Customer Analysis

Description

Please note this paper is about Marketing in Higher education. I have chosen Uni. of Georgia as my company. It should be written from a business standpoint and not an EDD view. I have attached wk 1 paper and will add wk 2 in the next 48 hours. In the first 2 weeks, our goal was to learn how to think strategically. Now we begin the process of designing the strategic plan for your chosen company. The strategic plan design begins with knowing who your current customers are, as well as your potential customers. An effective customer analysis focuses on two types of customers: 1) Existing customers and 2) Potential customers. We need to see each of these types of customers through two lenses: 1) Your point of view and 2) The customer’s point of view. To start analyzing our customers, we must first rank them according to total customers and then according to segments. We should not just view our customers as they are presently, but also according to the likelihood our business with them will grow over the next 1-3 years. It is impossible to conduct a full customer analysis without talking to our customers. As Tracy (2015 p. 52 argues, “You now must start a business almost from scratch. This leaves you with a number of questions to ask.” Among these are, “Which customers do you want to try and reach, and which customers, knowing that you know now, would you decide not to try and win back?” The only way to get reliable data about customers is to ask them. An organization only knows 30 percent of what is going on in its customers’ heads, the rest comes from research.” There are four main ways to better understand our customers: 1) observation, 2) discussions, 3) focus groups, and 4) surveys. In addition, we must consider our potential customers, and then ask why they’re buying from our competitors. We may also have new customers if we developed our business in a different direction – a good strategic plan must consider these as well. In this week’s assignment, you will begin the process of a customer analysis and design a plan to gather data to include in your chosen company’s strategic plan. Be sure to review this week’s resources carefully. You are expected to apply the information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS: This week, you have learned how to analyze your customer, ascertain what they’re thinking from your point of view as well as their point of view, and you have learned about different methods to better understand them (e.g., observations, discussions, focus groups, and surveys). In this assignment, you will write an essay summarizing your customer analysis for your chosen company. Keep in mind, the attributes you select in your customer analysis will vary given the product that you make or the service you provide. Include the following in your essay: Summarize your customers in terms of total rank order and segment. You may use a table, chart or graph, or you may describe in essay form for this portion of the assignment. Identify Key Customer Data including the following suggested information: Product/service, market segment, buying from competition, location of their end use customers, key quality characteristics, sales volume. Design a high level plan to gather data from your employees (i.e., observations, discussions, focus groups, and surveys). Summarize how you will gather data. If using a survey, include in your appendix. If using discussions or focus groups, include the questions you will ask. If using observation, describe specifically what and how you will observe. Provide a summary paragraph that concludes your primary thoughts on your customers and potential customers