Market Segmentation: How to Do It and How to Profit from It, Revised and updated 4th Edition

Chapter 15

Using segmentation to improve performance – a case study

Summary

This chapter contains a case study written by a company that has applied segmentation to their business. Although the case is based on the supply of services to business customers, it contains insights that are of interest to all companies, regardless of what they supply or to whom they supply it.

This chapter is organized as follows:

• GlobalTech – developing service support for high-tech products

The real identity of the company has been disguised and, where necessary, the company has modified any commercially sensitive data.

Additional case studies can be found at www.marketsegmentation.co.uk.

GlobalTech

This case study describes the use of market segmentation to assist in the development of a service product. Customer requirements were captured via qualitative research and the segmentation was completed through the use of quantitative research. The result was a set of segments that enabled the development of a new approach to delivering service while improving customer satisfaction.

GlobalTech is the fictitious name of a real company marketing high-tech and service products globally. Customers are counted in hundreds of thousands. The markets are mainly business-to-business with a very few large customers buying thousands of items. Service is a major revenue stream measured in billions of dollars. The lessons learnt from this case study could be of interest to any organization having to care for ...