Job-related extra-role service

As the definition in Section 2.1, Job-related extra-role service is sub-categorized into Assistance of Business Trips, Order-related Assistance, Market Information Provision, Impression Enhancement, and Assistance with Customers' Own Job (unrelated to business with salespeople). The five categories of job-related extra-role service are classified further to form subcategories respectively in Table 4.8.

Table 4.8 Subcategory of Job-related Extra -role Service

No. Typology Subcategory

1 Assistance of Business Trips 1. Transportation service 2. Accommodations service

2 Order-related Assistance

1. Help on Product Manufacturing 2. Help on Product Delivery 3. Favor on Product Price

3 Market Information Provision 1. Product Information Provision 2. Competitor Information Provision

4 Impression Enhancement 1. Praise on Cooperation

2. Job Performance Improvement

5

Assistance with Customer’s own Job (unrelated to business with

salespeople)

1. Assistance on Product Selling 2. Assistance on Product Supply 3. Others

4.2.2.1 Assistance of Business Trips

When customers come to Taiwan on business, they need help on business trip if they are not familiar with the country. The assistance of business trips could be separated into

transportation service and accommodation service. Transportation service is to give

transportation assistance for a customer to travel from a place to another. It includes help on confirming a flight, calling a taxi, applying visa, etc. Accommodation service is to arrange an accommodation for a customer's business trip such as the reservation of a hotel room.

4.2.2.2 Order-related Assistance

Business deals are the most connections between two companies, so the order-related assistance is very important for customers. It could be divided into help on product

manufacturing, help on product delivery, and favor on product price. Help on product manufacturing means that salespeople give extra service beyond the purchasing contract to meet a customer's request on the manufacturing of products such as the change of order quantity and delivery date. To help a customer pull in the delivery schedule or increase the quantity of order, salespeople ne ed to put a lot of effort. Interviewee C said:

“For instance, this is a pull in. Pull- in involves the conditions of the material, the capacity of your factory. A lot of things are involved. Almost every division is affected. … It may need to contact the purchase division. The material needs to pull in and then the delivery date of the material needs to come out. The next is that it needs to have the capacity of the product line. … How you negotiate to pull out other products with higher priority and pull in your products.” (Appendix C, 9)

But when customers ask to cancel the order and pull out the delivery schedule, salespeople could only help customers mitigate the loss. Interviewee E stated:

“It needs to talk about compensation. … How to deal with these. (parts or

products) You will buy them back or what you will do? Or resell it after changing the package. Is it possible to resell them to others? If possible, how much I would lose. Who is going to compensate me?” (Appendix C, 10)

Help on product delivery means that salespeople give extra service beyond the

purchasing contract to meet a customer's request on the delivery of products. For example, the

change of shipping destination and shipping way. Favor on product price means that salespeople, within the authority, offer assistance to lower the product price.

4.2.2.3 Market Information Provision

Marketing information is often exchanged between customers and salespeople to more understand the market. The market information provision consists of produc t information provision and competitor information provision. Product information provision is defined to offer market information on products for the reference of a customer. For example, suggest to place extra order in case of shortage of parts supply or recommend to stop a project because of poor prospects. Competitor information provision is defined to offer information of competitors for the reference of a customer such as product price of competitors.

4.2.2.4 Impression Enhancement

Impress enhancement helps customers to build good image before the boss. Because it helps the career of the customer, it is also a useful method to enhance the commercial relationship with the customer. But in the companies with OBM or SI business models, the customers are usually the company owners, so this SHB would not work. Impression enhancement could be implemented by praise on cooperation or job performance improvement.

Praise on cooperation is to praise a customer before his boss for the good handling of related business such as good ability, good work attitude, and smooth cooperation.

Interviewee H talked about his habit:

“After a project is finished, we would write a thanks letter to his boss. Tell him

(the boss) that because of his help, the progress of the who le project goes

smoothly. Keep his profile in his company. Sometimes we do this to help him. ” (Appendix C, 11)

If the customer is in the purchase division, praise would not impress his boss.

Interviewee C mentioned how he helps purchase people to impress the boss:

“Purchase people need to negotiate to get a good price, so you can tell his boss that it is hard to negotiate price with that guy in your division. He always cuts my price to death. Even if you make 20% profit, you have to say that you get nothing back. His job is to get low price, so it have his boss think he do a great job. ” (Appendix C, 12)

Job performance improvement is to significantly improve the job performance of a customer to impress his boss such as help ing build credit by offering lower product price or better payment term. In other words, let a customer’s boss know his contribution to business.

4.2.2.5 Assistance with Customer’s Own Job

Assistance with customers’ own job is to help a customer deal with their own job which is not related to business with salespeople. It could be divided into assistance on product selling, assistance on product supply, and others. Assistance on product selling is to help a customer increase his sales revenue of products. For example, introduce new buyers for a customer to sell his products, offer product selling strategies to promote a customer’s products, and even purchasing a customer’s products.

Assistance on product supply is to help a customer maintain the product supply. For

example, introduce better forwarders to prompt the shipping and help get critical parts.

Interviewee L recalled how he helps a customer purchase an accessory:

“He does not want to do the purchasing himself because the cost of purchasing is too high. In other words, he had ne ver purchased this and it took too much effort to persuade his boss. He simply gave us the specification, ask us to do the survey, and then they do the verification. After the verification is done, we bundle them with our products and sell them to him.“ (Appendix C, 13)

Other assistance with customer’s own job is classified to others. It could be that offering information of a potential job candidate for reference, introduc ing a job candidate, or covering or mitigating the impact due to a customer’s fault.