1. New window in business co-operation and
fundraising – creating a new business model
for non-profit organization
Anni Rintanen
Antti Kaunisto
Saad Jamil
Christian Kahl
1
2. Table of Contents
1. Introduction................................................................................................................ 3
1.1 Goals & Project Team.....................................................................................3
1.2 Methods & Limitations...................................................................................3
2. Current situation.........................................................................................................4
2.1 Surveys............................................................................................................4
2.2 Workshops.......................................................................................................6
3. Theory and Framework: McKinsey 7S model........................................................... 7
4. Strategies.................................................................................................................. 10
4.1 Social media..................................................................................................10
4.2 Guerilla marketing........................................................................................ 11
4.3 Advertising....................................................................................................14
4.4 Email marketing ...........................................................................................14
4.5 Pricing ..........................................................................................................15
4.6 Possibility for donor to choose the subject of donation................................15
4.7 Donating money to FRC’s activities in a daily market ................................16
4.8 Bundled product and service combinations.................................................. 17
4.9 Visibility & Findability ................................................................................ 17
4.10 FRC Application ........................................................................................ 18
4.11 Organizational culture and commitment ....................................................19
5. Aftersales service CRM............................................................................................20
5.1 Strategic considerations................................................................................ 20
5.2 Strategic focus...............................................................................................21
5.3. Configuration structure................................................................................ 22
5.3.1 Customer Service..............................................................................22
5.3.2 Management Services.......................................................................23
5.4 IT Integration................................................................................................ 23
6. Appendix ................................................................................................................. 25
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................31
2
3. 1. Introduction
1.1 Goals & Project Team
Main goal of the project is to seek for novel ways of addressing complex business and
organizational design related problems to improve sales, communication and overall
consumer satisfaction for FRC Hame district.
Our project team consisted of international and multicultural team members. It was
helpful as we all had different ideas which contributed well to this project. Details of
project team is mentioned in the below table:
Name Email Phone
number
University Student
number
Ch. Kahl puzzlebox@inbox.com - - -
Anni
Rintanen
anni_rintanen@hotmail.com 0407773553 University of
Tampere
91368
Saad Jamil
Saad.jamil@tut.fi
0417003467 Tampere
University of
Technology
223998
Antti
Kaunisto
antti.s.kaunisto@tut.fi 050-3520872 TUT 219028
1.2 Methods & Limitations
In order to reach the goal of the project we used several methods which are mentioned
below:
• Surveys
• Workshops
• Online research
First, surveys were done in order to know the feedback from the people about the
FRC products and the type of people attending first aid courses. Second, workshops
were done in order to know more about FRC as an organization, its operations and
working culture. Last, online research was done in order to find innovative solutions
for FRC.
While using these methods we encountered some limitations as well. They are
mentioned below:
• Limited number of participants in the surveys.
• Limited statistical information availability from FRC.
• Very wide project scope.
3
4. 2. Current situation
2.1 Surveys
During the Demola-project, we made two different kinds of surveys. The goal of these
surveys was to gather more information in support to our analysis. Next we will
present the two surveys and their most important findings. You can find the surveys as
a whole in appendix.
Finnish Red Cross Survey
Goal and methods
The aim of our first questionnaire was to find out how well people know FRC’s
products and distribution channels and what do they think about FRC’s products’
attributes and FRC’s brand. Everyone was free to answer to this survey. Only
requirement was that person should live in Tampere region.
Survey was organized in Demola premises alongside the first pitching event. In
addition we made an online version of survey using “Survey Monkey” tool. We
shared a link to our online survey in Facebook, where all of our friends from Tampere
region were able to answer.
In total, we got 49 answers. We have separated answers into two different groups:
natives and non-natives as non-natives’ knowledge about FRC and its products was
clearly poorer than those of natives. Here are the key results of both respondent
groups (natives and non-natives):
Main results concerning native respondents
The survey revealed that people don’t have very precise idea about the products that
FRC is selling. Quite few had ever bought FRC’s products. A little over one-fifth of
participants had participated to FRC's course. Almost same amount of respondents
said that they hadn’t participated to courses or bought FRC products because they
haven’t got any information about them.
The most common answer to the question “what changes do you suggest that can
improve FRC products” was “more visibility”. Improving FRC’s products visibility is
definitely one of the main issues we have to focus on during the project.
People seemed quite often feel that they don’t need FRC’s products or courses.
However it seems strange that people think that they don’t need first aid skills or
products. This lead us to think that maybe there is a general illusion among people
that nothing bad ever happens to them?
People didn’t know very well where to buy the FRC products. One third knew that
products could be purchased via internet. Some knew that Häme District office is also
selling them but very few know where the office is situated. Also people didn’t seem
4
5. to notice that some products are sold in daily markets. As a conclusion, people should
be better informed also about distribution channels.
When asking what animal would FRC be and why, all attributes associated to chosen
animals were positives. FRC was associated very often with warmth, strength and
helpfulness; it was especially compared to a dog that is near to people. This let us to
conclude that FRC’s brand is strong in people’s minds.
Main results concerning foreign respondents
Most of the foreign respondents had absolutely no idea about FRC’s products or
courses and no one had ever bought a FRC product or participated to a course. Also
distribution channels were very unfamiliar to them. Foreigners had lived in Tampere
an average for 1.4 years. This may also explain their unfamiliarity with FRC’s
products. In future, the needs and interests of this group could be studied in order to
find out whether it would be profitable to start to target more marketing at this group.
All tough FRC’s products were unfamiliar among foreigners, all attributes associated
to chosen animals were positives. This let us come to a conclusion that Finnish Red
Cross have a good brand. Interesting point was that among the foreigners Finnish
animals were especially emphasized.
First aid course survey
Goal and methods
Second survey was made in order to find out who are this people attending to FRC’s
first aid courses. We wanted to know why they came, how they heard about the course
and how did they like it. We were also interested to know how they would like FRC to
contact them in future.
The questionnaire was carried out in Häme District’s first aid course, which was held
on 2. of May. 13 first aid course participants, 7 females and 5 males, answered to the
survey.
