87363 - Customer Value Management

Learning outcomes

Goal of this course is to allow the participants to get exposed to problems of business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing from the seller's as well as from the buyer's perspective. The course has both a methodological and an applied orientation; it introduces the concepts and methods of data analysis for marketing decisions and apply them to the main areas of marketing decision making. The course relies on readings, case studies, computer lab exercises and team work assignments that help students understand how specific methods pay off in terms of better targeting and increased customer profitability. By the end of the course, the student is expected to: - Apply relevant concepts of business analysis to marketing problems, with specific emphasis on CRM decisions (Customer Lifetime Value estimation, customer satisfaction measurement and related managerial implications) - Develop concepts and approaches underlying strategic and tactical decisions in business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing; - Be familiar with different types of real world data, and some advanced statistical techniques that can be applied to analyze customer-level data. - Be trained on tools and skills needed to evaluate the appropriateness, performance, and value of different marketing models

Course contents

Module 1 (Gian Luca Marzocchi)

In mature and highly competitive markets the concept of customer satisfaction as a fundamental precursor of loyalty, profitability and customer value plays a central role in the implementation of successful business models. While finding new customers is vital, it is important to realize that retaining current customers is much less expensive than to finding new customers. It is therefore no surprise that a great deal of attention has been recently brought to the issue of designing and establishing formal systems able to bring the “voice of the customer” into the business/marketing decision-making processes. The purpose of the course is to make participants understand and appreciate the relative strengths and weaknesses of a variety of customer value and customer satisfaction measurement approaches and instruments available today. A key element in this process is measuring customer satisfaction through market research. As such, the course will focus on the understanding and the actual implementation of the customer satisfaction measurement practices currently employed in business environment. The links existing between Customer Satisfaction scores, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) instruments and Customer Profitability results will be explored in depth, in order to create an understanding of how companies, service organizations and retail banks translate CS measurement in actual commercial strategies and decisions.

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of (and the relations between) customer satisfaction, CRM and loyalty

• Evaluate the main techniques available to measure customer satisfaction

• Design customer satisfaction measurement processes

• Recognize how customer satisfaction impacts profitability

• Identify the main issues involved in customer satisfaction (and dissatisfaction) management

General plan of class meetings:

Week 1. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer relationship management (CRM) – Measuring CLV

Week 2. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: theory and methods. Designing and implementing a CS survey.

Week 3. Designing and implementing a CS survey (cont'd)

Week 4. Measuring Customer Satisfaction: the Trim Grid approach.

Week 5. The Trim Grid at Work: cases and examples – CS project presentations

 

Module 2 (Gabriele Pizzi)

This module provides a theoretical and methodological approach to customer value measurement. More specifically, the course will deal with the way managers can

a) MEASURE the value for the customer by assessing homogeneous segments of customers seeking similar benefits from the product/service or exhibiting similar profiles;

b) DELIVER value to the customer through distribution channels; and

c) OBTAIN value from the customer through pricing and promotion strategies.

The module is very practical in nature and is aimed to provide students with rigorous methodological tools to analyze the different areas that contribute to creating value for the customer and to obtain value from the customer. Therefore, the theoretical foundations examined in class will be translated into the marketing practice by means of class exercises in the lab.

Course contents

1) Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning

2) Cluster analysis and customer segmentation

3) Survey Preparation

4) Multi-dimensional scaling and perceptual maps

5) Pricing and Promotion Strategies

6) Conjoint Analysis and pricing/product decision

7) Customer Satisfaction measurement and analysis

8) Web Analytics

 

Readings/Bibliography

Module 1 (Gian Luca Marzocchi)

A reading package will be made available by the instructor at the beginning of the course

 

Module 2 (Gabriele Pizzi)

The course is mainly practical in its nature. Therefore, the best way to learn is actively participate in class discussion and laboratory exercises. Lecture slides can be used as a tool to support learning in class. There are not mandatory readings for this course. However, students might make reference to the following two books aimed to deepening either the theoretical concepts or the methodological issues.

1) Winer & Dhar – Pearson Ed. “Marketing Management (4th Edition)

2) Mazzocchi, M. (2008). Statistics for marketing and consumer research. Sage.

 

Teaching methods

The course teaching methods includes cases discussions, desk analyses of customer satisfaction data sets and group project work to allow participants to apply to real settings the concepts and techniques that have been analysed during the course.

 

Assessment methods

Module 1 (Gian Luca Marzocchi)

Final written exam plus assessment of team-based project works.

Marks are intended on a numerical grade scale (0 to 30), being 18 to 30 the passing grade range. As for the grading policy, the course evaluation is made of: 60% group assignments (10% first assignment; 20% second assignment; 30% third assignment), and 40% final individual examination.
Group assignment’s grade will be subjected to peer evaluation by other group members: the peer evaluations can have a maximum potential influence of ±15% on the original group grade of each individual.

The final examination will consist of open-ended questions and/or short analytical exercises concerning the topics discussed during the course.

 

Module 2 (Gabriele Pizzi)

Though not compulsory, participation in team-work assignments is strongly encouraged. Team-work assignments consist of:

One final team-work project: students will be asked to work in group on a project (i.e. analyzing an industry by segmenting customers and mapping the positioning of the main players in the industry) and to present in class the results and the managerial consequences of their project.

Course evaluation will be different depending on the eventual participation in team-work assignment, as detailed in the following:

 

Students participating in team-work assignments:

70% final written exam

30% team-work assignment

 

Students who do not participate in team-work assignments:

100% final written exam

The final written exam for Customer Value Management (Module 2) will consist of the interpretation of a couple of SPSS outputs by proposing a) the conclusions that can be drawn from the data, and b) the managerial consequences of the findings reported on the outputs, backed by the theory studied in class.

 

The grades of the two modules will be averaged to compute the final grade of the complete Customer Value Management class.

 

Teaching tools

Slides, PC, statistical and IT tools

 

Office hours

See the website of Gian Luca Marzocchi

See the website of Gabriele Pizzi