Managing the customer life cycle: customer acquisition Evaluate the customer acquisition strategies and tactics of an organization with which you are familiar. What is done well and what could be done...

Name: ___________________________________________
CAT 303 – Customer Relations Management
Final Exam – Each Question is worth 10 pts. – 210 points total
1

Managing the customer life cycle: customer acquisition
1. Evaluate the customer acquisition strategies and tactics of an organization with
which you are familiar. What is done well and what could be done better?
Let the company in consideration be HSBC Bank. The strategies that banks employ to
acquire customers include employee referral, direct sales team, relationship managers, out bound
sales team of call centre, through channel partners, referrals from chartered accountants, cold
calling on database etc. The banks also acquire customers online by providing customer enquiry
form where customers have to provide their contact details. The bank aggressively implements
all options of direct marketing. The bank can further improve on the effectiveness of using
internet for customer acquisition.
2. Go online and research the role of the web in customer acquisition. How effective is
it? For which industries does it appear to have most value?
The web plays an important role in customer acquisition. It attracts more visitors to the
website, convert prospects into clients and create more business opportunities(Dyche, 2011). The
web is effective in generating leads, managing campaigns, implementing internet marketing
strategy, branding, social Media, affiliate, promotional marketing, lead conversion and
calculating return on investment. Industries that have good presence on the web can benefit in
customer acquisition. For example, automobile companies provide an option for ‘request for test
drive’ which asks the customers to provide their contact details for the employees of the
company to get in touch with them. Then the employees work on converting these leads into
actual sales.
Name: ___________________________________________
CAT 303 – Customer Relations Management
Final Exam – Each Question is worth 10 pts. – 210 points total
2

3. Go online and research consumer sales promotions agencies. What success stories or
case studies do they report on their websites? How do they prove the success of their
promotions?
The success stories that the customer sales promotions agencies report on the websites
gives an insight of the kind of work that the agency has done. This includes the details of the
promotions and the campaign done the solution it provided and the outcome. For instance, the
customer sales promotions agency StaffWarehouse, conducted promotional activity for Haagen
Dazs by providing Haagen Dazs mini cups across several exciting female lead activities during
2011/12. It positioned the brand as it is for people like ‘me’ and its premium price is worth the
value it provides (Case studies, n.d.). The success of the campaigns are measured in terms of
number of samples distributed, number of opportunities to see, estimated reach, number of sign
ups to the service, etc.
Managing the customer life cycle: customer retention and development
1. In the context of an organization with which you are familiar, come up with a
definition of ‘customer retention’? What customer-related data does the
organization have that indicates success or failure at retention?
Customer retention refers to the activities that a company does to prevent customers from
defecting to the competitors. The company in concern is Standard Chartered bank. To retain
customers the banks need to differentiate themselves from the competitors by creating value for
the customers. The bank creates value by offering competitive products. The customer-related
data does the organization have that indicates success or failure at retention are the tenure for
Name: ___________________________________________
CAT 303 – Customer Relations Management
Final Exam – Each Question is worth 10 pts. – 210 points total
3

which the customer is maintaining relationship, the number of products sold per customer, up
selling and repeat purchases done by the customer.
2. Go online and research loyalty programs. How successful are they at generating
loyalty? What are the distinctive attributes of the most successful programs?
An effective loyalty program can successfully generate customer loyalty by
understanding the needs and demands of the customers, their behavioral patterns and adjusting
the product and service offerings accordingly. This helps increasing customer satisfaction level
and thus ensuring loyalty of the customers. The distinctive characteristics of most successful
programs are as below. The program should be simple for easy understanding of staff and
customers. The program should be well publicized and the customers should perceive value for
them in the loyalty program as compared to that of the competitors. Successful loyalty programs
are supported with good promotional activities.
3. Go online and research customer clubs. How successful are they at generating
loyalty? What are the distinctive attributes of the most successful clubs?
Customer club is a union of people or organizations, organized by organizations, in an
attempt to be in contact with the members of the club on a regular basis. The companies also
offer these customer club members with benefit packages that the customers perceive to be of
high value. These programs have been successful to a large extent in increasing customer loyalty
by creating an emotional relationship. Distinctive attributes of successful clubs include well
integration of the program with the marketing strategy, targeting specific and appropriate
Name: ___________________________________________
CAT 303 – Customer Relations Management
Final Exam – Each Question is worth 10 pts. – 210 points total
4

messages to the right customers, continuous interaction with the customers to gather insights
about their needs and demands, setting realistic goals and monitoring and measuring outcomes.
Managing supplier and partner relationships
1. Go online and research portal technologies. Identify the major players in portal
development. What attributes of portals distinguish the more successful from the
less successful?
The attributes of portals distinguish the more successful from the less successful are
customer friendly navigation, ease of usage, fresh and original content, simple and professional
design, speed and how interactive the website is. Successful portals aim at creating emotional
attachment of the target customers with the brand. For instance, the highly interactive websites of
the fast food companies like McDonalds which extensively use persuasive...