Explain the segmentation of customers in industrial markets based on self-organized maps

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering Group, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran

2 Master of Industrial Engineering, Science and Arts University, Yazd, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering Group, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

Challenges for the growing trend of environmental changes, the intensity of competition and the transition from monopoly era to competitive environment have driven firms to dynamic marketing for targeted marketing. Given that improving customer satisfaction and increasing profitability and sustainable growth are among the main strategies of Mobarakeh Steel Company. The goal of this research is to contribute to realization of these strategies by targeting the organization in order to customize its services based on prominent characteristics and behavioral indices of industrial customers. In this paper, because of the necessity of identify different customers, to provide services tailored to the characteristics of each sector, the self-organizing maps have been used for segmenting customers and identifying their characteristics. The findings indicate that the domestic market customers of Mobarakeh Steel Company, based on 95 criteria derived from 48 indicators (demographic, geographic, operational, behavioral and situational), are put into five clusters that have been named based on procurement practices variables (RFM), as Golden customers, special customers, loyal customers, churned customers and suspicious customers.

Keywords


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