essay about customer value

Customer Value Essays

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Consumption experience, customer value, and subjective personal introspection: An illustrative photographic essay

M. Holbrook

Jun 1, 2006

Influential Citations

Quality indicators

Journal of Business Research

Key Takeaway : Subjective personal introspection through photographs and written memoirs can provide insights into customer value in the consumption experience, revealing aspects of the Three Fs (fantasies, feelings, and fun) that are not accessible through rational economic decision-making models or advanced techniques.

Abstract This study illustrates the applicability of subjective personal introspection via a photographic essay that draws on written memoirs as a path to insights concerning the role of customer value in the consumption experience. Extending earlier work in this direction, the present research explores a set of sixty-year-old Kodachrome slides taken by the author's grandfather to develop interpretations bolstered and corroborated by the narrative accounts in this late gentleman's logbook. Arguably, this approach taps aspects of the Three Fs (fantasies, feelings, and fun) as they contribute to customer value in ways not accessible to methods of modeling the consumer as a rational economic decision maker nor to advanced techniques for studying the consumption experience by means of laboratory experiments, quantitative surveys, and multivariate statistics.

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Essay On Customer Value

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Website , Business , Sales , Products , Customers , Marketing , Internet , Shopping

Words: 4250

Published: 03/13/2020

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The customers for our firm may be any individuals who may require custom made garments since the standard size may not fit them. This will be known as the Business-to-Consumer transaction. It involves direct interaction between the business entity and their customers. In this situation, the customers will place the order from any country. Timely delivery and accuracy of their order should be checked by the management. Another form of customers will be the wholesalers and retailers. They are interested in making bulk orders and are willing to have an extra lead time. This will be their Business-to-Business transactions. The wholesalers and retailers have a large customer base in the market. They take orders on behalf of their customers. Then, these orders are forwarded to the boutique business. It is their responsibility that they have to fulfill the instructions and complete the orders (Bruce, Margaret, Moore, Birtwistle). Customers have different but important needs when it comes to apparel decisions. Many of the needs are being under served or not being met at all. Our boutique aims to cater all such customer needs. We shall provide a large variety of options to compliment the customer’s body physique and shape. Besides this, we shall also be paying close attention to the customer’s personal preferences and their likes or dislikes will be given great priority (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper).

Developing the Pitch

When the customers are buying clothes, they often go through the troubles of finding an outfit that is according to their measurements. They have a few limited options in the form of standard products which are provided by the retailers. From the manufacturer’s perspective, the production processes are always designed in such a way that it may help in achieving economies of scale. When a standardized product is being produced in bulk, it is more convenient for the manufacturer in terms of costs, labor and mechanizations. Even though the customers sizes vary from person to person but the manufacturers do not consider this customization. To overcome this problem, our boutique is bridging the gap between customer expectations and product satisfactions (Hart, Cathy, Doherty, Chadwick). There is an increasing awareness in the popularity of customized clothes and do-it-yourself option. Many customers are now interested in designing their own clothes. Due to technological advancements, the distribution process has been made easier. Retailers and wholesalers have made their presence over the internet. It is very feasible for the customers to send their orders through the website. The major chunk of target customers will be those who have a difficulty to find clothes that may fit them accurately.

Sales and Marketing Goals

Our boutique will offer reasonably priced, customized clothing options for its customers (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper). Some of our goals and objectives are listed below: - We shall aim to receive at least a 50% profit within 12 to 18 months. - Our team will work solely to provide good quality to its customers. We want that 50% of our first-time customers should return for another purchase within 6 months. - We should be able to achieve a profit of $100,000 by the second year and $1,000,000 by the fifth year. - We want to facilitate customers who want to style themselves according to their own unique personality and physique. - Customers should be satisfied with the quality of products. They should be provided with after-sales services too. In case of delayed or inaccurate orders, the management of our boutique is responsible to handle customer complaints. - Our intention is to maintain at least a 70% market share. We are aspiring to become one of the most desired hubs of retail shopping. - We will try to sustain a profit margin of 10-15% by keenly observing the expenditures and costs of goods sold.

Sales Strategy

We will adhere to the strategy of providing high quality, made-to-measure clothing for our consumers. We are offering a service which many consumers are willing to acquire. We will be able to create an atmosphere where it is quite appealing and lucrative to the fashion conscious customers. Our basic sales strategy will be a great and memorable buying experience every time a customer gets something from boutique. When a prospective customer enters into the boutique, they shall be greeted and welcomed whole heartedly. Then, they will be asked to get seated comfortably on the chairs. Salespersons will assist them towards the clothing options which are available for them to get it customized. Our sales goal will be to make loyal customers who shall help us in generating repetitive business. It may also help in building a positive brand image in the minds of current and prospective customers. A strong word-of-mouth advertising will be formed due to a satisfied customer target market. In the clothing industry, positive word-of-mouth spreads very fast. Family members, colleagues, friends and relatives share their positive and negative reviews about their experiences (Bruce, Margaret, Moore, Birtwistle).

