1. Looking at the IBM case below identify how the company established a level of customer service which is appropriate to its markets? And discuss how building good customer service level can be employed to gain competitive advantage through understanding customer buyer behaviour. (50 Marks)

IBM and its development of the total sales programme IBM says that it sells solutions, not products. - Inviting the contact and others in the In doing this, the company concentrates company to visit IBM's factories to look at upon gaining - and retaining - the cus projects that may be of interest tomer's confidence from the moment of con- - Sending out articles, newsletters and tact through until well after the sale has house magazines. been made. One result of this is that long. - Ensuring that IBM's service engineers and term relationships are established, repeat systems specialists channel back informa. purchases are guaranteed, and the likelihood tion gained when working at the cus- of post-purchase dissonance is reduced so tomer's plant so that as full a picture as that it is to all intents meaningless. Some of possible is built up of the client's needs. the ways in which this is done are listed - The development of 'account planning below: sessions' in which IBM, together with the customer, draw up an action plan for - Inviting the customer contact and other the next few years, covering the systems members of the company to conferences and products that the customer may and seminars that may be useful to them. need. Often these seminars feature major inter- - Ensuring a regular and worry-free rela national figures tionship is developed and maintained. Inviting the contact to visit prestigious CUS torrers who have successful IBM installations. Source: adapted from Duro (1989)