A global oil and gas company's relationship marketing practices were investigated through twelve in-depth semi-structured interviews with key personnel. This article shows that to succeed in the highly competitive market, oil and gas companies must not only understand the potential results of each relationship marketing practice, but also how to practice it systematically. Relationship marketing practices are important, especially for the business-to-business industry, because the physical products in this industry have become quite similar.
Intensification of competition (Barr & . McNeilly, 2003), a rapidly changing market (Cravens & Piercy, 1994), globalization (Buttle, 1996) and the growth of alternative energy sources, such as nuclear and renewable energy (Kong & Ohadi, 2010 ) have forced oil and gas firms to take relationship marketing more seriously. Various researchers have contributed to the buyer-seller relationship marketing literature by proposing several conceptual models. In order to identify the relationship marketing practices of marketing specialists in this research, sales representatives and customers were interviewed.
This explains why this article not only focuses on relationship marketing practices by sales representatives, but also includes customer service analysts in the study. Next, the purpose of this article is to identify customer relationship marketing practices used by these companies to establish and maintain relationships with customers in the oil and gas industry. A paradigm shift from the marketing mix approach to relationship marketing has been observed (Gronroos, 1994; Holmlund & Kock, 1996; Levitt, 1983; Webster, 1992).
A firm with relationship marketing can utilize the total product concept and maintain stronger benefits (Evans & Laskin, 1994).
Relationship Development Process Models Revisited
The third phase is the expansion stage which takes place when the uncertainties of both parties about each other's ambitions and abilities are reduced and the business increases in the optimistic way (Woo & Leelapanyalert, 2014). The extension stage can occur through two key elements which are mutual considerations and interactions as quality of the relationship is judged through direct experience (Dwyer et al., 1987). This stage occurs when products or services have been delivered to the customer as a day-to-day operation.
The relationship is growing because trust has been established (Woo & Leelapanyalert define this stage as "commitment" the most advanced stage in the buyer-seller relationship in which the exchange partners have reached a threshold level of satisfaction. It therefore motivates both parties to stay long - short-term relationship and cannot easily change to another vendor offers similar benefits. To summarize, these models clearly illustrate the process and advantages of developing a buyer-seller relationship from one stage to another.
METHODOLOGY
This study focused on a leading oil and gas firm in the world with the aim that the findings will be able to contribute to the literature regarding customer relationship marketing practice in the oil and gas industry. This paper is intended to present informative and constructive findings and is not intended to represent the entire oil and gas industry. This article collected in-depth data through three main sources: semi-structured interviews, observations and secondary data.
Secondary data collected included information from the firm's website, marketing brochures, online presence and newspaper articles. Based on data triangulation (Ghauri & Gronhaug, 2010; Lee & . Lings, 2009b), these observations were later studied with the secondary data collected. This research adopted the triangulation approach to increase the validity (Ghauri & . Gronhaug, 2010; Lee & Lings, 2009b) of this study.
It was quite difficult to conduct personal interviews with sales representatives who were always on the go. Therefore, telephone interviews were used for some of them. Semi-structured interviews of approximately 30 minutes were conducted with 5 sales representatives in the territory manager role, and individuals in the customer service role, namely 2 order fulfillment analysts, 3 order fulfillment team leaders, and two order fulfillment supervisors, all of whom were required to interact directly with customers. Numerous interviewees from different practice areas and positions were interviewed to confirm that customer relationship marketing practices at different levels and positions were all included in the data collection.
If they approve, the interview will be audio-recorded and later fully transcribed. In order to capture the idea and details of each interview, these notes were rearranged as soon as possible into a more organized format. This article does not reveal the identity of the interviewees in order to preserve their privacy.
According to Miles and Huberman (1994), this study conducted data analysis right from the first interview, along with data collection, to find out the research problem that the researcher can adapt to improve in the next interview. To analyze the data, the collected data is categorized to find the relevant between the data and the conceptual framework and consequently, it could develop a conceptual framework based on the existing literature as Ghauri (2004) explained.
FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS
- Managing the Communications or Interactions Process
- Other Small Little Gestures
- Organising and Attending Social Events
- Visiting Customer
- Service Recovery
- Managing the Cross-Selling
- Treating Every Client Equally
This view was demonstrated by Woo & Leelapanyalert (2014) in their conceptual framework for client relationship marketing. Personal communication was recognized at three different levels: area managers, customer service supervisors and customer service analysts. In addition, area managers, customer service supervisors also take the initiative to provide technical support to their potential, existing and former customers for free.
Technical support refers to a meeting where customer service supervisors support useful and relevant business advice or technical solutions to their customers. This allows customer service to have continuous communication with their customers, as customers are more receptive to this type of communication. In addition, one customer service analyst suggested the following: “It would be great to add greetings with customers, such as have a good day or ask about the weather.
During the expansion and stable phase, they serve as an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships, as customer service analysts spend most of their time communicating with customers via email and phone calls, rather than face-to-face interactions. More than half of the respondents, eight out of twelve, recognized the importance of the customer visit in the process of developing the relationship with the customer. From time to time, they bring customer service analysts, technical staff and other related functions to visit the customer.
By interacting directly with the customer, customer service analysts expand their network and establish a shared experience that can improve future communications. The importance of service recovery was recognized by almost half of those interviewed (five out of twelve) as part of their customer relationship marketing practices. Handlers at all levels of the new product offering are required to understand the existing customer relationship and establish the customer's expectations and requirements to better meet those needs.
Overall, the findings indicate that the relationship marketing practices used by sales representatives and customer service analysts on a business-to-business basis at different stages of the relationship development process are slightly different. Once the connection is made, customer service analysts will take on the role of developing lasting relationships with customers by motivating them and taking them through the other stages of the relationship development process. This is due to the fact that sales representatives will have a more extensive interface with customers than customer service analysts in the pre-relationship and exploration stages.
Analysis of the interview data revealed that the 7 customer relationship marketing practices described are a prerequisite for forming long-term profitable customer relationships. The customer relationship will be fully established effectively only when you visit the customer, treat every customer equally and other small small gestures are all in place.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Managerial Implications
The CRM software not only helps build the brand but also ensures that everyone in the company speaks with the same voice. For the cross-selling process to be successful, customer information must be shared within the company.
Theoretical Implications
Limitations and Future Research
Oil and gas companies of similar size and market position that organize intercompany arrangements could greatly benefit from this study. Second, a conceptual framework is proposed as a basis for examining customer relationship marketing practices in the oil and gas industry. A complete review of customer relationship marketing practices for the entire oil and gas industry will require several case studies.
This study was conducted from the firm's perspective; it would be helpful to evaluate the 7 customer relationship marketing practices outlined from the customer's perspective. Although the 7 practices presented in this article are critical to contributing to a successful client relationship, the effects of each practice should also be evaluated. Further research is needed to develop a survey to measure these effects and the quality of the client relationship.
Applications of micro and nano technologies in the oil and gas industry - a review of recent progress.
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Questions
To explore individual perceptions of client relationship marketing
To understand client relationship marketing practices
