COURSE DESCRIPTION
This online course is designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of managing customer relationships: the discipline of getting, keeping and growing profitable customers. Students will explore the relevance of customer-centricity to creating a successful organization.
Customer Experience Management, CRM, and customer centricity represent marketing’s return to its pre-industrial revolution origins of doing business through one-to-one relationships, using the new technological advances brought up by the information revolution. Traditionally, marketers have grown accustomed to focusing on the acquisition of new customers through mass advertising and price-oriented promotions, accepting as a fact of life that these customers would eventually switch to competitors. As markets reached saturation, customer acquisition came mostly at the expense of competitors, leading to a frontal battle for brand switchers. Today the focus has changed from customer acquisition to development and retention, particularly for the firm’s “best” customers.
This shift from customer acquisition to development and retention requires a new mindset from product-centric to customer-centric management, and a new set of tools for understanding and predicting the behavior of current customers. Since the customer base is now treated as one of the most valuable assets of the organization, the customer database becomes the focus of analysis and the platform for developing and implementing CRM initiatives as well as managing and building shareholder value.
The course will examine methods to initiate, develop, implement, and evaluate customer-focused initiatives. The goals of the course are to increase student competency levels in:
Understanding of the role and relevance of customer-centricity in an organization.
Knowledge of different customer approaches and methods to evaluate and manage customer initiatives.
Content expertise through readings and discussion of CRM concepts.
COURSEWORK REQUIREMENTS
The student performance in this intensive online course will be evaluated based on participation and completion of assignment activities: group discussion commentaries and posts; written essays (individual assignments – long essays, and weekly multiple choice take home mini-exam quizzes. The percentage weight of each component is shown on the table below, followed by a section describing each type of requirement and expectations:
Assignments Points Percent Weight
Introductions – Self-Intro discussion post and Concise written summary of the video (1pg) and understanding of course syllabus (1pg) @10 pts ×3 30 (3%)
Sub-Group Discussion Topics (5) @50 pts × 5 250 (25%)
Individual writing assignments (approx. 5pp essay) (5) @60 pts × 5 300 (30%)
Mini Exams/Quizzes – multiple choice (6) @70 pts × 6 420 (42%)
Total for Students enrolled in MKT 456 1000 (100%)
CRM Software Assignment is optional for MKT 456 students but is required for Graduate Students enrolled under MKT 556
Total for Students enrolled in MKT 556 1060 (100%)
GRADING SCALE FOR COURSE
GRADE Cummulative Scores Percentage
A 93% + of total points
A- 90 to 93
B+ 87 to 90
B 83 to 87
B- 80 to 83
C+ 77 to 80
C 70 to 77
D 60 to 70
F Below 60
Group Discussions (The roster will be divided into two smaller groups. Deadlines: on Wednesdays (for your answer to the prompt); then by Saturdays (for responding to others)
This component consists of your participation in the scheduled discussion using the VoiceThread app. There are 5 discussion questions. Participation will be evaluated not solely on the number of responses but the quality of the response and the contribution to the understanding of the issue.
Initial respondents normally address the topic of discussion directly. As the discussion develops, responses should focus on other students’ responses to challenge or extend those thoughts. Your grade for each group discussion is on a scale of 1-50 points.
Establish a cadence to participate EARLIER rather than at the last possible moment and check in as the topic develops. Responses all on one day will cause a deduction of 10 points. Do not become ‘Missing in Action’ in the course to the point the professor is wondering if you are still enrolled in the course. The professor tracks your participation in the course using a feature within the Blackboard system. Failure to log on and participate in discussions or submit work by the required date can have a negative impact on academic success.
Please state your opinions in an informed and polite manner.
You must respond to the prompt question posted by the instructor and it should be posted by Wednesday. Then you must respond to at least THREE other participants’ posts. You can respond to the same member’s posts three times or respond to three different members’ posts. Note that three responses to others is a minimum requirement for optimal score. The more you participate in the discussion, the better your score will be.
