AUTHOR
Mohamed, Ahmed; Eriksson, Johan

DATE
2003-02-03

DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial Marketing

SUMMARY
This thesis focuses on RM and customer relationships and tries to answer two research questions; how firms can retain customers and how to generate profitable customer relationships by using relationship marketing. We conducted case studies on JOB media, a company in Luleå, and Polardörren, a company in Öjebyn, Piteå. Our research has revealed that in many ways our case study companies conform in major ways to the theory in this particular area. However there are differences between how these two firms go about in regard to customer retention and establishing profitable customer relationship. We have discovered that JOB media, which is a service company is more inclined to maintaining close and long-term relationships with its customers. This can be explained by the fact that the product they sell is intangible and the kind of services they provide demands that they work closely with their customers. Polardörren is a manufacturing company which produces doors and customer relationship is also vital for its business, although not to the same degree as service company.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--03/016--SE / NR 2003:016