 CUSTOMER:

 A customer is someone who makes use of the paid product of an individual or

organization. This is typically through purchasing or renting goods or services.
 The word historically derives from “custom”, meaning “habit”; a respondent was
someone who frequented a particular shop, who made it a habit to purchase goods of the
sort the shop sold their rather than elsewhere, and with whom the shopkeeper had to
maintain a relationship to keep his or her “custom”, meaning expected purchases in the
future. The shopkeeper remembered the sizes and preferences of his or her CUSTOMER,
for example. The word did not refer to those who purchased things at a fair or bazaar, or
from a street vendor.

 CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

 Introduction to Customer Satisfaction:

 Customer Satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how

products and services supplied by the company meet or surpass customer expectation.
Customer Satisfaction is defined as “the number of customer, or percentage of total
customer, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services exceeds
specified satisfaction goal.
 It is seen as key performance indicators within the business and is often part of a
balanced scorecard. In a competitive market place where businesses compete for
customer, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly and
become a key element of business strategy.
 The importance of customer satisfaction diminished when a firm has increased
bargaining power. For example, cell phone plan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon,
participation in an industry that is an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of certain
product or services exits. As such, many cell phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print
with provisions that they would never get always if they were, say, a hundred cell phone
plan providers, because customer satisfaction would be way too low, and customer
would easily have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.
 Meaning of Customer satisfaction:

 Many researchers have looked into the importance of customer satisfaction Kotler
(2000) defined satisfactions a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting
from comparing a product’s perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her
expectations”. HoyerandMacInnis(2001) saidthat satisfaction can be associated with
feelings of acceptance, happiness, relief, excitement, and delight.

 Focus on key customers.

 Proactively generate high level of customer satisfaction with every interaction.
 Anticipate customer needs and respond to them before the competition does.
 Build closer ties with customers.
 Create avalue perception.

 Empower your front-line employees to solve problems. Let cashiers, for example,
extend a small discount if a customer wants to buy slightly damaged merchandise. Le t
the customer service ends the web discount, even if the prospective customer called in for
service. By empowering the people who talk to your customers, you're solving a problem
quickly, making your customer and your employee feel more valuedand those are always
keys to satisfaction.

 Mine your customer database to understand exactly who are your most valuable
customers? Whether it's in terms of Empower your front-line employees to solve
problems. Let cashiers, for example, extend a small discount if a customer wants to
buy slightly damaged merchandise. Let the customer service end the web discount,

even if the prospective customer called in for service. By empowering the people who
talk to your customers, you're solving a problem quickly, making your
customerandyouremployeefeelmorevalued--andthosearealwayskeysto satisfaction.