customer

A customer is a person or company that receives, consumes or buys a product

or service and can choose between different goods and suppliers. The main goal
of all commercial enterprises is to attract customers or clients, and make them
purchase what they have on sale. They also try to encourage them to keep
coming back. At the core of marketing is having a good understanding of what
the customer needs and values.

1. Loyal Customers- These types of customers are less in numbers but

promote more sales and profit as compared to other customers as these are
the ones which are completely satisfied.

These customers revisit the organization over times hence it is crucial to

interact and keep in touch with them on a regular basis and invest much
time and effort with them. Loyal customers want individual attention and
that demands polite and respectful responses from supplier.

2. Discount Customers- Discount customers are also frequent visitors but

they are only a part of business when offered with discounts on regular
products and brands or they buy only low cost products.

More is the discount the more they tend towards buying. These
customers are mostly related to small industries or the industries that focus
on low or marginal investments on products.
Focus on these types of customers is also important as they also promote
distinguished part of profit into business.

3. Impulsive Customers- These customers are difficult to convince as they

want to do the business in urge or caprice. They don’t have any specific
item into their product list but urge to buy what they find good and
productive at that point of time.

Handling these customers is a challenge as they are not particularly looking

for a product and want the supplier to display all the useful products they
have in their tally in front of them so that they can buy what they like from
that display.
 If impulsive customers are treated accordingly then there is high probability
that these customers could be a responsible for high percentage of selling.

4. Need Based Customers- These customers are product specific and only
tend to buy items only to which they are habitual or have a specific need for
them.

These are frequent customers but do not become a part of buying most of
the times so it is difficult to satisfy them.
These customers should be handled positively by showing them ways and
reasons to switch to other similar products and brands and initiating them to
buy these.
These customers could possibly be lost if not tackled efficiently with
positive interaction.

5. Wandering Customers- These are the least profitable customers as

sometimes they themselves are not sure what to buy.

These customers are normally new in industry and most of the times visit
suppliers only for confirming their needs on products.
They investigate features of most prominent products in the market but do
not buy any of those or show least interest in buying.
To grab such customers they should be properly informed about the various
positive features of the products so that they develop a sense of interest.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is defined as a measurement that determines how happy

customers are with a company’s products, services, and capabilities. Customer
satisfaction information, including surveys and ratings, can help a company
determine how to best improve or changes its products and services.

An organization’s main focus must be to satisfy its customers. This applies to

industrial firms, retail and wholesale businesses, government bodies, service
companies, nonprofit organizations, and every subgroup within an organization.

here are two important questions to ask when establishing customer satisfaction:

1. Who are the customers?

2. What does it take to satisfy them?
WHO ARE THE CUSTOMERS?

Customers include anyone the organization supplies with products or

services

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SATISFY THE CUSTOMER?

Organizations should not assume they know what the customer wants. Instead,
it is important to understand the voice of the customer, using tools such as
customer surveys, focus groups, and polling. Using these tools, organizations
can gain detailed insights as to what their customers want and better tailor their
services or products to meet or exceed customer expectations.

Customer Satisfaction Process Improvement

What is Marketing?

Marketing is a term that covers a whole range of activities aiming to make

people aware of your products and services and persuade them to buy the same.
While advertising is the most common way of marketing, it also involves
consumer research, product design, as well as other aspects. However, sales do
not fall under marketing. Instead, sales are an outcome of marketing. This is
why it becomes essential to thoroughly understand the importance of marketing
for businesses and the B2B marketing strategies that companies adopt.
Marketing and its Importance for Businesses

In this section, we’ll discuss the importance of marketing for businesses and the
reasons.

1. Effective consumer engagement: Businesses must engage customers,

and herein, marketing proves to be an effective tool. Customers can be
involved by telling them what they do not know and creating good
content around your products and services.
2. Building and maintaining reputation: The reputation of your business
depends on how it grows and its lifespan. This is where marketing comes
across as a way to build the brand equity of companies. And this happens
when the expectations of the customers are met.
3. Building relationships between customers and business: For any
business to grow, it must build a long-lasting relationship with its
customers. Marketing is based on demographics, psychographics, and
consumer behavior and, therefore, gives an understanding of what
customers want.
4. Boosting sales: Since marketing utilizes different ways to promote
products or services, it helps in increasing the likelihood of better deals.
Happy customers translate into a company’s brand ambassadors
automatically.
5. Staying relevant: Marketing helps a business to remain relevant to the
customers and in its domain. It helps in maintaining good relationships.
6. Making informed decisions: The primary questions that every business
has been around are the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of producing products or
delivering services. This underscores the importance of marketing for
companies and the fact that it links a business and society.

Types of Marketing

The different types of marketing strategies that you should be aware of are:

1. B2B Marketing

The term B2B marketing means business-to-business transactions. B2B

marketing strategies are used when a company is selling goods or services to
some other company.
2. B2C Marketing

B2C marketing means business-to-consumer marketing. This refers to a

company selling its products or services to consumers, and the business
promotion is done through ads.

