Sie sind auf Seite 1von 14

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated

solutions at Caterpillar
.

CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENT


Using Services Marketing to Develop and Deliver
Integrated Solutions at Caterpillar in Latin America

Group 2
Harish Deepak
Shiv Shankar Mahto
Kirity Kumar

IIM RANCHI

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

What else do you need to learn in the Listening Gap (Gap 1) about
customer needs and expectations? LACD had general information
from the customer value surveys, but this information did not tell
them what service features customers expected in the CSAs. What
were they and how could they find out? In particular, how could
they find out what they needed to know to established standards in
the Design and Standards Gap (Gap 2)?
Not knowing what customers expect is one of the root causes of not
delivering to customer expectations. Hence it is really important to learn and
understand customer expectations and gap between Company perceptions &
customer expectations. We need to learn about the

Features of service which are important to customers

What level of these features customer expect

What customers think the company can and should do when problems
occur in service delivery

From the case, we came to know some of general attributes of CSA and their
respective importance with respect to customers expectations. But it is not
clear

What aspect of responsiveness is the customer really looking for

Customer may ask for Caterpillar maintenance person within an hour


but does he willing to pay for the same

Best practices should always be adopted and broad base throughout any
company. The case says that there are few customers at some dealers, who
are truly satisfied and loyal. This is the reason that CSA renewal is much
higher at these customers. Moreover, the dealers have also higher share of
2

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

wallet in these customers. So instead of running the project at entire


customer base it shall be better to run the project at this selected customers
who may represent a particular segment such as construction or may be
from different segment (such as mining, construction, Agriculture). These
features and expectations and service design and standards can be found
out through following:
a. First of all do a proper segmentation of these customer base
b. Create dialogue with these customers (segment wise) through dinner
meetings or get-together: As people used to share lot of information
during dinner and drinks table
c. By organizing hotel seminars, meeting at various social gatherings :
Dealer persons, Regional Sales Manager can conduct seminar where
people from dealer together with contact points of customer shall be
invited to have face to face interaction which later lead to friendship
and efficient flow of information
d. Developing personal relationship : Generally people disclose and
confide when they trust the other person
Based on findings from these meetings some brief guidelines such as
features of service, standards and service scape expectations can be framed
as follows:
1.

2.

Responsiveness :
o

Fast action on receipt of complaint/Breakdown Machine

Immediate availability of required spare parts & maintenance


personnel

Standards may be within 3 days m/c ready to resume work

Attending of problem by CAT / Dealer person within 24 hrs

Reliability:
o

Can perform right job at the first time itself

Excellent quality of Product

Trustworthy personnel who are able to do job as required


3

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar
o
3.

4.

Service available when needed

Assurance:
o

M/C ready on time as promised

Performs only necessary work

Correct and genuine parts being used during maintenance

Relationship :
o Courteous and friendly service
o

5.

Exchange of information frequently

Tangibles :
o

Response in mail

Fliers & brochures

Proper documentation of job performed with spares used

Demonstration life calculation sheets of spare parts of equipment


such as Pumps, Compressors, Valves, seals, actuators etc.
These standards and features may put in hierarchy manner based on
Importance for customer and willingness to pay for cost and can be
considered as actionable points. Based on the outcome, the entire blueprint
& service scape need to debated and brainstormed among all stake holders
before implementation. This type of market research exercise needs to be
repeated every 3/5 years to make the service scape in demand as per
market dynamics.

Should they offer different CSAs to the different segments of


general construction?
What would that imply for research,
standards, and implementation?
Different segments may have different needs and buying power. Customer
service agreement CSA should be aligned to their needs, requirement and
4

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

spending pocket. CSA should provide value to customer as well as earn


profitability for the company. Hence CAT should offer different CSA to the
different segments of customers. From the case we found out:

Equipment are used in various segments

Some customers buy equipment together with service agreement

Service agreement takes care regarding refurbishment of equipment


and maintaining the uptime and productivity

It also emphasis on having equipment for 100% of the time

Customer pay for CSA and repair services to achieve these goals

Customer who buy complex and sophisticated equipment such as Long


wall, Continuous miners and construction equipment would like to go
ahead with CSA

Customer who buy general equipment would like to carry maintenance


by their own

These customers do not value for uptime and productivity too much

There are some customers who operate internationally whereas CAT


has regional dealers, these customers require or need a single contact
point regarding CSAs. Moreover, customer want to have a single stop
service agency which can service their entire fleet of equipment
whether be CAT, Komatsu, Volvo, etc.