Sales Forecast

Our expected growth rate is of 3% annually. Our sales are expected to increase during Christmas holidays and in summer season. According to a research, it has been observed that customers are more likely to spend lavishly during the Christmas holidays and summers. Special sales promotions and advertising campaigns should be designed for this purpose. Maximum customers will be attracted towards buying from us in this peak season (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper).

Brand Strategy

Our boutique shall be known as a brand which is considered to be up-to-date, innovative, stylish, fashionable and classy. The name of the boutique will be “Stylish Cuts” and it will be operating in Los Angeles, USA. This will be a place where people will go for their own fashion sense and desire to dress. Stylists and image consultants will help them decide what will look good on them. They will guide them to order the right clothes for themselves. Our team will work together to educate customers about their suitable styles and latest fashion. People should perceive our boutique brand as the ideal brand which caters to their needs and provides the best quality in competitive prices than others (Hart, Cathy, Doherty, Chadwick).

Milestones refer to the desired procedure of how the business operations will be conducted. The purpose behind this is to keep reminding ourselves that what needs to be done according to the plan. This shows a brief overview of the upcoming tasks and the days assigned to completion of each task (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper). The tasks which are to be set as the milestones are listed below:

November, 2014

- Complete the business plan on time - Design and confirm the logo

December, 2014

- Apply for bank loan - Apply for business license and building permit - Hire an experienced builder - Confirm shop design with architect - Plan out advertising campaigns - Decide what promotional tactics to use - How to engage current customers in positive word-of-mouth advertising?

February, 2015

- Hire staff like stylists, consultants and salespersons - Plan the opening event for boutique

March, 2015

- Send invites for opening event - Arrange the event - Invite relevant media for public relations

Advertising and Promotion

For this purpose, we will rely on personal one-to-one interactions with our target market. Salespersons shall get in touch with the prospective customers. They shall be informed about the uniqueness of a self-designed outfit. They will know about the possible outcomes of getting a tailor-made clothing item which has been specially designed to fit their needs. They should also be aware of the possibilities that could occur if what they’re wearing does not suit their physique and personality (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper).

Besides this, various other methods of promotion shall also be used. They might include:

- Sponsored events related to fashion and style. This will be done to build up local and national public relationships. - A unique display will be changed every weekend. - Loyalty cards will be issued to customers who will buy more than 5 times from our boutique. After that, they will be given 15% discounts on their purchases. - Current customers will be encouraged to spread a positive word-of-mouth and share their experiences with their friends and families. - Direct mails or catalogues can be sent through postal addresses or e-mails. They will be targeted directly towards their target market. - Sales promotions may be done by offering discounts on original prices. New customers may like to try out a self-designed outfit in a reduced price package. - An online website can be made to keep in pace with the current technological advancements. People can make online orders by mentioning their instructions clearly. Size, color and style specifications should be explained. - Free demonstrations can be displayed in colleges and universities.

Assessing Effectiveness

It is important for any business entity to completely assess the pros and cons before starting up a new venture. Similarly, in the case of our boutique it is important to conduct a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis is conducted to have an insight about the possible strengths and weaknesses which the business entity may have in its internal environment. It also discusses the expected opportunities and threats that the business may face due to its external environment. It may include many factors such as socio-economic, political, legal and other environmental factors (Bruce, Margaret, Moore, Birtwistle).

A brief SWOT analysis has been done below with the perspective of our boutique:

Strengths Our clothes are known as chic and stylish because of the unique designs. Variations in style, color and design makes it impossible for a repeated outfit. Each item is unique in its own aspect. The inspirations behind these clothing items may vary from person to person. We are offering a facility of an in-house stylist who will help the customers to decide what suits them, which color boosts up their mood and which style of cut makes them look slimmer.

According to some customer’s perceptions, our boutique is considered to be highly priced and has limited brand recognition. This is due to the reason that when a standardized clothing item is being produced in a bulk quantity, it is less costly so it does not cost much. In our boutique, each customer is treated like a special one. When an order for customized clothing item is received, there are special preparations done to fulfill the instructions.

Opportunities

With the passage of time, there is a chance for our boutique to flourish rapidly. For this purpose of boutique extension, we should move on to expand our business operations online. A website should be developed to gain a large number of customers from other cities and countries. This may result in more profitability by expanding services into other countries as well. As our team has young blooded group of stylists and designers, it will facilitate in designing clothes for their customers according to the fashion adaptations (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper).