Main results
Regarding the answers, there were no significant differences between males’ and
females’ answers. At least 12 of 13 participants, meaning almost everyone, were sent
to course by their employers. From this basis, we can come to a conclusion that this is
the biggest reason why people in general participate to the course. By increasing the
marketing of FA courses to individual people, we could also get more individual
participants involved.
Many participant checked coming first aid courses on internet. This fact accents that it
is important that customer can find the company and its services easily when using a
search engine (for example Google). It is also important that enrolment for courses is
made easy.
5
6. People’s experiences from the course were really good. Participants felt that trainer
was professional and especially exercises were found useful. Thus, the product itself
is considered to be high-quality and necessary.
4 respondents from 7 considered email to be the best way for FRC to contact them.
This would be cost-effective way also for Häme District to stay in contact with
already existing clients.
2.2 Workshops
During our project we also organized two workshops in order to get better idea about
Häme District as a company and also in order to get to know better its functions and
working culture.
In our first workshop, there were six participants. During one hour and half we had
discussion about organizational culture, commitment, informational monopoly and
business model canvas.
Generally staff seemed to be quite happy with their current jobs. Regarding customer
relationships, staff underlines the importance of visibility and warm client service.
Clear goals, good strategy and right attitude towards customers are seen as a key for
effective business. Staff feels that good, easy to get and reasonably priced
products/services, company’s trustworthy actions and ethical values can bring value to
customer.
Some things that staff wanted to change were course structures, realization of product
selling and also employers’ attitudes: working more together for the same goal and
spreading joy and excitement. Documentation and findability of information and also
information sharing should be improved.
In our second workshop we were talking about FRC’s organizational goals,
fundraising and customer relationship management. 4 staff members were present in
this meeting.
Staff would like especially companies to participate more to first aid courses and have
holistic knowledge and tools for first aid issues. At the moment Häme District lacks
systematic ways to approach the clients. Main challenge regarding fundraising is the
declining number of company memberships. Marketing and visibility were recognized
as important factors of improving sales figures. Visibility of products and sales
channels should be improved: very few knows the location of Häme District or even
that there is shop as well where you can buy FRC products. Marketing should be done
in an ethical way, it is obvious that scaring people is not an option.
Staff knew that people tend to buy more first aid products in a certain context.
Especially during the first aid courses people become more aware of importance of
having first aid tools and knowledge.
6
7. 3. Theory and Framework: McKinsey 7S model
This chapter is presenting the conceptual model. Generally speaking, the approaches
outlined in chapter 4 are more or less in direct relationship with marketing. Chapter 5
presents customer relationship management aspects in more detail. The model is
supposed to clarify these issues and help in implementation so that they can be put
into practice daily, in operational level. You can view these tactics as different forms
of competitive advantages which are developed over time, in over to implement
overall your overall strategy (to help those in need). Framework used here for
clarification of concepts and their interrelations is McKinsey 7S -model
.
As picture shows, 7S stands for Strategy, Structure, Systems (hard S’s) and Skillls,
Staff, Style and Shared values (soft S’s).
Structure: The basic theory underlying structure is simple. Structure divides tasks and
then pro- vides coordination. [13]
Strategy: It is, or ought to be, an organization's way of saying: "Here is how we will
create unique value.". As the company's chosen route to competitive success, strategy
is obviously a central concern in many business situations. [13]
Systems: The procedures, formal and informal, that make the organization go, day by
day and year by year: capital budgeting systems, training systems, cost accounting
procedures, budgeting systems. [13]
Style: Cultural style of organization and how key managers behave in achieving
organizational goals. [13]
7
8. Staff: Staff is often treated in one of two ways. At the hard end of the spectrum, we
talk of appraisal systems, pay scales, formal training programs, and the like. At the
soft end, it is about morale, attitude, motivation, and behavior. [13]
Skills: Distinctive capabilities or core competencies of personnel or of the
organization as a whole. [13]
Shared Values: Guiding concepts--a set of values and aspirations, often unwritten, that
goes beyond the conventional formal statement of corporate objectives. [13]
The McKinsey 7S Framework is a management model and a strategic vision for
groups, to include businesses, business units, and teams. The model is most often used
as a tool to assess and monitor changes in the internal situation of an organization. As
presented earlier in discussion about workshops, there are internal organizational
considerations to be made. Partly due to this reason the framework was chosen.
The model is based on the theory that, for an organization to perform well, these
seven elements need to be aligned and mutually reinforcing. So, the model can be
used to help identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance, or to
maintain alignment (and performance) during other types of change. Objective of the
model is to analyze how well an organization is positioned to achieve its intended
objective.
Whatever the type of change – restructuring, new processes, organizational merger,
new systems, change of leadership, and so on – the model can be used to understand
how the organizational elements are interrelated, and so ensure that the wider impact
of changes made in one area is taken into consideration.
Article [13] outlines how companies have made great strategies which later on turned
out to be useless because they could not be implemented due to the fact that
implementation did not fit in the organizational athmosphere, the fundamental way of
doing things. “Strategy, then, is clearly a critical variable in organization design-but
much more is at work.”
Furthermore, model is emphasizing the importance of interrelatedness of the factors
and the fact that seldom only one thing can be improved in isolation without
improving other factors as well. It’s to be noted that model is only aiming to point out
how factors are related, but it does not tell if factors are equally important. Neither
there is starting point in the model or levels of hierarchy.
However, considering the goals of the project and the analysis made, it can be roughly
said that Strategy, Systems, and Staff are core issues here. Most of our suggestions in
next chapter can be included in Strategy. Still, it is not necessary (or possible) to
categorize these suggestions to fit in model. Nevertheless, the real value of the model
is to use it to help in decision making and to proceed to take action while
remembering holistic nature of things present.
8
9. Example: When considering how to do social media marketing, you might think the
following questions to get the big picture: Who has main responsibility (Staff, Skills)?
How is this helping us to engage with our customers (Strategy)? How is it fitting in
our overall strategy - are we serving, helping, and sharing valuable information and
would people be disappointed if we now stopped contributing (Strategy, Shared
Values)? Do we have sufficient knowledge and tools to implement this (Skills,
Systems)? Do others in organization find this aspect important as well (Shared
Values)?