3. C2B Marketing

This is the opposite of B2C and means consumer-to-business marketing. In this

type of marketing, the consumer gives goods or services to the company.

4. C2C Marketing

C2C Marketing refers to consumer-to-consumer marketing. Consumers interact

with co-consumers when they share a standard product or service. An example
of this is OfferUp and let go apps.

everal reasons explain why the marketing department is vital to a

company. First, this department identifies customer needs, either current needs
or future needs. This task is their domain. From this task, the team then decides
on the right marketing mix. Finally, they decide what product to sell, at what
price, and how to promote and deliver it to customers.

Second, the marketing team is trying to increase customer awareness of the

company’s products. So, they are interested in buying. And after buying, they
come back at a later date to buy again.

Third, the marketing team struggles to sell as many products as possible. So,
the company can get maximum revenue. The marketing department is where the
money comes from. It’s not like other departments like operations, resources,
and finance, which are money-consuming and don’t make money.

Fourth, the marketing department is tasked with increasing or maintaining

market share. Again, this task is related to how money continues to flow into the
company.

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Market share is basically about how the company maintains sales compared to
competitors. So the increase in market share indicates the company’s success in
selling more products than competitors. And suppose a company has a dominant
market share and maintains it. In that case, it should lead to more money
flowing into the company than competitors.
If at the same time, the company is efficient in making money, the company
generates strong profitability. This is because the company makes more money
by spending less.

Fifth, the marketing department is tasked with maintaining or improving the

company’s image and products. In addition, this department is tasked with
maintaining strong relationships with customers. If successful, customers are
loyal and continue to buy, flowing money continuously to the company.

Sixth, the marketing team identifies new opportunities to make money. For
example, they develop a new product after doing research. Or, they target new
market segments in existing markets because there are promising opportunities.
Or they plan to enter new markets at home or abroad. All of these contribute to
the company’s long-term growth.

Data Collection?

Data collection is the process of collecting, measuring, and analyzing data from
various sources to gain insights. Data can be collected through various sources,
such as social media monitoring, online tracking, surveys, feedback, etc.

Benefits of Data Collection

The following are some of the ways data collection can be beneficial to
organizations.

• Improving precision in targeting customers

• Finding new customers
• Understanding customer behavior
• Increasing customer retention
• Improving decision-making
• Reducing errors
• Enhancing marketing efforts
• Predicting market trends
• Growing business revenue
• Improving business processes
An Overview of Popular Data Collection Methods

Now that we have discussed the question of what is data collection and its
importance, let’s take a look at the different methods in which this is done. Data
collection methods can be broadly classified into two types.

1. Primary Data Collection Methods

Primary data collection is the process of acquiring data directly from the source.
This data is highly accurate as it is collected first-hand. In addition, primary
data collection methods can be further categorized as quantitative and
qualitative.

1.1: Quantitative methods are based on mathematical calculation and can be

used to make reliable analyses and predictions. In fact, some popular
quantitative data collection methods are smoothing techniques, barometric
methods, and time-series analysis.

1.2: Qualitative methods are used when the elements are not quantifiable. This
is contextual data that is used to identify the motivations of customers. Besides,
some popular quantitative data collection methods are interviews, the Delphi
technique, focus groups, questionnaires, and surveys.

2. Secondary Data Collection Methods

Secondary data collection is the process of collecting data from various internal
and external data sources. In this case, the data is easily available for use and
can be less time-consuming. Moreover, some secondary data sources include
customer relationship management software, sales reports, financial statements,
press releases, the internet, business journals, and executive summaries.

customer complaint
customer complaint highlights a problem, whether that's a problem with your
product, employees or internal processes, and by hearing these problems
directly from your customers, you can investigate and improve to prevent
further complaints in the future.

How to analyze customer complaints

When you receive a complaint, the first step is to analyze it.

Complaint analysis is used to track, categorize and handle customer complaints.

When a customer makes a complaint, he or she is voicing a concern in relation

to your product or service. However, not all complaints are to be treated equally
and there are several questions to ask yourself before you take action, including:

• Has this happened before?

• Have the complaints been recorded?
• How often does the same complaint arise?
• Is there a pattern to this complaint in how it was received?
• Has the same customer reported this previously?

7 ways to handle customer complaints

When you receive a customer complaint, follow these tips to help transform it
into a golden opportunity for your business.

1. Listen and understand

2. Inform your team
3. Apologize
4. Find a solution
5. Record feedback
6. Follow up
7. Exceed expectations

1. Listen and understand

Always listen to your customers. They have complained for a reason and it is
important to understand why they are complaining. Research shows
that customers care more about quality than a fast response. Take time to listen
and understand what their problem is.

