More glossary items will be added. Come back often to see what’s new.
Ansoff Matrix. Also known as the Product-Market Growth Matrix. A four-cell matrix that lays out the four classic growth strategies of market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. It can be used in strategic marketing planning to help focus on how a firm has achieved growth in the past, how it is currently pursuing growth, and ideas for developing future bases for growth. (See more detail on how to use the matrix on our Resources page.)
Benchmarking. The practice of an organization studying other organizations that are known to excel at a particular function to learn how to improve its own its own performance on that function. One often overlooked aspect—the organizations do not have to be in the same industry.
Customer Service Week. An international celebration of the importance of customer service and of the people who serve and support customers on a daily basis. Customer Service Week runs the first full week in October. (Note: We believe every week should be customer service week!) See more information at: https://wp.csweek.com/
Digital-First Brand. A brand that is primarily, or exclusively, available online. Customer demand may be strong enough for additional brand interaction, leading to omni-channel development, such as brick-and-mortar locations, pop-up stores, and print catalogs. Examples of this type of brand include Glossier, Arbonne, Virtual Dining Concepts, and of course Amazon.
Diversification. Growth strategy in the Product-Market Growth (aka Ansoff) Matrix where new products are launched for new markets. This is usually considered the riskiest of the growth strategies in the matrix.
Integrated Marketing Communication. Often simply called, “IMC,” this approach seeks to coordinate the various promotion methods and media in use and manage them such that they speak to the customer with “one voice.”
Market Development. Growth strategy in the Product-Market Growth (aka Ansoff) Matrix where current products are introduced in new markets. This strategy, along with Product Development, carries a moderate level of risk among the growth strategies in the matrix.
Market Penetration. Growth strategy in the Product-Market Growth (aka Ansoff) Matrix where sales of current products are increased in currently served markets. This is usually considered the least risky among the growth strategies in the matrix.
Marketing. The business function that aligns an organization’s activities with its customers’ needs and wants. This is accomplished by developing products and/or services, generating promotional efforts for them, designing channels of distribution so products and services are delivered where and when they’re desired, and pricing the products and services appropriately for the competitive environment. These four general functions are often called “the 4 P’s” for “product, promotion, place, and price” after a mnemonic created in the 1970’s by Philip Kotler, a marketing scholar.
Marketing Concept. The philosophy, or approach, that posits that the top priority of an organization of any type is learning the needs and wants of its customers, and then setting out to create services or products, or a combination of the two, that will deliver the benefits that meet those needs and wants in the best way possible.
Metacommunication. Communicating about communication. The process of bringing communication preferences and biases to the conscious level within a team, talking about them, analyzing them, and then planning an approach to team communication based on this knowledge.
Multi-attribute Attitude Model. Commonly known as a “Fishbein Model,” this is a weighted average model. As the name implies, the assumption underlying the model is that attitudes toward attributes that comprise some entity can be added to arrive at a measure of the overall attitude toward it. This model is a “compensatory model” because strengths in one or more areas compensate for weaknesses in other areas. A very valuable tool for understanding customer attitudes toward services and discovering ways to improve weak areas.
Product Development. Growth strategy in the Product-Market Growth (aka Ansoff) Matrix where new products are launched for current markets. This strategy, along with Market Development, presents a moderate level of risk relative to the other growth strategies in the matrix.
Product-Market Growth Matrix. A commonly used name for the Ansoff Matrix. See Ansoff Matrix. For details on how to use the matrix, go to our Resources page.
Secret Shopper. An undercover employee or third party acting as a customer. The concept is that employees who know such monitoring is being done will be less likely to shirk customer service duties.
Service Recovery. As the two words imply, this is the level of success achieved by the “repair” implemented when the original service delivery has failed. The remedy should be at least commensurate with the degree to which the intended level of service came up short.