Some customer also buy will fit component on the basis of lower cost
and ready to compromise on quality

Some customers have old and traditional fleet of equipment which can
be serviced through normal and general tools and techniques and
hence go for local workshop

These five principles need to be adopted during research of service


User- centered: Services should be experienced and designed through the
customers eyes

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

Co-creative: All stakeholders should be included in the service design


process
Sequencing: A service should be visualized as a sequence of interrelated
actions
Evidencing: Intangible services should be visualized in terms of physical
artifacts
Holistic: The entire environment of a service should be considered
Moreover the above information suggest that research should imply for
a. What are different type of customer in general construction industries
b. How can they be sub segmented further based on their needs and
requirements

GENERAL
CONSTRUCTION

Value uptime &


productivity
willing to pay
Sophisticated
equipment

Low cost segment


Old & traditional
equipment

Do it ourselves/
yourselves
General
equipment

c. Inv
olve key Front line people catering to larger accounts and customer
contact persons in new service development aligned with CAT vision,
mission statement and growth plan
i.

What type of service they require with the product

ii.

Do they just require service of oil and filter checking at required time
interval or detailed service whenever needed

iii.

Do they really give importance to uptime and productivity of machine

iv.

Are they willing to pay for the service

d. These shall help in framing of Service product portfolio & organization


structure implementing new service development

OFFERINGS

MARKET
CURRENT

NEW CUSTOMERS
6

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

CUSTOMERS
MARKET PENETRATION
Increase share of
wallet

EXISTING SERVICES

NEW SERVICES

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
Customers using will
fit spares & general
services
Customer going for
local workshop
Customer who do not
value uptime &
productivity
Customer having low
budget
Customer having old
& traditional
equipment

MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Customers going to 3rd
party service providers
International Customers
who
require
single
contact
point
irrespective
of
geography
DIVERSIFICATION
Start providing
consulting business
Provide guidance how a
project can be
developed efficiently
and quickly

e. Based on the above table, research, brain storming need to be


conducted to generate a new idea to cater to the needs of all
segments, expansion of existing services with modification and
development of new service model as well as probable ways to go
diversification
f. Based on the same Idea generated, it shall be regarded a good fit then
service concept need to be developed considering the point that what
concept is and what customer need it is filling through multiple
iterations and discussion. With proper concept definition, a description
of service that represents specific characteristics need to be prepared
g. These service concept need to be discussed with probable customers
and front end employees for their response with clear rationale
h. Assuming service concept is been evaluated by customers and
employees then we need to decide regarding economic feasibility and
potential profit implications. Demand analysis, operation feasibility,
revenue projections and cost analyses are assessed at this stage.
Concept need to pass profitability and feasibility screening

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

i. Once it passes all these hurdles it is ready for implementation. Now a


prototype service product needs to be created and tested for customer
acceptance. All stakeholders need to be involved so that the service
concept can be refined to the point at which a detailed service
blueprint illustrating customer experience and the implementation
plan for the service can be produced
j. Now this tangible product can be test marketed in a limited number of
trading areas to determine marketplace acceptance of the product as
well as other marketing mix variables such as promotion, pricing and
distribution systems.
k. After this commercialization of service need to go live and to be
introduced to the entire marketplace with two objectives. First is to
build and maintain acceptance of the new services among large no. of
service delivery personnel, who shall be responsible from now
onwards. This task becomes easy when they have involved one key
service delivery personnel during service design and development
stage. Second is to monitor al aspect of service during introduction and
through the complete service cycle.
l. Now, the complete commercialization process need to be reviewed
and subsequently changes need to be made considering delivery
process, staffing and marketing mix variables on the basis of actual
market dynamics

