Marketing Of Service Products For GrainCorp Company

Service provider description

Discuss about the Marketing of Service Products for GrainCorp Company.

GrainCorp Company is Australian based with its main headquarters at south Sidney. The company’s main activity is to buy and receive grains from the farmers, restore them safely for reselling them later. The company provides safe transport means of the various grains from the farmers and later to their esteemed customers to enhancing proper handling, storage and distribution of the grains at a later date to their customers. With active branches in over 30 countries worldwide, the company has several bulk Grain Ports evenly distributed at their main branches to enhance distribution and receiving of their grain products. Among the various edible oil producers, GrainCorp is one providing these services to their consumers (FDI rules, 2014).

Last year 2016, GrainCorp Company celebrated it’s a hundredth birthday with a sign that it has been in existences for such a longer period compared to other recent agribusiness units in the market today. With a mission and vision to develop in to being one of the major Agribusiness companies in the world and by providing the best services to their customers, the company has made an impact in the industry. The company is valued for its commitment to enhancing good value on their products and also enhancing safety measures for their employees as well (O’Keeffe, 2017). The company’s market is based on two marketing aspects, product and market orientation. Product orientation refers to the activities enhanced to ensuring that products involved are in good shape. While, market orientation refers to the means enhanced in creating and advancing product market by getting new customers and also working to maintain the existing once in the market (Swilley, 2014).).  Following the marketing approach, I was able to acquire products from GrainCorp.

Quality grains sold to me by GrainCorp Company on May 20^th in this 2017 were of high and best quality compared to earlier purchases that I have done on similar grains in recent years. Having visited the company stores for the first time ever, the welcoming was warm in a way that the introduction was done by the employees at that time (Stahl, et al, 2012). Explaining the type of grain products available, their relevance, how they are important to a grain farmer and the growing grain market. It was my first visit to buying my farming grain products in the store and was the best purchasing experience I have ever had. Few months down, following the main steps given by the experts in the company retailing stores in the name of employees, grain farming is doing well with massive production. The company is giving right experience to grain farming farmers as they are able to gather advice on how to ensure the farming products are delivered as they desire and also sell their farm products to the Company as it’s the best market. The farmers being the main target, their occupation has been uplifted.

Target Market Analysis

Occupation of different individuals links them to certain service providers in the market. Farmers are the main target market in the business platform of GrainCorp as much as other consumers are targeted. This is as a result of the services given relating to grain product buying from the farmers and also selling seeds and other grain farming products to the same farmers again. The company is responsible of ensuring the well-being of its target market as well as provision of the best services. Farmers have various needs and wants that should be addressed by GrainCorp management such as seeds, advice and ready market for their products (Venkatesh, 2008).

Farmers specializing in grain farming production require the best seed products for planting. The specialized individual cannot be able to enhance proper farming activities of the grain if there is no advice given to her or him (Wo? & Gawlik, 2015). Therefore, through the company’s experts, the farmer requires ultimate knowledge to enhancing proper farming. Including knowledge on how to plant, clear the weeds that may be involved and how to harvest the product. The other need is on market enquiry, the farmer is mostly motivated by having a ready market to selling his or her products. The grain farmer needs a favorable and ready market to sell his or her grain farm products (Datta, Ailawadi & van Heerde, 2017).

The marketing mix aspects of the 7ps model are very important if used efficiently and effectively to help enhance the marketing business plan. Among the 3 Ps are people, product and price (Parker, Roper & Medway, 2015)

People. These are the individuals involved in product production, packaging, marketing and customer contact. It’s mainly the customer contact employees that enhance service provision to the company’s target market. GrainCorp has ensured that the service contact employees to their customers are well trained to offer relevant information about their services and products important in enhancing their market (Enache, 2011).

This is the product or service that the company offers in large scale to the target market. GrainCorp as an Agribusiness company has various grain farming products that it offers to its customers. The seeds and other marketing services are of high quality just as the customers require them. This is important as it ensures the company’s image is maintained by proper customer service provision and high quality products.

This refers to the price the customer pays for the product or service from the service provider. This is a very important factor of marketing as its intended to ensure both the customer and the service provider are satisfied over the price indicated on certain services and products. Customer’s price satisfaction is very important as it enhances customer’s loyalty. GrainCorp Company has favorable price quotations that ensures the value quoted is similar to that of the product. This is important to ensuring customers price satisfaction in marketing activities (Dadzie, et al, 2017).

