The purpose of a questionnaire is to help you gather information that will allow you to make an infomed decision to help solve a marketing problem or gather useful marketing information. It can be challenging to identify precisely what your information needs are, what types of questions to ask and how to best measure different concepts you want to learn about.  Designing and writing a useful questionnaire is partially an art and partially a science. Below are some tips to help you navigate through this challenge.

1. Include a brief (two or three sentences) introduction to the questionnaire telling the respondent about the questionnaire, thanking the respondent, detailing the estimated time to completion and assuring respondents of the confidentiality of their answers. This will help increase the response rate.
2. Begin the survey with a screening question(s), to make sure the person you are going to interview is qualified to answer your questions. You want people that are familiar with your product/brand/service/topic to be participating in the survey. The key to the qualifying question(s) is that if the respondent’s answer is ‘no’ to being familiar with or using the product or service, then the survey is terminated and the person does not participate. (Example: I am interested in the perception of customer service at Publix. My target market is current Publix shoppers. Therefore, my screening question could be: “Have you shopped in Publix in the last month?”  If yes, continue, if no, terminate.) 
3. As you develop questions, ask yourself the following to determine if you should use the questions: “Does each question produce information that is necessary to address the research topic and meet the goals of the study?”  If the answer is no, do not include them.
4. Use a variety of survey question types including ratings, rankings, forced choices, and semantic differential scales, to answer your research questions.  Keep in mind the types of questions you ask may limit the method of analysis and quality of the information you can get from analyzing the data.
5. Related to point four, consider using Likert-type questions when measuring attitude and satisfaction.  They are easy to construct and easy for respondents to fill out.  (Example: Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements using the 1 to 5 scale below).
6. When using semantic differential questions, make sure that the descriptors are true opposites of each other.  Semantic differential scales use polar opposites that respondents are asked to choose from to best describe something.  For example, weak and strong, indecisive and decisive, cheap and expensive.  (Example: If asking their perception of a new item on a menu, the polar opposites should not be excellent and ok, as these are not true opposites and will skew the results).
7. Demographic questions go at the end of the questionnaire. Ask demographic questions that are relevant to your research.  These might include age, income, family size, employment status, geographical location, and other information.  These answers will provide useful cross tab analysis by showing response differences between men and women, purchase interest in a product by income level, or influence of family size on product attributes.
8. Be sure that response categories have no problems with mutual exclusiveness. (Example: Your age choices should not be 18-25 and 25-30 because if someone is 25, which category do they belong to?)  Also be sure categories have equal breaks.  For example, the age break of 18-24 has seven ages so all of the age breaks should have seven age breaks.
9. The questionnaire should be easy to complete with clear instructions, clear and simple wording and be neat looking.  For example, if a respondent answers a particular question with a no, they are clearly directed to a different follow-up question than if they answered yes. (The pretest will help with this part!)
10. Always pretest!  But be sure to pretest among the target respondents.  If you are conducting research among mothers with children who are heavy users of laundry detergent testing the questionnaire among college students can give you misleading results. 

Sara Weisfeld-Spolter, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Marketing in H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Weisfeld-Spolter can be reached at sw887@nova.edu; Herbert Brotspies, D.B.A., is a Part-Time Participating Faculty in Marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Brotspies can be reached at brotspie@nova.edu

This entry was posted on April 15, 2016 at 11:39 AM and has received 4060 views. There are currently 15 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

This past year witnessed the mainstream development of brand stories. The top 25 brand stories released over the past year amassed an average of 1.9 million views per month. Spanning from heartwarming to heart-lifting, the best performers touched on some key themes showing that tears work nearly as well as laughs when connecting emotionally to target audiences.

Results of a study showed that the highest performance is reached when brand stories are about:

1.      Female Confidence

2.      Unlikely Friendship

3.      Pushing Limits

4.      Spirit of Giving

5.      The Unforgotten

Stories of Female Confidence topped the list as young girls in particular are encouraged to see themselves in a better light. Unlikely Friendships come in second as they touch upon themes of harmony and peace. Stories about Pushing the Limits taps into the inner self that seeks encouragement to overcome severe life battles or achieve greatness.

