Examples:- Customer Expectations and Perceptions of Services through Marketing Research

Examples:-
Customer Expectations and Perceptions of Services through Marketing Research

SOTC, the outbound tour package company began as a one-shop outlet from
then Bombay, during the fifties. The owners were in direct contact with its customers and were
able to tailor their products uniquely to satisfy their customers. With success came the desire to
expand - geographically as well as in operation terms. They were thus forced to take on
intermediaries like Travel Agents and franchisees. Now it were the latter who were ‘in touch’
with the customers, not SOTC. They would therefore resort to MR to know the changing customer
preferences as well as about the marketing mixes.


Example: Metro Cash and Carry, the giant German retailer would have made a SLEPT
analysis before making its entrée into India, as foreign retailers have not yet been permitted to
function in a full-fledged manner. So it is now working under a very restricted format not
dealing with customers but with retailers and wholesalers. Its huge power (it is a $54 billion
retailer) has already raised fears from established players about the crushing competition.
Research into Customer Needs: This will help the service marketer to know his different needs,
especially his latent needs, and develop new service products.


Example: Gujarat based Lalbhais who are into textiles (Arvind denim) would have made
an attempt to find out the latent needs of the urban and upwardly mobile Indian parents for a
high quality pre-school institution, before venturing into Eurokids, their successful education
franchise.