A new Marketing Tool for Knowledge Intensive Business Services

The paper focuses on knowledge marketing in Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS) companies. Marketing is a special challenge for KIBS, and requires a shift from traditional strategies – generally applied to manufacturing sectors and mostly based on the classic notion of marketing mix (i.e., product, price, promotion, and place) – to new approaches that stress the importance of customer-provider interactions. Since KIBS mainly deliver knowledge (embedded in services, consulting activities, and problem solving capability), marketing activities must communicate the company’s ability to manage knowledge exchanges with customers effectively. Integral part to the implementation of an appropriate marketing strategy is the need for companies to audit their marketing activities. Marketing audit has its place in the management literature but is generally targeted to manufacturing or retailing companies. In light of this, the paper proposes a novel approach to marketing audit for knowledge-based companies that focuses on relational and cognitive capabilities, and consists of a questionnaire-based tool subdivided in sections, each of which considers a particular stage of the customer-provider relationship. It is assumed that the effective delivery of these services requires intense and continuous exchanges of knowledge between customer and provider, and must be connected to the specific business environment (in terms of markets, competitors, etc.). Consequently, the marketing capability of a company is seen in terms of its ability to fruitfully interact with customers in the conditions of the particular operating environment. The questionnaire can help executives of KIBS companies to self assess the “marketing positioning” of their firms. Due to its easiness of use, it is particularly suitable for small companies. The paper describes the particular example of a questionnaire developed for ICT services firms. This tool has been tested with two small companies, and the results of this assessment are reported.