Following the great success of WestJet's Christmas Miracle, others pursued the Spirit of Giving to bring tears to the eyes of those surprised with unexpected gifts. Finally, a number of stories are developing along the lines of those feeling their sacrifices were unappreciated. The Unforgotten includes familiar tales of hard working moms and soldiers surprised with rewards for their acts of generosity.

Shown above is a rank ordering of these Top 25 stories. The term story, in this case, refers to narratives encompassing a familiar story arc that includes a hero, challenges and overcoming obstacles.

What other stories released recently do you feel were testimony of brand story trends?

James Barry, D.B.A., is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. He develops, teaches and consults on a variety of social media marketing subjects. He can be reached at jimbarry@huizenga.nova.edu

This entry was posted on April 1, 2016 at 12:11 PM and has received 2015 views. There are currently 3 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

A very important topic in marketing today is that of Repositioning, sometimes also referred to as Brand Repositioning. The main objective is to basically pump new life into a declining/mature brand by attempting to change preconceived opinions and carve out a new distinctive space in the minds of its target market(s).  I find the practice of repositioning extremely interesting because as an observer (whether consumer or professional analyst) you can really see the wheels of marketing/branding in action. You can see firms trying to steer the ship in another direction so to speak, as they try to boost up an older brand and/or change its current image.

Taking a look at today’s marketing environment we can see that a number of brands have or are currently trying to reposition themselves. For instance, a few recent examples of brands who have attempted to reposition themselves that come to mind are Buick, Domino’s Pizza, and Cadillac. In the case of Buick and Cadillac, those brands are attempting to reposition themselves to seem more current, stylish, and hipper in order to appeal to younger consumers. A very good example of this repositioning at work is Buick’s commercial showing consumers’ surprised reactions to its newly redesigned vehicles: http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7UbT/buick-summer-sell-down-unexpected. Additionally, as a further effort to enhance their images, both Buick and Cadillac are even adding built in Wi-Fi to many of their new cars, which turns the vehicles into a hotspot with 4G LTE Internet connection speeds.

Regarding Domino’s, while still not considered gourmet pizza by any stretch, the company was able to turn around its lagging image and sales by initiating a new commitment and focus on quality. The company also completely overhauled its pizza recipe, from dough to sauce to toppings. In addition, the brand launched a creative advertising campaign, which included the “Pizza Turnaround” documentary-style commercial, in order to spread the word to consumers about the changes it was making. Together these initiatives helped to reposition the brand’s image. Additionally, Domino’s has tried to keep this momentum going by embracing technology in its pizza ordering and delivery process, introducing such features as the “Pizza Tracker”, as well as “Dom” the voice ordering assistant mobile app, and most recently the ability to order pizzas by way of text message, smart watches, smart TV’s, and even Twitter:  https://vimeo.com/139141726.

So what do you think about repositioning? Any thoughts on the brands I mentioned and whether or not they’re doing a good, bad or indifferent job in their efforts? Also, any examples of brands that you can think of (either recently or historically) that you’ve noticed trying to reposition themselves? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

*Images: Buick Avenir Concept (Buick.com, 2016); Cadillac Elmiraj Concept (media.cadilla.com, 2016).

John Gironda, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University. His teaching and research interests include digital and social media marketing, consumer behavior, marketing strategy, advertising, personal selling, and sales management. He can be reached at: jgironda@nova.edu;  http://www.business.nova.edu/about/faculty-bio.html?jgironda

This entry was posted on March 15, 2016 at 9:01 AM and has received 7552 views. There are currently 27 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

In today’s world, good ideas seem to show up as a ‘buzz’ word or a clever ‘tweet.’ One such buzzword that has shown to be a keeper is ‘PERSONAL BRANDING.’

But what is Personal Branding? And how does one get a Personal Brand? We all know the term branding. Products are branded – Air Jordan’s, Beats, Ferrari – Services are branded – Jet Blue, Ritz Carlton, E Trade – People are branded – Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, President Obama – why not you?