Service performance analysis of 3 of the 7ps of marketing

Adopt efficient customer relation skills. Customers are the main stakeholders in marketing activities. To improve on how they are handled is important as it ensures all their requirements and needs are catered for. GrainCorp has a large basis for customer relations activities as various services are offered both in selling their products as well as buying customers products. To ensure all the customers’ needs are catered for efficiently, the company should offer customer relation skills to all people involved. Ensure there are adequate and viable customer contact people (Voorst, et al, 2017).

Adopt purchasing cost analysis strategy. This is an important criterial to the company to help in evaluation of all the costs involved in production. As an agribusiness company with a growing marketing platform, the costs involved in all production activities might be higher than that of other service providers in the same market. Having their target market all over the world but with minimal production points, transport cost and marketing cost might be relatively higher. If the cost at which the product is given in the market does not involve all the expenses incurred in these production activities it might lead to failure of the company marketing goals. As a result, adopting effective cost analysis strategy is very important to ensure effective pricing of the company’s services and products.

Conclusion

Business marketing platform has a responsibility to ensuring the set target market needs and requirements are effectively taken care off. GrainCorp Company with the farmers as their main target market should ensure that the services provided both in buying and selling the grain products are off high quality and done in the right way. This will enhance customer’s acquisition and satisfaction in maintaining customer’s loyalty. All service providers should ensure customers satisfaction in all its activities towards them as they are the main stakeholders.

References

“ADM/GrainCorp: Australia’s FDI rules in operation.” International Financial Law Review (February 2014): 6. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed September 28, 2017).

Dadzie, K. Q., Amponsah, D. K., Dadzie, C. A., & Winston, E. M. (2017). How Firms Implement Marketing Strategies in Emerging Markets: An Empirical Assessment of The 4A Marketing Mix Framework. Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice, 25(3), 234-256. doi:10.1080/10696679.2017.1311220

Datta, H., Ailawadi, K. L., & van Heerde, H. J. (2017). How Well Does Consumer-Based Brand Equity Align with Sales-Based Brand Equity and Marketing-Mix Response? Journal Of Marketing, 81(3), 1-20. doi:10.1509/jm.15.0340

Enache, I. (2011). Marketing higher education using the 7 PS framework. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Series V: Economic Sciences, 4(1), 23-30.

O’Keeffe, P 2017, ‘contestability in the Australian wheat export industry’, Journal of Australian Political    Economy, 79, pp. 65-86, Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 September 2017. Potter, M 2015, ‘Takeover: Foreign Investment and the Australian

Parker, C., Roper, S., & Medway, D. (2015). Back to basics in the marketing of place: the impact of litter upon place attitudes. Journal of Marketing Management, 31(9-10), 1090-1112. doi:10.1080/0267257X.2015.1035307

Stahl, F., Heitmann, M., Lehmann, D. R., & Neslin, S. A. (2012). The Impact of Brand Equity on Customer Acquisition, Retention, and Profit Margin. Journal of Marketing, 76(4), 44-63. doi:10.1509/jm.10.0522

Swilley, E. (2014). Upper Echelons Theory and Market Orientation: TMT Characteristics as Antecedents to a Market Orientation. Revolution in Marketing: Market Driving Changes, 189-189. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-11761-4_92

Venkatesh, U 2008, ‘The case for organized agri-retail–the Indian imperative’, Journal of Services Research, 1, p. 91, Business Insights: Essentials, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 September 2017.

Voorst, S. F., Kate, C. A., Jong-Potjer, L. C., Steegers, E. P., & Denkta?, S. (2017). Developing social marketed individual preconception care consultations: Which consumer preferences should it meet? Health Expectations, 20(5), 1106-1113. doi:10.1111/hex.12555

Wo?, B, & Gawlik, A 2015, ‘The Development of Agri-tourism in Opole Province, Poland. From Inexpensive Holidays in the Countryside to Experiential Marketing’, JETA: Journal Of Environmental & Tourism Analyses, 3, 1, pp. 80-89, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 September 2017.