- Scenario: Improving customer experience to enhance market leadership
Most organisations are experiencing increased competition in today’s global market, as products and services are so much more accessible for all customers. Therefore, many organisations are realising the importance of building customer trust and confidence and improving customer experience, to grow their sales and achieve market leadership.
In a competitive market, organisations’ interest in customer experience and subsequent customer satisfaction has changed from merely pushing products and services and monitoring sales, repeat purchases and satisfaction, to an organisation-wide commitment to deliver a distinctive customer experience, in the realisation that this is critical to customer satisfaction, repeat business, brand reach, recommendations and referrals.
Strategic marketing has become an advanced multi-channel operation infused by conventional and contemporary practices, using social and digital media, to optimise customer experience. Strong customer experience needs competence throughout the organisation, with fast, responsive and personalised interventions. As a result, organisations are seeking to improve customer experience throughout all relative touchpoints of a customer journey, in order to enhance customer value and potentially achieve increased market growth.
You have been given responsibility by Senior Management to complete a wide-ranging strategic audit of an organisation of your choice. The strategic audit should critically evaluate how the current marketing strategy is utilising technology and other approaches within the organisation, to enhance its market leadership through superior customer experience.
Preparatory work
Provide a brief background to your chosen organisation and its brand, customer base, position in the market and product/service range (up to a maximum of two sides of A4 paper).
Undertake a strategic audit of the chosen organisation’s existing marketing strategy in relation to its ability to improve its customer experience, throughout key customer journey touchpoints, as a means of enhancing the organisation’s market growth objectives and ensuring sustainable competitive advantage (up to a maximum of four sides of A4 paper).
Task 1
Utilising the key findings from the strategic audit, produce a report that:
(a) critically evaluates how the organisation’s mission provides distinctive customer experience through the provision of seamless customer journey and user experience
(b) recommends ONE area of improvement to the customer experience, including relevant measures to monitor impact on growth potential. (2000 words)
Task 2
(a) Create a two-year strategic marketing plan to improve the organisation’s competitive positioning with customers/consumers, through enhancing customer experience and satisfaction.
(b) Prepare a briefing paper for the Senior Management Team (SMT), that advises on TWO important elements of building employee commitment to delivering an effective and improved customer experience package, and explain how this would impact overall customer satisfaction.
(c) Produce a short report recommending appropriate measurement techniques for evaluating the impact of the strategic marketing plan in relation to enhanced customer experience, giving justification for your answer. (4000 words)
Task 3
Produce a report that:
(a) analyses how the SMT should create and build a customer orientation culture (internally) to support the implementation of the strategic marketing plan for enhancing customer experience and satisfaction
(15 marks)
(b) recommends ONE contemporary style of effective leadership to overcome the challenges faced through organisational change. (2500 Words)