Most of us think we know whom we are, what are passions are, how we appear to others. Think again. How we appear to others and the opinions others form of us in a short period of time may not be the same as what you perceive.  You would not post the same content on your personal Facebook page as on your LinkedIn page!  This is an important concept in today’s business world. When you are in the job market competing against people with similar talents and backgrounds, what will set you apart? Why will your brand be chosen for the job or promotion?

While there are many ways to develop your personal brand, most experts agree that the way to start is to do a ‘Brand You Audit.’ In the book, “Brand You, by Jerry Wilson and Ira Blumenthal, seven steps to Brand You include:

1.      Do the Brand Audit

2.      Assess your Brand You image

3.      Determine Your Brand You identity and Essence

4.      Position your new Brand You

5.      Set your Brand You goals

6.      Establish your Brand You strategies

7.      Implement. Monitor and Adjust your new Brand You

So get started on developing your personal brand and see how it can affect your future!!!

Resources:

Chritton, Susan (2014), “Personal Branding for Dummies,” John Wiley and Sons, 2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J.

Clark, Dorie (2013), “Reinventing You,” Harvard Business Review Press, Boston, Mass.

Wilson, Jerry and Ira Blumenthal, (2008), “Managing Brand You,” Amacon, New York, N.Y.

*Image sources: www.unomaha.edu; www.socialmediatoday.com

Kathleen Bay O’Leary, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Marketing in the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Contact her for more information on Personal Branding at koleary@nova.edu or 954-262-5173.

This entry was posted on March 1, 2016 at 1:36 PM and has received 4095 views. There are currently 41 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

In the past year, I've noticed what seems to be a misunderstanding between the almost 45 year old discipline known as social marketing and the recent rise in the notion of social media marketing. As someone who has spent the majority of their early career in healthcare as a medical provider, I feel it is important to provide a perspective of distinction from the public health point of view.

Someone may ask; "so what's the big deal? ’Social Marketing' and 'Social Media Marketing' are only one word apart, who cares? When did all of this begin anyway?" Great questions...I'm glad you asked.

As early as 1969, Philip Kotler and Sidney Levy captured the academic community's attention with their pioneering article "Broadening the Concept of Marketing" whereby the idea of social marketing was presented and discussed. Later, in 1971, Kotler and Gerald Zaltman formally coined the term social marketing. Although current wording of social marketing definitions may vary, the essence of the discipline rests unchanged. Kotler, Lee, and Rothschild (2006) defined social marketing as:

"Social marketing is a process that applies marketing principles and techniques to create, communicate, and deliver value in order to influence target audience behaviors that benefit society as well as the target audience (Kotler, Lee, & Rothschild 2006, p. 26).”

In other words, from a public health point of view, it's the use of marketing principles and techniques to solve public health problems. Rich with research and grounded in practical application, social marketing provides health professionals with the tools to develop programs to support healthy behaviors (Coreil 2010).

Applications (Cheng, Kotler, & Lee 2010):

Currently, social marketing principles and techniques are applied in various ways to benefit society and the target audience. Specific to the area of public health, four groupings tend to receive the most attention. The initial grouping is known as health promotion, whereby social marketing methods are used to promote health related behaviors such as tobacco cessation, obesity, teen pregnancy, cancers, and blood pressure. Second is the injury prevention grouping which targets behaviors common to injury such as drinking and driving, proper safety restraints for children in vehicles, suicide, falls, and household poisons. Behavioral issues related to environmental protection is the third area. Examples include matters related to waste reduction, wildlife protection, water conservation, and air pollution from automobiles. The final group is community mobilization which consists of behaviors such as blood donation, identity theft, literacy, and animal adoption.

While the area of social marketing began over 40 years ago, it is often one of the most frequently misunderstood. Today, the most common error is that many people seem to confuse it with social media marketing. Just do a quick Google search, and you will find numerous chat rooms, blogs, web pages, and videos that mislabel social media marketing as simply social marketing.