Pro tip: To maintain quality from all support personnel, use a customer service
knowledge base.

2. Inform your team (and keep them in the loop)

A rep receives a complaint from a customer.

They can either:

• handle it and stay silent or

• share the complaint with the team.

Which one benefits the business most? Sharing it, right?

It's the only way an organization can understand exactly what’s wrong (and how
to fix it). When you receive a complaint, notify your manager to discuss what
happens next.

In some cases, it will be resolved quickly (i.e. wrong contact details need
updating) and in other cases (i.e. faulty product), it’s being shared with senior
management and will be addressed at a higher level. Either way, sharing this
information internally has a bigger impact.

3. Apologize
Don’t be afraid to apologize for a mistake. Many customers are simply looking
for an apology and acknowledgement of their complaint, yet so many
businesses are hesitant to admit when a mistake has been made.

Don’t underestimate the importance of an apology!

Research by The Nottingham School of Economics found that unhappy
customers are more willing to forgive a company that offers an apology as
opposed to being compensated.

In the findings from the study, 45% of customers withdrew their negative
evaluation of a company in light of an apology, whereas only 23% of
customers withdrew their negative evaluation in return for compensation.
The researchers concluded that when a customer hears the words “I’m sorry”, it
triggers an immediate instinct to forgive.

Don’t just stop at the apology, follow through with a promise to resolve the
complaint.

4. Find a solution
When your customer has a legitimate complaint, you need to find the root cause
and solve it.

Give your customer service team the authority to handle the majority of
customer complaints to avoid passing your customer onto a series of people and
managers. If the issue has been or can be repeated, make the necessary changes
so you do not receive another complaint.

Let's take a look at a customer complaint example:

Imagine you have a customer whose account is up for renewal. You reach out to
them manually, before taking payment (as required by the GDPR) and they are
happy to continue with their subscription.

But, for some reason or another, you charge them twice for the same amount.

The result?

They are not happy and decide to cancel their account.

Giving your employees the authority to handle these kinds of issues means
allowing them to issue a refund and handle the request without having to
escalate the case to a supervisor. It also means that the customer gets their issue
solved quickly.

Free template: Once you have issued the refund, you can send them an email
using the template below.
5. Record their feedback
Your customer complaints could be a goldmine for finding exactly how your
company can improve.

Maybe there’s something wrong with your product when customers use their
mobile device, or there could be something missing from customer service
replies.

In order to understand what you need to improve on, start documenting the
comments and complaints to find patterns and trends that are recurring.

Whatever it is, document it for later and make time to inspect and reflect.

(One way to document their feedback is in the contact card in your CRM. You
can then export a list of complaints on a monthly basis to review and share
internally).

6. Follow up with the customer

You’ve solved the problem, shared the news with a customer, but you haven’t
heard back. Now what?

Easy. Follow up with your customers to make sure they are satisfied with the
solution. This can be in the form of a follow up email or survey asking for
feedback on how the complaint was handled.

Almost 70% of customers leave a company because they believe you don’t care
about them.
Very few companies follow up with their customers.

Following up shows you care. And this makes the customer feel important.

Not sure how to follow up?

Use the template below.

7. Exceed expectations

You have acknowledged the mistake, fixed the problem and followed up.
Now, it’s your chance to go one step further and exceed customer expectations,
whether this is to send a hand-written thank you note or to give the customer
early access to your new product features.

Remember that customers pay close attention to the small details when they’re
feeling distressed. The way you interact with customer complaints after their
problem is resolved sets the stage for the rest of your business relationship.

In fact, if your post-complaint actions are done successfully, the next time your
customer talks about your business, this will be the message they communicate
most

Grievance Redressal Mechanism Meaning

A grievance redressal mechanism is an integral aspect of any administration’s

machinery. An efficient and effective grievance redressal procedure projects an
accountable, responsive, and user-friendly administration. In reality, an
organisation’s grievance redressal procedure is a key performance indicator for
its efficiency and effectiveness, as it gives critical input on the administration’s
operations.

For example, the Administration of Financial Services’ top goals include timely
public grievance resolution and strengthening public service efficiency in the
banking, insurance, and pension sectors.

Public complaints are received at many levels of the Indian government. There
are essentially two designated nodal agencies in the central government for
grievance redressal mechanism. These organisations are:

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG)

It is the primary agency related to the public grievance resolution process and
citizen-centric initiatives. Its role is to take citizen-centric initiatives in the areas
requiring administration reforms. The department also delivers quality public
services to citizens hassle-free while addressing public issues.

It forwards grievances to the concerned ministries or State governments

responsible for grievance resolution and redressal of complaints. Depending on
the severity of the grievance, the department manages more than a thousand
grievances annually with timely follow-up.
The department determines the significant issues behind public grievances and
delays in redressal. These issue areas are evaluated, and remedial actions are
recommended to the concerned department/organisation.