elationship Marketing and, in particular, you will focus on Differentiating Customers by Their Needs

Discussion must be at least 825 words or more not including references which should supported by citing at least 4 peer-reviewed journal articles between 2017-2022 for each reply and a biblical reference. Discussion must be in current APA format and must include a reference list. Reference sample make sure to include DOI-Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105

Please answer these questions and use scholarly support for your answers:

Why has more progress been made on customer value differentiation than on customer needs differentiation?

Is it possible to meet individual needs? Is it feasible? Can you describe three examples where it has been profitable?

For each of the following product categories, name a branded example, then hypothesize about how you might categorize customers by their different needs.
Automotive
Airlines
Personal Care (cosmetics, deodorant, toothpaste, etc.)
Hotels

This an example for the final part of the paper, a Louis Vuitton handbag holds important items for their consumers from their money and credit cards and many other daily essentials. But a handbag from Walmart works just as effectively. Why is there such a following for Louis Vuitton then?

Answer these questions and use the bible as a reference: Did God create food only to provide for necessity (nutrition) and not also for delight and good cheer? So to the purpose of clothing apart from necessity (protection) was comeliness and decency. In grasses, trees, and fruits, apart from their various uses, there is the beauty of appearance and pleasantness of fragrance…Did he not, in short, render many things attractive to us, apart from their necessary use?”

ANSWER

Customer Satisfaction

Why has more progress been made on customer value differentiation than on customer needs differentiation?

Many companies have focused on achieving high rates of customer satisfaction. However, to ensure that they reach customer satisfaction, the organizations have to ensure that they understand their customers, which will help them deliver high quality. In every market, every customer showcases different interests; hence it is essential to ensure that products are created that will meet the clients’ demands and maintain the customers to be long lasting clients. The variation in needs is the perceived value that customers consider while purchasing a specific product. Understanding the customer’s value helps the company differentiate between what they consider while manufacturing the products (Sakyi-Gyinae & Holmlund, 2018). However, there are different needs that the customer showcases that are considered highly valuable as to some of the needs. This subsequently leads to the development of value differentiation within a company. While settling on the strategies, the company segregates the customers within different sections to decide which demands are of high value. The prioritization is majorly considered on its importance to the company. By considering the customer value differentiation, many businesses have been able to maintain valuable customers as they interact with them hence improving the company’s sales.

Is it possible to meet individual needs? Is it feasible? Can you describe three examples where it has been profitable?

To meet the customer’s needs, a more effective strategy is required. Being more customer-centered is one of the approaches that can be used to meet sustainability. They act as a point of research used to pinpoint and evaluate customer satisfaction, which is more of the customer’s needs. Customer needs are the elements that affect the rate at which customers decide to purchase a product for a specific company. By identifying the customer choices, it is easy to identify the customers’ demands too. However, it also becomes easier to identify them once segregation and separation of the customers have been done.

To ensure that the customers’ needs are being met, a company needs to design strategies that will help them. To understand the customer needs, one can have a website through which customers can leave comments on how to improve the products (Busalim & Iahad, 2019). Through this, a company can be able to section the customers within the different groups that they then create different products to meet the various demands within the sections. With such strategies, companies can meet individual needs as they also apply targeted marketing.

For example, the food industry has tried to fulfill individual needs, which have become beneficial to the industry. When it comes to food, people know what they want. This has raised the necessity of creating various products that will help meet individual needs.

In another example, colleges and universities have also segregated their services to ensure that they meet individual needs. They have offered various courses through which individuals are required to choose. They have also created different ways of learning that allow the students to select a model that is more comfortable for them and a model that meets their timelines. With such, the sector has been able to meet individual needs, which have also been seen to be advantageous.

The customer satisfaction rate is a strategy that every business should consider while setting up its operations. Although other companies attain higher sales by setting favorable prices, others have considered putting the customer at the front line. Companies such as Hilton, Apple, and Zola have gone the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction. They have considered customer-centered and employee-centered to ensure that they attain high customer satisfaction.

Name a branded example for each of the following product categories, then hypothesize how you might categorize customers by their different needs.

Automotive

Companies that manufacture cars have not considered customizing their customers with their needs. Instead they have focused on including various features that help them be more competitive. They apply features that they think the audience can be happy with, which also they consider the features with what their competitors have put in place.

For example, Chevrolet has met the customers’ needs by including parent safety technology in their vehicles (Weast & De Leonardis, 2022). Further, it also engages in customer support to meet the customers’ needs through social media as it analyses what its customers say about its products.

Hotel Rooms

This industry is more obsessed with customer satisfaction. However, some of the commodities that the hotels offer are generally valued. People will keep on needing them,  for instance, having a clean room and a comfortable, secured environment. For example, Comfort Inn and suites have considered customer needs by having app ordering, enough amenities, and a personalized experience. However, it focuses on meeting the needs of the customers by ensuring that the needs of the customers have a different experience. It has also introduced artificial intelligence to make their experiences better.

Airlines

Airports have demonstrated the ability to care about their customers and also help create a different experience. To ensure that an airport is operating successfully, it has to ensure that all the needs of the customers’ have been addressed to meet the different wants and the different expectations. For example, Delta Airlines meets its customers’ needs by ensuring that the on-time arrival and a confirmed seat have been given to the customers. However, many people believe that the customers’ experience in airlines has worsened compared to earlier (Elliott, 2019).

Personal care

This industry has showcased an improvement in the number of users. In this industry, cosmetics and personal care items used for various reasons, such as skincare makeup and dental hygiene, are among the things that are considered in the sections. Johnson and Johnson is also another type of company that offers products. They meet the customers’ needs by considering the anti-aging, natural, and also personalization of the products. They further meet the demands by manufacturing personal care products as they also offer testing of products to ensure that all the products are safer for consumption.

Conclusion

God created all the things in the universe for seven days. After this, he ensured that he took care of the beings he had created (Walton, 2020). Hence the companies must ensure that when they attract customers, they should also come up with ways to take care of them by ensuring that their needs have been met. One might choose to stay in an expensive hotel due to the extensive amenities and a cheaper hotel with fewer amenities. By this, people might enjoy spending less while in a more affordable hotel, but also they might enjoy more when they have access to more amenities.

References

Busalim, A. H., Hussin, A. R. C., & Iahad, N. A. (2019). Factors influencing customer engagement in social commerce websites: A systematic literature review. Journal of theoretical and applied electronic commerce research, 14(2), 1-14.

Elliott, C. (2019, June 29). What do passengers think of Airline Customer Service? Forbes. Retrieved March 17, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2019/06/29/what-do-passengers-really-think-of-airline-customer-service/

Sakyi-Gyinae, K., & Holmlund, M. (2018). What do business customers value? An empirical study of value propositions in a servitization context. Technology innovation management review.

Walton, J. H. (2020). God Said… And It Was So

Weast, R. A., Jenness, J. W., & De Leonardis, D. (2022). Salesperson knowledge of teen-specific vehicle safety features. Traffic injury prevention, 23(1), 6-10.