For clarity and over-generalization, social media marketing is a process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites (e.g., YouTube, Twitter, etc.). However, while social media is a critical part of the communication tools and channels for social marketing, the latter is a specific field of marketing practice, research, and education. As I mentioned earlier, there are various formal definitions of social marketing as well as numerous applications for social media focus and format. However, social marketing and social media marketing are dramatically different and should not be accepted as the same based on general references and hurried shorthand.

It is undisputed that the recent explosion of social media marketing campaigns has changed the landscape of how modern marketing strategies and tactics are executed. Likewise, it is widely recognized that social marketing has dramatically changed the way public health problems are being solved and is becoming a large part of the overall health domain.

It's important to recognize that experts in both areas continue to work hard as they explore innovative ways to advance their discipline. So as practitioners and academics alike, let's be sure not to minimize the value and significance of either discipline by mislabeling or lazy shorthand.

References:

Cheng, H., Kotler, P., & Nancy Lee, D. (2010). Social marketing for public health. Social Marketing for Public Health: Global Trends and Success Stories, 1.

Coreil, J. (Ed.). (2010). Social and behavioral foundations of public health. SAGE Publications Inc.

Kotler, P., Lee, N.R., & Rothschild, M. Personal communication, September 19, 2006.

John F. Riggs, D.B.A., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Riggs has over 25 years of experience in healthcare as a healthcare provider, marketer, and sales executive. He can be reached at John.riggs@nova.edu

This entry was posted on February 15, 2016 at 9:35 AM and has received 5234 views. There are currently 44 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

More and more, customers are placing a high value on "Authenticity". Maybe it's a reaction to years of being pummeled by artificial product news, but there appears to be burnout with the pursuit of "flavor of the month" marketing.

Over a hundred years ago, the H.K. McCann Company launched their ad agency with the credo "Truth Well Told". Today, we know this company as McCann-Erickson Worldwide, part of the Interpublic Group. In 1969, this agency created the "It's the Real Thing" campaign for Coca-Cola. Many marketing people feel this was the last time Coke had a meaningful brand message.

Brands that are authentic ring true with consumers. After all, a Brand is a set of promises. If those promises are real at their core and are delivered on a consistent basis, the Brand connects with the customer, and a relationship is formed.

Our Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza Brand is built on three promises- the old world art of cooking in a coal oven (ensuring a unique taste); a simple menu (do just a few things really well); high-touch service (that makes you feel like family). Not very flashy. In fact, we are really "old school". Hardly what you would expect in a world where your smart phone can do everything but make breakfast, and where Caitlyn Jenner is a national hero. But in a very competitive category with hundreds of millions of dollars of promotional spending, we have grown to 50 stores in six states.

McCann knew it 100 years ago, "Authenticity" never goes out of style!

Nicholas Castaldo, M.B.A. (Harvard), is a Lecturer in Marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. Professor Castaldo is currently the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. He can be reached at castaldo@nova.edu

This entry was posted on February 1, 2016 at 12:15 PM and has received 4851 views. There are currently 43 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

The decline of physical shopping experiences has been widely reported across many of the western markets. Consumers in the US and the UK admit to spending roughly 11 hours online each day, and globally around 35% of purchases are made online. This trend is even more evident within younger age groups, and as technology increasingly plays a bigger part in their lives so we should expect to see fewer retail experiences occurring in physical stores and more online. E-commerce continues to grow rapidly, expected to total $334 billion in 2015, and predicted to surge to $480 billion by 2019 according to Forrester Research. Over the past decade, US e-commerce has grown almost 18 percent a year, representing slightly less than 10 percent of total retail sales--some analysts predict a jump to 30 percent by2030. With the accelerating adoption of mobile--today nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone--digital commerce is poised to explode, bringing further changes to retail shopping including a shrinking physical retail footprint. Sears has indicated that it would accelerate the number of store closings during this year, from 130 to 235. RadioShack, which is negotiating with lenders to gain approval to shutter 1,100 stores and has already closed 175 locations in 2014. The past four years has also seen the death of more than two dozen indoor malls, with another 60 hanging in the balance, according to data from Green Street Advisors as was first reported by The New York Times.

