Customer Satisfaction Strategies Essay -- Consumerism Customers Busine

Customer Satisfaction Strategies What is customer satisfaction? We are in the midst of a revolution in business. Some call it a customer revolution, others a quality revolution, others a service revolution. Organizations are attempting to obtain increased customer satisfaction by focusing on the quality of their products and the service provided. This movement toward quality has produced significant benefits but just like other business fads, joining and adopting the religion does not insure that the real objective of producing customer satisfaction will be obtained. Customer satisfaction is a key ingredient to the success of any business.It is the most important factor that creates repeated customers. Some people know it but do not realize its importance. If a customer of yours is satisfied with one of your products or services, chances are this customer will purchase more of your products or services, which will increase your revenue. Therefore, in order to have your new or existing customers buy more from you, you will have to follow techniques that work. Customer satisfaction takes a very important place in Marketing. As much as you think that your marketing strategies should help you generate sales, think about how the same marketing strategies could help you achieve Customer satisfaction. There are a lot of elements involved with Customer satisfaction. Know the problems of your customers and what they are looking for, then offer them the right products and outline the benefits to them. Most of the time, customers do not care about your product or its features. They care about what your product does for them. Therefore, do not just list the features of what you offer, but rather add the benefits of your products or anything you offer to your targeted audience (your customers or visitors). This is a very effective element for Customer satisfaction. The more profitable firms are those that are able to maintain their most valued customers throughout time. To satisfy a customer means to make him faithful and customer satisfaction becomes the index that measures the ability of the firm to produce income for the future. The virtuous circle of customer satisfaction : What is quality? We commonly view quality as a physical property of our product and therefore see our task as producing a product that meets these physical characteristics. Howev... ...ough quality or enough service, satisfaction will result. However, we have evidence to support that quality and service alone can not produce recurrent satisfaction. Satisfaction is a distinct and separate issue. We claim that it is the customer's entire experience with us that determines his or her declaration of satisfaction. We say that this experience is not objective at all but totally subjective. It is the customer's call. That call is based upon the customer's perception of the experience. This perception is his/her interpretation of the value received played back against his expectations. We say that satisfaction is a linguistic phenomenon, a spoken or written declaration made by a customer in conversations with us or others. It is a declaration that we have given them authority to make. This declaration does not require any objective evidence. It can be a declaration made with no reason. Our interactions with the customer, the promises made to the customer in these conversations, the customer's expectations generated in these conversations, and the actions we take that are consistent with those expectations combine to produce a declaration of satisfaction when we ask.

Persuasion Theory Essay

One of the most deeply-debated, and researched, models of persuasion is the ELM (Elaboration Likelihood Model). Developed by Petty and Cacioppo (1981 to 1986). Based on cognitive processes, it â€Å"portrays receivers as active participants in the persuasion process. Receivers produce cognitions (thoughts, elaborations) in response to the stimulus of persuasive discourse† (Stephenson; Benoit; Tschida; 2001). Petty and Cacioppo argue there are two â€Å"routes† to persuasion: central and peripheral. The central route to persuasion consists of thoughtful consideration of the arguments (ideas, content) in the message, and occurs only when a receiver possesses both the motivation and ability to think about the message and topic. The peripheral route occurs when the receiver lacks ability and/or motivation to engage in much thought on the issue. Using the peripheral route, the listener decides whether to agree with the message based on other cues besides the strength of the arguments in the message, such as whether the source is credible or attractive, the number (but not the quality) of arguments in the message, or length of the message. † Petty and Cacioppo argue that subjects produce more favorable cognitive responses to messages with strong than weak arguments. Mitigating factors include source credibility, the state of the recipient’s thinking when the message is received, and method and medium used to deliver the message (i. e. , verbal or written; print or electronic), There is a considerable body of work, both pro and against the ELM. However, from the literature it seems we are once again left with the thought that the processes involved have yet to be rigorously tested as they relate to communication theory, let alone their effect on the Domino Model. â€Å"There have been relatively few rigorous tests of this assumption via path analysis or structural equation modeling† (Stephenson, Benoit, Tschida). American graphic designer Katherine McCoy suggests that persuasion might be considered more than just trying to convince an audience of the sender’s intention â€Å"The receiver’s motivation might also be an important factor. We know persuasion is necessary for distracted, unmotivated users. But it can also increase productivity for motivated users, for instance, through the use of prompts and cues for accurate use of spreadsheet software. In product design, persuasion/seduction can clarify operation sequences for smart products and enrich the user’s product experience. Persuasion provides motivation for those unmotivated through disinterest, unfamiliarity with the content, or lack of competence for a software tool or a product’s operation. There is a complex interaction between the sender’s intentions, message content, the audience/receiver’s motivations and the communications context. Here, the receiver’s motivation is paramount† (McCoy, 2000). But how accurately can we predict motivation? An airport monitor would seem to be purely informational. A traveler hurrying to catch a plane is highly motivated and will make full use of the flight monitor – no need to persuade this audience member. But when a driver in a hurry encounters a stop sign, that driver has a low motivation level. Although the content is informational, the driver may ignore it, making only a rolling stop. Thirdly, what happens when a junk food enthusiast encounters a food package with nutritional information? This audience member has low motivation and probably ignores message content completely. † In order to achieve persuasion, an audience has to be motivated; to want to absorb knowledge, change attitude and, in turn, have their behaviour affected. The American Marketing Association found that after a study of the major persuasion theories â€Å"to date, no single theory or framework that has been developed has been able to account for all the varied and sometimes conflicting persuasion findings. â€Å"Presumably, this is because the complex process of persuasion is intricately dependent on a myriad of contextual, situational, and individual difference factors, whereas the theories remain relatively simplistic and narrowly developed. The inability of existing theories to accommodate all persuasion findings need not suggest, however, that these theories are inaccurate. Rather, these theories simply may represent pieces of persuasion processes that operate in certain conditions that are not always clearly specified†. (Meyers-Levy, 2001). For good measure, highlighting the difficult nature of this area of study, the Association added an additional strategy that people are likely to employ in processing information. a third fundamental processing strategy in response to an advertisement, referred to as an â€Å"experiential processing strategy. where â€Å"judgments are not based on thoughts prompted by message content per se but rather on sensations or feelings prompted by the very act of processing† (cited in Strack, 1992). The Domino model is certainly simplistic, as it assumes that attitudes, and then behaviour, will be altered after information is provided. However, it doesn’t recognise that attitudes are formed early in our development and are inherently difficult to change (why is it that drink-driving, anti-smoking and domestic violence programs don’t seem to work? ). So it can’t be assumed that all people will change their attitudes just because they receive information. In fact, many people may not even receive knowledge from the initial message, particularly if they already have heard the message. Given the number of persuasion theories (and they are just that: theories) it is difficult to judge with any certainty their effect on the Domino model. The simplicity of the Domino Model is probably a result of the fact that public relations is, for the most part, an inexact science – a practice that relies on the foibles of human nature. It also flawed in that what applies to a target group, does not necessarily apply to all individuals in that group. Clearly, more quantifiable research is required before either the Domino Model, or any persuasion theory can be considered exact. In fact â€Å"to date, no single theory or framework that has been developed has been able to account for all the varied and sometimes conflicting persuasion findings. Presumably, this is because the complex process of persuasion is intricately dependent on a myriad of contextual, situational, and individual difference factors, whereas the theories remain relatively simplistic and narrowly developed† (Meyers-Levy, 1999). As Carl Hovland stated: â€Å"to change attitude you have to change opinion. That requires communication†. Whether any of the above theories affect the Domino model remain to be truly tested.

