CUSTOMER VALUE MAXIMIZATION

CUSTOMER VALUE MAXIMIZATION

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………….…..4
Customer Value Maximization……………………………………………………………….…..5
Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………….……….6
Customer Value and Customer Satisfaction………………………………………………….…..6
Customer Value Management and Competitive Advantage……………………………….…….6
History……………………………………………………………………………………….…..7
Market Orientation…………………………………………………………………………..……8
Business Environment…………………………………………………………………..……… .8
Micro-environmental Factors……………………………………………………………….…… 9
SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Market Segmentation………………………………………………………………….…………10
Target Market……………………………………………………………………………………11
Targeting Strategy and Positioning Strategy…………………………………………………….11
The environmental changes………………………………………………………………………11
The Product………………………………………………………………………………………11
Pricing Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………..12
Customer Relation Management…………………………………………………………………12
The Key Components of Analytical CRM……………………………………………………….13
Right Channeling…………………………………………………………………………………13
Employee Training and Retention for Customer Value…………………………………………14

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….16
Reference List……………………………………………………………………………………18
Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………….20

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this research is to document Apple Inc.’s business operations as well as its performance in the tech world. In order to limit the survey criteria and remain relevant to the purpose of the research, this research uses the Apple Inc.’s human resource management as the central focus upon which vision, mission, objectives, goals, and challenges are assessed through.
The role of the human resource assumes a management role that plans, organizes, staffs, compensates, manages, trains and develops employees of the Apple Inc. maximize the value of customers. The significance of the human resource department of any organization is to ensure that performance of individual employees coincides with the organization’s objectives and goals. Through this undertaking, the proficiency of individual staff members improves through a set of personal and team values. Personal values that are crucial to the performance of an individual include respect and honor to the organizational policies as well as superiors and colleagues.
Due to the increased demand from the customers, competition strains rise, and dragging economy, companies have been forced to look out for new methods towards getting and keeping a long-term relation with the customers for a mutual benefit. This coursework evaluates the customer value maximization in relation to competitive advantage, keeping lifetime customers and mutual value benefit. The work will address different possible strategies, customer value management and its benefits and effects of improving the quality of service and goods to the customer and business at large.

