When we look at IT companies today, we see many diversifications of survival as in merging with competitors, forming alliances and/or downsizing to increase capital and production capabilities and also increase their market penetration to keep up with the wild competition. But the results contrast with the intentions and the contradictory result is “Over productivity! “. A simple solution to the problem could be LOYALTY MARKETING, namely having your customers bound to your company’s products.
After having twenty years of business experience with Taiwan and Chinese Companies, I summarized in this article my sincere beliefs and opinions regarding these companies’ relationships. I stated the common mistakes that they repeat over and over again which constitute serious obstacles for their company names to become world wide brand names and preserve their loyal customers.
Company Image
A company image is the combination of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions and visions people have about you, your products and services, and of your company as a whole. (1) What visions, feelings and thoughts appear in the customers’ mind when they think of a Taiwan/Chinese company? Have Taiwan/Chinese companies created distinguishable company images which appear to be a world wide brand name or are these companies doomed to be only manufacturers?
When questioned about the company image, the answers about the reputation of Taiwan/Chinese companies are confusing. Yes, they have a good reputation for delivering quality products consistently but is that enough for reaching their target audiences by creating a company image of successful with their own branded products. Taiwan/Chinese must negotiate based on what others, especially the end users think and feel about them, not what they think of themselves or what their sales jargon and sales staff say!
I wonder what makes Taiwan/Chinese thrive. Company culture is no doubt a source of energy; history, traditions’ core values; unspoken expectations and unwritten rules about how employee behaves to the customers. (2) But Taiwan/Chinese marketplace’s identities are changing. It’s impossible to discuss the concept of a company image based on company culture only, disregarding its relationship with its customers, its products and their market positioning.
Customer Relationships
The quality of relationships is reflected in productivity, profitability, employee morale, customer satisfaction and shareholder pleasure.(1) With Taiwan/Chinese companies this source of energy can easily be depleted with unresolved conflicts, resentments, misunderstandings, lack of respect and lack of teamwork.
Taiwan/Chinese staffs do not even answer all the customer messages! Sometimes they answer but they don’t hear or read the issues which disturb them. Taiwan/Chinese staff doesn’t know that customers who have never had a problem are not as loyal as customers who have had a problem that was successfully resolved. (3)
If you always deliver on your service promise, how will the customer know that you are not only consistent but also persistent? How would the customer discover more than consistent, you are persistent that the customer’s needs be fully and fairly met? (4)
Taiwan/Chinese people are not open-minded; they only state the marketing jargon they have been made to summarize by the management! Sometimes they don’t even listen to you or they don’t state that they didn’t understand. They hide the marketing information, figures, market shares and competition status. Taiwan/Chinese sales staff thinks that they can motivate the customers to sell more by indicating exaggerated figures for others, but the world is amply small enough to find out these mistakes and besides this the same staff can easily state some other unsuitable figures afterwards.
Taiwan/Chinese employees shouldn’t think that their job is to protect their company from the customer. Plus, they shouldn’t believe that complaints are a sign of failure for their company rather than an opportunity to grow to be a world wide brand name. And none of this will change unless this situation is both communicated and demonstrated by the top management.
Loyalty and Feature Marketing
The loyalty must be an expression of Taiwan/Chinese Company’s culture. On being close to your customers in a personal and caring way; it must bring the hospitality of your business into the customer’s office, namely: Marry your customers—to forge intimate, mutually beneficial partnerships based on exchange of knowledge about each other’s desires, needs, abilities, and character. To create a branded customer culture for your company the customer service, responsiveness to complaints and the behavior of your staff should rank right after quality and price. (5)
Taiwan/Chinese company staff focuses only on sales and orders. The advice is “if you want to make them listen or negotiate the issues, stop the orders” they will come back to you. This is the sharpest contradiction with the company brands’ promise that the customers encounter. Taiwan/Chinese company staff must express or reiterate the promise of their company brand in product and at every point of contact between their company and the customers.
Especially for future products the customers must believe in the host company, their products, their services… and the people who serve them. During 1996-1997’s while Taiwan/Chinese companies were only involved in primitive electronic and/or PC product business the trust to the host company was better, the personalized relationships with the customers were a part of the company; the organization, products and services… and most importantly, company people. We used to feel satisfaction after a meeting with the management, feel fully satisfied with the level of technology knowledge and marketing information. To achieve this; company people must be open (share every possible information freely), should give the right figures, right prices, give no false information, no attempt to protect only the company interest but instead put it next to the customers’.
With the challenge of new competition from huge capacity manufacturing competitors such as Note Book world wide brand names; big guys and others… loyalty, this concept has become an overnight forgotten concept. What can be done? To improve customer retention – – to discourage defection to the competition – – by offering an incentive for loyalty, every Taiwan/Chinese company could accept that the cost of acquiring new customers is expensive, usually much more than getting additional business from existing customers.