According to a Wall Street Journal article ("Shoppers Are Fleeing Physical Stores"), U.S. retailers are facing a steep and persistent drop in store traffic. Shopper visits have fallen by 5% or more from a year earlier in every month for the past two years, according to ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based data firm that records store visits for retailers using tracking devices installed at 40,000 U.S. outlets. Another article ("Where Have all the Shoppers Gone?", FORTUNE, September, 2014), suggests that retailers continue to face a "Darwinian struggle for survival", which will ultimately take down some of the best-known brands. This year's "Black Friday" results confirm the troubling downward path for brick–and--mortar stores, showing a 10.3 percent drop in sales, down from $11.6 billion in 2014 to $10.4 billion this year. Online sales on the same day grew 14 percent from last year, bringing in a total of $2.72 billion.

The number of buying options available to consumer will continues to grow. As a recent Cisco survey of retail trends discovered, e-commerce has added about 40 possible shopping options for a typical shopper. With the rise of the Internet of Everything (IoE) -- the explosion in networked connections of people process, data, and things -- potential shopping journeys will expand to 800 and beyond. Some of the new options coming into play could include mobile devices equipped for live Web engagements, checkout optimization, mobile payments, wearables, augmented reality, ride-sharing (e.g., Uber same- day delivery launched just over a year ago) and drone delivery.

Finally, consumer discovery is upending the traditional hierarchy of effects model (i.e. awareness---knowledge---liking----preference----conviction----purchase) that has guided marketers for decades and been instrumental in establishing retail brands. For example, unlike traditional advertising, individuals in the social media era have access to content that is not necessarily associated with commercial intent (e.g., to make a purchase); consequently, if a person likes the content, he/she is likely to pass it on to their peers, families, and so on via social sites, then the content will be quickly diffused without the help of traditional marketing.

So, how do you view the prospects of traditional retailers and what do they need to do to survive in the digital age?

William (Bill) Johnson, Ph.D., is a Part-time Participating Faculty in Marketing in the Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. He can be reached at billyboy@nova.edu

This entry was posted on January 15, 2016 at 9:14 AM and has received 6621 views. There are currently 56 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

The hunt is on to get as much customer information to guide marketing decisions by using what is currently known as “big data.”  Simply, big data is a collection of data, structured and unstructured, used to find marketing relationships not very obvious to the marketer.  Big data helps show marketers what is going on.  Big data helps the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) understand the “what” but very little of the “why.”

Now, more and more marketers are turning to ways to find the “why” in marketing—why consumers buy the products they do, how they use them, and importantly, how they relate to products in ways big data or conventional market research surveys cannot.  They are increasingly using techniques used by anthropologists called ethnographic research, studying consumers where they live, where they work, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the stores, restaurants, concerts, malls, or college campuses.  This observational method helps marketers by showing how products are used, the meaning of products in their lives, and the lifestyles that influence purchase decisions. 

Ethnography evaluates consumer behavior in detail, identifying important patterns through observation of people engaging in activities such as browsing, buying and trying products, or using services.  Based on ethnographic findings, recommendations are made to conduct quantified market research, develop new products, add features to existing products, or change advertising approaches.

Intel, the computer chip maker, uses ethnographic research to understand how teenagers, who grew up with smart phones, use their devices differently than baby boomers, how television and PC technology converge, and how smart phones are taking over most of the functions of personal computers.  J.C. Penney looks in women’s closets to see the brands and styles of clothing they purchase for work.  Clairol, the marketer of hair coloring, watches how women apply hair coloring at home to improve the ease of product use.

According to ethnographic case studies by Consumer Research Associates,

·         Abbvie Pharmaceuticals, a marketer of a drug for HIV, wanted to understand the patient journey to identify opportunities for innovation in packaging, messaging, and service.  Researchers observed physicians with patients and conducted in-home interviews with patients to learn how drugs are used.  As a result of the research, new techniques were developed to help patients comply with their therapies and to help physicians communicate and personalize treatment solutions for patients. 

