Customer Relationship Management

advertisement
Asian Research Consortium
Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management
Vol. 4, No. 7, July 2014, pp. 99-109.
Asian Journal
of Research in
Business Economics
and
Management
ISSN 2249-7307
www.aijsh.org
Customer Relationship Management –
An Effective Appliance of Money –
Making Fitness Centres in India
Mrs. V. Jyothirmai*; Prof. V. Krishna Mohan**
*Assistant Professor,
Department of Management Studies,
Vignan’s Institute of Information Technology,
Visakhapatnam, A.P, India.
**Professor,
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University,
Etcherla, Srikakulam, A.P, India.
Abstract
Over the past numerous years, there has been a gradual shift in consumer attitudes towards diet,
health and lifestyle. Increasing awareness on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle combined with an
obesity crisis is putting an additional strain on the healthcare system which is driving demand for
personal care, nutritional supplements, fitness products & services. At this juncture several National
and International Fitness Centres and health clubs have been mushroomed up to capture the
unlimited customer base, and a ferocious competition is existing among the marketers of Fitness
services. Customers are the central focus of any organization, therefore the mission of an
organization is to create and enhance the customer relationships in-order to retain them, which has
become a major challenge in the present context. To accomplish a competitive edge, organizations
have to differentiate themselves in the minds of customers. The key purpose of the study is
therefore to identify various strategies of customer relationship and retention that are being adopted
at marketable health and fitness centers in Visakhapatnam, India. Data collection is done by
administering a questionnaire to a sample of commercial fitness centers Owners and managers. The
findings specified that most of the health and fitness centers implement strategies such as proper
mechanism for complaints handling, analyzing competitor strategies, focus on service monitoring,
incentive strategies and membership renewal strategies in-order to retain customers. Amongst the
different strategies implemented emphasis on service quality and providing modern equipment and
technology yielded better results. In order to retain customers, it is important for marketers to have
Jyothirmai & Mohan (2014). Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management,
Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 99-109.
an in-depth knowledge of customer wants & requirements and the capability they have to add
endless customer value.
Keywords: Customer Relationship, Customer-retention, Health& fitness, Marketing strategies.
References
Drucker, P. F. (1973). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Harper & Row, New York,
NY.du Plessis, Rousseau & Blem, 1995.
Kandampully, J. & Duddy, R. (1999). Relationship marketing: a concept beyond the primary
relationship. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 17(7), 315-323.
Christopher, M., Payne, A. and Ballantyne, D. (1991). Relationship Marketing: Bringing Quality,
Customer Service and Marketing Together, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.
Berry, L. L. (1982). Relationship marketing. In Berry, L. L., Shostack, G. L. and Upah, G. D. (Eds),
Emerging Perspectives on Services Marketing, AMA Services Marketing, American
Marketing Association, Chicago, IL.
Strauss, B., Chojnacki, K., Decker, A. & Hoffman, F. (2001). Retention effects of a customer club.
InternationalJournal of Service Industry Management, 12(1), 7-19.
Ang, L. & Buttle, F. (2006). Customer retention processes: a quantitative study. European Journal
of Marketing, 40(1/2), 83-99.
Jamieson, D. (1994). Customer retention: focus or failure. The TQM Magazine, 6(5), 11-13.
Irwin, R. L., Zwick, D. & Sutton, W. A. (1999). Assessing organizational attributes contributing to
marketing excellence in American professional sport franchises. European Journal of
Marketing, 33(3/4), 314-327.
Weinstein, A. (2002). Customer retention: a usage segmentation and customer value approach.
Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 10(3), 259-268.
Ravald, A. & Grönroos, C. (1996). The value concept and relationship marketing. European Journal
of Marketing, 30(2), 19-30.
Ahmad, R. & Buttle, F. (2004). Customer retention management: a reflection of theory and
practice. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 20(3), 149-161.
Ang, L. & Buttle, F. (2006). Customer retention processes: a quantitative study. European Journal
of Marketing, 40(1/2), 83-99.
Venetis, K. A. & Ghauri, P. N. (2004). Service quality and customer retention: building long-term
relationships. European Journal of Marketing, 38(11/12), 1577-1598.
Jyothirmai & Mohan (2014). Asian Journal of Research in Business Economics and Management,
Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 99-109.
Aspinall, E., Nancarrow, C.& Stone, M. (2001). The meaning and measurement of customer
retention. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 10(1), 79-87.
Dawkins, P. M. & Reichheld, F. F. (1990). Customer retention as a competitive weapon. Directors
and Board, 14, 42-47.
Slater, S. F. & Narver, J. C. (1994). Market orientation, customer value, and superior performance.
Business Horizons, 37, 22-28.
Chattopadhyay, S. P. (2001). Relationship marketing in an enterprise resource planning
environment. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 19(2), 136-139.
Buchanan, R. & Gilles, C. (1990). Value managed relationship: the key to customer retention and
profitability. European Management Journal, 8(4), 523-526.
Holmlund, M. & Kock, S. (1996). Relationship marketing: the importance of customer perceived
service quality in retail banking. Service Industries Journal, 16(3), 287-304.
Grönroos, C. (1994). From marketing mix to relationship marketing: towards a paradigm shift in
marketing. Marketing Decision, 32(2), 4-20.
Payne, A. (1994). Relationship marketing – making the customer count. Managing Service Quality,
4(6), 29-31.
Jhalukpreya Surujlal and Manilall Dhurup,(2011), Customer Retention Strategies in Commercial
Health and Fitness Centers, 2011 International Conference on Advancements in
Information Technology With workshop of ICBMG 2011 IPCSIT vol.20 (2011) © (2011)
IACSIT Press, Singapore.
Jhalukpreya Surujlal and Manilall Dhurup ,(2012), Establishing and Maintaining Customer
Relationships in Commercial Health and Fitness Centers in South Africa, International
Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 3, No. 1,pp.14-18.
S. M. Keaveney & M.Parthasarathy, “Customer switching behaviour in online services: an
exploratory study of the role of selected attitudinal, behavioral, and demographic factors,”
Journal of the academy of marketing science, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 374-390, 2001
D. J. Petzer and T. F. J. Steyn, “Customer retention: a theoretical perspective of service failure and
service recovery in the hotel industry,” Acta Commercii, vol 6, pp. 162-172, 2006.
V. A. Zeithaml, A. Parasuraman, and L. L. Berry “Delivering Quality Service: Balancing customer
perceptions and expectations,” Toronto: Free Press, 1990.
Download