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Who are the firm's current and potential customers?

The current and potential customers for the Roundup River Ranch are the volunteers who include both individual and the groups (Ferrell and Michael 63). The demographic characteristic of customers does not have a limit. The customers are all gender inclusive, poor and rich, and does not matter the age as long as the person can help with different activities in the camp. For example, the customers range from individual such as medical professionals to groups such as organizational groups and school groups (Roundup River Ranch). The psychographic characteristic of Roundup River Ranch customers depends on their interests and attitude, opinions and passion for helping. For example, customers who are proficient in different areas such as cabin counseling, kitchen, day programming, driving, medical fields, photographing, and facilities and grounds helping are highly preferred. Roundup River Ranch customers are concentrated in different parts of the Colorado state.
The important players in the purchase process of the Roundup River Ranch’s products are the volunteers. The volunteers facilitate the actual act of purchasing by helping and supporting the campers who have severe disorders to feel like the normal kinds. In this case, the actual users of the product are the children suffering from different serious diseases. However, there are heavy users and light users of the products offered by this organization (Roundup River Ranch). The heavy users involve the children suffering from chronic diseases while the light users include the families and siblings of such children.

What do customers do with the firm's products?

The volunteers, who are Roundup River Ranch customers facilitates the availability of the products offered by the company to the actual users of the products (Roundup River Ranch). The volunteers foster the cost-saving and the people power to ensure that the organization can offer vibrant and exciting products to the children suffering from serious illness. Therefore, the volunteers, contrary to the normal customers, do not “purchase” the organization’s products due to their quality and specifications. Instead, it depends on the willing hand and the big hearts of the customers.

Where do customers purchase the firm's products?

Instead of the traditional channels of distribution, such as wholesalers and retailers, the organization uses the non-store retailing which include direct marketing on electronic retailing. The volunteers can fill the forms on the Roundup River Ranch’s official website to confirm their purchase of their products. The e-commerce marketing has enabled the customer to have ease and convenient access to the products offered by the organization. The “purchase” of the organization’s products include offering voluntary jobs in the camps to help the organization save cost and hence achieve their goals. Alternatively, the customers can pay a visit at the Roundup River Ranch’s head office at 10 W. Beaver Creek or camp office at Colorado River Road (Roundup River Ranch).

When do customers purchase the firm's products?

The purchasing behavior of the customers varies according to the seasonality of the products. In the Roundup River Ranch, there are two main seasons where the customers can access good and services. These seasons include the summer camp and the family camp. The summer camp and the family camp are divided into the sessions. The summer camp involves week-long camp for kids with various medical conditions while the family camp involves the families of the children with the conditions (Roundup River Ranch). However, the price of the product does not change due to the seasons but the willingness and the passion of the customers to help.

Why (and how) do customers select the firm's products?

Contrary to many customers, the Roundup River Ranch customers are not interested in the quality and satisfaction of the products offered. Here, the customers’ willingness and ability to purchase the products are determined by their passion and helping hands for the children with various medical conditions. Love and empathy are the critical determinants that persuade the customers to purchase the products offered in the ranch (Roundup River Ranch). By purchasing the products, it implies that the customers facilitate the services offered to the actual users through cost savings and offering people-power. For instance, the volunteers help the organization to save more than $160,000 per session. This indicates that the customers, in this case, offer priceless purchase of the products.

Why do potential customers not purchase the firm's products?

There are various potential reasons that make customers not to purchase products offered by Roundup River Ranch. First, the products offered by the organization do not match the lifestyle of the non-customer lifestyle. The prevailing customers in the organization are volunteers, and some of the people do not have the passion or the wiliness to help the others. Second, there are potential customers who do not have the ability to cope with the products. For instance, the volunteers who could fit in the range of the job opportunities offered in the camp could be locked out (Roundup River Ranch). Lack of broad advising strategies such as television ads and one area location of the ranch could make the noncustomers never know that the product exists. Finally, the schedule for the camps is limited providing the customers with the limited time to purchase the product. In other words, the products are not available throughout the year. Therefore, in order to convert noncustomers into the customers, Roundup River Ranch should broaden the range of the volunteer jobs to match a significant number of customers. In addition, the firm can enhance marketing strategy to cover a wide customer base and also add off-season sessions throughout the year. The firm can also come up with various promotion and motivation strategies to attract more customers (Ferrell and Michael 65).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
The organization uses e-commerce marketing
The organization is cost effective since it is able to save more than $160,000 per session
The organization has a good reputation built by committed healthcare professional, dedicated volunteers and trained staff.
The organization has a well-known brand in Colorado
As a result of these strengths, the organization can be able to achieve its goals and attract more customers especially through the e-commerce marketing. In addition, the strengths enable the organization to be cost effective and offer more quality and affordable products compared to its competitors

Weaknesses

The Roundup River Ranch has limited distribution channel
The organization offers limited job opportunity to the potential volunteers
The organization offers seasonal products, and that is summer camp and family camp per year
The organization has limited financial resources
The weakness constrains the customers’ needs in terms of convenience and ability to offer help to the children with medical conditions. The seasonal products also constrain availability of the product throughout the year. Therefore, the organization lags behind the competitors who have a session from January to December.

Opportunities

Roundup River Ranch has the ability to enhance market growth through offering products throughout the year
The organization can change the customer needs by broadening the range of the job opportunities offered to the volunteers
The organization can be located in different locations to tap more volunteers
The organization can seek alliances with government and non-government organizations
The opportunities are anticipated to increase the number of the customers and also increase the funds, hence make the work easier for the volunteers. Market growth is anticipate to take part in the next two years; geographical expansion in the next two years; and alliances and customer needs in the next two years and market

Threat

Shortage of the volunteers and the financiers
Economic fluctuations in the coming years
Unfavorable weather conditions during the sessions as a result of global warming
These threats can decline customer’s confidence in the organization because they decline the quality and willingness to purchase the products. All the threats need to be mitigated as soon as possible (Roundup River Ranch).

The SWOT Matrix

M= magnitude of the element, I = important of the element, R= total rating of the element

Magnitude scale range from 1 (low magnitude) to 3 (high magnitude)

Importance of scale ranges from 1 (low importance) to 3 (high importance) (Ferrell and Michael 97).

Works Cited

Ferrell, O C, and Michael D. Hartline. Marketing Strategy. 6th ed. Mason: Thomson/South-Western, 2013. Print.
Roundup River Ranch. "Roundup River Ranch: Why Volunteer?" Roundup River Ranch: Welcome to Roundup River Ranch. N.p., 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. <http://www.roundupriverranch.org/volunteer/why-volunteer>.
Roundup River Ranch. "Roundup River Ranch: Who We Are." Roundup River Ranch: Welcome to Roundup River Ranch. N.p., 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2015. <http://www.roundupriverranch.org/about-us/who-we-are>.