For more information regarding the McKinsey 7S model the article [13] is highly
recommended.
9
10. 4. Strategies
4.1 Social media
Social media sites such as Facebook, twitter are being used by a large number of
people these days. According to statistics, the global average time that people spend
on social networking sites works out at a huge five and a half hours a month and it’s
increasing exponentially [1]. Some key statistics related to Finland are illustrated in
the below figures:
Figure 1. Facebook statistics [2]
As it can be observed from figures that there a a lot of active users of facebook in
Finland. According to Official statistics of Finland, 2010 there are total of 102280
users in Tampere. Out of which 48040 are men, while 53220 are women [3]. So there
is a lot of potential in this area to attract these users towards Red cross brands. As it is
10
11. a simple and effective strategy which does not require any investment. All you need is
a account on a particular social network and give some time daily with enthusiasm.
Having an active business profile of FRC Hame district on social media networks will
allow users to show interest in Hame district and get regular updates on the
promotions and news. It would also allow Hame district to ask customers and fans
what they think about their product and courses. Based on the feedback Hame district
can make necessary changes via consumer input. Social media marketing will create
public awareness for Hame district which would eventually help in fundraising,
recruit more volunteers and brand management.
First step that we suggest for Hame district would be to be active on facebook and try
to attract more audience on the facebook page. This will require regular effort of
around 5-30 mins a day and posting regularly some important content with pictures,
videos about new products, events, stories of workers and so on. Main idea would be
to build the FRC first aid brand and courses in Hame district. Once the facebook page
is well established, then the second step would be to move on to other social networks
as well like twitter, youtube, LinkedIn. It would be recommended to use platforms
such as hootsuite.com which is a leding social media dashboard to manage multiple
social networks.
Finally, social media is not used for direct selling, but (brand) engagement. Also think
about what is going to be relationship between social media marketing and email
marketing, which will be covered more in detail in chapter 3.4.
4.2 Guerilla marketing
Guerilla marketing is a terrific way to do marketing for (non-profit) small businesses
to get noticed. It is a advertising and promotion strategy that aims to convey an idea
or promote a product with unconventional ways. Examples are stickers or flash-mobs,
group of people in a public place where it is guaranteed to get noticed. In addition,
many guerilla marketing tactics are free and easy to set up and organize which makes
it suitable for a organization that is lacking resources. [14]. Some examples of guerilla
marketing used by some other international Red Cross members are shown in the
pictures below.
11
12. It is unique, cost-effective and easy-to-implement way to be remembered in the minds
of customers. The goal of guerrilla marketing is to create buzz, something people
want talk about. It makes you stand out. In addition, it is suitable for small businesses
not only as a marketing weapon but also as a CRM tool. Small business has a benefit
of getting closer to customer in a ways that big companies can not do. Though guerilla
marketing can be done in different ways, including people is good way for Red Cross
which is doing humane work. This builds trust and increases customer loyalty which
means more (and better) long-term customers.
12
13. Finally, marketing is really inseparable from branding. When you are marketing, you
are building your brand. Showing that there are real people doing meaningful things
helps in getting followers. Though strong brand is important, people still follow
people, not brands. Think about Steve Jobs vs. Apple.
What matters is that your marketing message remains consistent. This means
commitment to specific message, in form of campaign for example. Think about what
you want to say and how, then repeat it. Frequency is important, and mixing messages
in marketing leads to confused customers. That is, make sure your message is
consistent and congruent over time. Medium (approach) can vary if it does not alter
the core message. Furthermore, the smaller group you can target, the better. This can
be slightly counter-intuitive, but never underestimate the word-of-mouth which is
very powerful. People who talk are the best marketers.
Here are suggestions on how RC Häme District could do guerilla marketing and
general guidelines and principles to consider as well. Remember, the best methods
and approaches (in marketing or generally) are the ones that get used consistently
because they are simple enough. Complex usually fails, so you do not need to worry
about all the things that could be possibly done.
Info stand in public place with free demos and guidance
Häme District could organize couple times a year little event in a shopping mall, in a
square or in any other place where there is people. This event would be about
promoting Häme District itself and especially first aid courses and first aid products.
There could be one volunteer who demonstrates how to give first aid if a foreign
object gets stuck in someone’s throat / if someone gets electric shock / if someone get
a deep cut etc. One demo could last only couple of minutes. Passers-by could possibly
participate to the event by trying to give first aid to a special practise doll.
During the event there should be possibility to buy first aid products and register as a
member. There could be also free samples where there could be printed all the points
where you can buy FRC products in Pirkanmaa. Instead of very traditional like
stickers, key holders or calendars free samples could be something surprising, fun and
inline with the season: in winter time hand or toe warmers, scraper to remove ice from
a car window, in summertime little picnic rug or canteen, in autumn time an umbrella
and in spring time daffodil bulbs. One finding in our survey was the fact that many
people think that first aid training and products are something that they don’t need.
Once they stop and watch the professional’s demonstration they may realize that also
they might need that kind of know-how and equipment.
Red Cross helper in the street
There could also be an event where volunteer goes to the city center for a day or just
for a couple of hours simply to help people with their daily chores. Volunteer could
help old people to cross the street, carry their shopping bags to a bus stop, help mother
to lift a baby buggy in the bus, give free samples and talk with passers-by. The idea is
to make Häme District visible, boost FRC’s brand, inform about products and their
distribution channels.
13
14. 4.3 Advertising
Marketing and advertising in right places
In order to advertise effectively, advertisements should be targeted to the right
audience. As FRC organizes for example first aid courses which focus especially on
children’s and babies’ first aid, these kind of courses should be marketed for example
in maternity clinics, baby magazines and in club houses which organizes clubs for
children...
One way to market FRC products and company memberships to enterprises could be
via publications that are targeted at entrepreneurs and management. Print advertising
can be very effective when it is targeted to right audience. [6] So at this case, these
publications should be those targeted at entrepreneurs and management. Häme
District could inform couple times a year about their coming first aid courses and that
way remind entrepreneurs that they should once again arrange FA courses to their
staff. Another way to promote company memberships and FRC products straight to
companies would be during different entrepreneur and business fairs.
