You are here: Home / Archives for Customer

Price Or Quality ? What Does The Customer Want?

The debate about whether the customer wants quality or price is as old as business itself. A discerning customer who is prepared to pay more to enjoy a good quality will always speaks in favor of entrepreneurs who provide quality services. On the other hand, the customer who finds it difficult to make ends meet will always prefer the service provider offering goods and services at lower cost.

The truth is that the customer wants fantastic quality at the lowest price possible. On the other hand, the service provider wishes to earn maximum income for the least work possible. The point where both these factors meet is where the sale takes place.

The debate is further muddled by the fact that customer judges quality on the basis of his or her perception. How do you assess whether you have received the best functioning nuclear plant from your service provider? Do you go back to the provider’s sites like www.direct.tv and investigate on relative posts? Or how about a washing machine, what standard on that? The two products may seem incomparable but the fact remains that the end user judges these products not based on scientific data but based on other factors including the quality of marketing pitch.

Many customers choose washing machines because they come in with the latest technology. What are these technologies? How effective are they? Very few individuals go through all these questions and admit that they have absolutely no idea about the answers. As far as price is concerned, a lot depends on the current ability of the individual to pay. The previous real estate boom saw people buying houses because they got affordable loans. All these issuescomplicate the debate.

Filed Under: Business, Consumer Tagged With: , ,

An eagle’s eye on the product quality!

In today’s global era, the customers do not hesitate in spending a bit more for a best quality product. The theory is “quality never comes cheap” and is followed by the current buyers. To get the best of customers, it is required to offer the best of the company/ brand’s services too.

A quality check is the prime factor governing the overall product. The product should be regularly inspected to maintain the standards set by its producers and to keep up with its competitive “siblings”. The lesser defective merchandize, lower customer complaints, late deliveries and keeping the company’s reputation in high spirits could only be possible with the production of a proper product meeting the guidelines and regulations. There are three major phases to keep a check on the quality of the products. Pre-production, during production and post-production are the basic three steps where the monitoring needs to be done. The random sampling of the manufactured products helps keep the quality under check. The consistence in delivering quality products also establishes reliability towards the brand name and helps win over the trust of the customers. The policies need to be maintained and followed from designing to manufacturing to finishing of the products by all units to comply with the standards. The product testing in most adverse conditions should also be carried out to ensure the limits of their products along with the guideline maintenance for the users to let them know the do’s & don’ts.

The services also include the customer support and tech support offered by the corporations for the complementation of the product to the consumers.

Filed Under: Price v. Quality, Products Tagged With: ,

Satiation in terms of quality appeals more investment

Quality is the core fundamental aspect of any product offered by a company. The growth in terms of sales, brand image, market value and other respective things depends upon the quality of the product or services being provided by the company. If the customer is satisfied by the quality of the product served in comparison of what the consumer expected from the provider, the value for the products or services increases which leads to retaining the customers for a long time along with the positive image which sets up a good will and a positive symbol for the long term prospects of the company. Thus, the quality satisfaction is as important as the profit because it is also a kind of profit but shows its resultants in long term tenure.

The organizations including wholesale enterprises, retail enterprises, government entities, industrial firms, service providers, non – profit corporations, and all others have the responsibility to satisfy their respective customer targets assuring them of best quality services and products.  The important thing is to provide the quality services when it is actually in demand and required by the target market which if not catered at appropriate times will be having no output later on. Assurance of quality satisfaction can be attained by teamwork, improvements in processes and the excellent technology being used. Making the quality prospect to be the foremost concern by all means will leave no loopholes in letting the customers satisfied. The commitment by the corporation/ brand/ company in providing constantly the premium services and superior products to their customers is a requisite moving in parallel with the three aspects mentioned earlier.

Filed Under: Price v. Quality Tagged With: ,

Knowing your customers better!

Being upgraded with the demands of the consumers of your products and services is the key to persistence. Prototype Testing is one of the ways to do so. Herein, the potential customers chosen randomly from the public or the families (if the product targets the entire group) are asked to express their opinion about the current products, its newer version (if any) and its older version (to compare the advancements). They give their views about the services by filling out the surveys or detailed forms, verbally describing their experience with the product, and offering their expectations and suggestions from such an entities. A prototype is described as the unit example out of the bulk production of a product. It is entirely similar to the actual product and is represents the upcoming lots. They have been used in testing and verifying the product abilities and potentials but also utilized to understand its prospective consumers interests.

In addition to the customer’s requirements, knowledge of the key force governing a purchase such as price, quality, product/ services reliability and tailored solutions is also required to understand the customer base served by the business in depth. The numbers of potential customers’ needs to be identified which are to be targeted and their percentage in the periphery aimed to be captured. The behavioral aptitude of the masses while purchasing a product involving the purchase rates and the professional and personal profiles of the key deciders of the purchase are an important research basis to know your customers better. This understanding can be elaborated by studying the purchase habits and history of the existing and previous customers and by suitable means of surveys or reports asking them for their demands and responses about the products and services. The demographic data collection on market size of the business enterprise, the statistics involving growth trends, innovations and changes and the issues including regulatory, administrative, etc by the organization also helps in keeping a statistical track of the current happenings and designing a strategy for the future.

Filed Under: Consumer Tagged With: ,