Shinsei Case Study Essay example - 1477 Words

Shinsei Bank Case Shinsei bank has a rich history in terms of influence over the Japanese banking sector. Of all the defining moments, there are a few moments that reflect the culture shift of Shinsei bank from the more traditional Japanese approach to the more Western business model. These moments include the denial by Shinsei to forgive 97 billion Yen in debt owed by Sogo, the creation of the Shinsei Securities operations and the institutional banking department, being listed on the Tokyo Stock exchange and the hiring of Tom Pedersen as the Chief Learning Officer All the above moments are important because all reflect the shift from tradition and probably may account for the current lack of culture or rift between the†¦show more content†¦Although I agree with the use of pay for performance in theory, I do not agree with the two-tier system as implemented by Shinsei. At Shinsei, it seemed that the two tiered system led to resentment. As one employee put it Frankly, for muc h of the first year the atmosphere in the bank was like civil war†¦Everyone was fighting everyone else. The problem with pay for performance systems is that detracts from team work as motivation for self reward goes against the idea of helping colleagues. On the other hand, pay based on the organization profitability leads to star performers being underpaid as well as social loafing. In order to effectively implement a pay for performance system, an organization must be careful to avoid the negative side effects. What was the aim of the values and vision exercise? How successful was it? The main purpose of the vision and values exercise was to formalize and align the current values that were present within the organization. By doing this, Pedersen hoped to align the values to the banks strategic plans. I think Pedersen has done a great job so far in trying to bridge the gap between the employees and trying to promote an organizational culture based on a common mission. His v ision and values exercise was successful. In addition, he adopted a new 360 Performance Evaluation system for senior executives and coaching session for evaluators so the evaluations were not inflated.Show MoreRelatedShinsei Bank Case Study978 Words   |  4 Pagesto figure out how to handle their legacy systems. Jay Dvivedi came across some of these problems when he was charged with overhauling the IT infrastructure of the newly conceived Shinsei Bank. Dvivedi quickly realized that the old legacy systems were almost entirely useless to the new business model Shinsei was attempting to implement. However, legacy systems are not so easily discarded. He had to ask himself questions such as how will new infrastructures affect ways of working and communicatingRead MorePublic Finance Institutions in India- a Brief Discussion4369 Words   |  18 PagesDirectors. The top brass is appointed by the Government of India after an intensive selection procedure. Though the company was accused to go by mere seniority in number of years for the selection of the senior management, this has changed as seen in the case of Thomas Matthew and A. Dasgupta (Managing Directors). The Chairman assumes authority of the CEO and chairs the board while the Managing Directors are allotted the three main categories of the organizations functioning. The currentRead MoreInvesting in the It That Makes a Competitive Difference7179 Words   |  29 Pageswww.hbr.org Studies of corporate performance reveal a growing link between certain kinds of technology investments and intensifying competitiveness. Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference by Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 1 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 2 Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference 11 Further Reading A list of related materials