Brainstorm: Smaller world, bigger market
JavaJoy, Inc. was founded by Hank Sanchez in 1980
By Patrick Darnell
Marketing Research Practices
Introduction
Ownership and operations at JavaJoy Inc have been sole responsibility of the owner Mr. Sanchez. First order of business is to wrestle some of the marketing responsibilities from the owner/operator, and put them into a vision statement for a strategic marketing team. This division of labor should free up some time for Mr. Sanchez to continue on his mission of providing premium ongoing brewing excellence; Brewing mastery for the Next Generation. Numerous missions for the new marketing efforts are based on the owner’s vision of brewing success as basis for growth.
Machines and apparatuses of brewing coffee are not proprietary, and probably not patented. Any device can be reverse engineered by competitors, and international knock-off artists. Mr. Sanchez’s generational process is the knowledge basis of JavaJoy Inc and is locked in the owners’ mind. The process must be further winnowed and nurtured. The process for exacting excellence in coffee brewing is after all the patentable part that belongs solely to Mr. Sanchez and JavaJoy Inc.
This discussion attempts to apply some marketing adjustments to state of affairs at JavaJoy Inc. A recent issue of VAR Business Magazine, November 13, 2006 discusses expected return on investment of some CRM decisions being made today. Also, articles discuss some anticipated growth percents for next year’s resellers. Also, the paper tries to unlock potentials of capturing market share by introducing research.
Initially JavaJoy’s new marketing manager will find indicators that identify accelerated growth. Data will then be used to build a framework for additional research in identifying customer desires. As a final point, market research will determine a path for the consolidation of the efforts of JavaJoy to enable entry into vertical markets successfully.
Discussion One
1. Is the shift in the coffee market an opportunity for accelerated growth?
Assumption: The direction of JavaJoy Inc is similar to typical trends, and is veering “toward service industry, because of its reputable brewing, and customer base, and is expected to increase in revenues [up to] 14% in the next twelve months” (Gonsalves, Chris; November 13, 2006).
Idea 1: Determine which internet technologies are evolving in 2006, and predetermine a quality standard based on the service end of sales, and stiffen for accelerated growth in the field service industry. Provide resources and budget for ongoing refinement of knowledge as it applies to a framework and model for growth and consolidation.
Reasons for Java Joy to expand research efforts in defining field services in an accelerated growth market:
>Twenty year history with best brewing customer services and products
>Family business with healthy growth history, generational rewards
>Brewing technology high end, excellent,
According to a recent survey by Aberdeen Group, 88% of best-in-class service organizations view the connection between the field and back office as a top strategic priority. If [JavaJoy Inc] doesn’t already have some type of communication solution in place — such as calling [field agents] via cell phones or a scheduling and optimization field service data solution — it will soon. But [JavaJoy Inc] solution can be more than just connectivity between the field and the office. [JJI] can leverage complementary technologies to make the most of its investment (Chapin, Khristen; October 2006).
Therefore, Rep Team-building will be the priority for JavaJoy headquarters. Market adjustments will be delivered by those field groups, such as resellers, specifying engineers, chains and restaurateurs. Whereas JavaJoy “markets directly to medium and large restaurant chains that maintain technical staffs who specify equipment like brewers, with the next step in market evolution is to replicate its success in “other vertical [markets]” (Task Detail; 2006).
An excellent supporting idea comes from Douglas Kern, partner and president of Thoughtful, Inc. “And it’s not just technology ...we offer professional services, sales and marketing help for our partners. We’re even venture capitalists,” says Kern. Thoughtful, Inc is “seeing record growth in businesses from ...discrete, proprietary systems to dot-Net-based integrated solutions (November 13, 2006, p 44).”
Christopher L. Smith, owner of Kettle Moraine Web & Consulting Services, Dousman, WI says “Beyond the current need for security, his own customers’ desire for growth, fuels opportunities for him, first in consulting and later in IT services” (November 13, 2006, p 46).
JavaJoy Inc will be able to draw some ideas for revenue and growth from “state of the market surveys” for Business 2 Business, Business 2 Customer and Business to Government/ Education now being published in most end-of-the-year issues of 2006 business periodicals. Essentially, shift in the coffee market means growth for JavaJoy Inc.
Discussion Two
2. Is the shift in the coffee market a problem of retaining [good customers]?
Assumption: Customer Relations are not “fully” managed, and could be improved at all levels of operations. A vital element is missing in Customer Relations Management.
Idea 2: Begin Snail Mail campaign with US Post Office to send surveys and samples. Every reseller and specifying agent in its supply chain will have a sample of the JavaJoy Inc perfection in brewing. Then work to “find out where they [customers] want to be in the next year, two years, and three years versus their competitors. That’s what leads to the discussion of technologies and products,” says Christopher L. Smith of Kettle Moraine Web & Consulting Services.
In order to identify missing elements in CRM, follow up is to be done by agents, representatives, resellers, while headquarters supports and feeds base operations. Its mission is to gather as much “subsurface customer data as possible.” This implicit information will be added to CRM database to give whole picture spread of what JavaJoy Inc customers are expecting.
Those willing to “travel outside comfortable business locales and trudge through ...plants [and end-user establishments] stand to reap the most rewarding and long-standing engagements in the channel (Gonsalves, Chris; November 13, 2006).
