INLS 237: MARKETING INFORMATION SERVICES

ASSIGNMENT - Short Exercise 1

Spring 2006

Overview. Two alternative exercises are listed below -- the first deals with relationship marketing (specifically retention strategies) and the second with service recovery. Choose whichever one you would like to do. Write a short (2-4 pages) paper with your response. [NOTE: If you believe a different exercise would be more beneficial to you, please contact your instructor to talk about it; chances are an arrangement can be worked out.]
Exercise on Relationship Marketing Four types of bonds can tie a customer to your organization. These are described below. For this assignment, select an organization, for example, a library or information center. Consider each of these bonds and the questions posed to help you understand retention strategies.
Financial Bonds. The customer is tied primarily through financial incentives -- lower costs for greater volume purchases or lower prices for customers who have been with organization for a long time. One example is a frequent flyer program as is any discount program or frequent user program that carries financial rewards. Are there any financial bonds you can think of for the organization of your choice that would help retain customers?

Social Bonds. Long-term relationships are built through social and interpersonal connections. Customers are viewed as "clients," not nameless faces, and as individuals whose needs and wants the organization tries to undersgtand. Services are customized and the organization finds ways to stay in touch with its customers. Social bonds are common among professional service providers (lawyers, teachers, consultants) and among personal care providers (hairdressers, personal trainers, counselors). Social bonds may also be formed between customers, for example, user support groups for specific software or hardware users, book discussion groups in the library. What social bonding activities might/does your selected organization encourage?

Customization Bonds. Two commonly used terms fit within the customization bonds approach: mass customization and customer intimacy. The former deals with the use of flexible processes and structures to provide varied and often individually customized products and services at the cost of standardized, mass-produced alternatives. The "my library" (or "my account") webpage is one example. Customer intimacy involves knowing enough about the customer (perhaps through database tracking systems) to anticipate his/her needs and to supply them. An example might be desk delivery of a new book on a topic known to be of interest to a client. Another example is the use of tools like RefWorks and Instant Messaging. Can you think of others?

Structural Bonds. Structural bonds are created by providing services to the client that are often designed into the service delivery system for the client. An example from the business world is Fed Ex; the company provides free computers to customers with stored addresses and shipping data, printed mailing labels, and a tracking system for packages. Can you think of structural connections for library clients or for clients of other information services?

Write a summary of ways that the organization you selected ties its customers to it. What additional ways might you suggest for consideration? With the goal of building long-term relationships with customers, provide some commentary on what you think would work and what might not and why.

Exercise on Service Recovery
When a customer confronts a service failure, he or she can choose to take action or do nothing. Many customers are very passive about their dissatisfaction and say or do nothing but they will decide whether to continue to use the organization providing the service or not. Generally, those who take action are more apt to continue to use the organization's services than those who do nothing (a reason why it's good to encourage complaints).
When a customer decides to take action, he/she may choose to complain to the provider, complain to family and friends, or complain to a third party. Four categories of response types have been identified:
Passives. These are the ones who do nothing. They often doubt the effectiveness of complaining and think the consequences aren't worth the time and effort. Others have personal values or norms against complaining. Usually these folks are less alienated than the more extreme types described below.

Voicers. These customers actively complain to the service provider but usually not to third parties, and usually don't switch providers. These customers are the organization's best friends, in a way. Their complaints allow the service provider a second chance. This group believes complaining has social benefits and that the consequences of their complaining can be positive.

Irates. These customers complain to friends and relatives and usually switch providers. They may feel alienated and are definitely more angry with the provider than either of the first two. They are less likely to give the provider a second chance.

Activists.. These customers have an above average propensity to complain on all dimensions. They will complain to the provider, tell others, and complain to third parties. They have an optimistic sense of the potential positive consequences of all types of complaint action. Sometimes they can become "terrorists," that is, they may take extreme actions destructive of property and sometimes outside the law.
When customers complain, they have high expectations of what will happen. They expect justice and fairness in handling their complaints in three ways. They will judge the response as to its
outcome fairness -- the outcome or compensation should fit the level of their dissatisfaction, i.e., money, an apology, future free services, reduced charges, repairs, and/or replacements
procedural fairness -- customers want easy access to the complaint process and want it handled quickly preferably by the first person they encounter. They want procedures characterized by clarity, speed, and absence of hassles
interaction fairness -- customers expect to be treated politely, with care and honesty. This form of fairness can dominate all the others

Describe an instance of service failure (or less-than-desirable service) that you have either experienced or observed. Analyze the elements of service failure and the effects of any efforts made by the organization at service recovery. What did the customer (or you) do as a result of the service failure (if you know)? If you don't know, what would you have done in the customer's place? How does (or will) the customer's actions affect the organization in the future, in your opinion? Use the scenario that you have described to build a plan for service recovery for the organization concerned.

Post your responses on the designated discussion forum in Blackboard. In the following week, read and respond to at least two of your fellow classmates.

January 9, 2006.