Individual Writing Assignments (Deadline: on Saturdays 11:59pm)
There are 5 individual written assignments. You must demonstrate your understanding and knowledge of readings by synthesizing content with the questions. Refer to the rubric for details.
Be complete to fully explain the topic in your writing discussions, but these should be no longer than 5 pages double-spaced not including any tables, cover page, and references. Please use MS word format (.docx or .doc). Please submit your assignment through the TURN-IT-IN upload interface by the Saturday deadlines at midnight.
AVOID PLAGIARISM (Refer to GUIDELINE RESOURCE section “common misunderstanding about plagiarism”).
For references, either MLA style or APA style can be used (whichever you prefer).
Quizzes (Deadline: on Saturdays 11:59pm)
There are 6 quizzes/mini-exams administered via Blackboard. Each quiz will only consist of multiple choice questions covering the chapters assigned from the textbook/lecture materials. You can make 2 attempts. The higher grade will count.
RETENTION OF STUDENT WORK FOR PORTFOLIOS
The professor reserves the right to retain for pedagogical reasons either the original, or a copy, of any student’s test, written assignment, paper, video, or similar work submitted by the student for this class. Students’ names will be deleted from any retained items.
Course Schedule
Week 1: 8/28 -9/3 (30 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 1 & 2 ) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
1. Introduce yourself to the class in the Voice Thread app from the weekly folder –not in Blackboard tab. (10 points)
2. Read the syllabus and assignment rubrics very carefully in Course Content, which is critical to avoid unnecessary penalties related to minimum requirements.
3. Watch the classic keynote speech CRM overview video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8cnA0NJA2Q
4. Concisely summarize key take aways from the video (1 page, double-spaced: 10 points)
5. Summarize rubrics, due dates, and penalty policies of each assignment to confirm you’ve read and understand the course requirements. (1 pg, double-spaced: 10 points)
Week 2: 9/4- 9/10 (120 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 3 ) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides.
Group Discussion 1 (50 points ) Refer to Chapter 3: Using Voice Thread, post within your subgroups. Think about the companies you do business with as a customer. Name an example of a company that identified and recognized you, one (different from the previous one) that differentiated you by need or value, one (different from the previous ones) that has made interaction easy and fun, and one (different from the previous ones) that has changed something about the way it does business with you now, based on what it knows about you.
Quiz 1 (70 points) (Covers Chapter 1, 2, and 3): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit. For each quiz you may have up to 2 attempts. If you are not satisfied with your initial score, review the questions you missed along with other study materials and try again.
Week 3: 9/11 -9/17 (60 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 4) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Writing assignment 1 Refer to Chapter 4: Think about 3 types of companies or industry you have patronized or know (use different examples from the textbook). How can a company identify customers when those customers don’t talk to its representatives very often, if at all—at least not individually?
Industry 1: What makes identifying customers difficult in this industry? How would the industry approach identifying its end users?
Industry 2: What makes identifying customers difficult in this industry? How would the industry approach identifying its end users?
Industry 3: What makes identifying customers difficult in this industry? How would the industry approach identifying its end use.
Week 4: 9/18 -9/24 (120 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 5) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Group Discussion 2 (50 points) Refer to Chapter 5: Under what conditions should a customer-strategy enterprise consider firing an unprofitable customer? Think of the different types of conditions that a company should fire customers, identify those conditions and share your thoughts. Do online research and find examples of cases where companies have “fired customers” – which had successful outcomes; which were unsuccessful, and why?
Quiz 2 (70 points) (Covers Chapter 4 and 5): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit. (70 points)
Week 5: 9/25 -10/1 (60 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 6) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Writing assignment 2 (60 points) Refer to Chapter 6: For each of the listed product categories, (1) name a branded example, then (2) hypothesize about how you might categorize customers by their different needs, and (3) how the company offers values/benefits to meet those needs for each categorized customers.
