service delivered in caterpillar

1. Using Services marketing to develop
and deliver Integrated Solutions at
Caterpillar in Latin America
By
ELAVARASAN.K

2. Introduction
1904
• Benjamin Holt tested the first track type tractor.
1925
• C. L. Best Tractor Co. and the Holt Manufacturing company merged
to form Caterpillar.
1951
• First overseas manufacturing facility in U.K.
2000
• 300 different model starting from 5 HP to 22,000 HP.
2006
• Total sales exceed $41 bn.

3. Competitors
Type Service Offered Strengths Weakness
Third Party Service
Providers like Fluor
Management of
Caterpillar and Non-
Caterpillar Products.
Dealer network in
Latin America
Successful
relationship
Less Sophisticated
Aftermarket Suppliers Well fit parts. Lower Costs Quality
Customers having
own mechanics.
Repairs of parts. Customize offerings Not able to keep up
with technical
process of Caterpillar
Local Workshop
(mainly previous
caterpillar dealers)
Repairs of parts. More acceptance Financial Reserves
Competitive
Manufacturers like
Komatsu, John Deere,
Volvo
Almost everything
that Caterpillar offers.
Dealer network in
Latin America
Not established

4. Plan of Action
Bundle Customer Service
Agreements(CSA’s) along with the
product.
Select three pilot
Dealerships in Latin
America(worth $1 billion)
and sell the CSA’s.
Find solutions to
fill these Gaps.
Gaps Assessment
with the three
pilot Dealerships.

5. Different CSA’s to the different segments?
General Construction Companies
Large Medium Small
Do it for
me
Highly Customized with
little standard services
Flat Monthly/Yearly
subscription
Do it with
me
Less customized
+
Basic standard services
Cost for the type of
service performed or
Operating hours
Do it myself
Less customized with more
emphasis on consultation,
information dissemination,
diagnosis , READILY available
service team and finance if
required + Offer Inspection CSA’s
so that client can compare
himself if he needs service.
Service Charge at heavy
discount.

6. )

7. Listening Gap
Customer Expectation
Company perceptions of customer expectation
Marketing Research
Orientation
• Partially designed Surveys
• Sporadically performed
Upward
Communication
• Interaction b/w management &
customer
• Too many layers eg. PM CSA
Relationship Focus • No Segmentation
Service Recovery • No post interaction customer
survey

8. Service Design & Standard Gaps
Customer Driver Service Design & Standards
Company perceptions of customer expectation
Poor Service
Design
• Few CSAs
• CSAs were not branded
• CSAs were created in an ad
hoc manner
Customer Driven
Standards
• Promised but expectations not
met
• Operationally focused not
customer driven
Inadequate
physical evidence
and service scape
• Customer Interact with sales
people
• what to offer and what to
deliver
• Countries: Culture, law

9. GAP 3
CUSTOMER DRIVEN SERVICE
DESIGNS AND STANDARD
SERVICE DELIVERY
Deficiency in human resource policies
Failure to match supply and demand
Customers not fulfilling roles
Problems with services intermediary

10. GAP 4
External
Communication to
customers
Service Delivery
 Lack of integrated
service market
communication
Inefficient management
of customer expectation
Over promising
Inadequate horizontal
communication

11. Problem fitting to gap model
 Promotion was
focused on product
not on service
Absence of brochures
or advertisement
describing CSAs.
Tangibility issues
Lack of integrated
service market
communication

12. No clear definition
of different CSAs
Absence of clearly
defined service
features.
Lack of written
communication
Over promising
Inefficient
management of
customer
expectation