Blackboard Response

Business and Customers’ needs

From this post, it is clear that for a business, a company, or organization to continue generating profit, it must rely on supporting and promoting excellent customer services. That is quite true because, in entrepreneurship, customers determine the direction of an organization concerning success or failure (Aqeel et al., 2011). For instance, customers support businesses that meet their needs and have tendencies to become loyal to those that value them.

However, customers do not only need a business to meet their needs and support the preferences; they also need the company to respect them. It means that the managers, employees, and stakeholders of the business organization must value the opinions and feedback from their customers. Respect in business concerns how the organization communicates to the customers – for instance, do employees use polite or vulgar language. Courteous communication to customers plays a significant role in retaining them (Liao, 2007). For instance, front desk employees are imperative in creating and maintaining a professional impression to all customers.  In such a case, the company leverages good communication to create a good reputation and garner return customers. Thus, respect for customers is as important as meeting their needs.

The post insists on a business creating a product according to the customer’s preferences. The is correct, but I find it not conceiving enough because customers do not always know what they want. In some instances, a product automatically becomes a need once a customer has seen it. For instance, supermarkets leverage on the impulsive buying, where shoppers see new items and desire to buy them. Therefore, businesses play a role in influencing what customers want. In this perspective, a company ought to make efforts to devising new products to attract customers. Creating a completely new product is an excellent method of grabbing the largest market share (Florén et al., 2017). Not only does it capture the largest market, but the market is also strong. Thus, I think a business should also focus on creating new brands, besides providing what customers want.

On the biblical overview, the post indicates that one should not merely focus on their interests alone. This is true because if businesses focused on themselves without considering the external stakeholders, it risks poor performance in CSR. From Acts, “He [Jesus] called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: ‘You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business’” (19:25, NIV). The verse relates to business managers appreciating their workers for enabling them to make a good income. Therefore, for employees to perform at optimum, and earn good business returns, then business owners must make it a routine to appreciate their employees. Employees play a vital role in retaining customers, as explained in the post.

Another related bible verse is “Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight” (Leviticus 19:13). The verse warns on overpricing or taking advantage of customers, which is popular in monopolistic markets. If a business does it, it is robbing from customers, which is essentially unethical (Singh & Twalo, 2015). Also, it warns businesses against stealing employees by not paying their wages. It is a significant verse for companies wishing to succeed through its customers and employees. 

References

Aqeel, A., Awan, A., & Riaz, A. (2011). Determinants of Business Success (An Exploratory Study). International Journal Of Human Resource Studies, 1(1), 98. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v1i1.919

Florén, H., Frishammar, J., Parida, V., & Wincent, J. (2017). Critical success factors in early new product development: a review and a conceptual model. International Entrepreneurship And Management Journal, 14(2), 411-427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-017-0458-3

Liao, H. (2007). Do it right this time: The role of employee service recovery performance in customer-perceived justice and customer loyalty after service failures. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 475-489. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.92.2.475

Singh, P., & Twalo, T. (2015). Mismanaging Unethical Behaviour In The Workplace. Journal Of Applied Business Research (JABR), 31(2), 515. https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v31i2.9150