Automobiles (B2C) (20 points)
Air travel transportation (B2C) (20 points)
Computer software (B2C) (20 points)
Week 6: 10/2 -10/8 (120 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 7) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Group discussion 3 (50 points) Refer to Chapter 7: Think about the companies and sellers you select to reward a significant share of your hard-earned spending budget. What convinced you to choose those providers? What are some of the explicit bargains or terms do these companies offer you in your role as a customer to get some of your time, attention, or information? and do you deem the trade-off worthwhile?
Quiz 3 (70 points) (Chapters 6 and 7): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit.
Week 7: 10/9 -10/15 (60 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 8) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Writing assignment 3 (60 points) Refer to Chapter 8: Imagine that you’ve been appointed as the new chief marketing officer (CMO) for a rising automotive company (e.g., Tesla ). Your CEO has decided that your company will be the premier “relationship” company in your industry.
What could that mean? (10 points)
How will you execute your plans to be the premier relationship company? (25 points)
What will you use as data collection tools? (10 points)
What role will interactivity (with customers) play in your plans? (5 points)
What role will e-mail and social networking play? (10 points)
Be as specific as you can.
Week 8: 10/16 -10/22 (50 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 9) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Discussion 4 (50 points) Refer to Chapter 9: The key characteristics of permission marketing are: (a) anticipation—individuals want to hear from the company; (b) personalization—the messages are customized; and (c) relevance—the content of the communications is applicable to the needs of the recipient. Based on your own personal experience as a consumer, which company does the best job of permission marketing? (Please monitor each other’s post and find a different example to share.) Be as specific as you can.
Week 9: 10/23 – 10/29 (130 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 10) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Writing assignment 4 (60 points) Refer to Chapter 10:
Conduct some additional online research to find other examples besides those in the textbook or the article of Gilmore and Pine (https://hbr.org/1997/01/the-four-faces-of-mass-customization), provide an example of a company with which you are familiar with brief explanations that demonstrate your understanding of each customizing type. (Please define each customizer type clearly and identify a company that fits for EACH category.)
An adaptive customizer (15 points)
A cosmetic customizer (15 points)
A collaborative customizer (15 points)
A transparent customizer (15 points)
Quiz 4 (70 points) (Chapters 8, 9 and 10): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit.
Week 10: 10/30-11/5 (50 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 11) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Discussion 5 (50 points) Refer to Chapter 11: Consider the concept of “Return on Customer” (ROC) as discussed in the chapter.
What kind of advantages and benefits are possible for a company adopting this objective?
How would it help a company balance the short-term and the long-term goals of the company?
Explain how ROC different from customer lifetime value LTV?
Week 11: 11/6 -11/12 (130 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 12) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Writing assignment 5 (60 points) Refer to Chapter 12: Customer analytics help to solve several important problems, including (a) classification, (b) estimation, and (c) prediction.
If you are employed or have worked at a company what opportunities exist to make better use of each of these analytical approaches to enhance customer relationships?
Or if you have limited employment experience then focus more on your role as a consumer, have you observed examples of marketing that suggest a company is engaging in classification, estimation, or prediction analyses? Describe these examples, the extent to which the company’s customer analytics were right, and the impact that the marketing activities had on your relationship with the company.
Quiz 5 (70 points) (Chapters 11 and 12): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit.
Week 12: 11/13 -11/19
Reading assignment (Chapter 13) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Week 13: 11/20 -11/26 (70 points)
Reading assignment (Chapter 14) along with corresponding PowerPoint lecture slides
Quiz 6 (70 points) (Chapters 13 and 14): Activate quiz in Blackboard, answer multiple choice questions and submit.
Week 14: 11/27 – 12/3
Reading & online assignment CRM Tools Articles & Demos: I have used a few CRM platforms (including Saleforce, Goldmine and Epicor) integrated with marketing automation programs such as Marketo, Eloqua and Salesforce Pardot. The articles and demos provide exposure to the variety of CRM resources and tools used by companies. Demos show in action the many tasks and activities that are part of CRM touchpoints executed as best practices toward customer centric strategies. Perhaps you will encounter these platforms in your work organizations – this is an opportunity to get familiar with them.
