America’s market is definitely a unique one. There’s ultimately no specific product that is entirely unique, which inflates the competition of everything. Because of this, the experience that customers have when they are buying these products has turned into one of the most important aspects of sales.
Customer satisfaction is how you get returning business. At this point, it is no longer about the product, but about how people are treated when they are investing in the product. Customers who are satisfied by customer service is how you get first time customers to become returning customers, and how you get returning customers to keep coming back.
This is where new marketing skills come into play. A big part of this is due social media and business-to-customer interaction that is different than ever before. Customers can now report their satisfaction of products in so many different ways, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, E-mails, and contacting businesses via their websites. Many businesses are also beginning to incorporate all of these different ways of communication into an app. This way, customers can go straight through the app to give reviews or contact the business about a problem they are having.
Uber is a fast growing business with a unique take on public transportation. It’s become popular very quickly over the last four years, especially in urban areas. Uber focuses heavily on customer satisfaction. Each driver is instructed by the company to put a twist on customer service by providing drinks or snacks for their riders. Uber also has an app that allows you to contact your driver and rate your driver once your ride is done, giving riders the opportunity to critique their drivers. This way, Uber can collect it’s feedback each night and improve their app and drivers accordingly.
A lot of research goes into how to properly satisfy customers, such as return rate, products that are bought over and over again, and how customers ultimately rate the business’ customer service, hence customer surveys such as the one Uber provides on it’s app. Keeping a business unique and up to satisfaction can be tricky, which is why it’s important to research most what product users are looking for.
The only way to keep a customer happy is to satisfy their needs and wants. Business-to-customer communication will keep America’s market growing, changing, and ultimately satisfied.
-Parker Navarro, UNCW ’17
Image Provided by Fenero, Business Insider
IMC Hawks Blog 
I found this interesting. However how can we use this “social technology” to improve things like higher education? For example: UNCW raised tuition. You should be getting “more classes/class time” for your money. Instead there is a movement to reduce instruction time to just four days a week. That’s bad customer service! How can the tools you mentioned be used to improve this type of bad “customer service.” Of course as the student (customer) you may want to spend more, and get less. If that is what makes you happy(as the customer) then its a win-win.
This blog post caught my eye, customer satisfaction is the top reason people avoid certain restaurants – due to bad customer reviews. I too am guilty of checking such reviews. I have never used Uber but have heard that many drivers keep candy in their cars to boost customers coming back.
I agree with the idea that businesses and products need to rely heavily on customer satisfaction and it is interesting that more and more of this is being reported through social media. Anyone can voice their opinions. Yelp reviews can be the deciding factor on whether or not someone new in town tries a restaurant and Angie’s List can help people decide what contractor people trust or do not trust. What I also find interesting are the industries that can succeed despite poor reviews. For instance, several airline companies have been bashed on Twitter by celebrities with millions of followers, yet they continue to see no direct impact. People claim that they will never use that airline again simply on the basis of poor customer service. However, the idea of price/cost has a large role in whether or not they stay true to these assertions. If the difference between two flights from two different airlines is upwards of a hundred dollars, most people would most likely pick the cheaper flight no matter how they feel about the company or how many tweets they’ve seen.
This is so true! Grumpy customers tend to turn away from companies and more and more companies are edging towards a more customer-oriented setting. Personally, I love stepping into a store, being greeted and asked if I need help. It not only makes the process faster, but helps you feel welcomed and comfortable. I hope customer service continues to increase as time goes on.
I really like this post. You are completely right about how important customer satisfaction is. Every company wants returning customers. Even if the good that is being purchased is a disappointment to the consumer the way the company handles the situation will determine how the consumer will react. A bad product can be salvaged by good customer service but bad customer service will always make a bigger impact on the consumer.