UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

HOMERUN.COM
CASE STUDY

Introduction
Many businesses are rising these days. It may be small, medium or large in terms of employment, starts with high capitals or not, gains high profits or not or globally recognized or not. The fact is that business is everywhere. Business is fun especially when it is your passion to do business, when it is your interest to be engage to such, and when you take circumstances that may affect your business as a great challenge. Social media plays a very big role in doing business now a days, by this, it helps in promoting and advertising your products or services. Just like what HomeRun.com take on. Founded by Jared Kopf and Matt Humphrey on 2009, HomeRun.com was invented, a Group buying business, which offers products and services at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers would make the purchase. HomeRun e-mails its subscribers with daily coupons that they can use to purchase popular goods and services from local merchants and businesses. Founded in San Francisco and expanding to serve more than 30 U.S. cities, including Portland, New York, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Phoenix, and Chicago, HomeRun.com is designed around an innovative social media concept that encourages users to share their deals with others and gather more subscribers for HomeRun.com. Many of the sites features reward users for referrals, continued usage of the site, and the participation it offers. HomeRun.com offers substantial and sizable discounts equaling more than half of the product or service's original price. In order for the discount price to become valid, a particular number of users must purchase the product through HomeRun.com.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

HomeRun.com also operates a feature known as The Daily Steal, which provides opportunities for subscribers and users of the website to locate even more ways to save money while still supporting their city's local economy. HomeRun.com also utilizes an unusual way of rewarding its return users and longtime members through its Points and Credit systems. HomeRun.com also offers its users the opportunity to further decrease the price of a given good or service through its Avalanche feature, which means that the more people who buy a product sponsored by HomeRun.com, then the more the price of that product, will subsequently decline for everyone.

Statement of the problem

The reason Daily deals sites are booming is because customers of theirs are looking for a service at crazy prices. Most daily deals sites insist that the service or product is offered at a heavily discounted rate, usually 50% off its original price. There are plenty of terror stories of consumers buying up big on daily deal sites and businesses who struggle to meet demand, often leaving the customer with a very bitter taste in their mouth. And yes, they are your customers just because you offered your services/products at a discounted rate, doesnt mean they expect anything less than to be treated liked a valued customer. Satisfying your customers to remain their loyalty to your business has to be observed.

Objective of the problem

Knowing that HomeRun is a group buying business and it takes a large number of users to avail the discounted price, instances that may cause the customers unhappy and unsatisfied should be observed for the companys future standing in the industry.

Alternative course of action

Develop a good customer relationship. -The company may ask its customers for their comments and suggestions on how to improve their services. If the company knows how their customers feel about their services they will know what are the possible courses of actions to take. They will know how to maintain

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

their customers satisfaction. If the companys concern about their customers satisfaction, there will be a great possibility to earn their customers loyalty.

Improve the quality of the service. - improving the quality of service being offered by the HomeRun. They can improve it by providing them appropriate service, by taking into consideration the needs and wants of the customers. A need is a consumer's desire for a product's or services specific benefit, whether that be functional or emotional. A customer's needs are things like food, shelter, transportation, etc. Basically essentials for everyday normal function. A want is the desire for products or services that are not necessary, but which consumers wish for. A customer's wants would be along the lines of sexual appeal, high social status, pleasure, etc.

Clear, factual & prompt communication establishes the foundation for a relationship of trust & value. -Each customer interaction should focus on the customer & their needs. Listening is often the most important part of communication, and in the case of customer relationships, it conveys interest & concern for the needs of your customer. Customer communication can require patience on the part of your representative. With this in mind, select your customer service personnel with care. Keep it Professional While you are communicating with clients, whether it be face-to-face, telephone, or email, always stay professional. Clients are paying for your services and they will expect you to conduct your business in a professional manner, so avoid things that could cause them to see you differently. Thats not to say that you cant get to know your clients on a more personal level, but remember that what you say and write can impact you designer/client relationship.

