Communication of additional products in a B2B market : A Qualitative Case Study of Electrolux LaundrySystems in the Swedish market

Sammanfattning: Background: Today’s market is constantly going through changes. Customers havenew tendencies and preferences towards the products they buy. It is a customer centeredbusiness culture and companies must follow it if they want to stay in the market.Therefore communication is more personalized and tries to exchange as muchinformation with customer as possible. This enhances customer relationship anddevelops more customized products. The development of customer intimacy is requiredin order to have a broader understanding on customer needs. In that way firms are moreable to meet customer preferences with the products they provide.Purpose: The aim of this study is to describe sales strategies of additional products toexisting customers in the B2B Swedish market. Further this study will identifycommunication tools when contacting customers.Research Questions:RQ1: What sales strategies can Electrolux Laundry Systems implement for additionalproducts?RQ2: How can Electrolux Laundry Systems use communication when offering newproducts?RQ3: How could communication affect the customers?RQ4: How could managers and employees perceive the sales perspectives of ElectroluxLaundry Systems?Method: The chosen method was in depth interviews. In these interviews theresearchers asked open-ended questions via face to face and via telephone and recordedthe respondents answers. The observations were carried through interviews with ninecustomers of Electrolux Laundry Systems. Scandic Hotel Värnamo, VärnamoMunicipality, Ekdahls Länghem, Ljungbybostäder, Ljungby Hospital, ElderlyHomecare Ljungby, Tekniska Förvaltningen and Ljungby Municipality.Results: The research demonstrated that the company analyzed uses customer focussales strategies and direct marketing communications as the main tools to maintain andnurture a strong relationship with customers. Also important factors have beenhighlighted that explain the essence of the study, such as the use of communication andsales efforts to establish close relationships to later on cross-sell additional products in amore suitable way according to customer’s explicit needs.