Finally, consider using Adwords. This is Google’s service, which is showing your own
ad based on the words used in search engine. Ads can be also targeted on customers
locating in Häme region.
4.4 Email marketing
First, we would suggest you to re-evaluate the importance of telemarketing. From the
organizational side there is little if any control over results as discussed in workshops.
There is certainly possibility that telemarketing yields great short-term results, but in
overall it seems to be ineffective and very uncertain. Our team was in contact with
one Red Cross staff member from metropolitan area who also agreed about
ineffectiveness of telemarketing. There are no absolute answers here, but not all
districts use telemarketing. Instead of telemarketing, we would suggest sticking with
improved email marketing in the long term.
Email-marketing is also highly cost-effective. Especially in the case of B2B
marketing, email is relatively cost-efficient way to market products [7]. While
telemarketing service costs you 1000€/month, even the most advanced email
marketing softwares cost 20€/month. Softwares allow management of subscribers, use
of follow-up autoresponders, different ready-to-use email templates and more. They
often include free trials as well. In addition, return on investment will be better in
email marketing than in telemarketing. Finally, the survey our team conducted shows
that customers also prefer to be contacted via email.
There are different strategies how to approach other companies via email. One
interesting way is to use soft-sell approach and “help” the company by providing
them information that is useful for them. [8]
14
15. 4.5 Pricing
Study conducted by Accenture aims to improve the understanding of FRC’s different
target groups. [9] Almost 5000 respondents answered to the survey in 2009. In the
survey there were mentioned one interesting point about pricing which we thought
would be relevant to point out here. As a rule of thumb, people would be ready to pay
5 - 10 % more for FRC products than for other manufacturer’s corresponding
products. Products should be never priced more than 25 % higher compared to other
manufacturer’s corresponding products.
Using simple math, eventually it is gross sales that makes more difference than high
price, because lowering prices to not to be more than this 10% above corresponding
products is likely to result in increase on sales which means better overall profit.
4.6 Possibility for donor to choose the subject of donation
In the course of second workshop, there was short discussion about whether it would
be more appealing for donor to donate money if he can choose the subject of donation
him or her self. According to Accenture’s research [10], almost half from “open
market respondents” (not respondents who were members or donors) would like to
choose closely the subject of donation. When asked if respondents found important to
support their local FRC’s branch’s fonctions it was widely considered as an object of
low priority. Author of survey suggested that it could be the case because of the
undetermined nature of “FRC’s branch’s functions”. In order to increase the amount
of these donations, donors should be better informed where the money goes.
Would it even be possible for a year member (company and individual) to choose
himself the subject of his donation between all the activities (friendship activity, youth
activity, multiculturalism activity...) available in the branches operating in Häme area?
We think it would be nice idea to give something concrete for the new member as
he/she donates money for branches’ functions. If the donor could choose himself the
subject of his donation, he could be given a little card while registering as a new
member. There could be as many different cards as there are subject of donations.
Each of one would be with different image and there could be a sign “Donate
friendship” or “donate indulgence” etc. The cards could be in a stand and donor could
choose which one he likes. He could take the card to the cashier, and sign up for year
member and keep the card as a souvenir. These cards would be also excellent gift idea
for Christmas gifts, graduation gifts, birthday gifts etc. Card's outlook could we as
suggested below. Texts are added to photos:
15
16. Picture: http://www.uusimaa.fi/kumppanit/spr-porvoo/89629-tervetuloa-ystava-ja-
vapaaehtoistoiminnan-peruskurssille
Picture: http://rednet.punainenristi.fi/monikulttuurinen_ryhma
4.7 Donating money to FRC’s activities in a daily market
Donating money to FRC’s activities in a daily market while other shopping would be
tremendously easy. “Donation cards” (as those above) could be on display in a same
kind of stand as basic cards. If there was a possibility to donate money straight to a
chosen activity (youth activity, friendship activity, multiculturalism…), customer
could choose the subject of donation by choosing the right card which he takes to
cashier. Donation could be “one time” donation (by purchasing a card, donor donates
10 euros for youth activity, friendship activity…) or by purchasing card they could
become year members whose donations are targeted to a specific activity. After
donating money, person could keep the card as a concrete souvenir.
16
17. 4.8 Bundled product and service combinations
Häme District aims to create new products and interesting business collaborations
models. By bundling products, companies can create new offerings to customers.
Bundling products means combining two or more products or services together. By
bundling products and services, company can attract new potential customers,
increase unit sales volume and reduce marketing and distribution costs. [11] Here are
few proposition how Häme District could bundle their products and services also with
other companies.
First aid kits could be combined with first aid courses. In this package there could be
FA kit and gift card to FA course in which customer can enrol via internet. This would
be nice gift idea to almost anyone, young or older person because everyone needs
these skills and FA equipment. Häme District could sell this packages in internet and
also in daily stores.
Häme District could collaborate with other companies and bundle packages for
example for young people turning to the age of majority, moving to their own flat,
graduating etc. This packages could be kind of “survival packages”. They could
include following things: FRC’s first aid course and FA kit, self defense course, a
course where young people get to know about their rights as tenant and worker... This
kind of package would also be excellent and very useful gift idea: everyone needs
these skills and equipment so it will never be useless.
FRC organizes for example first aid courses which focus especially on children’s and
babies’ first aid. To attract more little children’s parents to participate, there could be a
package which includes FA course, special FA kit for children and also babysitting
during the course. For parents it would be easier to come if the baby sitting is already
organized for them.
4.9 Visibility & Findability
According to Accenture research, general awareness regarding point of sales is weak.
Thus, marketing communications and sales point promotion need improvement. We
also concluded this in our analysis. Store selling has to be maintained and improved
because it still has an important following (especially among older people).
Improvement of store visibility and its operations should be based on preferences of
customers visiting in an office. Feedback system/recording of sale transactions in
office is important.