Communicate with the customers and add an inducement for them to retain their loyalty to your product and/or services. -Communication in business is a way to listen to and understand customers, especially with their comments, complaints and suggestions. Communicating to them will build a deeper relationship and will lead to retention of customers loyalty. Running a business that sells to the public no matter how great your goods or services are the old adage will eventually be proven

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

true: You cannot please 100% of the people 100% of the time. So you must ensure that you have the right people to handle potential and existing customers. Tips on how to communicate more effectively to customers: Beware of interrupting Be careful of interrupting others, particularly your customers. Theyll be esp. upset if, while explaining a problem, you interrupt them and start offering a solution. If you feel you have to interrupt, at least cut to the chase and tell the other person what you think his or her main idea was. That way, the other person at least can confirm or correct you, and in either case save time. Listen actively Be involved with and react to what other person is saying, either via nod, or an I see, or a paraphrase of the other persons statements. Youll strengthen your own understanding and make a better impression. Avoid negative questions Asking a negative questions creates confusion. Its clearer if you phrase the question positively. Be sensitive to differences in technical knowledge Chances are, your customers have less technical knowledge than you do. Be careful, therefore, when explaining things to them. Be careful that you dont make two mistakes: either talking over their head or talking down to them. Keep your eyes on customers when you talk to them and be alert to cues indicating that they dont understand. Ask them whether they understand what youre saying, if necessary. Use analogies to explain technical concepts Use positive instead of negative statements Your customers are more interested in your capabilities than in your limitations. In other words, theyre interested in what you can do, rather than what you cant do. The way you say things to them influences how they perceive you and your department.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

Be careful in misinterpreted words and phrases Anticipate customer objections and questions In particular, try to anticipate the objections your customer will have to your message and address those objections.

Keep the customer informed Keep your customers informed of developments involving them, particularly with regard to technical problems and outages. In particular, keep them apprised even if nothing is going on. When a problem is resolved, let the customer know that, too.

Communication is a two way process so while you are listening to them you are in return learning from them. Its a big help to make your customers satisfied. No one likes to receive a complaint. -complaints are worth their weight in gold if an organization learns from them and then uses the information to improve the customer experience. Customer complaints can be used to build a better customer experience and turn an unsatisfied customer into a raving fan. Focus on the customer rather than the complaint. Customer-focus will help the employee empathize or walk in the shoes of the customer. It will help them listen more sympathetically to a complaining customer which is often all the customer wants. Plus it will help them remain calm and polite while a customer vents his frustrations -Listen with understanding & sympathy. This diffuses anger and demonstrates your concern. Tell the customer something such as I am sorry you have been inconvenienced. Tell me what happened so that I can help you It is vital to show a sincere interest and willingness to help. The customers first impression of you is all important in gaining co-operation. -No matter what or who caused the problem, never, ever blame or make excuses. Instead, take full responsibility and the initiative to do whatever you can to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Proper merchant information about the product that they are selling the knowledge, the availability, and the delivery of the product and also the contact information for customer care.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

- bringing the knowledge of information about the product, checking the availability and the quality standard of it will be a good help for the costumer and it will be more comfortable for them to understand what they were dealing with. Make a list of any forums or communities where your customers congregate and regularly check in on them. - getting the feedback of the custumer wether if its negative or possitive impact will also help to enhance more improvement to develop for the business. Always remember that the company is selling not only the product but the company itself. Giving the best for the costumer will bring the joy of satisfaction for them gaining more of their trust and loyalty.

HomeRun needs to differentiate itself by diving deeper into social gaming and membership rewards. -The consumers are continually on the lookout for great deals and offers, so if they

differentiate itself by diving into social gaming and membership rewards, they can fulfill or satisfy customers needs and wants. Its not the money that involves but its b ecause of the satisfaction that they get if they got engage into it. Social gaming can attract customers especially teenagers because they are fun of discovering new entertainment and games that can enhance their skills and minds. On the other hand membership rewards pertains mostly to the employees in the industry and if they satisfied customers are likely to be loyal with the company. Based on the case study, the consumers are continually on the lookout for great deals and offers, so if HomeRun differentiate itself from its competitors like Groupon by diving deeper into social gaming and membership rewards, they can satisfy their customers. Social Gaming, it is a broad category that means essentially applying gaming technique to a brands social media strategy to increase engagement and loyalty. If there is an increase on engagement and loyalty there is a positive result called satisfaction. Example of a social gaming activity is the video games. A lot of people would consider playing video games a waste of time. However, they couldnt be more wrong. Video games offer such a wide variety of skill set that you can use in everyday life. You can learn to read maps, to deal with stressful situations, think on your feet, and focus on things better when you play video games. You can learn to read maps with video games because most video games use the

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

element of having maps to guide the player to where they need to go. You can deal with stressful situations by playing on the hardest difficulty the game offers and try to get through it. You can think on your feet simply by using a strategy that you just thought of and trying it to see it works better than last approach. You can also focus on things better because you will be task oriented as in you will be able to focus on one task at a time, or if you are good enough, several task at once. Video games do have a good way of making you better in your life, and it works a major muscle in your body constantly: Your Brain!.With these advantages that can get in engaging with social gaming customers needs & wants would be satisfied. Assigning personnel with great experience to handle customers. -Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. You can offer promotions and slash prices to bring in as many new customers as you want, but unless you can get some of those customers to come back, your business won't be profitable for long. Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. And about sending them away happy - happy enough to pass positive feedback about your business along to others, who may then try the product or service you offer for themselves and in their turn become repeat customers. If you're a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your approach to customer service that determines whether or not youll ever be able to sell that person anything else. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers a relationship that that individual customer feels that he would like to pursue.How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret of good customer service and acting accordingly; "You will be judged by what you do, not what you say." All you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: 1) Answer your phone. -Get call forwarding. Or an answering service. Hire staff if you need to. But make sure that someone is picking up the phone when someone calls your business. (Notice I say "someone". People who call want to talk to a live person, not a fake "recorded robot".) For more on answering the phone, see How to Answer the Phone Properly. 2) Don't make promises unless you will keep them.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

-Not plan to keep them. Will keep them. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you say, Your new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday, make sure it is delivered on Tuesday. Otherwise, don't say it. The same rule applies to client appointments, deadlines, etc.. Think before you give any promise - because nothing annoys customers more than a broken one. 3) Listen to your customers. -Is there anything more exasperating than telling someone what you want or what your problem is and then discovering that that person hasn't been paying attention and needs to have it explained again? From a customer's point of view, I doubt it. Can the sales pitches and the product babble? Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem. 4) Deal with complaints. -No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, "You can't please all the people all the time". Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time - and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service. 5) Be helpful - even if there's no immediate profit in it. -The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band and charged me nothing! Where do you think I'll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I've told this story to? 6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. -Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn't) regularly. (Good Customer Service: How to Help a Customer explains the basics of ensuring positive staff-customer interactions.) Most importantly, give every member of your staff

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, "I don't know, but so-and-so will be back at..." 7) Take the extra step. -For instance, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don't just say, "It's in Aisle 3". Lead the customer to the item. Better yet, wait and see if he has questions about it, or further needs. Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people. 8) Throw in something extra. -Whether it's a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting. And dont think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated. They can make surveys if what product is more attractive to customer and focus on selling it. - Propose a solution and gain the customers support. When the customer tells you what he or she wants the solution is usually obvious. State your solution in a positive manner. I will be happy to give you a full credit for it or other merchandise. Is that acceptable f or you? If it is acceptable, act promptly. -If the customer does not like your solution, ask what they would consider a fair alternative. Never let a customer lose face. If you cannot meet their request, say so, but never say they are wrong, and never get into an argument with a customer. It is vital to be considerate of the customers feelings and to be courteous. Sometimes the customer knows full well that there is nothing you can do. All the customer really wants is someone to hear and respect his or her point of view, and you can always give them that Loyalty programs entice people to become, and remain, customers. Dont forget about long -term clients

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

- Loyalty programs is a rewards program offered by a company to customers who frequently make purchases. A loyalty program may give a customer advanced access to new products, special sales coupons or free merchandise. Customers typically register their personal information with the company and are given a unique identifier, such as a numerical ID or membership card, and use that identifier when making a purchase. Satisfy your customers needs through marketing. -When it comes to building a strong business, it all comes down to your customer's needs. How can you build a strong business without first taking the steps to build your business around your customers? Marketing can help you build your business around your customers because you will target their specific needs with your products. Marketing is all about raising awareness and gaining interest in your company. If you can produce the right type of ads to send the message to your customers, they will start to pay attention to your company. -Customer needs are higher now than ever before. This is due to the internet and other technologies that the customers use to gain information immediately. Customers in the past could not obtain all the information they wanted at the click of a button so many of them relied on the information produced by their friends and from newspapers and other media sources. The customer has the power and they can walk away if they don't like your company and the products you are producing. Many of them will walk away because they are turned off by the marketing message your company is delivering. -What marketing boils down to is trying to find a way to get your customers attention and to please them. Of course, you can't please everyone so it is important to find a way to educate everyone without the goal of persuading all of them to start buying your product or service. Create a customer satisfaction policy so your employees will know exactly how to treat the customers. While living on the philosophy that "the customer is always right" is a great theory, this is sometimes hard to do. A good customer satisfaction policy can help you clear up any confusion at your company and find a way to interact with your customers in a positive manner.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

Follow up your customers. - It is important to follow up with your customers after a sell session, this is whether the customers bought your products or not because this shows you have interest in them and they may give you a chance. Following up your customers helps them remember you and this leads to more sales for your company. Select a method of communication; you can try e-mails, greeting cards or post cards. Try all of them and select that which is more effective and brings the best results. Consistency pays a lot because it is important that the name of your business be on the mind of your customers all the time. This helps because your customer will always remember to come back.

Analysis of alternative courses

The real value of the Group Buying Sites is the size of and the relationships theyve created with their members. Theyve positioned themselves as the consumers best friend by offering them some unbelievable deals. Their members listen to their recommendations and regularly take action. To be the Deal of the Day on a Group Buying site gives you enormous credibility within your marketplace and potentially a big pay day. The importance of consistency in particular is huge. Customers want to have confidence that theyll deliver it our promises every time, not just when its convenient. In fact, if they consistently deliver good products and services across the organization, if they mean what they say and say what they mean, if they under promise and over deliver, the potential for the organization to not only grow but reach extraordinary heights is real. It wont guarantee success but it will lay the foundation for them to achieve more and it will usually separate them from our competitors.

Consistency Tips
1. Create opportunities for salespeople and customer service staff to meet to share problems and possible solutions to customer service related issues. This can help break down silos between departments and build staff relationships and ownership, all of which impacts customer service.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

2. Conduct an online survey and invite customer feedback on their experience with your business. 3. Ensure your marketing materials make promises youre able to keep.Ask your staff to provide input and suggest revisions for consideration. 4. Do you always know the top five issues customers have? Fix them! 5. Set up automated responses to incoming client emails, to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Provide clients with a time frame for expecting your response. 6. Monitor customers on all their social streams to catch praise or dissatisfaction and buoy or repair reputation. Group Buying harnesses the power of Social Media and the sites rely heavily upon Facebook and Twitter to drive sales. Theyll even incentivize referral sales by offering their members credits for referring friends to the offer, and giving them the opportunity to purchase multiple vouchers as gifts. By providing the discounts, you, in a very short amount of time can benefit from pre-paid customers, huge marketplace exposure and the chance to build repeat business. Its a win -win situation!

Recommendation
They work, and process there orders through their website probably because of cost-cutting. Expanding across countries is very expensive so an idea of putting up a website and operating through the internet is a brilliant idea on reaching their customers anytime and anywhere. The idea of coming up in a crowd sourcing strategy is good but mixing it up with customer service and support is better. They must not forget the fact that operating through an internet and they must not forget to satisfy their customers by putting a blog, suggestion tab, support, or forum.They must not forget the fact that they must put in their website the services that their customers need as if they were doing transaction face-to-face. What is an unhappy customer really, except someone whose expectations have not been met someone who is disappointed, frustrated and angry because our products or services have not lived up to our reputation? As a business owner, that's something we need to know. Being defensive won't help the customer or us. Clearly, it is uncomfortable to deal with unsatisfied customers, but not dealing with

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

them can be a lot more troublesome in the long run. Studies backup the well- known notion that the majority of unsatisfied customers don't bother to complain at all. Instead, they leave quietly, saying nothing to us, only to tell everyone else they know how unhappy they were with our products or services and advising them not to do business with us. So while we may think it's great news that customer complaints are few and far between, let's be realistic - just because we're not hearing those complaints, it doesn't mean there are no complaints. And where there are complaints, there are unsatisfied customers. The best and only way to handle unhappy customers is to encourage them to bring their stories to us, not the rest of the world. Don't think of it as a problem, or a trouble - think of it as an opportunity to improve service, build trust, and retain business. The only real problems arise when we don't have a chance to change unsatisfied customers into satisfied ones. Ultimately, you will deliver successful service through your effective communication skills, positive attitude, patience, and willingness to help the customer. Your ability to focus on the situation or problem and not on the person will be a very important factor in your success. Making the distinction between the person and the problem is especially important when you are faced with difficult situations in the service environment. Although you may not understand or approve of a persons behavior, he or she is still your customer. Try to make the interaction a positive one, and if necessary ask for assistance from a coworker or refer the problem to an appropriate level in your operational chain of command. Loyalty programs entice people to become, and remain, customers. Dont forget about long term clients Its easy to attract new clients, but harder retain existing ones. Whether customers are satisfied or dissatisfied with your business, any feedback they provide about their experience or your products and services can help you. Clients' feedback can show you the types of marketing efforts that are working efficiently and the areas of your business you need to improve to increase customer satisfaction. Improve quality of the service