Customer loyalty is too easily lost from year to year. This kind of information is locked in the minds of field personnel, who most need access to broader, “subsurface customer information.” For the ensuing five years ahead, the ambition is sharing with all agents’ the implicit knowledge of market rhythm, patterns and desires that most help to grow fertile coffee brewing opportunities for JavaJoy Inc, and all its entities.
By means of questions, Home office and field-operations groups determine consumer loyalty:
>Where does your group want to be this time next year?
>What technology will best cover lost ground?
>Is “ubiquitous CRM” actually “lifting [customer] visibility to everyone in” JavaJoy Inc (Lee, Dick; 1/31/2003)?
>As sellers of complex products and customer-service what share of the market can JavaJoy Inc expect next year?
>What is a good basis for team-building in the trenches?
>How can the JavaJoy Inc marketing policies suppress the modern quandary: “Today, if you can’t solve the problem, you can’t keep the customer” (Lee, Dick; 1/31/2003)?
>What are JavaJoy Inc customers “expecting us to make full use of our staff experience and expertise to craft solutions” for them?
>Do JavaJoy Inc customers require energetic, fastidious no slack added determination by us to “resolve difficult problems for them” (Lee, Dick; 1/31/2003)?
>Do you consider consolidation, such as merger and acquisition, as a method for reaching wider ranges of customers, including obscure and hard to reach end-users?
Discussion Three: Consolidation
3. A “shift in the coffee market” of 1990’s to present can be described as a microcosm of sort, linking the “improved brewing processes to accelerated growth.”
Assumption: Coffee consumption does not define itself in the typical market sense. Most of the contributions to the accelerating coffee market are a result of turning a good olfactory stimulus that tastes bad, as a bad tasting stimulus, to a good tasting stimulus that also smells good.
Idea 3: Brewed coffee actually does not taste as good as it smells, unless brewed in a patented way and doctored up for the taste test. That special job belongs to Mr. Sanchez and JavaJoy Inc. He has high end brewing equipment and process to achieve good tasting, good aroma corollary. Success in brewing means good margins in end-user category. But initial investment in equipment and process may cause margin problems at JavaJoy in the long run.
But what will determine the best route for JavaJoy Inc depends on what sort of regularity it is looking for: and there are certain regularities human individuals anticipate. Rhythms of desire, or, of fatigue, what some might call biological clocks, has revealed to many businesses a path for growth or decline. Complaints recur at rhythmic intervals, as the resellers of JavaJoy technology and services know all too well.
Questions for upper management to ask of themselves:
>Are we willing to decentralize our knowledge base, and publish to our resellers?
>How much will we share, or invest, in our business partnerships starting now?
>What today are General Economic Conditions at present...? In context of:>>Price sensitivity, >>Retail outlets patronized, >>Buyer preferences
>Will we have a mastery of product consumption habits and consumption of related product categories after we invest in our expansion of body of knowledge?
>Will we achieve in five years, or earlier, the obvious: “being able to provide a greater breadth and depth of products and services to a wider range of customers” (McEachern, Christina; 2006, p 46)?
>In context of time, net present values, and budgets: “We don’t want to make a $10 million purchase if it takes 10 years to pay off. A reasonable time of three to five years makes economic sense,” says McEachern, quoting John Varel CEO of FusionStorm (McEachern, Christina; 2006, p 46)?
>Is the legal environment at the firm tolerant to merger and acquisition as a faster route to making JavaJoy Inc more rounded in its offerings, to “complement current value proposition and enhance the benefits we can offer clients” (McEachern, Christina; 2006, p 46)?
The sheer number of small and midsize solution providers has climbed to staggering heights in the United States, and that could be reason enough for market consolidation. With dwindling product margin and the move to a service-based model in the channel, many of the little guys just can’t scale their infrastructure or their offerings to effectively compete (McEachern, Christina; November 13, 2006)
Conclusion
If we ask the decision-maker what he, Mr. Sanchez, wants to focus on in the market research, I am certain he wants to continue to perfect his brewing process. He will also divulge that he wants his officers to focus on symptoms of markets, and give missions to the various resellers. These deliverables will make advertising, pricing strategies and introducing of new products and services more enticing to customers over the next five years. Marketing Management looks forward to achieving results through conclusive descriptive cross-sectional research across the firm’s entire representative structure.
Data collection and preparation will help owner and officers alike address the rather tumultuous question to merge, acquire, or to not. A tough decision is narrowed with research that tapers the customers’ expectations.
Editing, reducing, summarizing, looking for patterns, and applying statistical techniques to data will provide advanced knowledge of customer segments, and loyalty. The lasting benefits from the market research are in confirming which vertical markets JavaJoy Inc should track and tackle.
References
Chapin, Khristen; (October 2006) Integrated Solutions, Three Steps to Field Service Success, retrieved date: 15 November 2006 WesP CorryPub %20PDFs ISM06
CTUOnline; (November 15, 2006) Task List; MKT350 03 0604B Marketing Research Practices,
Gonsalves, Chris; (November 13, 2006) State of the Market, don’t be chicken, VARBusiness, article p 42
Lee, Dick; (1/31/2003) CRM: Three Steps Forward, One Step back, but new “Expertise Automation” Technology recovers lost ground, High-Yield Marketing retrieved date: 15 November 2006
McEachern, Christina; (November 13, 2006) Gobble, Gobble, mergers and acquisitions heat up in the channel, VARBusiness, article p 46
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