Page 136 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

128 Marketing: the Basics
music programme is also an example of eCRM. iTunes will analyse your music collection, classify the type of music you listen to, and periodically recommend songs that you would probably like and can definitely buy with ease.
CONCLUSION
Today CRM technologies are also being used to appeal to the online market segment by increasing a company’s visibility and presence in the customer’s every day life. When a company introduces an interactive website or opens a profile on Facebook, the opportunity for customers to communicate directly with the company not only increases brand awareness and loyalty, but the feeling of individual participation may even bump the customer up a level on the value pyramid.
Once CRM has been brought into an organization, an enormous amount of customer data will be generated. Companies are going to have to strike the right balance between balancing their customer’s right to privacy against the company’s desire to become more customer-focused. Furthermore, developing a complete picture of a customer’s relationship with the company requires the creation of a centralized repository where all customer data are stored. This will give the company a holistic view of their customer. However, this means that data must be ‘clean’; it cannot be incomplete, inconsistent or invalid. Finally, to make sense out of the data collected, key performance indicators need to be developed to help guide marketers to determine which customers have the greatest potential for growth.
SUMMARY
• Price is most flexible of the marketing Ps.
• The perceived value of goods varies between individuals.
• Setting the price is a six-step process that starts with defining
the marketing objective and ends with the price selected.
• The required rate of return is a primary factor in establishing
the minimum price charged.
• Customers always have a reference price in mind when
making a purchasing decision.