Page 107 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Customer Relationship Management

Notes
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Caselet Customer Expectations of Virgin Trains

irgin Trains is a brand that has had the major challenge of bringing the UK rail
industry into the 20th century. The company is responsible for linking towns and
Vcities across the length and breadth of the country with over 35 million passenger
journeys each year. It has therefore undertaken a signicant level of marketing research to
identify what people expect from train travel. Many passengers have now had the experience
of travelling on airlines or on overseas railways and as a result their expectations from
long-distance train travel have increased.
The research has highlighted the signicant and highly diverse expectations that customers
have of train travel. No longer is a seat and access to toilets and basic refreshments
acceptable; passengers now expect – demand even – a choice of on-board meals, health-
conscious snacks, reading material and entertainment. Business, and increasingly leisure,
travellers also want access to the Internet and emails through on-board wireless Internet
and the opportunity to use and charge their laptop and mobile. This clearly demonstrates
that customer expectations of service performance do not remain constant. Organizations
need to be aware of how these expectations are changing and adapt their service offering
accordingly.

Source: Adapted from Knight, T. and Deas, S., ‘Across the tracks’, Research (February 2006)

4.3.2 Expectation Management Strategies

Managing expectations explicitly may not be a daily praxis in most organisations. Companies
that tend to be past-oriented use the laissez-faire strategy where attention is paid neither to
changing conditions, needs and/or wants on the customer’s side nor inside own organisation.
The traditional ways of doing things seem to be good enough for the management. However, in
today’s turbulent business context this strategy is a ‘highway to heaven’.
Companies may have a market position where they are not compelled to compete.

Example: In a monopolistic or stabilized oligarchic situation, this may also be the case in
the public sector organisations. Therefore, intra-organisational focus is adopted.
Intro-reactive strategy is utilised when paying attention to and reacting on expectation issues
raised by employees or business units inside an organisation. This strategy focuses on
contemporary action on a short term basis; it is a strategy of ‘extinguishing a fire’. This situation
occurs mainly when existing expectations, whatever kind they may be, are not met in an everyday
praxis. Meeting the defeat in budget allocations, delays and mistakes in internal deliveries,
quality failures in products, disappointments in career opportunities etc. are examples of
situations where the unmet expectations may be sources of intra-firm conflicts.
When adopting an introvert strategy, an actor ignores the customers and concentrate on the
expectations expressed within own organisation. This may be the case in a development unit
where future products are innovated and developed in isolation from customers. Medical
laboratories, top secret innovations and their development are good example of these. Also the
fashion industry as well as many art organisations may use this strategy. In an introvert strategy
future is strongly present. History and today may serve as starting points but change is the goal
of this strategy.

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