Some of the major threats to our business would be that our present customers may switch to some other competitive boutique. To overcome this problem, we need to keep an eye on our competitors’ operations to know whether they are offering lower prices or giving a better quality product than us. Secondly, the overall global economic crisis is affecting many countries economy. Many countries may not welcome our boutique’s expansion in their countries. Besides this, the competitors who already have a great international presence are more likely to be successful.

Go to the Market Strategy

The market entry mode is important for the success of the whole business plan. A successful entry mode enables the company to reach out the target market in a perfect way (Hart, Cathy, Doherty, Chadwick). The selected entry modes for the boutique are discussed below:

Retail Store

A state of the art retail outlet will be opened for the boutique which will enable customers to come and interact with the helping staff. The customers will have direct approach to the design personnel where they will be able to suggest their own designs. The design personnel will guide them through the trending fashions, colors, textures and the dressing accessories. Then after the design, the customers will be able to select the fabric, embroidery and other add-ons. After that a tailor will take the measurements and they will be notified about the price and the delivery date. This whole procedure will involve interaction of customer with the staff at each step, making this store more interactive than the traditional ones. The interior in of the boutique will have discreet outlook. However, in pursuit of creating a discreet outlook the traditional concepts will not be ignored. It will be accommodating and warm as well. The space will be managed appropriately. The dressing rooms will be decorated with wood doors so that the privacy of the customers is not compromised. The more focus will be on classy interiors decorated with wood to give a classy and stylish look. The stores will have separate sitting areas for coming along friends to sit and wait (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper).

Electronic Marketing

The company will also exploit the advantage of the dot com revolution. The customer today is very busy and turns towards their computers to search, gather information and purchase their daily living products. Customers want facilitation while sitting in their own homes, offices and while traveling. This is huge opportunity for the businesses as it opens them to more and more potential customers beyond the geographical boundaries. The customers are becoming more and more prone to the internet revolution and it is becoming their instinct to turn to computers for the informational purposes. If the information flow from a business is proper, it leads to the sales. However, there are still some problems associated with the electronic marketing.

The website will also serve the informational purpose for the visitors. It will be also taking orders for the returning and new customers. The privacy of the customers at the website will be managed through secure user logins. The boutique plans to launch the website with the official launch of the business. There are short term and long term plans for the electronic business as well. The plans for the first year of operation include the search engine optimization, online advertisements and maintaining online customer databases. In the long run stylish cuts aspire to develop editorial content for the website along with introducing customization facility on the website using interactive java and flash tools (Simová, Jozefína). The basic principle followed in creating the website will be that customers are facilitated, and are provided with all information they need. The website will give information about the basic services of the business, a contact page and an interactive store front. The editorial content will be guiding thorough the fashion industry trends, newest arrivals, their utility and innovative dressing ideas about different occasions. The additional services provided by the website will be the reservation forms, shopping appointments, workshops, request for closet assessment and expert opinion on dress code. The website will also depict the brand personality and identity of the Stylish Cuts. In this way, it will also help in positioning of the brand. The names of the products and product lines will depict the style, about and concept of the boutique. The purpose of online website is to provide all the information that is necessary to articulate online and offline sales at the store (Hart, Cathy, Doherty, Chadwick).

E-Marketing Strategy

The boutique is operating in Los Angeles. LA is famous for the film companies and has an influence of Hollywood as well. The e-strategy of Stylish Cuts will be mainly focused on the celebrity endorsement. The boutique will fully utilize the opportunity of being circled by the film companies and stars. However, Stylish Cuts will also not ignore the email marketing strategy. The company will stick to the perspective of customer privacy. The customer data will be secured by all possible means, and it will be ensured that the customer may not get bombarded with extra emails. It will be made possible that each customer at data base gets no more than 2 emails monthly. Excessive emails will be considered as spamming and will reduce the effectiveness of the marketing program (Hiebing, Roman, Cooper). The email marketing strategy and word of mouth have shown outstanding results in case of retail businesses. Therefore, these strategies will not be ignored by the Stylish Cuts and will be incorporated into the marketing plan from very start of the business operations. It is evident from different researches that mostly customers turn to the websites for the purpose of information. The strategy of the Stylish Cuts is to provide as much information to the potential customers that it holds their interest as well as generating sales. The website will be advertised by traditional media as well as online advertising at different blogs and websites. The other efforts for this purpose will include emails, receipts, in-store advertisement, magazine advertisements and word-of-mouth. According to researches it is evident that television commercials, advertisements of print and other media trigger the need of information about the product. The customer then turns to the internet for more and more information. It creates an interest and quest to know about the product. If the information flow is proper and customer queries are satisfied then the chances of purchase increase. Most of the times, customers love to hear the comments of other users about the product. The reviews of other consumers act as social guarantees and they are most important in strengthening the decision of purchase. The reviews coming from the other customers are considered as unbiased, and are trusted by the customers. Therefore, the value of word-of-mouth can never be undermined. Moreover, websites act as a source of testimonial. The other customers can share their positive feedbacks on the website which leads to the purchase decision of many other visiting customers (Bruce, Margaret, Moore, Birtwistle).

Development Requirements

The web development will lead to additional costs, and finance will be needed to cover these costs. The company will need dedicated designers and web developers. All these services will be outsourced to external service providers. However, extra cost will be incurred on this outsourcing. A summary of incurring costs on web development are given below:

One Time Cost

- Website Design - $3,000. - Site Implementation - $ 2,000

Long Term Costs

- Web Hosting - $ 50 per month - Domain Registration - $150 (Five Years) - Registration at Search Engines – 250 per year There will be other costs associated in changing the design of the website. These changes will include the photos, dress designs and new product arrivals. All these expenses will be part of marketing and promotional costs (Simová, Jozefína).

Customers of the Boutique

The profile of the customers of the Stylish Cuts is discussed below: Customer Profile The primary customers of the Stylish Cuts are working men and women with a net household income of more than hundred thousand dollars yearly (Too, Leanne, Souchon, Thirkell). The main distinguishing features of these customers are discussed below: - Professional men and women of age 30-55 - Level of educated in minimum college pass-outs - Yearly Income of more than $10000 - Hails from upper-middle class and elite class - Lives in Los Angeles - Have a knowledge of computers and internet - Acknowledges the Art - Listens to NPR - Watches trending and fashionable channels like HBO, BBC and Bravo etc. - Has an insight into fashion industry - Follows fashion icons and magazines. - Spends a lot of money on fashion products and focuses on quality as the core product benefit - Spends time in personal grooming and purchases fashion items - Has an urge to look good and presentable at workplace. Therefore, spend a lot on

Shopping Behavior

The shopping behavior of the target customer is given below: - Shops at boutiques and fashion stores like Banana Republic etc. - Touchy about the dress fittings and sizes - Spends more than 25 percent of their yearly income on personal care and clothing etc. - Buy western tops, shirts and formal dresses - Value both classic and trendy items in their clothing

Customer Conversion

The customer conversion in new businesses is low. The conversion calls for the number of visitors to a store or website actually turning into customers by making purchases. The conversion rate for online websites is even low due to trust issues involved in the online business. The Stylish Cut aspires to achieve a conversion rate of 10 percent by relying on advertisement and promotion efforts. This conversion rate will be achieved in first year of operation. It will go on increasing and will reach at 30 percent by the end of fifth year of operations. The information flow between the customers and the company increases the customer conversion rate. Therefore, the company will try to disseminate all the possible information for converting potential customers into returning customers (Simová, Jozefína).

Operational Hours

The store will remain open on all the working days for 12 hours. The operational time during week days will be 11A.M to 11 P.M. However at weekends and local holidays the closing time will be 2 in the morning. The weekends and holidays are possibilities of increased customer influx as the office going people are free in these times (Bruce, Margaret, Moore, Birtwistle).

Projected Market Share

According to Local Marketing Profile there are currently more than 1000 boutiques working in the region and only 200 are offering customized clothing. The boutiques offering customized clothing contribute $1.2M to sales. It is assumed that these sales will grow by 5 percent annually. The projected sales along with the market share are given below *Calculations Based on Suppositions

Customer Relationship Management

The staff working at the store is a direct contact between the company and the customer. The behavior of the staff to the customer will affect the customer conversion as well as the repeat purchase behavior of the customer. Therefore, dedicated training efforts will be carried out for the staff working at the store. Moreover, a telecommunication team will be performing the job of taking orders from the customers. This team will also serve the purpose of CRM, customer facilitation, queries and complaints. A separate CRM department will also be in place dealing with the customer complaints and returns of the products. There will be a clear cut policy regarding product returns so that dissatisfied customers can return the products to ensure their trust in the boutique (Hart, Cathy, Doherty, Chadwick).

A written marketing plan is a must for boutique. It gives direction to the marketing efforts at every instance and helps to achieve the set goals. The marketing plan creates a value for the efforts put. This brief marketing document for the boutique “Stylish Cuts” can be concluded as the customers for our firm may be any individuals who may require custom made garments since the standard size may not fit them. Customers have different but important needs when it comes to apparel decisions. Many of the needs are being under served or not being met at all. After considering the customer needs the marketing and sales goals are defined. The goals are very important before putting any effort into the marketing of a brand. The sales strategy is discussed and it has been ensured that quality does not get affected by the decision of increasing sales on yearly basis. The customers are defined along with the customer conversion rate and business hours. The need of Customer Relationship Management and it’s important for the business has also been discussed. All these things are vital in performing marketing activities of the firm.

