Ebay

Customer Advocacy at Ebay



Customer Advocacy at Ebay

Introduction

The aim of this article is to develop an understanding on how Ebay put their customers as central component to the foundation of their marketing strategy? To develop the necessary explanations we would explain consumer culture theory. Furthermore, a critique on CRM as an approach for developing and sharing customer insight would be presented with persuasive arguments. Thus the paper would demonstrate an understanding that marketers need to share customer insights within the Ebay to support strategic decision making. This would offer necessary explanations with regards to the ways marketers should use customer insight to become customer advocates in the Ebay and engage in activities that support and respect customers.

Discussion

Customer Advocacy

Customer related issues occupy less than 10% time of board members agenda, a recent survey of large U.S. companies revealed (McGovern et.al, 2004). Thus customer orientation has not been a big forte of large beauracratic organizations. However, those companies who adopt to a mindset focused on customers are thriving. Ebay is one such company, that has built its empire on the basis of customer centric policies, practices and processes. This culture is aptly dubbed at E-bay as 'Customer Advocacy'.

The establishment of customer advocacy is quality products (through TQM, concepts of continuous innovation) and fulfilled customers. Customer advocacy is further backed by relationship marketing which helps companies study enough about every customer to turn into that individual's backer. Ebay has implemented these very pronounced strategies to gain and maintain sufficient traction in the business markets (Urban, 2004).

The Elements of Customer Advocacy

The way to an advocacy procedure is that an Ebay should come to be dependable in the eyes of its customers. To realize that, Ebay may as well recognize the accompanying eight variables:

Transparency

To improve trust-based relationships, Ebay should come to be more transparent to customers, supplying them with genuine and open data (Urban, 2004).

Quality of Products and Services

Without quality companies can never genuinely suggest their own particular product lines creating challenging for them to increase trust of customer.

Product Comparison

Indeed, when an Ebay has amazing product. Their merchandise will probably not be the best decision for each conceivable customer. For an advocacy technique to succeed Ebay must be eager to tell prospective customers when they may as well rather recognize a contender's offerings.

Alignment of Incentives

Customers are suspicious of any motivations that a dealer may have, and they are unrealistic to trust an Ebay ...