Exploratory Study On Method Of BTB Customer Retention In Chinese Enterprises

In market environment in where the competition becomes fierce increasingly, how to maintain customers and acquire more customer lifetime value is one of enterprise's important strategies. About the current marketing theories, the methods concerning the customer retention include adding financial benefits, adding social benefits, and adding structural ties (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). But these methods came from western marketing of practice, and they didn't introduce some principles, so they have certain restrictions of application. And China have several thousand years of culture tradition, the business enterprise management also has the special principle by oneself, such as"the guest coming back for the second time","old customer"etc, which are used as tools of support customer retention. So, why do Chinese business enterprises support the customer retention? What kind of method do they adopt to support the customer retention? These are problems that the governors of business enterprise need to know and answer.According to the market environment and the marketing backgrounds of Chinese special features, this report carried on the exploratory study on method of BTB customer retention in Chinese enterprises. The adoptive method of this report is exploratory study method. It is mostly based on CRM theories, including the depth interview and the example of cases of study method. The author carried out depth interview with 12 general managers or sales managers, the contents of interview mainly involve three aspects: (1) Do the Chinese business enterprises also use three kinds of methods of abroad customer retention to carry on the operation? (2)Do the Chinese business enterprises have still other methods in BTB customer retention? (3)What are the characteristics that Chinese business enterprises carry on BTB customer retention?The report drew a conclusion after analyzing and comparing them which combined with the features of Chinese enterprises: (1)The operation method of Chinese business enterprise is different from foreign traditional theories in adding BTB customer financial benefits. The characteristics of the Chinese business enterprises increasing the finance benefits for customers are:①Increasing customer's financial benefits by the terms of giving advanced money, financing and reduce tax-free to lower customer's purchasing cost;②Bringing advantage of financial benefits to customer by terms of academic exchanges and training activity etc, which can save training expenses for BTB customer and improvement human resource structure;③Reducing price and special means can also add the customer's financial benefits, but the measures are easily copied by rivals, the abroad strategies of BTC customer place only particular emphasis on here. If Chinese business enterprises want to increase BTB customer's financial benefits, they need to have certain financial ability. Through the interview, it is still not enough for adding customer's financial benefits. Chinese business enterprises should combine other method to support customer retention.(2) It is in accordance with abroad traditional method that Chinese business enterprises increase BTB customer's social benefits. In a word, Business enterprises increase social contact between business enterprise and customer and create as well as promote the social value for customer via understanding all needs of each customer, skillful methods and making service more characteristic and humanize. The excellent relationship with clients, which brings positive effect on clients, is a rarely free resource.(3) It is also basic homology with foreign traditional method that Chinese business enterprises add BTB customer's structural ties. In BTB market, as long as Chinese business enterprises provide service and help that the customers need and build up structural ties of both sides, they can really carry out friendly cooperation for a long term. Its characteristic is the good structural ties of both sides provide a non-price motive and raise the customer's cost of converting supplier. It will also draw the eye of competitor's customer at the same time, increasing the business enterprise income.Moreover, in addition to current three kinds of methods of customer retention in west, this report believes that Chinese business enterprises can also carry on customer retention through two kind methods---taking advantage of"Circle-culture"and setting up customer trust relationship.(1)In BTB market, the Chinese business enterprises can't neglect the influence brought by the special Chinese circle. Its characteristic is there will be common preference for some brands of high level in a professional Circle; None-economic factors occupy the predominant position in business; Perhaps a person's power is weak, but Circle-person's power is very mightiness. If it is guided properly, Chinese business enterprises can be closer to customer by the power of circle. Sometimes this kind of power can't be obtained by official power. And they can keep customer retention for a long term. The business enterprises make the Circle-culture become a kind of method that promotes BTB customer retention by depending on and making use of power of Circle-culture, valuing a value of the Circle, holding the characteristics of Circle and cultivating the Circle Marketing,.(2) In order to keep a long-term BTB client relationship, Chinese business enterprise should win the trust of clients. And setting up consolidated trust relationship is a useful measure. While they want to win customer's trust, business enterprise must pay whole efforts, really pay attention to customer's need enthusiastically and offer an actual activity for their reasonable demand. After the actions, Chinese enterprises can strengthen BTB customer's actual trust feeling to organization of business enterprises, personal quality of sales manager, risk guard and etc.Based on above conclusion and according to writer's understanding method of BTB customer retention, business enterprises should use the 5 kinds of methods along with multiple strategies flexibly with actual background and circumstance of BTB customer's business enterprise. Then, it can get better result. Among them, business enterprises should set establishing trust relationship with clients as priority. Two measures---skillful using the power of Circle-culture and integrating/enhancing the structural ties between two sides are the keys. Intensifying sociality interest and financial interest are the bases to retain clients.Domestic and foreign researches had already made some progresses in the customer retention and the relevant theories, and the customer retention strategy is also perfected gradually. But most researches focus on CRM and researches of customer retention are not many. The three kinds of concerning the customer in west- the shortage of researches of methods of establishment customer relation is to be mixed between customers of BTB and BTC. So far, there is not research report on the customer of BTB. Particularly under the condition of the socialism market economy of Chinese special features, many state-operated Enterprises unit still exist. Like some special professions, such as hospital, university and scientific research institution etc. have robust purchase power due to the reasons of professional background and its government's support. A lot of western and existing theories did not clarify in details about it. Further analysis researches need to find out the differences and same places. Relatively speaking, the importance and necessity of BTB in Chinese enterprise are higher than those of BTC. So the report is meaningful that researches BTB based on the background of Chinese enterprises.