·         Miller Lite wanted to understand how brand updates would be received and understood by their current customers.  Researchers conducted in-home demographic groups to gauge reaction concepts being considered.  Interviews were conducted in stores and bars with different brand concepts in a natural setting to gauge consumer reaction.   Using a variety of ethnographic methods, the project culminated in the successful update of all Miller Lite branding and marketing materials.

·         Best Buy, a leading consumer electronics retailer, wanted to explore expanding its selection to include a health and fitness department.  They were interested in how well customers would accept this brand expansion with a particular appeal to female shoppers. They wanted to understand the consumer product research and decision-making processes and to identify triggers for investing in home fitness equipment among female shoppers. Ethnographers collected stories among women who recently purchased fitness equipment learning about stores the participants liked including Best Buy.  Researchers accompanied consumers on shopping trips for fitness equipment to understand the purchase process.  The ethnographic research helped Best Buy design the fitness department and provided direction in product selection.

Ethnographic research is also used in business to business situations.  Bosch, a manufacturer of production equipment, wanted to determine how to gain a competitive advantage over rival companies.  They first conducted interviews with production managers and then went into the manufacturing plant to observe how production-line staff used competitive equipment.  The observations revealed there were customer needs that were missed by competitors such as awkward adjustments and difficult maintenance procedures.  The result was a line of Bosch manufacturing products that overcame the issues of competitive products.  Observing the use of competitive products, an ethnographic technique, gave Bosch the insight they needed.

Miele, a German household products company, wanted to investigate the cleaning needs of people with allergies.  They sent researchers into homes of people who had children with allergies to observe cleaning practices.  Through ethnographic research, they discovered, parents spent extra time vacuuming mattresses to remove allergens.  Parents could not be sure the mattresses were allergen free, so they kept vacuuming.  Miele developed a vacuum cleaner with a series of lights that indicated when the item is dust free.  This reduced the time and uncertainty of parents vacuuming their child’s bed.  Based on this research, Miele also introduced a washing machine with special features to thoroughly clean pillows and bedding of allergens.

Big data, finding unusual relationships in structured and unstructured data, will always play an important part in marketing to understand what is happening.  But to develop insight as to why, marketers use ethnographic research and visit people in their homes, watch how they use products, listen to stories about how and why they buy, what they buy, and gain deep insight into the purchase decisions and the why of marketing.

*Image source: Tata Consulting Services (2015).

Herbert Brotspies, D.B.A., is a Part-Time Participating Faculty in Marketing in the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. He can be reached at brotspie@nova.edu

This entry was posted on December 1, 2015 at 11:04 AM and has received 3264 views. There are currently 4 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

There are over 5,000 apps that display unseen ads on both Apple and Android devices, engaging in mass fraud regarding advertising and slowing down devices. They also deprive consumers from advertisements that could have brought them useful or entertaining information. This conclusion was drawn in a study performed by Forensiq, a company that tracks fraud in online advertising. Over ten days, Forensiq observed more than 12 million unique devices running at least one of the 5,000 apps flagged for ad fraud. These hijacked devices represent about 1% of the mobile devices observed in the US and 2–3% of those observed in Europe & Asia.

According to the study, the threat to advertisers continues to increase with the use of known fraud tactics including device emulation, mobile user agent and location spoofing, and user acquisition fraud. In addition, the emergence of new fraud tactics not only serves to impair advertiser ROI but also impacts the consumer segment. Forensiq has discovered this new type of ad fraud called mobile device hijacking, a tactic used by mobile applications to steal revenue by rapidly loading hidden ads and emulating human behavior. While in traffic statistics the ads appear as shown, they were actually never seen by consumers. The company projected that in the US alone in 2015, $20B will be spent on mobile in-app advertising and the annual impact of in-app fraud will surpass the $1 billion mark globally in 2015.