Customer Value Maximization

Value in business markets gets perceived as the worthiness in terms of money value and is economically beneficial involving technical services, and any benefit be it social or otherwise received by the consumer in exchange for sacrifice price given for the service or product, taking into consideration the available suppliers’ offerings and prices. The buyers have their perception when it comes to value. It represents the benefits and value or quality expected from the product or service in relation to the price paid or perceived by paying the price (Cochrane 2009).
Value maximization goes beyond a simple product value to include managers and employees’ enthusiasm and energy to creative value. Since a company cannot maximize the value in case it does not notice the interest of its stakeholders, the far-seeing value maximization allows utilizing many criteria for making the requisite tradeoffs among its stakeholders. Customer value definition differs from one place to another. Making customer value strategies work begins with an actionable understanding of the concept itself (Buder 2008).
In today’s era, the best competitive will likely be generated from a good relation with the customers hence CRM. This coursework evaluates the customer value maximization in relation to competitive advantage, keeping life time customers and mutual value benefit. It presents the frameworks for understanding the customer and thinking about customer value, ways to capture and maintain the customer for the long-term benefit. The work will address different possible strategies, customer value management and its benefits and effects of improving the quality of service and goods to the customer and business at large (Schwartz 2010). The course work will focus on the Apple Computers Inc. which dates back to 1970s. Apple crucially changed the personal computer industry and reduced the rise of ecologically conscious factories within the New West territories and the world as a whole (Mills 2009).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Customer Value and Customer Satisfaction
The customer value concept offers a tight relationship between the supplier or the company and the customer for satisfaction. Based on satisfaction, Figure 3 suggests how desired and received value fits into a discontinuation type satisfaction model. The customer value hierarchy helps in evaluating what exactly the customers estimate. Figure 2 shows the customers’ hierarchy.
Desire leads the customers’ view on a product or service and how good or poor a product has performed in the use situation. Received value may lead straight to the formation of overall satisfaction feelings. A business requires applying different strategies including a constant development of the processes, solutions and services to meet and maintain a competitive advantage. Most solutions should embrace the latest technology, especially in today’s era and an extensive service offering. The objective needs to be aimed at giving the customer a lifetime of high performance and high profits based on long-term relationships (Schwartz 2010).
Customer Value Management and Competitive Advantage
In Buder (2008), an economy where products, campaigns in marketing, and distribution channels are so fragile, business leaders continuously understand consumer relationships as the key to enduring competitive advantage and profits. Managers should understand that every customer is not the same profit wise; hence each should be individually managed for maximum profits and gain competitive advantage. Customer value management is a mode applied by many organizations to maintain customer loyalty and competitive advantage. It involves well planning and management of every consumer relationship aiming at the achievement of maximum life time benefits for the entire customer base. It enables a company to take full advantage of the economies on loyalty to boost customer retention, risk reduction, acquisition costs amortization for a long and profitable time period (Schwartz 2010).
Companies need to take a deep analysis of their current customers. All customers are not equal. Even the ones who are of high value to the competitor may be unprofitable to the business (Proctor 2010).
The realizing who the best customers are and why, enables a company to go after new customers that the company can most satisfy and gain competitive advantage. Effective retention means retaining the right customers. Companies need to keep high quality, and maximize their product values to benefit from the long-term relationship. The strategies used must be those to maintain value but not to erode it. Loyal customers are less process sensitive for they know the value they are getting. Therefore, managers need to come up with non price strategies to maintain such customers. The ways may include signal recognition, customer service, premium levels of service, and after sale services among others (Reddy 2007).
The concept of customer value will help acquire and retain the most valuable customer.
History
Apple Company dates back to 1970s. Apple brought about the computer equipment to be used individually creating the room for the ecologically conscious factories within the New West territories. The company’s primary product was Apple one, which contained a single board and a ROM, and sold for about 650 US dollars, and had no keyboard or monitor. Orders instantly rose, and Jobs brought out the Apple 2, which had a color monitor, keyboard and distributions for peripheral devices. Later, the company introduced Macintosh, which got created for the education industry and businesses. At such times the organization had already changed the American markets and further shaped the West with silicon. In the 1990s, after the series of CEOs did not manage to keep Apple advantageous, a new licensing and marketing got run sooner with Microsoft (Gottingen 2010).
The company gets the considerations of being one of the initial innovators in the industries of computers. This company produces different varieties of goods to suit the various markets it targets. This is course work among others, will look into the details of Apple Computer Inc. it will further look at the change effects to the environment in previous years towards the organizations’ marketing mix. The paper will further evaluate environmental changes that might arise in the next years and consider their effects (Gottingen 2010).
Market Orientation
Market orientation is evidenced when the employees are included in the internal change processes and policy making and implementation. Such policies and practices if linked to the consumer bring a lot of value to execution of service or the final production of goods. Such will include personalized marketing skills which are the currently prefer mode. An organizations strategic value is the rationale for business viability and organization link to its environment. Such values get reflected in the existing cultures which are represented in any given organization (Riley 2008).
The market of Apple Corporation includes schoolchildren, pupils and students in school both from lower to high learning institutions. It also serves the professional teams with the need of computer equipment plus other digital appliances. The niche has the need to store their information and documents in a safe and retrievable manner. The company tries to practice a deeper understanding of the client and develop a customer based product compared to competitors (Reed 2007).
The Business Environment
The company does its best to cope with and adjust into the current economic shifts. In technology aspects, the organization utilizes every emerging technology and innovations to boost production and its quality. The demographic factors provide a way of determining the sales market. The macro environment culture aspect provides Apple Computers Inc. with the information needed to come up with super and different products liked by most people willing to purchase. The natures as a factor are used as a way for the company’s improvement of its image to the clients (Robin 2010).
Micro-environmental Factors
The company’s micro environment factors involve the one expected new entrants in the market. There exists a weak influence to the potential companies into the company. However, in order to ensure that no problem may arise. Apple Company mostly keeps the cost of production low to prevent new or potential entrant from getting the advantage over them. One more micro power is the competitive rivalry. Competition highly affects the decision making process in any organization. Another micro-environment element is the availability of a substitute. This factor gives influence on the company since substitutes can cause a company to lose or gain clients. The trading force t of buyer and seller is as crucial as the others hence influencing the company performance (Robin 2010).
SWOT Analysis
Apple strength is the international recognition. Its brand name has been in use for ages and is well known for its good quality and reliance. The company also has an effective marketing mix which ensures the products are and remain popular to the entire market. They have developed a website with all the necessary details of their products and even offer training to individuals and corporations who wish to repair their own computers (Stone 2009).
The company, on the other hand, experiences some weak points. There arise problems when user forgets to do notable items focusing on using the product. The company is unfortunately not able to focus and control on who should use the products. Children are getting hold of these machines and even accessing dangerous sites at their age. Such can increase immorality, bad social behavior s and even crime in the society. There are sites the young should not decidedly see at their age especially with the Internet and social networking which is on the rise worldwide (Stone 2009).
