Introduction to Marketing and Strategy Planning
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Introduction to Marketing and Strategy Planning
Sample Syllabus
Sample Lesson
    1. Introduction to Marketing and Strategy Planning
    2. Introduction and Objectives
    3. Lesson Road Map
    4. What is Marketing?
    5. Importance of Customer Satisfaction
    6. The Marketing Concept and Marketing Orientation
    7. Elements of Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy
    8. Four Ps of a Marketing Mix
    9. Competitive Advantage and Differentiation
    10. Social Responsibility and Marketing Ethics
    11. Concluding Remarks
    12. Activities

Importance of Customer Satisfaction

Marketers strongly agree that creating customer satisfaction is the only path for their success.

But, why customer satisfaction is so important?

I can give you several reasons. We know that if customers are satisfied

  1. they come back to your company again (repeat buy),
  2. they buy your company’s other products (e.g., if they are satisfied with your TV, they buy your DVD player),
  3. they talk well about your products (word-of-mouth), and
  4. they pay less attention to competitors’ offerings.

Now, can you think about a reason why customer satisfaction should not be the focus of any organization?

In this process of satisfying customers’ needs, it's useful to take the customer's point of view. A consumer is likely to be more satisfied when the customer value is higher--when benefits exceed costs by a larger margin. Therefore, setting realistic customer expectations are crucial to meet and exceed those expectations.

Do not always assume that low price means high customer value—a good or service that doesn't meet a consumer's needs results in low customer value, even if the price is very low. Think about a recent product  you have purchased (e.g., cup of coffee). It might have satisfied your needs even if it was not the least expensive product in the market.

It is crucial for a company to carefully select the customers they want to serve, differentiate its offerings for the specific customer group or segment and decide on an overall marketing strategy to implement.