Visibility and findability go together. Visibility refers rather more to physical store,
while findability can be linked more strongly with internet/online presence. Internet
itself is powerful tool and with the help of it, imago can be built - internet is genuinely
interactive media in this information age. In Internet it is not that much question about
technology, but people. Internet maintains social behaviours and feelings of
togetherness. Thus, marketing has to be adapted to the changes that happen when
behavioural models of people change. The thing is, most of the time (potential)
customers are doing something else than actively looking for information about
services or products. In this case, about Red Cross. So, from a point of a marketer, it is
more important to be found easily instead of being available all the time. [14]
17
18. In the past it used be all about location. Yes, concrete visibility matters a lot. However,
nowadays it’s also question of findability. Findability means how easily some specific
product, brand or individual can be found due to searching process. Products and
information should be findable in right place in right time – in right magazines, right
medias and more and more often in right places on Internet. Company has to be able
to answer in questions that sound simple: What kind of information our customers are
looking for to support their buying decisions? What are they doing on Saturday at 4
pm? [14]
Help your customers to get information about what Red Cross Häme district is doing.
It is important to notice that you should focus on relevant places - medias, magazines,
etc... which are most suitable for you - not to all places. More volume doesn’t
automatically translate to better customer interaction and better sales. So first,
“master” Facebook for example and customer interaction there. You can always do
more – later. Interaction and findability on Internet are especially important, because
today the most basic assumption is that information should be find on internet. If the
company is not found on Internet, it doesn’t exist.
In our survey 83.8 % of respondents who live in Tampere region had no idea where
Häme District office is located although it is situated almost right in the middle of city
center! Few people told that they pass almost every day the FRC office but they have
no idea that here is a shop as well. Already a stand in the street with a welcoming text
like “come and have a look to our selection of Red Cross products! We’ll serve you on
the second floor!” would get people to pay more attention.
Häme District could better attract people’s attention by investing more to their shop
window decoration. You can get even ordinary people involved of designing shop
window’s appearance. Travel agency Thomson organized a Facebook campaign
asking customers to post them their favourite holiday snaps. Best photos were used to
create a large photo mosaic banner in local Thomson shop window at Christmas and
the new year. [12] Häme District could make Facebook campaign asking people to
send their best photos related to FRC’s activities (multiculturalism, young activity,
friendship activity etc). They could for example tell people to send their favourite
snaps of friendship, indulgence... That way FRC’s activities could get attention and
Häme District could get nice photos which could be extended and put in a shop
window. Shop window could be kind of photo gallery also marketing FRC activities.
4.10 FRC Application
In the long run we propose FRC should have its own mobile/tablet app. It is advisable
because more and more companies are having their own apps these days to promote
their products and get more visibility on various app stores. As the smartphones and
tablets are so common these days people prefer to have an app for everything rather
than browsing on the internet. American Red Cross has already developed a first aid
app which can be checked from the following link http://www.redcross.org/mobile-
apps/first-aid-app . We propose that Hame district can get involved with demola for
another project to create a demo of this app.
18
19. This app will help the FRC sales people as well because according to research my
American Marketing Association tablets are helping sales people to close deals much
faster [5]. Some benefits of the use of tablets by sales people include:
• Easy collaboration with buyers and less time required for the right
information.
• Visual display of different FRC products
• Specially in trade shows and fairs tablets are getting more attractive to get
leads as compared to brochures.
4.11 Organizational culture and commitment
According to our analysis of the workshops Häme district should focus on better
communication within the departments and must emphasize on creativity/innovation.
This can be be done if the organizational culture is slowly and gradually move
towards more like that of entrepreneurial working culture which is fast paced and
involves less bureaucracy .
According to Stephen McGuire (2003) “An Entrepreneurial Organizational Culture
(EOC) is a system of shared values, beliefs and norms of members of an organization,
including valuing creativity and tolerance of creative people, believing that innovating
and seizing market opportunities are appropriate behaviors to deal with problems of
survival and prosperity, environmental uncertainty, and competitors' threats, and
expecting organizational members to behave accordingly”. There are six important
elements of entrepreneurial culture:
1. Creative innovation.
2. Cooperation
3. Open innovation.
4. Risk taking.
5. Tolerance for creativity.
6. Accepting criticism.
Few important points that we recommend are :
• It is sometimes helpful to even change the seating arrangement of office.
Perhaps putting an old employee with some new one might better improve
communication and information sharing which results in creativity.
• Häme district should conduct brainstorming session every week where
employees are encouraged to put as much crazy ideas as possible without the
fear of what others would think about it. This will encourage innovation.
• One “creativity or innovation room” should be built by Hame district. As
better facilities result in better ideas.
19
20. 5. Aftersales service CRM
5.1 Strategic considerations
Regarding better sales and general revenue generation considerations customer
satisfaction ranks highest among objectives for FRC. An important consideration for
focusing on customer satisfaction and customer experience is an excessive attention to
revenue generation as an after sales objective. Through the sale of accessories,
bundled product-service combinations, i.e first aid courses in combination with first
aid kits (and vice versa) and an increased focus on direct customer contact there are
significant potentials to identify specific customer needs, setting up contact centers for
customer problem identification and resolution. The lack of customer satisfaction is
also based on a lack of relationship of the FRC to its customers and therefore another
reason for the high fluctuation rates among donators and members. With more
customer satisfaction the FRC could achieve the following objectives:
- Loyal donators and customers are more likely willing to not cancel their membership
or donations, and may also feel more encouraged to participate in the FRC ecosystem
more frequently.
- Committed customers and donators probably use or buy additional services and
products offered by the FRC, which in return can sell those additional services and
products more easily.
- Committed and loyal customers are more likely willing to recommend the FRC
services and products to friends, family members, colleagues and the like and in
return attract potential donators or customers through word-of-mouth and at low costs
for the FRC.
figure 1
20
21. 5.2 Strategic focus
The strategic focus will be implemented through an integrated after sales service
CRM between customers and the FRC district management which is based on an
integrated IT system that supports the complete after sales value chain (Fig. 1). This
after sales service CRM can be seen as an elaborate support infrastructure which is
put in place throughout the FRC services period. This strategic concept can help FRC
to increase customer satisfaction and relationship and to commit them to the Finnish
Red Cross corporation leading to a decreased membership and donations fluctuation,
increased number of memberships and donators, usage of additional services and
products, word-of-mouth recommendation and therefore lower costs of customer
acquisition (Fig. 2).