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

What standards and measures should be set in the Design and


Standards Gap (Gap 2) to deliver to customer expectations? How
formal should they be? How should LACD create and design the new
CSAs? How should they get everyone in the dealerships to learn
about them and get on board to deliver them?
The standards and measures which should be set in the design and
standards Gap to deliver to customer expectations are
Standard CSA defined process, terms and conditions. It should be
part of performance evaluation for dealership and its employees.
Focus on speed and response time on the basis of customer delights
points collected after research, create service Blueprint
Very formal since it will give competitive edge
The standards should be both hard and soft:
Hard Standards such as:

Attending of customer service requirement within 24 hrs

Machines should be ready for use within 3 days max

Responsiveness to complaints call within 24 hrs.

Intimation and confirmation through email of complaint login no to


customer within 2 hrs. of receipt of complaint call

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

Delivery
of

required spares within 2 working days at the site

These can be measured through following:


1. Ship to target : % of orders delivered on time with complete accuracy

10

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

2. On Time first time fix : % of problems related to maintenance of


equipment fixed on the first visit by a service representative arriving
at the time promised
By following steps we can get everyone in the dealerships to learn about
them and also get on board to deliver them :
Service/sales expert - KRA
Formal training
Mentoring
Using technology tools like CRM - Standardized and customized reports
Empowering technicians
Internal communication channel like extranet, portals
Fixed targets for team
Dedicated team and equipment

11

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

How should the dealerships overcome all the Performance Gap (Gap 3)
issues that they faced in order to insure consistent delivery?

Deficiencies in human
resources policies
Customer who do not
fulfill roles
Failure to match supply
and demand
Problems with
intermediaries
&channels

Shortage of trained employee/technicians


Attention not given to their interaction or communication skills
Performance monitoring of technicians varied from dealer to dealer
No formal forum for communication b/w inter department
personnel
Customer not providing position of vehicle during service
requirement
Customer forget to inform dealer about machine reaching service
interval
Lack of communication among parts , service and sales
department
Not having reliable system for keeping track of machines routine
inspection
Absence of effective communication b/w customers & dealers
employee
Shortage
of reliable
trained employess
in peak season
vice versa
Not having
system for keeping
track ofand
machines
routine
inspection
Reports not being professionally made and presented

Services Delivery
Cat HR policy should be framed in connection with
a) training , learning and development of Dealers employees
b) training should stress on presentation, Soft skills, report writing and effective
communication
c) A formal forum for communication between parts, service and sales personnel needs
to be created where they can exchange their experience and best practices w.r.t
customers
d) Robust software technique should be devised which will tell, when the customers
equipment is in need of services
e) Timely logging of service call and reminder or intimation before this time
f) Tie up with technical institutes like ITI,
g) Cross training
h) Performance appraisals - mandatory training of soft skills, variable pays
i) Meetings of different HODs daily for better understanding of problems and
communication
j) CRM, Scheduling of resources should be done accordingly, daily reports which tell
about
12

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

What internal and external materials were necessary to


communicate the CSAs to salespeople and customers? What else
would be needed?
The case says that there is absence of effective Sales tools in connection
with CSAs. CAT employees are segmented in such a way that Sales Personnel
does not sell CSAs neither they gain incentive with its sales. CSAs are very
customized and their offering differ from customer to customer. Hence due to
lack of proper knowledge of CSAs, employees and dealers used to do over
promise or under promise. The internal and external materials necessary are
as follows:
1. Service Circulars with the servicemen, dealers, etc.
2. Service Manuals these contain the complete info about the machine
and how to operate or service it.
3. Brochures
4. Training Modules regular training sessions on and off line.
5. Dedicated self-service websites.
6. Service camps.
7. Monthly Customer meets.
8. Internal web portals giving product info.

13

Case Study Assignment: Using Services Marketing to Develop and deliver Integrated
solutions at Caterpillar

14

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen