MINI-CASE
Volta Financial Volta’s core business is the financial investment instruments it wants to sell. Its value-addeds include financial advisors who provide nearly free counsel. Like most financial advisors, Volta’s people sell products that seem simple to them, but complicated to most of their customers. Financial investments are a classic credence purchase, implying that the customer won’t know for a long time whether the advice to invest in certain ways was indeed optimal. Volta’s clients come for advice because they figure that the advisors have knowledge and abilities that they don’t. Volta is a business, and as such, has a business manager. Some 18 months ago, the manager asked the advisors to have their clients fill out periodic customer satisfaction surveys. The survey captures customers’ perceptions regarding: whether a receptionist was polite when taking a call to make an appointment with an advisor; how quickly the appointment could be made; how professional was the advisor, did the advisor’s work area appear to be organized and professional, and so on.
Case Discussion
Questions 1. What do you think about the survey? What measures do you believe would be good indicators of an advisor’s performance?
2. How could the brand be positioned to be more tangible and experiential (and even more search) so that consumers could be more confident in Volta’s quality and Volta would have more obvious bragging rights about its brand?
3. What elements of financial investment assistance would you classify as “core” and what would you list under “value added”? How could Volta distinguish itself from other financial advisor firms by modifying their core or value-added services
Each mini case solution must follow the following formatting guidelines:
Three sections consisting of 1) ProblemIdentification 2) QuantitativeReasoningand Analysis3) Recommendations
Problem Identification
Identify the major problems found in the case. Ensure that you distinguish between causes and symptoms. Causes may include changing customer preferences, increased competition, etc. Symptoms include declining revenues, loss of brand equity, increased customer churn, etc.
Please support your problem identification by relevant case facts along with the associated theory and concepts.
Quantitative Reasoningand Analysis
Conduct research to identify data (e.g., obtain data in the form of trends, statistics, ratings, etc. from the library and other sources) that can be utilized to provide additional insight into the case.
Draw appropriate conclusions based on the quantitative analysis of data, while recognizing the limits of this analysis.
Discussion and Recommendation
Identify and recommend a solution to the major problem in the case (there is likely to be more than one solution).
Briefly outline your solution and evaluate it in terms of its pros and cons.
Always ensure that your recommendations are supported by statistical evidence and provide spreadsheets as necessary.
Appendix and References
Please include any tables or figures that are not included but are referenced in your report.
Make sure all references are cited correctly.