The opportunity the company has included creating which gives the expected fulfillment to the clients and users and further minds the health of the users. There is a possibility that the organization can produce a safe product to safeguard the extreme damage. In the process of meeting such opportunities, the company will definitely be competitive. An opportunity for the Apple Company aims at reaching new markets and offers its produce and service. Apple Inc. can still reach more areas not yet reached by the rivals (Stone 2009).
The company experiences some threats including the country laws, tariffs and taxes. The company is answerable to the country law it operates form, it should pay licenses, taxes and tariffs. The health organizations complain of the dangers arising from the use of computers. This is also another threat for the company to solve it. Such reduces the good perception of the products and can lead to delay or not purchase (Stone 2009).
Market Segmentation
The company’s market segmentation gets divided into four divisions. Every division stands for a given economic view of the customers and the community. The companies ensure coverage of each segmentation in the country they are operating from. This will make sure the clients will have no doubts about taking the company’s products they can afford (Stone 2009).
Target Market
The company uses various marketing strategies that can serve to the taste of the company in the given markets. The company ensures only the profitable channels and subsidiary companies are established and in the most potential areas. The customers access the products easily and services get maintained high in these branches for customer satisfaction. It further ensures a separation of its branches form the rivalry to maximize its sales (Stone 2009).
Targeting Strategy and Positioning Strategy
The key strategy Apple Computers Inc. focused on is monotonous strategy in the market. The targeted and basic mix in marketing gets applied in all the target markets. The market’s needs almost resemble and the same targeting strategies get used. The orientational strategy of the Apple Company involves comparison of internal and external competition. The data retrieved from the comparison determine the company’s capability and decision (Stone 2009). An effective support helps to ensure the product gets absorbed smoothly by the customers into daily processes, transformation and technology investment into business worth.
Environmental Changes
In case there is a growth in the environment changes there should be a growth in learning for a company. As changes appear a new development and learning should be longed by the organization (Gottingen 2010).
The Product
The product of MP3 sells highly in the market. Apple Inc. is known to be one of the pioneers in the mp3 industry. The company’s goods were used as a basis by other computer companies in designing the specifications on physical characteristics of their products. It also serves as a standard of how products should be designed. The company’s iPod mp3 player is one of the most famous products at the disposal in the market; it has developed from easy one in to a device which can be carried around (Gottingen 2010).
Pricing Strategy
The computer is super and being a new entry, the price was high targeting specific niche. Computers are classified as a specialty product hence a skimming pricing. The company uses premium pricing, setting the prices high for quality. The good targets a specific segment which is willing to pay the high price for the performance.
Price skimming or premium pricing strategy involves setting the prices relatively high for a product or service at first, and then the price gets lowered overtime. This is a version of price discrimination. Such strategies allow the company to regain faster and overdo the competitors’ move who may cause a reduction of prices in the market. However, since the company has the advantage of making and keeping leadership in the technology world, earning the high returns is possible during the initial stages of their products to recover its initial investment.
Customer Relation Management
To leverage the full worth of company’s information assets, many enterprises are using analytical CRM and marketing automation application. Such applications provide intelligence and insight. They lead marketing campaigns by means of leveraging the techniques such as, predictive modeling, segmentation, scoring, and testing. They occur before, during and after campaigns.. The technology allows companies to rise to a maximum customer value, which turns into grown loyalty, retention rates, and profitable customer relations (Cochrane 2009).
Customer’s preferences, profitability, motions and lifetime values will get determined only with the help of deep analysis. Moreover, it helps to highlight the customer’s prosperity to buy a specific service or product , their probability to return, and their potential for growth. Analytical CRM is able to provide a comprehensive model including historical and predictive behavioral analysis that can direct the composition and execution of campaign. Marketing automation allows organizations to adapt responses and offersbased on customers’ actions (Hoboken 2008). An effective support helps to ensure the product gets absorbed smoothly by the customers into daily processes, transformation and technology investment into business worth. By giving value, the company staff becomes closer to the customers than any other part of the vendor organization.
The Key Components of Analytical CRM
The application as well as marketing automation is among a diversity of feature and configuration sets. The key elements include modeling which helps companies with the score, segmentation, valuate and performance response modeling and across selling that are used to solve particular marketing problems or create marketing strategies which extent across a customer’s life cycle (Gillooley 2009).
The second is the campaign management which helps companies in attracting and retaining customers by means of planning campaigns and performing interaction strategies across touch points and multiple channels. The reporting element helps the company to organize information for, measuring, monitoring, assessing and evaluating marketing efficiency. Marketing automation software and CRM are crucial to get a success in today’s customer oriented enterprise.
Right Channeling
The benefits of right channeling include improved retention of high value customers, optimized operational efficiency, increased pay for service opportunities, and reduced staff turn offer. All these improve the image of the company and gain a competitive advantage (Lewis 2008).
Right channeling empowers consumer products and service organizations to give a great value in all their dealings. Such services value can be passed through telephone conversations, internet communication like emails, timely responds to customers, personalized web updates and customer engagement in conversations and problem solving. An effective support helps to ensure the product gets absorbed smoothly by the customers into daily processes, transformation and technology investment into business worth. By giving value, the company staff becomes closer to the customers than any other part of the vendor organization.
Employee Training and Retention for Customer Value
Employee training and retention can help an organization to capture new customers, retain them and gain a competitive advantage. They have a direct impact on customer value. Professionals streaming out of the universities and colleges are well educated and willing to do well in almost every job but the question as to whether they will really stay is a major challenge to the leaders in today’s workforce. Employees do stay but only if the jobs fit their deeply emended life interests which are long held and emotionally driven passions. It is important to note that many organizations use the workforce stability as a competitive edge especially in the current ever changing and stiff business environment. Today, the labor force is different and management requires being collaborative, supportive and nurturing. They must take responsibility of their own (Umiker 2008).
Employee retention involves being sensitive to people needs and continually demonstrating environmental, relationship, support and growth and compensation strategies. The costs associated with turnover include loss of customers, loss of business, low employee morale, reduced productivity and hard costs and time wastage during screening, verifying details, interviewing, hiring and training new employees. Successful organizations have realized employee retention and talent management is crucial to sustain their growth and leadership in the market. Training has resulted to be the key to the problem of low morale and employee turnover (Umiker 2008). Employees require different training throughout their career time. Orienting new employee, lock out training, sexual harassment training, confined space and discrimination training, emergency procedures, software upgrades and refresher trainings among others. Training and retaining employees can be expensive but their benefits outweigh the later. Creating more devoted and motivated employees has high returns and profits and can effectively keep the best skilled employees (Umiker 2008).