A customer relationship management offers promising approaches and solutions for
the FRC. The after sales service CRM is hereby focused on three dimensions:
customer service, management service and IT integration for monitoring and
reporting. Regarding this strategy approach the following aspects should also be of
consideration:
- Market segmentation: The FRC health service market needs to be segmented in
more detail with emphasis on specific customers to build up a long term and focused
customer relationship.
- Price strategy: Orientation of the pricing strategy on combined service-product
offers, i.e. first aid course plus first aid kit.
- Cooperation: Realignment of existing collaborations, in particular with the market
participants of the after sales market to bridge customer services with management
services to best address customer needs and issues.
21
22. 5.3. Configuration structure
5.3.1 Customer Service
To improve sales through a customer driven organisation it is necessary to invest in
people to underline this approach. The addressing of specific and general customer
needs through an after sales CRM can be fully implemented in FRC front and back
end services.
5.3.1.1 Customer classification:
• Manufacturing/Process Industry like the Finnish Forest Industry
• Mining/Construction
• Public-sector corporations
• Hospitality
• All sizes of companies
• End-user
5.3.1.2 Front End Service:
• Counseling, guidance and conversation.
• Trainer network of competent trainers with health care related background.
• Training services with up-to-date contents.
5.3.1.3 Back End Service:
• Payment and donations handling.
• Information and Content Management.
5.3.1.4 Channels:
• Sales staff, product and service sales specialists.
• Internet and Online Services: Info channel - get more information online,
references, stories, news and contacts. Sales channel - buy online for course
registration, courseware, products and components. E-mail newsletter -
promotion of events, topics, courses and advertising for those.
• Contact Center staff inbound and outbound promoting follow-up offers and
additional services.
• Customer Relationship Management: Update customers and contacts.
• Mailings for special topics, invitations, further education, trainings, info days
etc.
22
23. 5.3.2 Management Services
5.3.2.1 Revenue Generation Management:
Cross-/up-selling through additional service offerings, i.e. posting trainings in local
course databases, providing all course participants information about follow-up
courses, sending reminder, cross sell courseware/training kits and contact participants
and the FRC trainers via contact center, offering special promotion packages or
training bundles or special training quotas for specific target customers, creating
special target group oriented trainings and distribute them via direct marketing
(mailings, newsletter...)
5.3.2.2 Product Management:
Lifecycle management for the preservation of FRC health service related knowledge
in case of changing jobs and customer needs. Feedback to products and services helps
analysing customer behaviour concerning their reasons for FRC products and courses
and offer valuable insights for customized of trainings and product/service bundleing
packages. Organisation of new trainings with internal FRC participants help to test the
acceptance of the trainings with the target audience, inspire and motivate FRC
trainers/staff and ensure overall course quality.
5.3.2.3 Partner Management:
Networking with families, partners as well as the other FRC districts is vital for a
civic organization like the FRC. We advise the FRC districts to strongly operate with
partners to enhance the health service competence in the market without investing in
own resources and to decrease advertising and acquisition costs (engage by win-win
situations). Apply for local fundings in relation with the FRC districts.
For a country specific partnership we emphasize a cooperation with local partners,
institutions, ministerials as well as families and other FRC districts. For the direct
market we advise to go for sales partner for each individual district such as S-Market
Tampere, located universites and driving schools. Also for promotion and marketing
related networking we advise to go for promotion partner for each individual district.
Furthermore external partners such as partner companies and dealer. Cooperation with
associations and training institutions may increase the range of courses offered outside
from FRC locations.
5.4 IT Integration
A major challenge for a profitable growth of the FRC organisation and the after sales
related CRM is to professionally communicate with potential customers and donators
by means of an an up-to-date FRC customer database. The management and care
about customer data is critical for all customer related analysis and segmentation.
Centralized data warehouses help improving the overall customer segmentation
process and maintanance of customer data. Only up-to-date and relevant customer
information help to focus on the right customers.
23
24. Monitoring: Optimisiation of selected customer segments and selected measures
through a continous results evaluation and monitoring.
Reporting: To permanently improve the performance of the FRC corporation each
service is measuerd by performance indicators.
Aftersales service CRM implementation plan
24
25. 6. Appendix
Tips for increasing daily productivity:
• The Not-To-Do list: 9 Habits to Stop Now. The Blog of Tim Ferriss.
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/08/16/the-not-to-do-list-9-
habits-to-stop-now/
• Productivity. Lifehack. http://www.lifehack.org/productivity
• 10 Laws of Productivity. 99u. http://99u.com/articles/6585/10-laws-of-
productivity
Finnish Red Cross survey
Natives’ answers:
36 people, 20 males and 16 females answered to our questionnaire. Their average age
was 25 years. On average, they had lived in Tampere for 11.8 years.
Products
50 % of respondents knew that first aid kits and first aid consulting can be bought
from FRC. 19.9 % was aware that FRC sells household and general used items. 16.7
% had some idea what could be bought from FRC. 27.8 % of respondent didn’t have
any idea about the products that FRC is selling.
22.2 % of respondents had enrolled FRC’s course and 11.1 % had bought FRC’S
products. Reasons to participate to FRC’s course were followings: the course was part
of studies, it was enrolled through a hobby (scout) or employer sent his employees
there. One respondent thought that course would improve her possibilities to get a
summer job. Couple of respondents who had bought FRC’s products announced that
they like to support FRC’s values.
Most common reason for those who hadn’t participated to courses or hadn’t bought
products was that there was no need for those kinds of products or courses (36.1 % of
respondents). Second common reason was that they had no information about courses
and products (19.4 % of respondents). Other reasons were hurry, lack of money and
also that courses’ prices were considered to be too high (5.6 %).
22.2 % would improve FRC’s products by adding visibility. 5.6 % would improve
product quality. 5.6 % would decrease products’ prices. One respondent thought that
there is a need for innovative and cheap way to market FRC. One respondent
suggested that being ecologic would improve FRC products.
