Relationship Selling and Online CRM as Sales Tool

Question 1

difference between relationship marketing and transactional marketing

Answer 1

RM

• orientation to customer retention (not single sales)
• continuous customer contact (rather than discontinuous)
• focus on customer value (not product features)
• long time scale (not short)
• high emphasis on customer service (vs little)
• high commitment to meeting customer expectations (vs. limited)
• quality as the concern of all staff (vs just production staff)

Question 2

key activities in relationship marketing (cycle)

Answer 2

1. new customer acquisition
2. existing customer retention
3. customer relationship development
4. responsiveness to customers’ needs
5. build trust

Question 3

webcare

Answer 3

“[e]ngaging in online interactions with consumers by

actively searching the web to address consumer feedback”

Question 4

goals/components of webcare

Answer 4

1. customer care (satisfaction and customer retention)
   - -> solve problems and exceed expectations
2. PR (reputation and relationship quality)
   - -> signal issues and prevent crises
3. marketing (brand equity and sales)
   - -> input r&D enhance eWOM

Question 5

why engage in webcare?

Answer 5

To build, enhance, and nurture high-quality relationships with
consumers and other key publics in terms of:
• Satisfaction
• Trust
• Commitment
• Control mutuality

Question 6

describe the idea that “markets are conversations”

Answer 6

Markets are increasingly conversational
environments where brands aim to build collaborative relationships with their (potential) consumers rather than treating them as “targets

Question 7

why is dialogue better than one-way communication

Answer 7

When consumers observe dialogic communication, this increases perceptions of caring and expense, which in turn favourably affect brand attitudes and purchase intentions
• Dialogue  caring / expense  Brand Attitude / Purchase Intent

Question 8

when/why can social media campaigns/presence go awry

Answer 8

• People want to talk to each other, not to brands
• Issues with long vs. short-term strategic outlook
• Faking engagement (“astroturfing”) to save face
• Tempting to control messages & perceptions

**authentic dialogic communication (i.e. two-way symmetrical model) hard to maintain in practice

Question 9

marketing communication is less a matter of domination and control, and more a matter of ______________

Answer 9

fitting in

Question 10

Dilemmas of participating in online conversations

Answer 10

▪ By having a presence in social media, brands can engage consumers, and as such, build, maintain,
and nurture relationships
▪ But “[s]imply being present is not, in itself, a recipe for success” (Colliander et al., 2015, p.11)

Question 11

should you participate online?

Answer 11

• YES, always
Webcare results in …
•
…more positive brand evaluations (Van Noort & Willemsen, 2012)
•
…better evaluations of the company (more reputable) (Lee & Song, 2010)
• Perception of lower degree of responsibility for the service failure (Lee & Song, 2010)

Question 12

webcare and positive eWOM

Answer 12

• Webcare used to stimulate positive engagement
• Increases customer Surprise on user-generated platforms
• Increases the perception that the brand has a conversational human voice (CHV)
• Both surprise and CHV increase consumer engagement

Question 13

what is the second strategic choice to do with webcare? If the first is whether to say anything

Answer 13

what to say?

involves the content of the webcare response

Question 14

what are the types of webcare responses?

Answer 14

1. (No response)
2. Refutation
3. Apology
4. Compensation
5. Explanation
6. Combination of strategies

Question 15

rank the possible responses from most to least common

Answer 15

explanation - 66%
apology - 10%
refutation - 9.4%
compensation - 2.7%

Question 16

when do you know what kind of response should you use? Ie what is the general rule

Answer 16

it depends on context how you should respond

the more negative the context, the more effort a company needs to put into recovery attempt

Question 17

when the balance of conversation online is positive, what do you say

Answer 17

no differential effects between responses

Question 18

when overall sentiment is neutral (webcare), what should you say?

Answer 18

explanation + apology

will have positive effects

Question 19

when overall sentiment online is negative, what should you say?

Answer 19

explanation + apology + compensation

will have positive effects

Question 20

what response is second best for only positive and neutral balances?

Answer 20

no response

Question 21

when there is a single deviation problem (service failure), how should you respond?

Answer 21

apology or compensation suffices

Question 22

what is a double deviation

Answer 22

messed up twice

service failure + botched recovery

Question 23

what to say when there is a double deviation

Answer 23

more effort is required

• apology only leads to more desire for reconciliation
• compensation only leads to less desire for revenge
• *want to combine both**

Question 24

if can’t do both apology and compensation for a double deviation, what else is somewhat effective?

Answer 24

explanation only

due to its ability to reduce negative inferred motives

Question 25

how does response differ based on quality of relationship with customer?

Answer 25

• high-quality relationship
• -> apology + small compensation
• low-quality relationship
• -> apology + substantive compensation

Question 26

how should you say your response online? (how to say it)

Answer 26

want conversational human voice (CHV)

-“an engaging and natural style of communication as perceived by an organization’s publics based on interactions between individuals in the organization and individuals in publics”

Question 27

what does conversational human voice comprise of

Answer 27

• Being open to dialogue
• communicates in a human
  voice
• Treats consumers as human
  beings
• humanizing the brand/anthropomorphism can help
• ->(showing customers who employees are)

Question 28

what brings about the impression of caring about customers?

Answer 28

• The mere use of social media (Kelleher, 2009):
open to dialogue and to listening to its consumers
(feels approachable)

• Conversational Human Voice

• -> Message personalization (sender (‘Hi Janelle’) and receiver (‘we’)
• -> Informal speech ( non verbal cues such as emoticons)
• -> invitational rhetoric (“let us know what you think”)

Question 29

what are the effects of personal/human representative in online response?

Answer 29

• trust
• satisfaction
• control mutuality
• commitment
• WOM intention

Question 30

what are the effects of human voice

Answer 30

• credibility
• attitude
• purchase intention

Question 31

what is a conclusion about how to say/ speak to customers online?

Answer 31

▪A “human voice” positively affects relational outcomes (satisfaction, trust, commitment & control mutuality)
▪Talk to consumers “in an informal, personal voice, inviting
conversation from the readers” (Henderson & Bowley, 2010, p. 248)
▪CHV prerequisite for true dialogic (two-way) communication

Question 32

describe the importance of being “human”

Answer 32

• Caring, financial expenses (Colliander et al.)
• Authentic, informal (Henderson & Bowley)
• Personal, conversational human voice (Schamari & Schaefers)
• Warmth (Bernritter et al.)
• All mediate (explain) effects on online engagement

Question 33

how to address consumers - recent additional evidence?

Answer 33

• Informal address leads to more positive responses for warm brands
• Formal address leads to more
  positive responses for competent brands