Conclusion
Real value is obtained for balancing both predicted and historical intelligence about a customer’s behavior and making that intelligence work. Marketing known as one to one provides the critical ingredients for staying in advance of customer expectation, competition, and it helps to build high barriers to way out by creation of enduring loyalty.
To create the customer loyalty, the managers need to understand they need to go that extra mile rather than giving quality of goods and or services to the market at a minimum cost (Birzer 2007). The benefits of right channeling include improved retention of high value customers, optimized operational efficiency, increased pay for service opportunities, and reduced staff turn offer. All these improve the image of the company and gain a competitive advantage.
Marketing automation software and CRM are important for gaining the success in customer focused enterprise nowadays. Companies should analyze customer relations to ensure cross channel understanding of behaviors enabling more personalized and effective interactions. As companies include the customer centric concept, they have to use application implementation (Birzer 2007).
Morale is an important factor to employee retention and leaders must ensure its presence. In the recent years, the number of lawsuits reported by employees has increased. The ability of the employees to resolve issues such as sexual harassment, violence or conflict effectively save the company money and time. The experiences faced by the sexual harassment victims can impact not only on their quality of life but also their work.
Less morale, reduced production and litigation costs, money and time spend in prevention training are subsequently less than the cost associated with lawsuits and sexual harassment claims (Butler 2009). Training will ensure proactive communication thus resolving and preventing workplace conflicts and their costly consequences (Birzer 2007).

Reference List

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Appendices

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