A case study on customer equity

The customer is a financial asset that should be measured, managed, and maximized. From this point of view customer is an asset like the other ones. Customer equity management is a total marketing system through which companies may be able to manage products and customers simultaneously throughout the customer lifecycle. In order to make the relationship lasting for the customer lifecycle, communication process should be managed very carefully in appropriate ways by all tools. Such a deep communication between parts will make them interacted mutually. Besides, companies need to reframe brand and product strategies within the context of their effects on customer equity. The purpose of the study is to reveal how a car dealership company manages customer relationships. In first two parts literature has been reviewed in terms of conceptual background and development of customer-centric approach. The company has been studied by qualitative research and case study method has been practiced. Ethnographic research methods have been practiced during the study process. These methods are observation, interview, documentation and physical artifacts.The result of the research shows us that the company uses nearly all the possibilities it has so as to manage relationships with customers. The organization by all parts is structured in the way through which it would be possible to reach to the aim of customer profitability or maximization of customer lifetime value. Company adopts and practiced the customer equity management as a small and medium sized enterprise. It manages and maintains customer relationships by all employees who perform sales representative roles in different ways. At the end, recommendations to the firm and researchers have been told.