- Bruce, Margaret, Christopher Moore, and Grete Birtwistle, eds. International retail marketing: a case study approach. Routledge, 2004. - Hart, Cathy, Neil Doherty, and Fiona Ellis-Chadwick. "Retailer adoption of the internet–implications for retail marketing." European Journal of Marketing 34.8 (2000): 954-974. - Hiebing, Roman G., and Scott W. Cooper. The successful marketing plan. NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, 2000. - Too, Leanne HY, Anne L. Souchon, and Peter C. Thirkell. "Relationship marketing and customer loyalty in a retail setting: a dyadic exploration." Journal of Marketing Management 17.3-4 (2001): 287-319. - Simová, Jozefína. "Conceptual models of customer value: Implications for clothing retailing." E+ M Ekonomie a Management 12.1 (2009): 88-97.

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Why Customer Value Is the Ultimate Goal of Process Improvement

• Shane Wentz
• August 2, 2022
• Process Improvement
• Text-based Story

I have had the opportunity to work in the continuous improvement field for approximately 15 years. There have been some changes in the field: new theories, different ideas about how to improve processes, etc. However, one thing that hasn’t changed — the recognition that the primary goal of any continuous improvement effort should be to bring value to the customer.

How to Implement a Customer Value Approach

While there are many traditional objectives of continuous improvement, such as reducing waste, improving quality, improving efficiency and establishing flow, all of these should ultimately point to one central goal — improving the value delivered to the customer . Here are four ways you can ensure customer value is the main focus of your process improvement.

Step 1: Clearly Identify Your Customers

Organizations should start with clearly identifying who their customers are and what is important to those customers. It isn’t enough to know that your customers are, for example, people who buy widgets from us as well as stores we sell those widgets to. You must truly understand where customers are located; are they in certain parts of the country, international, etc.

There are a variety of ways to collect customer information, including:

• Market research
• Customer surveys
• Customer complaints
• Face-to-face interviews
• Focus groups
• Score cards 

After you use these methods of gathering your customer information, you can segment your customers based on different categories, such as geography, demographic, buyer behavior, product space, volume and brand loyalty.

Step 2: Understand Their Needs

Once you clearly identify your customers, the real work begins in understanding what is important to them. Do you have certain customer segments who are focused on speed of delivery while others are concerned mainly with quality? Rarely are all customers focused on the same thing, therefore it is critical to understand what is important to various segments of your customers so that you can ensure you meet their needs.

We use the term “ voice of the customer ” in the continuous improvement field to represent an ability to truly understand what customers care about. At the start of any continuous improvement event, such as a project or kaizen, the team must have conversations around what the “voice of the customer” is related to the topic the event is focused on improving.

For example, if we are going to do a continuous improvement effort that centers around improving our on-time delivery of shipments to our customers, we need to understand what the “voice of the customer” says “on-time” is. An organization saying “on-time” means a package is delivered within a week of an order being placed doesn’t mean anything if customers really want the package within three days. The above example applies to whether we are doing a specific continuous improvement event (such as a kaizen or project) or just continuously working to improve our delivery times.

Step 3: Establish Customer-Centric KPIs

Once you can successfully gather the voice of the customer, it is important to establish a mechanism by which to track the customer voice on a continuous basis. Understanding what value customers place on your product or service should not be a one-time event but rather something that is done continuously. This involves being able to tie one or more metrics, that can be tracked by the organization, to customer value.

If, for example, we know that our customers want packages delivered on-time, and to them on-time is within three days of placing an order, then we must create a mechanism to continuously track how we are doing in delivering all orders within 3 days of being placed. This is where I see many continuous improvement efforts go array. If, as an organization, we have a 97% on-time delivery rate, we are saying that 3% of the time we are disappointing customers. If we have 120,00 customers, that means that we are consistently disappointing approximately 3,600 customers; that is a lot of people who pay good money for your products or services that we are disappointing.

Step 4: Gather Feedback and Data

Customers always define what is valuable to them. The only way to truly understand what is valuable to customers is to ask them. Tools such as surveys and NPS feedback are “golden nuggets” of truth that can help you better understand what is valuable to your customers and then act on that information. I have seen too many organizations rely on internal sales professionals or customer service representatives to tell leadership what is valuable to customers. It is too easy for those professionals, though well intended, to be influenced by recent complaints or even their personal opinions.

