The China Factor

Chapter 11China: Promotion => Customer Relationships and Culture

The general who does not advance to seek glory, or does not withdraw to avoid punishment, but cares for only the people's security and promotes the people's interests is the nation's treasure.

—Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Questions Answered in This Chapter

• The Chinese seem to pay a lot of attention to the customer; it seems a bit over the top. Why do they do this?
• How does my Chinese competitor seem to accumulate so many reference customers over such a short period of time?
• Why does it seem that my Chinese competitor is successful with customers that I fail to please?
• I've noticed a lot of similarities between the advertising of a Chinese company and that of its primary Western competitor—and their campaigns seem to come out around the same time.

Chapter Outline

Customer Relationships

1. Customer Reference Accounts Are Key
2. High-Touch Customer Relationship Model
3. Attaining High Customer Satisfaction
4. Invest in Customers
5. Influence at All Levels
6. Relationships with Greater Intentions (Ulterior Motives)
7. Partnerships to Aid in Market Penetration

Communications

1. Marketing and Conferences
2. Associations and Standards Bodies
3. Brands

As defined earlier, the 4th P, Promotion (Customer Relationships and Culture), refers to the communication of information about a product with the goal of generating a positive customer response. The two key elements of this P that we will focus on in this chapter are the Customer and ...