2 management - School of International Business and ...

Tina Klein
5 CUSTOMERS AND MARKETS
In order to effectively market a product, you must understand both your customers and consumer
buying behavior. A customer is any individual or organization that would find personal or profes-
sional value in your good or service. Customers can be divided into three groups:
– existing customers
– past customers
– potential customers
All three groups can provide you with valuable information, ideas, and feedback that can be used
to refine and adjust the elements of your marketing mix. This is a continual process as customers
tastes and needs change, as competitors respond, and as economic forces affect your custom-
ers, suppliers, and distribution channel partners. Nothing stays the same for long.
Existing customers can provide invaluable feedback about the value of your »product« and
changes that might be required. As you might expect, past customers are a good source of
information about your product's deficiencies and the appeal of competitive offerings. Potential
customers can help you understand needs, wants, and expectations...particularly in terms of
each marketing mix element.
For example, you might receive feedback from customers suggesting that they would rather pur-
chase your product in a retail store instead of online, or that a competitor has priced their product
substantially lower than yours.
So, how do you collect this valuable customer information? As with much of marketing, there is
no single way or best way. In fact, you'll probably need to use several methods to communicate
with existing, past, and potential customers. These might include:
– telephone interview or survey
– in-person interview or questions at the point-of-sale
– informal sales or customer service discussions
– feedback interview or questions following customer service
– Internet (or new media) surveys or feedback
– direct mail surveys or feedback requests
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