There is a saying I learned early on in my continuous improvement career that says: “In God we trust, all others require data.” What that means is that opinions are great but show me the data. Make sure your organization is relying on data, provided by customers, to understand what is truly valuable to your customers.

Driving Customer Value Through Process Improvement

If you’re looking to be a champion of customer value in your organization, learning the tools and techniques of process improvement can take your results to the next level. Learn more about how you can implement process improvement tools in your organization with USF’s Lean Six Sigma programs .

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Customer experience: the most unique value proposition for energy and industrial companies.

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Jeff Skelton, CEO, ICIS .

As industries move into digital transformation, customer satisfaction appears to have become less of a boardroom agenda item. I believe the ethos of customer experience was lost as companies became infatuated with how digital technology can provide operational efficiencies. Some pursued speed and automation without regard to consent, privacy, security and humanity of the online experience.

Everybody knows about customer experience, yet Forrester’s 2023 US Customer Experience Index Rankings (paywall) revealed that average CX scores fell in six of 13 verticals, increased in two, and no industry average improved.

Moreover, superlative CX has become critical for business-to-business enterprises, which must win every touchpoint in a long-tail customer journey with multiple stakeholders. My company provides data and intelligence services on global commodities markets, and through this work, I've found that some of the more resistant sectors to digitization include energy and industrial companies. However, I believe that for these industries to stay competitive they should not only consider automation but also ensure they're preserving engaging, frictionless B2B customer experiences.

As energy and industrial enterprises grapple with interest rate uncertainty, the energy transition and geopolitical strife, they're likely focusing on profit margins and return on investment. But a myopic product-first approach to running a business sacrifices customer understanding. For long-term growth and success, corporate leaders must move away from being product-first and move toward being customer-first.

Google s Surprise Update Just Made Android More Like iPhone

Wwe wrestlemania 40 results, winners and grades from night 2, wwe wrestlemania 40: la knight topples aj styles in grudge match, cx is more than good customer service..

In a 2022 report, Forrester research found that "for mass market auto manufacturers, improving CX by 1 point can lead to more than $1 billion in additional revenue." Customer experiences are the girders of building trust, loyalty and brand reputation. For enterprises to execute the best CX, they must develop products and services and view sales through the lens of customer experiences rather than transactions. Companies need to realize that they can raise prices and grow market share and revenue by delivering customer value, happiness and satisfaction.

CX can be a competitive differentiator.

Exceptional products, services or technologies are rarely differentiators in crowded marketplaces. I see trust, reputation and brand affinity as true differentiators, both in consumer and B2B.

The chemical industry needs to recognize the necessity of CX as a differentiator. Deloitte said that sustainability and trust will be a key trend in 2024. Industries like manufacturing, utilities, construction and agriculture are under regulatory, shareholder and consumer pressure to adapt to the renewable energy transition. Energy and chemicals providers can gain a competitive advantage if they can reach their sustainability and business goals and provide expert guidance and advisory at every stage of the customer lifecycle.

In my previous professional experience at a B2B data and analytics provider, we succeeded in doubling our Net Promoter Score by delivering exceptional customer service and going all in on customer satisfaction. We put a premium on client retention by understanding the needs of the customer and creating and setting realistic expectations so there was little or no room for disappointment.

Companies in the manufacturing, construction and shipping industries should provide prospects with personalized information relevant to their specific energy needs at every step of their customer journey. To achieve this, marketing, product and sales teams must be aligned, starting at the initial test-and-learn stage of product development. This can help ensure every touch point of information and value exchange is considered and deliberate. By leveraging outstanding CX as part of their unique sales proposition, energy and chemicals companies can build resilience against growing risks and create stickier relationships with their clients.

Empowered customers drive brand evangelism.

Improving the customer experience is all about empowering the client. Give them not only the products and services they need but also the knowledge, skills and advice. This includes serving up informative, useful digital content. The biggest CX mistakes I have seen brands make is delivering irrelevant content, awkward UX and annoying advertisements.

Research by Deloitte found that 77% of B2B oil, gas and chemical company buyers regarded “relevant product and offering content that speaks directly to our industry, applications and the value they create” as essential. The same study revealed that nearly half of OGC buyers had experienced challenges obtaining information on supplier risks and the supplier’s culture. In my view, the companies that can proactively and precisely supply all the information they need will come out on top.

Moreover, all functions of the business can contribute since superior CX does not stop when the sale is made. Customers want issues resolved swiftly and deliveries to be made on time. Undoubtedly, generative artificial intelligence is revolutionizing functions like productivity and CX by empowering the customer not only to get answers to questions but also to research how to solve problems on their own. However, enterprises must be methodical and cautious when launching generative AI chatbots, considering the tool’s inaccuracies and differences in AI models and capabilities.