Week 15: 12/4 – 12/10 (60 points)
(Optional for students enrolled in MKT 456, required for students of MKT 556
Writing assignment Select 2 of the CRM platform reviewed in the articles to analyze. Compare, critique and relate your findings to learnings from our textbook along with your observations on what was presented on these resources and tools or personal work experiences. Submit this written analysis work by the course deadline through the Blackboard assignment folder via TurnItIn.
In lieu of a written report, an option is to make an appointment for a virtual meeting to deliver a presentation with slides of your findings and conclusions. The session will be recorded for assessment and scoring purposes. Appointments must be scheduled and presentation given by Dec. 13, 2022. MKT 456/556 Group Discussion Rubric Total 50 points possible
Objective/Criteria Needs Improvement Meets Most Expectations Meets/Exceeds Expectations
Posting Requirement (25)
Did not answer the question posted by the instructor OR did not respond to other students three times (3 posts).
Content does not encourage further discussion. (1-8 points) At least one post responding to the question posted by the instructor by Wednesday and two posts responding to others
OR, at least one post responding to the question posted by the instructor after Wednesday and three posts responding to others
Some encouragement of further discussion. (9-14 points) At least one post responding to the question posted by the instructor by Wednesday and at least three posts responding to others (one thread by Wednesday and three responses by Saturday)
Content encourages further discussion. (15-25)
Responsiveness to discussion and demonstration of knowledge and understanding gained from assigned reading (20) Not evident readings were understood and/or not incorporated into discussion. (1-7 points) Demonstrated some knowledge of readings by incorporating concepts into responses. (8-12 points) Demonstrated a thorough knowledge of readings by incorporating concepts into responses. (13-20 points)
Writing, adherence to netiquette protocols (5) Poor sentence structure. Poor adherence to netiquette. (1 point) Sentences are clear but there may be some issues with ambiguity, minor writing issues or netiquette issues. (2-3 points) Sentences are clear and wording is unambiguous. Correct word choice, spelling and grammar. Follows online netiquette protocols. (4-5 points)
Please respond to the question prompt posted by the instructor which should be posted by each Wednesday.
Initial respondents normally address the topic of discussion directly. As the discussion develops, responses should focus on other students’ responses to challenge or extend those thoughts.
You must answer instructor prompt, and check in to react to three responses allowing the topic to develop. Responses all on one day will cause a deduction of 10 points. State your opinions in an informed and polite manner.
Participate EARLIER rather than at the last possible moment. (Earlier respondents will get optimal credit).
Participation will be evaluated not solely on the number of responses but the quality of the response and the contribution to the understanding of the issue.
MKT 456/556 Individual Assignment rubric Total 60 points possible
Objective/Criteria Needs Improvement Meets Most Expectations Meets/Exceeds Expectations
Problem Analysis/ Recommendation (25) Demonstrated little understanding of concepts in course readings related to the question(s). (1-9 points) Demonstrated an understanding of some concepts but a few key points may have been missed. (10-17 points) Demonstrated an understanding of most concepts and highlighted key points in context to the questions. (18-25 points)
Answers to the Questions (30) Not evident readings were understood and/or not discussed in context to the question(s). (1-10 points) Demonstrated some knowledge of readings by incorporating concepts into the question(s). (11-20 points) Demonstrated a thorough knowledge of readings by synthesizing content with the questions and current CRM issues. (21-30 points)
Writing, References, Mechanics etc.(5 pts.) Not well-written or organized, and/or many spelling and grammatical errors and/or missing cover page, reference page and/or citations.(1 point) Sentences are clear but there may be some issues with ambiguity, minor writing issues, or issues with citing sources and using references. (2-3 points) Sentences are clear and wording is unambiguous. Correct word choice, spelling and grammar. Cites sources properly. Includes cover page and reference page. (4-5 points)
