Case Study
CASE 2
FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS
OVERVIEW
Four telephone subscribers from the same street in a suburb of Toronto complain individually to Bell Canada about a variety of different problems. Is there more to each problem than might appear on the surface? Does it offer Bell a marketing opportunity?
TEACHING OBJECTIVES
• Provoke a discussion of the potential underlying causes of consumer complaints.
• Highlight the fact that complaints are often opportunities in disguise, because they may enable the firm to satisfy the customer by not only resolving the immediate problem, but also selling additional services that provide useful solutions to ongoing needs.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Based strictly on the information in the case, how many possibilities do you see to segment the telecommunications market?
2. As a customer service representative at the telephone company, how would you address each of the problems and complaints reported?
3. Do you see any marketing opportunities for Bell Canada in any of these complaints?
ANALYSIS
1. Based strictly on the information in the case, how many possibilities do you see to segment the telecommunications market?
The background information for the case already highlights geographic segmentation (all the customers live on the same street in the same suburb of Toronto) and segmentation on socio-economic grounds, because the location is a “middle-class suburb.”
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Copyright © 2007 Christopher H. Lovelock
Additional segmentation possibilities raised by the case include:
• Value of usage: Winston Chen is in the ninety-eighth percentile of all Canadian household bills—a big spender on telecommunications; Robbins is a relatively heavy user, being at the seventy-fifth percentile; Portillo is average, being at the median level. Finally, Vanderbilt is a low spender, being in the bottom 10 percent of all household subscribers.
FOUR CUSTOMERS IN SEARCH OF SOLUTIONS
OVERVIEW
Four telephone subscribers from the same street in a suburb of Toronto complain individually to Bell Canada about a variety of different problems. Is there more to each problem than might appear on the surface? Does it offer Bell a marketing opportunity?
TEACHING OBJECTIVES
• Provoke a discussion of the potential underlying causes of consumer complaints.
• Highlight the fact that complaints are often opportunities in disguise, because they may enable the firm to satisfy the customer by not only resolving the immediate problem, but also selling additional services that provide useful solutions to ongoing needs.
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Based strictly on the information in the case, how many possibilities do you see to segment the telecommunications market?
2. As a customer service representative at the telephone company, how would you address each of the problems and complaints reported?
3. Do you see any marketing opportunities for Bell Canada in any of these complaints?
ANALYSIS
1. Based strictly on the information in the case, how many possibilities do you see to segment the telecommunications market?
The background information for the case already highlights geographic segmentation (all the customers live on the same street in the same suburb of Toronto) and segmentation on socio-economic grounds, because the location is a “middle-class suburb.”
________________________________________________________________________
Copyright © 2007 Christopher H. Lovelock
Additional segmentation possibilities raised by the case include:
• Value of usage: Winston Chen is in the ninety-eighth percentile of all Canadian household bills—a big spender on telecommunications; Robbins is a relatively heavy user, being at the seventy-fifth percentile; Portillo is average, being at the median level. Finally, Vanderbilt is a low spender, being in the bottom 10 percent of all household subscribers.