CX is not the same for all OGC companies. Every touchpoint is a chance to win or drop the ball. The first step is knowing what internal and external customers actually want in their experiences, so companies should be studying their prospects. Most brands want to gain competitive advantage through superior trust and reputation, but achieving it means mastering the art and the science of CX, as well as the technology and humanity of CX. Most fundamentally, it means having a customer-first mindset at the center of all business decisions, especially when it comes to thinking about long-term growth plans and strategy.

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Guest Essay

When I Became a Birder, Almost Everything Else Fell Into Place

Mr. Yong is a science writer whose most recent book, “An Immense World,” investigates animal perception.

Last September, I drove to a protected wetland near my home in Oakland, Calif., walked to the end of a pier and started looking at birds. Throughout the summer, I was breaking in my first pair of binoculars, a Sibley field guide and the Merlin song-identification app, but always while hiking or walking the dog. On that pier, for the first time, I had gone somewhere solely to watch birds.

In some birding circles, people say that anyone who looks at birds is a birder — a kind, inclusive sentiment that overlooks the forces that create and shape subcultures. Anyone can dance, but not everyone would identify as a dancer, because the term suggests, if not skill, then at least effort and intent. Similarly, I’ve cared about birds and other animals for my entire life, and I’ve written about them throughout my two decades as a science writer, but I mark the moment when I specifically chose to devote time and energy to them as the moment I became a birder.

Since then, my birder derangement syndrome has progressed at an alarming pace. Seven months ago, I was still seeing very common birds for the first time. Since then, I’ve seen 452 species, including 337 in the United States, and 307 this year alone. I can reliably identify a few dozen species by ear. I can tell apart greater and lesser yellowlegs, house and purple finches, Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks. (Don’t talk to me about gulls; I’m working on the gulls.) I keep abreast of eBird’s rare bird alerts and have spent many days — some glorious, others frustrating — looking for said rare birds. I know what it means to dip, to twitch, to pish . I’ve gone owling.

I didn’t start from scratch. A career spent writing about nature gave me enough avian biology and taxonomy to roughly know the habitats and silhouettes of the major groups. Journalism taught me how to familiarize myself with unfamiliar territory very quickly. I crowdsourced tips on the social media platform Bluesky . I went out with experienced birders to learn how they move through a landscape and what cues they attend to.

I studied up on birds that are famously difficult to identify so that when I first saw them in the field, I had an inkling of what they were without having to check a field guide. I used the many tools now available to novices: EBird shows where other birders go and reveals how different species navigate space and time; Merlin is best known as an identification app but is secretly an incredible encyclopedia; Birding Quiz lets you practice identifying species based on fleeting glances at bad angles.

This all sounds rather extra, and birding is often defined by its excesses. At its worst, it becomes an empty process of collection that turns living things into abstract numbers on meaningless lists. But even that style of birding is harder without knowledge. To find the birds, you have to know them. And in the process of knowing them, much else falls into place.

Birding has tripled the time I spend outdoors. It has pushed me to explore Oakland in ways I never would have: Amazing hot spots lurk within industrial areas, sewage treatment plants and random residential parks. It has proved more meditative than meditation. While birding, I seem impervious to heat, cold, hunger and thirst. My senses focus resolutely on the present, and the usual hubbub in my head becomes quiet. When I spot a species for the first time — a lifer — I course with adrenaline while being utterly serene.

I also feel a much deeper connection to the natural world, which I have long written about but always remained slightly distant from. I knew that the loggerhead shrike — a small but ferocious songbird — impales the bodies of its prey on spikes. I’ve now seen one doing that with my own eyes. I know where to find the shrikes and what they sound like. Countless fragments of unrooted trivia that rattled around my brain are now grounded in place, time and experience.

When I step out my door in the morning, I take an aural census of the neighborhood, tuning in to the chatter of creatures that were always there and that I might have previously overlooked. The passing of the seasons feels more granular, marked by the arrival and disappearance of particular species instead of much slower changes in day length, temperature and greenery. I find myself noticing small shifts in the weather and small differences in habitat. I think about the tides.

So much more of the natural world feels close and accessible now. When I started birding, I remember thinking that I’d never see most of the species in my field guide. Sure, backyard birds like robins and western bluebirds would be easy, but not black skimmers or peregrine falcons or loggerhead shrikes. I had internalized the idea of nature as distant and remote — the province of nature documentaries and far-flung vacations. But in the past six months, I’ve seen soaring golden eagles, heard duetting great horned owls, watched dancing sandhill cranes and marveled at diving Pacific loons, all within an hour of my house. “I’ll never see that” has turned into “Where can I find that?”

