This document provides an assessment of the value propositions and customer experiences of Apple and TalkTalk. It analyzes their value propositions using the IDIC model, which examines how they identify customers, differentiate customers, interact with customers, and customize offers. It also looks at how they manage customer complaints and the customer experience. Improvement strategies are developed, such as improving value propositions and customer experiences, drawing from CRM frameworks.

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De Montfort University
Masters of Business Administration (MBA)
Module: Customer Relationship Management
Module Code: MARK5053-2012-2
Report on Apple Incorporation and TalkTalk: Value
Propositions and Customer Experience
Submitted to: Mr. Michael Starkey
By: Nwani, Mark Kido
Student ID: P10523986
Date Submitted: 7th
May, 2012
(Word Count: 2,498)

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 Assessment of Apple and TalkTalk’s Value Propositions and
Customer Experience
3
2.1 Value Proposition 3
2.1.1 The Proposition Mirror 7
2.2 Management of Customer Complaints 8
2.3 Customer Experience 9
2.4 The Kano Model 10
2.5 The Social Business Maturity Model 11
3.0 Developing of Improvement Strategies for Value Proposition and
Customer Experience
12
3.1 Improved Value Proposition 12
3.2 Improved Customer Experience 13
4.0 Conclusion 13
5.0 References 15

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1.0 Introduction
This report seeks to give an overview of Apple Incorporation and TalkTalk Group (the
former being used as an example of good customer service, while the latter is used in the
context of bad customer service) by assessing; the notion of their value propositions (using
the IDIC Model), giving a detailed proposition mirror on how their propositions are tailored
to meet customer’s needs, how customer complaints are handled and the customer
experiences that have emanated. The Kano Model would then be used to evaluate these
elements to know if there is a correlation among them.
The social media maturity model would be used to show the maturity level of both
companies. Furthermore, several CRM frameworks would be used to develop likely
improvement strategies to be exploited to either enhance the value proposition and customer
experiences (as is with Apple) or effect a change that brings about a positive turnaround in
the current delivered value propositions and customer experiences (as is with TalkTalk).
2.0 Assessment of Apple and TalkTalk’s Value Propositions
and Customer Experiences
Engle (2012, pp. 22) contended that value proposition is the effectiveness of a product or
service customers benefit from when compared with its cost, and aids in customers’ decision-
making process on whether or not to continue with the company’s offerings. Customer
experience on the other hand entails a company’s creation of products and services that
maximises or minimises customer satisfaction.
2.1 Value Proposition
This would be elaborated upon using a The IDIC Model (Buttle, 2009, pp. 19) which
proposes that companies should take four decisive actions in order to develop close working
relationships with customers when creating their value propositions. These four actions and
how the propositions of both companies fit into them are given below.

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Identification of who the customers are and the development of a deep
understanding of them.
APPLE
i. Creativity
Here certain questions are asked such as; who, what and why? in order to create products that
appeal to consumers (Capece, 2009). Asay (2010) held that in Apple’s quest to be creative, it
identifies the consumer markets, what they require and what they want to see differently, so
as to enable them develop products and services that match their expectations.
ii. Uniqueness and Innovation
Apple proposes to develop products and services that relate to the reasons why customer have
need of them and this has resulted in the emergence of unique breakthrough products such as;
iPhones, iPads, Mac Pro and operating systems such as Mac OS X.
TALKTALK
i. Prompt Connectivity
TalkTalk proposes to provide prompt connectivity and voice clarity in order to enable
customers carry out their daily activities/job descriptions more effectively and at a less time
consuming rate. A typical example is the ADSL2+ which is a broadband checker that enables
customers maximise the speed their line can deliver (Blackson, 2012)
Differentiation of customers to inquire those that are presently of most
value and those that have the potential to offer more value in the future.
APPLE
i. Design Quality
Apple products are usually designed to be ahead of the curve of contemporaneous public
opinion in its quest to design top quality. The iMac computer was the first home system to
omit the use of a floppy drive which was considered by people to be a mandatory feature in
every computer, rather choosing to replace it with a USB port which has become a constant
feature in every computer, thus earning iMac the title of the first legacy-free PC (Spooner,
1999).