These conclusions underline once again the importance of every basic stage in a well-planned advertising campaign, including monitoring and evaluation. Work does not stop once the campaign is formulated and the ad is running. The marketer should constantly monitor the evolution of the campaign and its preliminary results in order to be able to make adjustments and deal with potential issues, including this type of problems. Nevertheless, dealing with trustworthy partners, from a reputable advertising agency to the right platform of communication, is also very important. Otherwise, the company will end up paying money for advertisements that nobody will ever see and keep wondering why they did not work.

*Image source: http://www.youvisit.com/virtual-tours/blog/how-to-generate-leads-using-mobile-marketing/

Maria Petrescu, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University. She can be reached at mpetresc@nova.edu

This entry was posted on November 15, 2015 at 3:29 PM and has received 4059 views. There are currently 15 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.

The size of the service sector, global competition, rising labor and technology costs and demanding customers all force companies to create excellent customer experiences.

The challenge firms face today is knowing their customer’s definition of service quality and how to deliver that at a reasonable cost to create superior customer value.

Customers use service encounters to assess the quality of a firm’s offering. So, how can we “wow” customers? 

It’s all about the service experience

Seventy percent of customer defections are due to service problems. Improving service quality is like taking vitamins, eating healthy and exercising regularly. Although the results may not be immediate, long-term benefits are significant. Service quality is not a “quick fix,” but rather a way of life for companies who are serious about improvement. Here are 10 recommendations that can lead to superior customer value:

1. Co-create services with customers. Learn what customers value by incorporating the “voice-of-the-customer” into the service development process.

2. Focus your improvement programs outward, on market “break-points.” By defining and mapping episodes (service cycle), you can see the service experience as the customer sees it. Realize that customers view service as a totality, not an isolated set of activities.

3. Create a tangible representation of service quality. Hertz Gold Plus Rewards communicates a premium, value-added bundle of services to business travelers seeking a hassle-free car rental experience.

4. Use teamwork to promote service excellence — service workers who support one another and achieve together can avoid service burnout.

5. Create a “service-bias” based on key SQ determinants such as professionalism, attitudes/behaviors, accessibility and flexibility, reliability/trustworthiness and service recovery.

6. Develop metrics that are specific in nature, such as a 95 percent on-time delivery, customer wait time or order processing time.

7. Employee selection, job design and training are crucial to building customer satisfaction and SQ. The ability to respond quickly, competently and pleasantly to customers needs to be a priority.

8. Reward quality efforts in marketing. Seek opportunities to reinforce quality behaviors when they occur. Reward employees on the basis of commitment and effort, not just sales outcomes.

9. Think of service as a process, not a series of functions. Service quality occurs when the entire service experience is managed and the organization is aligned to respond accordingly.

10. Integrate customer information across sales channels. The information made available to online and offline service representatives should be consistent.

Checklist — improving service quality

1. Does your company really listen to its customers? Give a specific example of how good listening improved the service experience.

2. Reliability means performing the promised services dependably and accurately. On a 10-point scale, where 1 is unreliable and 10 is perfectly reliable, rate your company and explain why.

3. How well does your company perform the “service basics?”

4. How effectively does your company manage service design — systems, people and the physical environment? Provide an example of how lack of planning in one of these areas resulted in a “fail point” during a customer encounter.

5. Service recovery refers to how effectively companies respond to service failures. Cite an example when a service failure occurred and how it was handled.

6. Teamwork is an important dynamic in sustaining service workers’ motivation. How can you improve teamwork in your organization?

7. Internal service is crucial to service improvement, as customer satisfaction often mirrors employee satisfaction. To what extent does your company assess internal service quality?

Art Weinstein, Ph.D., is Chair and Professor of Marketing at Nova Southeastern University and author of “Superior Customer Value: Strategies for Winning and Retaining Customers.” He may be reached at art@nova.edu or (954) 262-5097. For more information, visit www.artweinstein.com. Link with Art Weinstein on LinkedIn http://linkd.in/1hQcrHJ.

*Reprinted from Smart Business, September 3, 2013; Image source: Revelconsulting.com

This entry was posted on November 1, 2015 at 1:38 PM and has received 8188 views. There are currently 48 comments. Print this entry. Download attachment.