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

Paraphrase and record what the customer tells you. Whenever you hear an important point say let me make sure I understand; you were promised delivery on the 10th and you did not receive the product until the 1st of the following month. Is that correct? Find out what the customer wants. Do they want a refund, credit, discount, or replacement? The customer is complaining because he/she has a problem and wants it solved as quickly as possible. Find out what their problem is so you can work towards it and not towards a solution they do not want. Satisfy your customers through marketing. A simple way to increase customer satisfaction is to boost your training. It is common for employees to fall into routines with their jobs and go through the motions of their job without putting their heart into it. This often causes accidents at the workplace and this is when most of the customer/employee problems arise. By holding regular trainings with your employees, you can avoid some of the little mistakes and help your employees to continue working harder to learn new things. As far as marketing goes, you need to come up with innovative marketing strategies that target your audience without offending them. Companies always want to push the envelope a little bit so they can gain the media attention they want, but they need to be careful as to how far they push it. Use marketing avenues that your customers are involved in. For example, do you have a large variety of customers? If so, try using some social networking sites. Social networking sites provide you with the opportunity to market to a large variety of customers, its not just one or two types of people here. Always do market research to find out which marketing strategies your customers like. This means if you have a commercial with an annoying jingle, you may be losing customers because of it. The jingle should be catchy, not annoying. Once your customers start to get annoyed with the things your company does, they will look at your competitors for their products. Conduct regular surveys to find out how your existing customers came to know of your company and why they use your products. This information can help you figure out if you are using the right type of marketing efforts to reach your customers and it can also give you some ideas on how to find new customers.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

Communicate with the customers and add an inducement for them to retain their loyalty to your product and/or services. -Business communication is important in any business transaction since it helps the business to garner the clients' trust and confidence. The presence of business communication ensures that there is a sense of professionalism in the business.

Follow up your customers. -It is a chance for more sale opportunities for your company. If your customer left undecided this is a chance to ask them if they have come to a decision on which product they need. If they are not ready ask them if there is a problem or if it is possible you go over the products again and if they have questions they can ask. If your customers bought a product from your company you can use this as an opportunity to introduce them to new products and ask them if they want to give it a try. It is also an opportunity to refresh your product in the minds of your customers. Customers mostly refresh their products at least monthly for new products. Keeping a good follow up with them helps them remember your brand and know you are still there. This makes you stand out from the other companies that dont follow up with their customers. Following up your customers helps you keep in contact with them which promote your business because this may open up new opportunities for your business. Always leave your customers with a good impression of yourself by making them fell you treasure your relationship with them. The stronger the relationship with them, more business you have or more customers you get.

Assign personnel with great experience to communicate to customers. - Its important to remember your customers are what will keep you in business. If theyre not happy theyll leave and go to your competition. When you have good customer service each and every time a customer comes through the door theyll be happy to come back to you and theyll invite their friends and family as well.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

Action plan
Use dissatisfaction as an advantage by attempting to turn negative experiences into positive outcomes so customers can see youre concerned to them. This action can improve customer opinion, business practices and create positive advertising. Another way you can use satisfaction is by satisfying customers with more than your product offerings.

UNIVERSITY OF LUZON DAGUPAN CITY CASE STUDY

HOMERUN.COM
CASE STUDY
Prof. Dante Narsiso

GROUP1 Jaranilla,Dianne Stephanie Madel E. Castro, Lovely Nebe R. Joven, Anne Janine F. Castro, Sarrah Jane Salazar, Katricia Mae Gabrillo, Marilou Erasmo, Agnes Salindong, Mara Mae Mosada, Regine Cabanilla, Jhyra Jimenez, Erika June Tamayo, Glenncint Chua, Zia Nicole