Using the Internet to Improve Customer Service

Companies are using the Internet in a variety of ways to improve the level of service they provide to their customers. One of the most popular innovations has been customized web pages where each customer has a dedicated home page at a company's site. For example, Dell Computer Corporation has hundreds of dedicated web pages, called Premier Pages, for its major corporate customers; these store details of past orders, requests and specifications, provide updates on the progress of orders and a secure environment for payment. Several companies have found that they can use the Internet to significantly reduce the costs of customer service by having customers serve themselves. These companies are directing their customers away from call centres and towards their websites instead, where they can get access to the information they want, visit technical areas for more detailed information and e-mail company staff or other customers in order to get answers to specific requests. Leading IT companies like IBM and Cisco Systems report savings in the order of US$500 million per year as a result of customers serving themselves. In this era of JIT purchasing and manufacturing, the tracking facilities provided by the world's largest freight firms, such as UPS and FedEx, are invaluable to customers. Buyers simply visit the relevant site and, by entering an order number, they can get an instant update on the whereabouts of their order. In short, the Internet is an information medium and its real power is its ability to provide people with the information they need instantly.

Summary

This chapter has examined the buyer behaviour of consumers and organizations. We have discussed the three key dimensions of buyer behaviour- namely who, how and what. We saw that there may be a number of roles played in the buying decision process and that the buyer and user are not always the same. We saw that many purchasing situations are characterized by high levels of involvement, incorporating significant information search and evaluation of alternatives. We also saw that technical, economic, social and personal criteria influence product purchases.

Consumer buying behaviour is influenced by three factors: the buying situation, personal influences and social influences. Three types of buying situation are extended, limited and habitual problem solving. Six personal influences are information processing, motivation, beliefs and attitudes, personality, lifestyle and life cycle. Social influences include culture, social class and reference groups. Marketing managers need to be aware of these influences and their effects on consumer behaviour, as well as their implications for marketing decision-making.

Organizational buying is characterized by the nature and size of customers, complexity of buying, derived demand, negotiation and reciprocal buying. Three key influences on organizational buying are the buy class, the product type and the importance of the purchase to the buying organization. This chapter has discussed recent changes in organizational purchasing practices including the advent of JIT purchasing and electronic marketplaces, and the growth in centralized purchasing, reverse marketing and leasing. A major task for marketing managers is to manage supplier-customer relationships, and buyers are increasingly treating trusted suppliers as strategic partners.