Customer Relationships and Customer Segments - Coursework Example

Table of Contents Introduction 2 Key partners 2 Key Activities 2 Key resources 3 Value Propositions 3 Relationships 4 Channels 5 segments 5 Cost structure 6 Revenue Streams 6 References 7 Introduction This business idea is about the carpooling which aims to cater to the needs of the people who share a same route on a daily basis. There are many people who go to the same company or college. Similarly, people there are also many places which are travelled by many people. The carpooling will prove to be beneficial for all those people. Those people who do not have their own can share the car of the other person in exchange of some money. Furthermore, it will also be lucrative for those people who own a car because their costs will be divided among the different people with whom they will share the car. Key partners They key partners include those people who will have to share the same route. There are many people who go to the same college, office r any other people. These people can share the car in order to reduce their costs. Those people who live in a close area and who have to travel to the same place on a daily basis can share car with each other (Vanoutrive et al., 2012, p.77). Those people who have car can share with those individuals who do not have the facility of the car. However, in return, the car owners should charge a certain fees in return of their services. By sharing a car, these people will not only be able to reduce their transportation costs but there will also be significant reduction in the pollution.. Key Activities The key activities include identifying those persons who go to the same place on a daily basis and live close to each other. Similarly, another important activity includes designing a path acceptable to all the users of the cars. Furthermore, the owner of the car should also set fees which should be charged from the users of the car either on a monthly or weekly basis (Arbour-Nicitopoulos et al., 2012, p.134). Additionally, the owner of the car along with the users of the car should also design an appropriate time at which the users of the car will be picked up from their places. All these activities are very important and carpooling can only prove to be successful if all these activities are performed in an effective way. Key resources The important resources required for this business plan include the availability of the cars. Carpooling can only work in an effective way if there are ample numbers of cars which are being shared by the people. Along with the cars, there should also be identification of the individuals who would be sharing them. Similarly, there should be identification of the special events and festivals during which people can share the car (Galland et al., 2014, p.83). For instance, during the Chinese New Year, people do not get the train tickets easily. Therefore, they can share the car. Furthermore, people who visit the same place on a daily basis should also decide the route which will prove to be cost effective for all of them. Value Propositions The value proposition is an important aspect of the business plan. In the value proposition, the business define that what value are they delivering to the customers. Similarly, the value propositions also define that which of the problems of the customers company plans to address. Besides, the needs of the customers which the company satisfies are also mentioned by the company in the value propositions. The Carpooling aims to provide the transport facilitation to those people who have to use either public transport or other means of transportation which they use to reach their destination. This does not only proves to be very costly for them but also consumes most of their time (Zmud & Rojo,2013, p.13). Similarly, it proves to be costly for some people who use car alone to reach their destination (Correia & Viegas, 2011, p.81). With the help of car pooling, both the owners of the car and the users of the car can reduce their expenses to great extent. With the help of the carpooling, approximately four people can share a car. The owner should charge an acceptable fee from all the three users of the car. On the contrary, the users of the car will be willing to pay the fees because it is not only cost effective for them but they also get the comfort of the car (Bruglieri et al., 2012, p.46). Thus, the concept of car polling is so unique that it does not only provide benefits for the users of the car but also for the owners of the car. Customer Relationships The customer relationships are considered to be important in every business. No business can be successful if it does not provide quality service to its customers. In carpooling business, there are no clear customers as both the users of cars and the owners of the cars get the equal benefit from the carpooling. However, the users of the cars can be considered as the customers. The users should be provided effective service by the owners of the car by picking and dropping them on time. Similarly, the car should also be driven in a safe and comfortable manner. Furthermore, the route should be decided by the car owner in consultation with the users of the car (Correia & Viegas, 2011, p.81). On the contrary, the users of the car should provide fee to the owners of the cart on a timely basis. Similarly, the fee should be decided by the mutual consultation of the users of the car and the owners of the car. Channels Channels are also considered to be very important for the success of the business. There are different channels through which the customers of the business want to be reached. Before deciding any channel, the