Customer relationship management strategy at Harley Davidson

¶ … Tutor Marked Assessment-Spring 2015

Definition and Introduction to Customer Relationship Management

Customer Relationship Management can indicate two interlined directions. CRM development process is the first step and the second is contentment of CRM. The process is segmented into three components:

Initiation

Maintenance

Termination

CRM involves activities which firms think help fulfill client demands, notice their preferences and resolve their issues. Conducting an in depth analysis, CRM process can be divided into external and internal programs. Internal programs indicate organizational framework, culture and knowledge management. External programs indicate customer interaction (Toma, Mihoreanu and Ionescu, 2014).

Building Long-Term Customer Relationship at Harley Davidson

Competitive Customer Relationship Management (CRM) between industrial consumers and manufacturing companies will keep and maintain the loyal consumers whilst their valuable input will be regarded as highly beneficial. Harley Davidson came to the conclusion that in order to inculcate long lasting relationships, the 'customers are always right' model has to be accepted.

The manufacturer invests quite a lot of time and funds in this regard. Those suggestions assist in improving the product's quality and services offered. CRM takes a new path of approaching the consumer's preferences. CRM helps in developing innovation capability as well as creating a steady competitive advantage. The firm has established the relationship between innovation capability and CRM. Harley Davidson interacts with its fan following via travel adventures, events and providing accessories for its loyal following who own the brand (Toma, Mihoreanu and Ionescu, 2014).

Marketing Management Concepts

Marketing strategy confirms successful performance of a firm. The hallmarks of management concepts are as follows:

Marketing strategy formulation

Marketing strategy implementation,

Firm performance;

Viability of marketing strategy

External environment also factors in major management concepts. But, strategy doesn't confirm success. For a strategy to be successful, rigorous application, assessment and control mechanism are also necessary (Ramaseshan, Ishak and Kingshott, 2013).

Control and evaluation is the connection of a firm with its external surrounding since it shows how competitively the firm adapts with the changing environment. Harley Davidson has realized that it has much more potential than motorcycles. The corporation sells the feeling of:

Freedom

Liberation

Individualism

Hence, Harley Davidson is much more of a lifestyle experience instead of being a product consumption experience (Ramaseshan, Ishak and Kingshott, 2013).

Decision Process Buyers of Motorcycles Go Through before Purchasing their Motorcycle

The average consumer makes decisions to buy products based on these 4 factors: -- (1) physical benefit, which can be described as a product which might benefit an individual or his assets; (2) economic benefit, which is the cost of right decision-making to utilize a product; (3) functional benefits, which includes the capability and performance of the product to function effectively; and (4) social benefits, which can be described as a social inclusion and thoughts of being positively seen by other individuals (Kuisma, et al. 2007; Agwu, 2013). For Harley Davidson consumers, the third and the forth factor play a major role in decision making. The motorcycle selling process entails the engagement of dealers. Harley has strong ties with the dealers in order to boost its customer experience. For example, 5,000 dealers in 255 stores had gone through a training session on best practices for delivering stellar customer experience in 2013. The company concluded this training in 2014 to balance the worldwide dealer's network. Due to seasonal sales pattern, Harley adjusted its manufacturing likewise. Hence, it began seasonal production in its Kansas City and New York plants for producing the appropriate motorcycles for the appropriate audience. Harley Davidson adapted wonderfully well as the market dynamics changed, coordinating its production of 30 models in their derivatives, whilst tackling the geographic and consumer demands (Harley-Davidson, 2014).

Project Rushmore was launched in 2013, which is a new lineup of touring motorcycles. The firm concluded its multiyear restructuring program, applied the flexible surge production capabilities in its biggest production plant whilst making considerable investments for the future and exploring untapped markets. The new products were designed keeping the consumer's ideas of product design and development. The American market simply adored its first eight motorcycles in the Rushmore lineup as well as internationally. Apart from that, Harley showcased the Street 500 and Street 750, which is designed, developed and launched keeping the young urban generation in mind. Before working on these motorcycles, the company interviewed 3000 customers and dealers alike in at least 10 countries for finalizing a design and creating a market (Harley-Davidson, 2014).

Marketer Influence on Consumer Information

Customer involvement in research and product design phase has been regarded as the prime factor by the manufacturer before launching successful products. Especially, early consumer involvement in the new-product-design phase as well as manufacturing technical meetings helped in creating more differentiable products and services for the perceived target markets. In layman words, customer input has been vital in case of product innovation, which suggests that CRM can help manufacturers better assess and understand the future market variations via customer involvement. Since consumers and firms both desire a long-term relationship, they bolster a sense of duty and responsibility (Toma, Mihoreanu and Ionescu, 2014).

With the help of strategic alliance and joint collaboration, manufacturers are readily willing to fund equipment, raise capacity buffer, alternate the work shift and cater to the diversifying market demands. In order to gain competitive advantage, an organizational innovation process should factor in development of human resources and complementary business. The collaborating corporations embrace the innovative operations but also embrace variations in skill sets, organizational culture, infrastructure and strategy to apply the new innovative methods. These approaches affect a customer's information search. Apart from that, IT systems ensure qualitative service and customer support. With the help of data mining tools, some companies use the information garnered from their database for boosting sales and add value to their services (Toma, Mihoreanu and Ionescu, 2014).