25
26. Distribution channels
33.3 % of respondents knew that products can be bought from internet. 13.9 % of
respondents were aware that Häme District office sells products. Though 83.3 % had
no idea where the office is situated. 5.6 % knew that products are sold during different
kinds of happenings. One respondent would directly give a call to FRC in order to buy
products. Only one respondent could tell that some general stores sell FRC products.
38.9 % of native respondents didn’t know where to buy FRC’s courses and products.
For almost half of respondents (44.4 %) internet is the easiest way to purchase
products. 27.8 % of respondents favored some kind of physical store. 13.9 % would
like it to be their daily market. For one person happenings would be the easiest way to
purchase FRC products.
Competition
22.2 % of respondents have bought first aid products from some other company apart
from Red Cross. These products were bought from private pharmacies, from Motonet
and Biltema and from online store Varuste.net.
Brand
When asking what animal would FRC be and why, all attributes associated to chosen
animals were positives. Here are the answers:
-A bird, you can fly the help there where it is needed
-Squirrel
-Beaver: works in a durable manner. Their constructions are strong as Red Cross
-Kangaroo: lifts those people who needs help
-Cow, so daily that you don’t even realize its existence, partner in a daily life
-Dog: trustworthy and helpful x 2
-Dog, near to people in bad times
-Dog, it has been considered for a while as human’s best friend, safe and helper.
-Berhandin dog: brings help to those who need it. Massive and gentle
-Berhandin dog
-Pandas they are sweet
-A horse
-Lion strong and warm
-Cow. It is mild and modest gregarious animal, who produces good, for example by
producing milk.
-Swan. It matches with the helping thinking.
-Goldfish because of the color.
Foreigner’s answers:
26
27. 13 foreigners, 8 males and 5 females responded to our questionnaire in Demola
premises. Their average age was 25.3 years. On average they had lived in Tampere for
1.4 years.
Products
84.6 % of respondent didn’t have any idea about the products that FRC is selling. One
respondent had vague idea about the products and only one person of 13 respondents
knew that first aid kits and first aid consulting can be bought from FRC.
None of the respondents had bought FRC’s product or enrolled to FRC’s course. The
main reason for that was that they had never heard about courses or products (46.2 %
of respondents). Other explications were that respondents didn’t have need or time for
products and courses and they found that there wasn’t information available about
them in English. 15.4 % of respondents suggested that better marketing would be a
formula for better products.
Distribution channels
84.6 % of respondents didn’t know how to buy FRC’s products. 7.7 % was aware of
existence of online store. 7.7 % knew that there was a local market where you could
find those products.
For most of respondents (41.7 %) easiest way to purchase a product is an online store.
15.4 % of respondents suggested pharmacy to be simplest option. 7.7 % would
consider easiest to buy FRC products from their frequently visited shop.
For foreigners Häme District office’s location was very unfamiliar. Only one
respondent knew where to find it.
Competition
Only one respondent had bought first aid products from other company apart from
Red Cross. Those products were bought from pharmacy.
Brand
When asking what animal would FRC be and why, all attributes associated to chosen
animals were positives. This let us come to a conclusion that Finnish Red Cross have
a good brand. Interesting point was that among the foreigners Finnish animals were
especially emphasized. Here are the answers:
-Crab: it is red and has thick armor: good defense
-Reindeer: typical Finnish animal
-Phoenix: they are intense
-Reindeer: Finnish and harmless
-Swan: national Finnish animal
-Beaver: smart
-Polar bear: Finnish
-Squirrel: fast, cute, harmless, typical Finnish animal
-Bee: work hard and help other people
27
28. -Monkey: caring
First aid course survey
Here are the answers of first aid course survey in Finnish. Answers are divided
according to sex.
Naiset
Ikä: 53, 44, 53, 33, 35, 38, 24
Keskimäärin: 40
Ammatti: sairaanhoitaja, myyjä, projektityö, myyjä, viittomakielentulkki, ohjaaja,
lähihoitaja
Elämäntilanne:
– Työskentelee yhdistyksessä ikäihmisten palvelujen parissa. Aikuiset lapset, vapautta
tehdä ihan omia juttuja.
– Opiskeluikäinen poika asuu opintopaikkakunnalla. Iäkkäät vanhemmat, joita
avustaa ainoana lapsena. Parisuhde.
– Työelämässä, entinen sairaanhoitaja, nyt projektitöissä enemmän toimistotöissä.
Perhe, aikuiset lapset.
– Avoliitossa, 1 lapsi 5 vuotta.
– Työssäkäyvä, yksinasuva (kokoaikatyö).
– Avioliitossa, 2 lasta.
– Töissä, osti juuri kolmion poikaystävän kanssa.
Harrastuksen ja vapaa-aika:
– Luonto, eläimet, lukeminen.
– luonto, retkeily, matkailu, mökkeily, tanssi, ystävien tapaaminen.
– Liikunta, lukeminen, puutarhanhoito.
– Ulkoilua, pojan kanssa touhuilua ja ystävien kanssa oleilua.
– Urheilu.
– Ulkoilu, käy jumpassa, ystävien tapaaminen ja työ.
– Käy työn ohella koulua. Vapaa-aikaa rajoitetusti. Kuntosali.
Innostunut juuri nyt:
– Matkailu, liikunta, mökkeily, työ.
– Retkeily, mökin kunnostaminen.
– Kesämökki hakusessa.
– Keväästä, tulevasta kesälomamatkasta.
– Urheilu, matkustaminen.
– Itseni hyvinvoinnista, matkailusta..
– Kesän tulosta, kodin rempasta, lomasuunnitelmista.
Miksi osallistuit kurssille:
– Päivittää ensiaputietous, joka on päässyt vanhenemaan.
– Työnantajan lähettämänä.
– Työnantaja antoi mahdollisuuden.
– Työn vuoksi.
– Työpaikalla vaatimus että jollain on voimassa oleva EA-koulutus ja olin mielelläni.
vapaaehtoinen osallistumaan.