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ii. Durability
This is a critical aspect of consumer decision-making and Apple strives to ensure its products
are durable so that it complements its cost of purchase. In 2010, Apple went into an exclusive
agreement to make use of amorphous metal alloys which come with distinctive atomic
structures which allow products to be lighter, stronger and resistant to wear and tear (Hughes,
2010).
iii. Investment in Research and Development
Apple spent $758million on R & D during the first fiscal quarter of 2012 in its drive to
develop technological advancement tools that have not been fully explored (Ogg, 2012).
Developments that have resulted from Apple’s R & D include; reducing the size of its RAM
for the MacBook Pro (512MB of 667MHz DDR2) which is about half the size of a windows
computer, but performs faster and significantly better, implementing the full use of the USB
feature on iMacs, as well as getting rid of optical drives with the creation of the MacBook Air
(Apple Inc., 2012).
TALKTALK
i. Improvement of Operating Efficiency and Effectiveness
TalkTalk occasionally embarks on a re-structure of its units by jointly integrating them in
order to enhance the quality of experience offered to customers while minimising costs, so
that specific customer needs are met with the view to maintaining a momentum in its
consistency of providing quality products and services customers identify with.
Consistent interaction with customers to ensure a proper understanding of
their expectations and relationships with other suppliers or brands
APPLE
i. Feedback Generation
Apple has a feedback system on its website, as well as suggestion platforms which enables it
get customer’s views concerning a products purchased in order to ascertain whether they are
enjoying them or not.
ii. Enhanced Full-package Software
Apple develops computers that come with software which are bundled with additional
features that do not require extra costs unlike trial versions that come with windows

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computers. These features are grouped under a suite known as iLife (which consists of
GarageBand, iPhoto and iMovie) and provide better quality when compared with the
provisions of windows computers (Apple, 2012).
TALKTALK
i. Affordability
Part of TalkTalk’s main proposition is the creation of affordable services to consumers that
still provide the same top quality as can be gotten with bigger brands, and has a section in its
website which it calls “compare providers”.
ii. Technological Advancement
TalkTalk’s products are designed to meet latest technological trends so that customer’s
expectation of constant up-to-date technologies that addresses their needs are satisfied, and
has led to the investment of over £600million in building the largest next generation of
network in Britain (TalkTalk Group, 2012).
Customization of offers and communications so as to ensure they are in line
with what customers expect.
APPLE
i. Style/Classy
Apple proposes to create brands that are designed to complement the style and fashion sense
of people by creating applications such as; iMessage, Glit app. for iPad (for placing
international orders), FaceTime and Safari on iPod Touch which includes Reader (a handy
feature that removes ads so to avoid unnecessary distractions when reading articles).
ii. Portability and Personified to Fit People’s Profile
Apple places great emphasis on tailoring its products/services to meet the changing tastes of
people in terms of how portable they want their communication devices to be. The iPod was
developed for teens and those in their 20s (as seen under creativity) and integrated with
iTunes to make it convenient to download music, iPad is designed for a variety of people
ranging from working professionals to those who find existing computers complex among
others (The Economist, 2010).

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iii. Flexibility
A key aspect to Apple products is the flexibility of its applications which makes it convenient
for anyone to manoeuvre without much confusion. In addition to this, there is a provision of a
well-detailed manual instruction on how to effectively use the product and can also be located
on its website.
iv. Multi-functionality
Apple strives to make its products multi-functional in their development stages so that they
can cut across several market segments. The new third generation iPad3 Advanced Pro multi-
function cases that come with a flip case with sleep sensor, executive luxury wallet, and
2048x1536 pixel which is four times as many pixels as the typical HD TV set (Arthur, 2012).
TALKTALK
i. Innovation
TalkTalk places relevance to innovation so as to develop creativity concepts that meet
customers’ needs. The development of HomeSafe services was designed to allow parents
control what their children view on the internet, and the creation of YouView was designed to
bridge the gap between free-view channels on TV and the high cost channels by integrating
them to an intuitive program menu (TalkTalk Group, 2012).
2.1.1 The Proposition Mirror
APPLE
Durability
Many applications that are easy to use
Innovation and creativity
Multi-functional Features
Advanced Technology
Flexible Applications
Customer’s Needs
Company’s Offer

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TALKTALK
From the diagrams it can be seen that the propositions of Apple and TalkTalk complement
customer’s needs by aligning their offers to match them, although areas they are not too
proficient in (i.e. durability for Apple and prompt connection/effective billing system for
TalkTalk) need to be improved upon.
2.2 Management of Customer Complaints
APPLE
According to Hanselman (2011) Apple employees are trained to not just sell products or
services, but also to help customers resolve issues they face by following steps embedded in
its acronym;
 Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome
 Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs
 Present a solution for the customer to take home today
 Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns
 End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return
Giving extra minutes
Prompt Connectivity
Clarity and consistency
Company’s Offer
Integration of services
Low Rates/affordability
Customer’s Needs
Constant prompt connection and effective billing system

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TALKTALK
TalkTalk manages customer complaints through certain key steps which are outlined below.
2.3 Customer Experience
Customer experience according to Buttle (2009, pp.165-168) is a cognitive end result of a
customer’s exposure to a company’s process or their interaction with the people that facilitate
the process, technology, products or services offered by a company, and as such enables a
customer take decisive actions on whether or not to continue with the company’s offerings.
APPLE
According to Vocalabs (2010) the level of customer satisfaction derived as a result of using
the products and services offered by Apple increased significantly. In addition to this, the
ASCI (2008) survey identified Apple as being the leading brand in customer satisfaction as
there was a strong integration of its mobile and music applications with computer products.
Buys (2009) also held that part of the reason why Apple got to that position was because it
places priority on quality packaging of its products, which makes owning an Apple product
different from the experience of owning other products, thus showing Apple maintains a
consistency in linking its value proposition to the customers’ experience.

