by Mike Tejada

Created on: February 16, 2009

Listening to your customer provides clear benefits when it comes to creating management decisions. Many employers start by saying the customer is always right and there is a reason why they say that. The clear understanding that the customer is the one that drives business and not the other way around allows us to better understand the business and make better decisions when it comes to the customers that are in the marketplace. The marketplace has an array of different needs. The more information you have the better you are at being able to meet the needs of the individuals of the marketplace. The employers are sometimes leaning more towards the customers because they understand that if they stand still and their competition gets a hold of the customers they will lose the market share and quickly go out of business. Every business is driven by sales of either products or services.

Business in this day and age would rather stay in a place with less profit margin with more customers for the clear reason that more customers now will in the future lead to more profits. This parallel has been found by all successful businessmen as well as corporations. One example of listening to your customers was when Elmo came to shelves maybe 6 years ago. When Elmo was a hot commodity businesses tried to cater to the greater need that was arising. Against the better judgement sometimes business leaders have to appose the customer. this is the clear definition of a fad. Most Fads have a short half life but it could lead the business in dire straits if it decides to follow the customer. the consumer has nothing to lose but in the other end the business invested capital into that venture. The customer will always move towards business that are able to better supply the needs that they want, these wants keep constanly changing therefore information is key.

Deciding to listen to the customer will in the longterm pan out. Many business have created a business model geared towards the customers need through surveys and discounts, to entice the customer to give up habits and trends and therefore businesses could then follow suit. This exact process is leading the businesses to go digital this digital shift towards a better understanding of the customer will lead to a wealth of information but it is up to managers and decision makers to sift through the information and decide between good information and that information that is really not valuable for the business and the bottom line.

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