Youhavebeenassignedtoagroupandtogetheryouwill.docx

You have been assigned to a group and together you will discuss the issue below and then compose a presentation of 10-15 slides (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Prezi, etc) that explore the meaning and business implications of effective marketing strategy and customer loyalty programs towards profitability. Click on the Group Wiki to see your group assignment (click the down arrow next to the Separate Groups box and select the Project Group that is listed there)Your final project will be due in Unit 7.

You have been provided with two areas in the course to discuss and collaborate:  A group discussion forum and a wiki collaboration area. Only group members have access to these areas and will be able to see the discussion you have and the work you do within these areas. You are also free to use tools outside of the course, such as Google Docs, Yammer, etc. if your group chooses to do so.  

Scenario:

Successful business owners understand the value of repeat customers and how it affects their bottom lines. In fact, studies reveal that returning customers spend close to twice as much money as new customers.

For this assignment, assume that you are a committed, small business owner with the goal to further the success of your business. You also know that your customers are the bread and butter of your business.  Therefore, you understand the need to incorporate customer retention strategies using effective marketing strategies and good customer loyalty programs to attract new and keep existing customers.

Choose any product or service you would like to market. Expand on some customer retention strategies to attract new and retain existing customers for your product or service.

You will need to:

· research current marketing strategies for your product

· research customer retention strategies

· research strategies on gaining customer loyalty

· make recommendations on how to implement these methods

Prompt:

Based on your preliminary readings and your personal ideas and experiences engage in a discussion with the other members of your group about the elements of customer loyalty and effective marketing strategies.  Consider the things you think should be included in your presentation and negotiate things that you feel can be eliminated. Support your findings with research and precedent.  During your discussions, your group should be identifying patterns of similarities and agreement, as well as outliers. You may have to convince others in your group that an element should be included, even if others don’t immediately agree. This is part of the collaborative process. As you begin to formulate the basis for your presentation, assign tasks and roles to members of the group. You can choose a project manager to do this or decide as a team.

The first part of the presentation should provide a brief background of the company and a description of the product/service and its major competition. The second part of the presentation is descriptive. As much as possible, describe the product’s current marketing strategy (objectives, target segment(s), value proposition) and implementation (marketing mix).

Find one or two peer-reviewed resources on: Customer Relationship Management; Attracting and Retaining Customers; Building Loyalty; Win-Backs, Creating Long-term Loyalty Relationships; Customer Perceived Value; or Building Customer Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty. Incorporate the concepts listed below into your presentation.

· Provide an analysis of the current marketing and implementation strategy for your product or service with recommendations for improvement (unless you think it is perfect already, which is highly unlikely)

· Explain why customer retention is important to your business and provide five customer retention strategies that may benefit your business. (My part).

· Identify the factors that you would take into consideration to determine the prices of your products or services.

· Determine important strategic benefits of brand loyalty that seem most appropriate to your small firm.

· Determine the key factors that influence customer loyalty after their initial purchase

Your final presentation is due in Unit 7. All presentations should also, include a title page (listing the name of all group members and Instructor’s details, Date etc), a reference page, and a group page indicating the role(s) of each team member.

By the end of this unit, you should have a working outline for your group presentation on customer loyalty and be able to divide the research and slide creation among the members of the group.

Your presentation content should look professional.  Check all content for grammar, spelling and to be sure that you have properly cited all resources (in APA format) used in the creation of the presentation. 

Purdue University’s Online Writing LAB (OWL) is a free website that provides excellent information and resources for understanding and using the APA format and style. The OWL website can be accessed here:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01