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TALKTALK
Garside (2012) revealed that TalkTalk lost 50,000 customers in September 2010 who
switched to other brands as a result of the non-satisfaction derived from their experience.
Chapman (2011) also contended that TalkTalk suffered 70,000 customer defects in
September 2011 after they were incorrectly billed which led to a fine of £3million by Ofcom.
This loss of clientele base reflects no relationship between TalkTalk’s propositions and its
customers’ experience.
The Kano Model would be used to show the position of both companies in terms of
addressing three key needs of consumers (i.e. excitement, performance and basic needs), and
also to find out if a correlation exists between their propositions and customers’ experiences.
2.4 The Kano Model
This model gives a detailed assessment of where Apple and TalkTalk are in terms of how
their products and services match the various levels of customer needs.

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From the illustration, it can be seen that Apple’s value proposition matches the customers’
experiences which invariably puts them on the top position in terms of meeting the three key
consumers’ needs, while no correlation exists between TalkTalk’s proposition, complaints
handling procedures and customer experience, which puts them at the bottom of meeting
consumer needs.
2.5 The Social Business Maturity Model
Woodcock (2011) described four maturity levels that define the extent to which organisations
are focused on developing products and services that match consumer expectations and is
given below.
Using the value propositions and customer experiences of Apple and TalkTalk as a
framework to designating maturity levels, it can be seen that Apple fits into level 3 as its
products and services are focused to satisfying customers, while TalkTalk’s position in the
maturity model is on level 2 as it has not fully integrated its value propositions and its
management of customer complaints with the customer experience that has resulted.

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3.0 Developing Improvement Strategies for Value Proposition
and Customer Experience
McDonald, Christopher, Knox and Payne (2001, pp. 15-19) developed a model which they
indicted gives a detailed analysis of how an improved value-creation process should be as it
facilitates the emergence of an overhaul of a company’s business strategy, processes, culture
and value proposition in order to win and sustain customer preferences by providing better
customer value. The model is given below.
3.1 Improved Value Proposition
APPLE
Apple can improve its value proposition in the context of the above diagram by implementing
three of the seven value proposition improvement elements identified by Tyson (2011),
which include;
1. The value proposition should be measurably better than that of competition in quantitative,
qualitative and monetary terms
2. The proposition should be simple, yet distinctive and encompassing enough to include the
performance and functionality of Apple’s products, as well as key elements that gives Apple
products a differential advantage over alternative products.

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3. The proposition should be linked to company’s business reviews and a performance
evaluation program so as to portray Apple as being an accountability organization.
TALKTALK
TalkTalk can improve its proposition drive by adopting the four of the seven value
proposition elements indicated by Tyson (2011) which are;
1. Conducting a thorough needs analysis to inquire key needs of consumers and how it is
currently satisfying them
2. Being a customer experience-driven company by integrating the outline of actual and
expected customer satisfaction.
3. Being a sustainable brand that develops strong quality that can contain future unforeseen
occurrences.
4. Being a customer-validation and substantiation company that has an established track
record of offering quality consumers discuss in interaction boards
3.2 Improved Customer Experience
Allen, Reicheld and Hamilton (2005) contended that rather than dwell on improving
customer satisfaction through product or service design, companies should focus on
improving their level of customer experience by;
1. Designing the right offers and experiences for customers.
2. Delivering the improved propositions with focus on cross-functional alliances.
3. Capacity development to continuously satisfy customers.
4.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be seen that Apple aligns its value propositions and method of customer
complaints management with the customers’ experiences, while TalkTalk is not able to
significantly integrate all three elements and the Kano Model was used to further give an in-
depth analysis of this, which was then used as a yardstick for placing Apple and TalkTalk in
Level 3 and 2 respectively in the Social Business Media Maturity Model. Furthermore, the
improvement strategies and model developed to add value to the propositions and customer
experience of Apple and TalkTalk highlighted certain key frameworks that need to the
implemented to ensure their propositions and customer experience are enhanced and

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continually sustained in their quest to ensure maximum customer satisfaction in the use of
their products and services offered.

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5.0 References
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