Of course, having the time to bird is an immense privilege. As a freelancer, I have total control over my hours and my ability to get out in the field. “Are you a retiree?” a fellow birder recently asked me. “You’re birding like a retiree.” I laughed, but the comment spoke to the idea that things like birding are what you do when you’re not working, not being productive.

I reject that. These recent years have taught me that I’m less when I’m not actively looking after myself, that I have value to my world and my community beyond ceaseless production and that pursuits like birding that foster joy, wonder and connection to place are not sidebars to a fulfilled life but their essence.

It’s easy to think of birding as an escape from reality. Instead, I see it as immersion in the true reality. I don’t need to know who the main characters are on social media and what everyone is saying about them, when I can instead spend an hour trying to find a rare sparrow. It’s very clear to me which of those two activities is the more ridiculous. It’s not the one with the sparrow.

More of those sparrows are imminent. I’m about to witness my first spring migration as warblers and other delights pass through the Bay Area. Birds I’ve seen only in drab grays are about to don their spectacular breeding plumages. Familiar species are about to burst out in new tunes that I’ll have to learn. I have my first lazuli bunting to see, my first blue grosbeak to find, my first least terns to photograph. I can’t wait.

Ed Yong is a science writer whose most recent book, “An Immense World,” investigates animal perception.

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Customer Value: e-Bay Essay

Connected activities, works cited.

The firm offers an automated, well organized website that gives the customers easy time when transacting businesses online. Those selling items are able to display their goods and every detail including prices on the site. Auctioneers have found it easier to use e-Bay since it helps them perform every step involved during auction as well as providing completed transaction to both the seller and the bidder.

The company offer buyers free browsing time, this provides cheap channel for buyers to access high quality goods while on the other hand sellers are able to access large market with rich customer base (Tang 371- 376; Feng et al 467-503).

The company has protected its customers from fraudulent activities that may occur in the process business transactions. It provides its clients with insurance for the first $200 of every transaction performed through its site. They give the customers opportunity to socialize freely using their site. They offer clients the opportunity to choose one station where to list their inventories (Tang 371- 374)

The e-Bay company entered into partnership with several other companies which formed the basis of its expansion (Tang 371). The company is currently involved with products that have ready market. There is also involvement in vertical channels that sees the company sell automobiles and other industrial goods boosting the company’s revenue. The company partners with outside vendors to offer to clients additional assistance services.

The firm offers education to its users and this help in improving the customer’s proficiency in online activities. The company has created several sub sites that helps in the sale of some goods like used cars, Kelley Blue Books helps the firm in advertising prices and information regarding commodities on sale (Tang 376-377).

The firm has adopted the use of non-auction methods to sell off products. It also created the program that enables buyers to win auctions as fast as possible. The firm uses a strong brand name which has been one of the driving forces behind their success.

They use the brand name to attract new customers through partnership and advertisement in the internet. It partnered with American Online which led to co-branding of the auction sites; this gave eBay a good base to market its products. It also incorporated its activities in MSN through partnership with Microsoft Corporation.

The firm has further partnered with several service providers to offer enough space and good inventory management for the big businesses to channel their products (Tang 377). The company acquired PayPal to help in improving the level of the non-auction services. This offers the clients maximum security and efficiency on their transactions.

The firm uses public relations effectively and uses it to provide stories to its customers. It offers its services to United States where it operates local sites in the regional markets. The local sites enable the users to locate products that are sold within their reach; this is more eminent in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Oklahoma and Miami all in the United States. The American Online digital City enables the customers of e-Bay to access city guide services and Newspapers all over the region (Tang 376).

The firm has expanded its services to twenty seven countries, these include; United States, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, Austria, European countries, Australia and some countries from the far East. In some countries like Germany it offers services on acquisition of online auction houses.

It offers customers wholesale markets, developed retail options and structural efficiencies (Tang 388). The firm offers sellers free listing services and heavy sales promotion in Japan. The firm’s stores have been used by big companies as preferred channel to sell their products. The state governments also find it convenient to auction their vehicles through e-Bay (Tang 376-377).

Feng, Froud, Johal, Haslam and Williams. “A New Business Model? The Capital Market and the New Economy”. Economy and Society , Vol. 30, No. 4, 2001: 467-503

Tang, Scott, e-Bay: growing the World’s largest online Trading Community . United States. 2003: 371-383

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IvyPanda. (2021, July 23). Customer Value: e-Bay. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-value/

"Customer Value: e-Bay." IvyPanda , 23 July 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/customer-value/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Customer Value: e-Bay'. 23 July.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Customer Value: e-Bay." July 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-value/.

1. IvyPanda . "Customer Value: e-Bay." July 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-value/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Customer Value: e-Bay." July 23, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/customer-value/.

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