Sustainable Customer Relationships

Course Description

This course develops the discipline of maintaining customer focus in highly diverse local and global markets. Topics include aligning customer needs with value propositions; identifying future growth opportunities; forecasting demand; new product development and design; strategic brand management; defending price margins; integrating the marketing mix across multiple channels; behavioral marketing; customer relationship management; reorienting organization functions around customers; and integrating customer feedback loops into strategic planning activities.

Topics and Objectives

Scanning the Marketplace to Build Sustainable Customer Relationships

• Forecast market potential and future demand.
• Identify your current and future customer and their needs.
• Analyze competitive landscape and customer purchase behaviors.
• Identify key external trends (technology, economic, political, legal, etc.).
• Establish long-term marketing objectives.

Establishing the Product Development Agenda

• Examine various processes and sources for generating new product.
• Examine strategies to engage internal stakeholders in new product.
• Evaluate marketing mix alternatives (four Ps).
• Develop product profitability models.
• Evaluate internal/external risks and challenges associated with product development.

Facilitating Product Implementation

• Select appropriate product development initiatives.
• Create product implementation plans across organization functions.
• Create customer feedback loops.
• Develop metrics to track implementation and product performance.

Understanding Customer Value

• Analyze customer needs, behaviors and trends.
• Analyze industry/competitive trends.
• Leverage customer feedback.
• Understand key drivers of customer value.
• Establish long-term customer acquisition and retention objectives.
• Perform customer segmentation analysis.
• Evaluate customer/segment profitability metrics.

Alternative Solutions to Sustain Customer Relationships

• Identify best practices in customer relationship management.
• Propose customer acquisition and retention initiatives.
• Evaluate customer risk.
• Align customer relationship initiatives and organizational goals.

Implementing Customer-Focused Strategies

• Select value added customer initiatives.
• Implement a comprehensive customer relationship management program.
• Recommend measures to evaluate customer profitability and retention.
• Recommend measures to evaluate customer relationship management effectiveness.