needs of the customers must be understood in an effective way. There are also five important channel phases which include awareness, evaluation, purchase, delivery, after sales. In the carpooling business, the awareness phase is considered to be very important. In this phase, the awareness about the concept of the carpooling will be provided to the customers (Tezcan, 2015, p.15). The customers must be provided all the details about the carpooling so that they utilize this concept. This is a new concept and many people are not aware of this concept. Therefore, it is essential that an awareness campaign should be initiated before starting this concept (Parikh et al., 2014, p.25). Customer segments The identification of the customer segments is considered to be very important for the success of the business. The business must identify that for whom it is creating value and who are its important customers. Similarly, the business must identify that whether it will target the mass market or the niche market with its offering. The carpooling business is for the niche market. The customer segments for the carpooling business include those people who live in proximity and who go to the similar places (Concas & Winters,2015, p.90). The carolling is not for everyone instead it intends to serve the niche market in which the needs of the specific groups will be catered. The carpooling facilitates those customers who travel to the same place on a frequent basis such as office, college or any other institution (Bento et al., 2013, p.41). Similarly, the carpooling will also prove to be effective for the special events such as the Chinese New Year. During the events, people can share the cars (Knapen et al., 2012, p.821). The target segment for the car pooling business includes not only the users of the cars but also the owners of the cars. Thus, there is not a single customer segment which the carpooling intends to cover instead it mutually benefits both the users as well as the owners of the car. Cost structure The determination of the cost structure is also considered to be important for the success of the business model. With help of the cost structure, it is determined that what are the most important costs which are inherent in the business model. Similarly, it is also determined that which of the resources are most expensive and which key activities will prove to be costly. In the carpooling, there are no such costs included. There is no production involved and neither the customers will have to buy anything. The only cost involved is the fee that might be charged by the users of the car from the owners of the car (Macy et al., 2012, p.290). This fee should be decided by the mutual consultation of the users of the cars and owners of the cars. Revenue Streams The revenue streams are considered to be very important for the success of the business. Most of the business receives fewer amounts of revenues during the introductory phases. However, their revenues increase in the later stages. The revenue stream in the carpooling includes the receipts from the users of the cars to the owners of the cars (Knapen et al.,p.372). References Arbour-Nicitopoulos, K., Faulkner, G. E., Buliung, R. N., Lay, J., & Stone, M. (2012). The school run: Exploring carpooling as an intervention option in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), Canada. Transport Policy, 21, 134-140. Bento, A. M., Hughes, J. E., & Kaffine, D. (2013). Carpooling and driver responses to fuel price changes: Evidence from traffic flows in Los Angeles.Journal of Urban Economics, 77, 41-56. Bruglieri, M., Colorni, A., Davidovic, T., & Roksandic, S. (2012). A Matheuristic Approach for the University Carpooling Problem. In CTW (pp. 46-50). Concas, S., & Winters, P. (2015). Impact of carpooling on trip-chaining behavior and emission reductions. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board.pp.90-96 Correia, G., & Viegas, J. M. (2011). Carpooling and carpool clubs: Clarifying concepts and assessing value enhancement possibilities through a Stated Preference web survey in Lisbon, Portugal. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 45(2), 81-90. Galland, S., Knapen, L., Gaud, N., Janssens, D., Lamotte, O., Koukam, A., & Wets, G. (2014). Multi-agent simulation of individual mobility behavior in carpooling. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 45, 83-98. Knapen, L., Keren, D., Cho, S., Bellemans, T., Janssens, D., & Wets, G. (2012). Analysis of the co-routing problem in agent-based carpooling simulation.Procedia Computer Science, 10, 821-826. Knapen, L., Keren, D., Cho, S., Bellemans, T., Janssens, D., & Wets, G. (2013). Estimating scalability issues while finding an optimal assignment for carpooling. Procedia Computer Science, 19, 372-379. Macy, M. L., Clark, S. J., Freed, G. L., Butchart, A. T., Singer, D. C., Sasson, C., ... & Davis, M. M. (2012). Carpooling and booster seats: a national survey of parents. Pediatrics, 129(2), 290-298. Parikh, P., Patil, M., Kadam, A., & Gokhale, A. (2014). Dynamic Management Functionality for Improving Transportation Efficiency by Means of Carpooling Concept. Pp.23-28 Tezcan, H. O. (2015). Potential of Carpooling among Unfamiliar Users: Case of Undergraduate Students at Istanbul Technical University. Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 04015006.pp. 15-20 Vanoutrive, T., Van De Vijver, E., Van Malderen, L., Jourquin, B., Thomas, I., Verhetsel, A., & Witlox, F. (2012). What determines carpooling to workplaces in Belgium: location, organisation, or promotion?. Journal of Transport Geography,22, 77-86. Zmud, M., & Rojo, C. (2013). Casual Carpooling Focus Group Study (No. FHWA-HRT-13-053). Read More