around building and sustaining relationships with customers, which in the end will lead to repeated purchases of products and services over different period of time. The foundational bases established during the process will enable companies to focus their energies to other areas, so that they can increase their productivity and profitability levels (Geffen, 2002 and Rowley and Dawes 2000).

Authors Dick and Basu (1994) went further than other contributors to the discipline, by hypothesizing that there are different kinds of loyalties, namely brand loyalty, store loyalty, sales people loyalty, and product and service loyalty in the industry.

Studies done on the impact of customer relationship management on loyalty by authors including Evans and Laskin (1994), made no reference to the different categories of loyalty referred to by Dick and Basu (1994), except to say that the concept went beyond the idea of industrial loyalty.

In terms of how customer loyalty is affected as a result of the impact of the internet on customer relationship management strategies, Lawson-Body and Limayem (2004) and Geyskens, Gielens, and Dekimpe (2002) reiterated that there were no existing research that has empirically tested this impact, despite the presence of significant opportunities and threats from interactions within the medium.

Brand Loyalty

This is an important concept to grasp, if one is to understand consumer behavior according to Day (1969), Huang and Yu (1999), Lee et al (2001), Wood (2004), and Yim and Kannan (1999).

Oliver (1999) sees it as a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, and as a result generate a repetitive same brand or same brand set purchasing, in spite of situational influences and marketing efforts having the propensity to cause other behavioral changes.

Brand Loyalty was seen by Ryan et al (1999), as well known financial payoffs for suppliers whose loyal customers will purchase the same brand even when there are alternate brands available. Values, according to Ryan et al (1999), can be eventually attached when measuring the commitment to repurchase in terms of products and services offered.

There are four categories of brand loyal customers according to Evans et al (1996), and they are, (a) the hard-core loyal consumers, (b) brand switchers, (c) new users, and (d) the non users. New users have no experience with the brands, while non-users have no loyalty, but the hard-core loyals have the ideal behavior suppliers’ desire from their consumers. This level of loyalty exceeds that of the brand switchers (Evans et al (1996).

The Journal of Textiles, Apparel, Technology and Management (2000), reports that in order to create brand loyalty and retain customers, it is important for business organizations to constantly involve brand factors like brand name, product, quality, price, style, store environment, promotions, and service quality.

Relationship Marketing Tools in Customer Loyalty (Prior Research)

According to Kotler and Armstrong (1999), today more and more companies are designing customer loyalty and retention programs that include not only high value and satisfaction variables, but specific marketing tools that facilitate the development of stronger bonds with their customers.

Frequency Marketing Program

The tool is popular in the airline industry through the frequent flyer program, in hotels which give upgrades to their frequent guests, and in supermarkets where patronage refunds are given, according to Kotler and Armstrong (1999).

Breazeale and Chassaing (1998) of the Boston Consulting Group, after working for several years with different companies on the frequency marketing concept, recommend the application of the tool be done at three levels of sophistication in order for players to appropriately assess the suitability of the program for their operations.

The Advance Marketing aspect of the application involve attempts to increase customer loyalty and spending, without communication with them individually, and according to Breazeale and Chassaing (1998), this was achieved by offering meaningful rewards for participation in programs like filling out questionnaires.

Applying Target Marketing entails using Databases to target specific group of customer with promotional packages, in an effort to prevent defections, win back strayed clients, and motivate those who are loyal to remain (Breazeale, Chassaing, 1998).

Breazeale and Chassaing (1998) reported that they used the monitoring of usage cards as a strategy at this level, and in cases where the usage levels of customers decreased; they issued new cards, and experienced approximately 10% increase in sales.

In the highly sophisticated third level (Organizing around Customer Segment) Breazeale and Chassaing (1998), said that the marketers became more strategic by using the needs of the customers to drive the introduction of new products and services.

The success of the application was assured the authors reported, by shifting all other advertising and promotional packages to this area, to create a sense of engagement that competitors found difficult to imitate.

IBM Web Sphere Commerce Suite Accelerator Software

This highly developed software, according to E-Commerce Solutions (2001) is a user-friendly browser related control panel that put full relationship marketing capabilities into the hands of marketers and business executives.

Marketers can use this web base tool set to make easy adjustments and initiate changes base on analyses done on customers, as well as market dynamics. Additionally, according to E-Commerce Solutions (2001), it can categorize customer preferences, predict shopper’s behaviors, define promotional campaign parameters, as well as target specific customer groups by leveraging with novel market strategies to effect the desired responses.

Loyalty Programs

A Loyalty Program according to Kumar (2004) is a marketing process that generates rewards for customers on the basis of their repeat purchases from business establishments. They are challenged to remain loyal to their suppliers, and are rewarded for their faithfulness with points which can be converted into tangible products and services.

According to Kumar (2004), most of the advancement made in loyalty programs occurred within the last two and one half decades; with the introduction of frequency rewards programs and customer clubs across the consumer market.

Companies like AOL and American Airlines have shown the power and magnitude of loyalty programs, when they individually achieved memberships of 1.5 million and 38 million respectively, as well as more than 2000 partners (Kumar, 2004).

The growth in application of the this relationship marketing tool took off globally, according to Kumar (2004) because;

• US companies, according to Gartner ( a US Analyst from Adams Sarner) spent $1.2b on the program in 2003 (Young, Stephanac, 2003),
• The Australian Flybuy amassing7 million in membership in 1996 (Byron, Sharp, 1997)
• $120m  was spent on airline frequent flyer programs (Kumar, 2004)
• American Advantage grew membership to 45 million (Kumar, 2004)
• French retailer E.Leclerc allocates $21.2 m annually on loyalty programs (Kumar, 2004)

Creating Your Own Meal

In the Food Service industry, according to Suttle (2011), restaurants often use “The Create Your Own Meal Tool” as a customer driven marketing strategy to develop customer loyalty, by allowing them to choose their own ingredients and dressings in the preparation of  meals. In some cases according to Suttle (2011), customers are allowed to chose from among a vast array of desserts, including cookies, pies, pudding, and various toppings for their ice creams.

Conclusions

Relationship Marketing has emerged as a vital link between business organizations and their customers, despite threats from impersonal internet transactions, mass distribution, and mass customization and distribution strategies.

Governmental entities engage in marketing programs that involve trust and large mass participation may even benefit from relationship marketing going forward, because of the personalized capability of the strategy.

Experts have not failed to identify that the social skills possess by employees that could prove critical in the implementation of their strategies, because those that are able to build relationship, are empathetic, always listening, patient, quality conscious, and partners with their customers will be of tremendous asset to their organizations relationship marketing programs.

Deficiencies in theories regarding the impact of the internet on  the loyalty of customers, and the profitability of organizations, has not hindered the advancement of relationship marketing, in that companies globally are spending millions of dollars annually, to  maximize the  revenue potentials of the tools available within the strategy.

The use of Direct Marketing, Database Management, Web software technology, and even” Create Your Own Meal” strategy within the food service industry, serves to confirm that the traditional ways of  marketing goods and services to customers are fast becoming obsolete.

Finally, the use of Loyalty Programs as a relationship marketing tool, has become a major component in the annual budgets of several multinationals, and will continue to do so, due to the increasing levels of revenues that will be realized, especially from repeat customers in industries like the airline, automobile, and personal computers.

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