Company managers must spend more effort to evaluate the markets for new products, maybe establish some education programs in order to market these products to the loyal customers and target specific and appropriate goals not only for sales but also for services (internet sites, toll free support and RMA policies) and product promotions. All customers are equal but not all are the same…some may be worth to invest more to have improvements, and some may be not. Taiwan/Chinese companies can find new customers for these new products after evaluating the achievement of their goals with their loyal customers. For example Sony had such programs for new product lines. They invest more and more in the loyal customers and if the new products’ results of established measurable objectives are not successful then they propose to change the customers point of business rather than directly running for new customers at that moment.
Who cares about this subtle point in Taiwan/Chinese companies? Who has set the customers some realistic achievement goals for new products?
For the sake of integrity, which Taiwan/Chinese citizen can answer: how can a customer feel when a drop down on price comes just after a push from the company to order more? Is the purpose of this to serve the customer or cheat against him – a loss of company dignity? There is a single reality but different points of view. Taiwan/Chinese company’s people should sense the importance of viewing their organization from the customers point of view and prospects. Not only from their point of reference, standing alone in their own company. Establishing a world wide company image can only be achieved through deliberate consistent marketing strategies, not by solely protecting the vendor’s short term interests.
Operations and Obstacles in front of the Brand Name
If we look ahead and plan for the new years we have to consider to what extend our business is prospering and reaching our goals to be a world wide brand name.
The first step is to trust your loyal customers; don’t ignore the feedback of market, competitors and products; quality, reliability and/or segmentation. The effort of gathering information from others impairs not only your loyalty customer relations but also your company image. Taiwan/Chinese companies never care about this disparaging behavior. While information gathering you are at the same time a source of your company information. Trust to the customer is to trust your own power; hesitancy means you are weak or at least not strong as you say you are.
Sometimes the biggest marketing advantage we can give our businesses isn’t expensive ads or commercials. It’s a simple boost in the attitude we project to our customers and prospects. Often a simple smile and cheerful word will soften even the toughest customer. Projecting a positive and cheerful attitude may seem a bit corny and old fashioned, but customers will frequently perceive you as going further than the limits of your service than you have to. That’s what builds loyalty and positive word-of-mouth.
Our world is getting busier and busier. The demands of work and home are daily stretching us to the limits. Businesses which excel in smiling us the customers will earn our loyalty, time and time again simply because they make us feel good, even if just a little bit.
How can you project a smile when your business operates over the phone or on the Internet? Smile when you talk! And carefully avoid using unintentionally confrontational language when you write. You need to make sure everybody in your organization knows he or she is an important part of it. Each department depends and dovetails into the other to produce quality in service or product. Everyone makes a difference: the sales force, the service technicians, the clerical staff, the PR department all work together towards the same goal — keeping the customers satisfied.
Taiwan/Chinese Companies don’t love the customers. The managers are so much overloaded that they can answer you “OK” when you say “Hi!”. They have never had conveniences of salutation. If they had foreign language problems this must be declared for the future of loyalty relations. When memorized marketing monologs are the only fluent conversations between you and your customer, absolutely will they collapse in the next step after some cunning questions.
Evaluating the country and the market trends
Taiwan/Chinese Companies must understand the global marketing. Information is open and limitless. A contingency, some marketing leverage… etc is learned instantly. Territorial distinction hurts confidence to vendor’s fairness. Taiwan/Chinese Companies must think regional, evaluate the country and the market trends and operate globally.
Taiwan/Chinese Company’s sales people do not really understand the market; and always push you to position the products with blind eyes to the country market trends. Smart positioning depends on understanding the target market and imagine that market’s expacts to see when purchasing your products and/or services. For example they push Turkish distributors for the products they easily sell in Middle East Countries but Turkey’s face is contemplating to Europe not to the Middle East.
Both product and market positions influence the company image, but by positioning the products with short term sales objectives how can we create an overall world wide company image. If you are working with one of the few clever sales people he knows to negotiate with you the trends of the market. This is the positive energy of executive and management authority and influential, natural leaders.
Mis-communication and non-responsiveness may cause big problems in the future. For example long term warranty issue; Taiwan/Chinese Company’s people don’t negotiate with customers the concept before declaring it. Indeed there are some restrictions regarding the local governmental rules which can not be solved with the ordinary Taiwan/Chinese Company RMA standards.
A company image with such long term promises can only be created by organizing different type of discreet elements like product, distribution channel and the customer needs through negotiation.
Goal
Since all vendors’ manufacturing capabilities are well qualified, since all are competitive and innovation is not limitless; contestation with over productive Taiwan/Chinese companies needs better company images, better customer relationships and focusing on long term business. They have to build long term and also profitable relationships with chosen loyal customers, get closer to those customers at every point of contact with them. Differentiate them, by value and needs, interact with them more cost-efficiently and effectively, customize some aspect of the enterprise’s behavior to become a world wide brand name.
(1) Judith Kautz, “Developing Your Company Image”
(2) Susan Pilgrim, Ph.D., “Revitalizing Your Company”
(3) T. Scott Gross, “How to Love Complainers”
(4) T. Scott Gross, “How to Love Complainers”
(5) Dr. Terry Paulson, “Create Loyalty”
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