– Työnantaja antoi mahdollisuuden.
– Työn puolesta tulin päivittämään taitoja.
28
29. Miten kuulit tästä kurssista:
– Työnantajalta.
– Etsin netistä alkavia ensiapukursseja.
– Etsin netistä.
– Katsoin netistä.
– Työnantajalta.
– Otin itse selvää internetistä.
– Netistä hain.
Mielipide kurssista:
– Hyvä, riittävästi kertaamista, ammattitaitoinen opettaja. Selkeä kokonaisuus.
– Todella hyvä ja tarpeellinen.
– Erittäin hyvä kouluttaja, käytännönharjoitukset olivat paikallaan.
– Kurssi oli hyvä ja kattava, harjoitukset olivat hyviä.
– Hyvää kertausta edelliseen.
– Tosi hyvä. Mielenkiintoinen esitys ja käytännön toimintaa.
– Ilmoittautuminen helppoa, hyvä ohjaaja. Tulee todellakin varmempi olo taas.
Miten mielestäsi SPR:n tuotteita ja/tai kursseja voisi kehittää:
– En osaa sanoa.
– Kaikki ok.
– Ei ainakaan mitään typerää krääsää, asiatavaraa.
Miten haluaisit sinuun oltavan yhteydessä Punaiselta Ristiltä:
– En tällä erää mitenkään.
– Ihan tavallinen paperilehti tai kirje kolahtaisi parhaiten.
– Sähkoposti on hyvä.
– Joitain mainoksia (TV, kadunvarsimainonta), mutta kaikenlainen ahdistelu ei
miellytä. Ei tuputusta eikä mainospostia kotiin.
Miehet
Ikä: 51, 31, 34, 51, 45
Keskimäärin: 42.5
Ammatti: Kylmäasentaja, varaosamyyjä, sähkötöidenjohtaja, auto-asentaja, asiamies,
automyyjä
Elämäntilanne:
– Hienoa aikaa. Uusi parisuhde, ADHD-diagnoosi saatu, lääkitys kohdallaan.
– Naimisissa, yksi alle 2 v. lapsi.
– Naimisissa, kaksi lasta, velkaa ja Volvo.
– Töissä.
– Naimisissa, nuorin lapsi 20 ja asuu vielä kotona, isovanhemmista toinen elossa,
appivanhemmat elossa. Jonkin verran matkustelua työn osalta henkilöautolla.
– Olen yh-isä. 19 ja 17-vuotiaat pojat joista toinen asuu kotona.
Harrastukset ja vapaa-aika:
– Valokuvaus, eräretkeily ympäri vuoden.
– Vapaa-aika menee muksun kanssa touhutessa. Harrastan pyöräilyä.
– Laskettelu ja pihatyöt.
– Lasten kanssa.
– Koira, puutarhanhoito, omakotitalo, karate.
– Metsästys, kalastus, valmennan salibandy-nuoria, ei vapaa-ajan ongelmia.
Innostunut juuri nyt:
– Talvivaellus.
– Kasvavan lapsen seuraaminen
– Työ, perho, vapaa-aika.
29
30. – Perhe.
– Lapsenlapsista.
– Lisääntynyt oman ajan hyötykäyttö.
Miksi osallistuit kurssille:
– Työn takia. Ammattitutkintoa varten EA1.
– Aiemmasta kerrasta on yli 10 vuotta ja kertaus tuli tarpeeseen.
– Virkavelvoite.
– Kaiken varalta.
– Ylläpitääkseni EA-taitoja.
– Olen aikaan toiminut vpk:ssa ja nyt kaikki taidot vain kaipaa päivitystä.
Miten kuulit tästä kurssista:
– Katsoin netistä
– Töissä tarjottiin mahdollisuutta.
– Netistä
– Töistä
– SPR:n kotisivuilta
– Työnantaja teki kyselyn ketä kiinnostaa osallistua tälle kurssille
Mielipide kurssista:
– Hyvä kurssi. Käytännön harjoitukset olivat hyviä.
– Hyvä kurssi. Penkit eivät sopineet vartalotyypilleni. Aamupalaa jäin kaipaamaan.
– Tärkeää tietoa.
– Asiallista perustietoa ja kertausta. Kokenut kouluttaja.
– Monipuolinen ja tehokas.
Miten mielestäsi SPR:n tuotteita/kursseja voisi kehittää?
– Voisi kertoa enemmän eri kurssien sisällöstä.
– Mielestäni enemmän suoramarkkinointia yrityksille, jotta enemmän olisi
osallistujia.
Miten haluaisit sinuun oltavan yhteydessä Punaiselta Ristiltä:
– Sähköpostilla.
– Sähköposti.
– Mailina tai työnantajan kautta.
30
31. REFERENCES
[1] http://www.altfire.ie/social-media-integration/
[2] http://www.quintly.com/facebook-country-statistics/finland/?period=1year
[3] http://www.floapps.com/lab/facebook/
[4]http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/Documents/newsletters/b2b/201
2/10/how-tablets-are-revolutionizing-sales-for-road-warrior.pdf
[5] Guire Stephen, M.C., 2003. Entrepreneurial, Organizational Culture: Construct
Definition and Instrument Development and Validation, Dissertation Submitted to The
Faculty of The School of Business and Public Management of The George
Washington University.
[6 ]http://www.sales-lead-experts.com/tips/articles/generation-proven.cfm
[7] http://www.smartcompany.com.au/advertising-and-marketing/030429-10-secrets-
of-successful-b2b-selling-5.html
[8] http://www.utalkmarketing.com/Pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=18010
[9] Accenture, Jesse Riekki, 2009. In appendix.
[10] Accenture, Jesse Riekki, 2009. In appendix.
[11] http://articles.mplans.com/product-bundling/ and
http://www.ecocostsvalue.com/EVR/model/theory/3-productservices.html.
[12] http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2003319
[13] http://www.tompeters.com/docs/Structure_Is_Not_Organization.pdf
[14] Salmenkivi & Nyman. 2008. Yhteisöllinen media ja muuttua markkinointi.
Talentum. Helsinki. 312p.
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