Customer Needs and Customer expectation

Question: Discuss about the Customer Needs and Customer expectation. Answer: Determination of customer needs Customer needs is the most important thing for a company in order to increase the profitability as well as the brand reputation in the market. The retail store chosen here for the report is a fashion retail stores that deals into manufacturing and selling apparels and accessories for men, women and kids. If the retail store is unaware of customer demands, then it is obvious that the store will not be able to compete in the market. The retail store can do extensive market research in order to get idea about the fashion ideas of apparels. Apart from that, feedback from the customers coming into the stores will also be helpful in determining customer demands (Kursunluoglu 2014). Digital promotion and engagement of customers in the social media webpage is an another option for determining customer needs. Measurement of customer needs Feedback of the customers who are buying things from the s tore is the best option of knowing about their fulfillment of requirements regarding apparels and accessories. Customer loyalty programs are an aspect that can also determine the expectations of the customers from the company. Apart from that, inclusion of customers in the development of the stores and finding their level of participation can be an option for measuring the expectations of the customers. Feedback related to the repurchase of goods and the level of service expected from the retail store will help the store to gather a detailed idea regarding the needs and expectations of the existing customers (Srivastava and Kaul 2014). Behaviour of the customer while buying things and the choice preference of the shoppers is an attribute that can be considered by the store. Attempts in customer expectation It can be said that the organization is making effective attempts in meeting the expectations of the customers. The target of the store is to increase the number of customers while increasing the sales of the company. However, the improved brand reputation is also an attribute of meeting customers expectations. The retail store is focused on adopting the latest fashion trends in the women and men apparels. The company is successful in formulating customer loyalty programs. By promoting end of season sale and proactive customer service, customer expectation can be improved (Navickas et al. 2014). Effective communication skills The retail store can follow effective methods of communication such as reading, talking, listening, nonverbal communication, etc. The business can provide training to the employees present on the store in order to provide excellent customer service to the shoppers. The main aim of practicing effective communication is to increase push selling of the products of the store to the shoppers. Some specific words that the employees can use are would you like, appreciate, may I, consider this, thank you, etc. to the customers. Apart from that, the digital team of the company must engage the followers of the social media webpage (Zablah et al. 2016). The engagements of customers are responsible for conversion of the followers into potential customers. Both types of communication are essential in order to improve the customer service that leads to sales of the different products of the store. Besides this, promotional campaigns are a method that can be considered as a part of the communicatio n with both existing and prospective customers of the company. The advertisements used through legacy media and digital media are considered as the media of the reinforcement of the brand and the launch of new apparels by the company (Orel and Kara 2014). Importance of listening Listening is a part of communication that is considered as a mandatory approach while maintaining an effective communication with the customers. The employees of the retail store must listen to the queries of the customers in order to provide them with effective solutions of the requirements. However, it is the responsibility of the employees working with the company in order to understand the latent demand of the customers by serving them with appropriate solutions (Ene and zkaya 2014). A good listener must maintain a good eye contact, share positive comments, conveys sincerity, lean towards the customer, etc. However, listening skills can be improved while focusing on the speaker and their queries. Listening to the customer with an open mind is the sign of active listening. The employee must rephrase the query of the customers so that the customer will understand that the sales executive has tacit the intended message. Body language must be improved so that it does not portray any type of disapproval or impatience attitude to the customer (Srivastava and Kaul 2014). References Ene, S. and zkaya, B., 2014. A study on corporate image, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in the context of retail stores.Asian Social Science,10(14), p.52. Kursunluoglu, E., 2014. Shopping centre customer service: creating customer satisfaction and loyalty.Marketing Intelligence Planning,32(4), pp.528-548. Navickas, V., Navikaite, A., Abeyrathne, U., Jayarathne, S., K?l?, S., Chen, Y.L., YALMAN, Z., Chen, P.C., Huang, C.H., ER, S. and RC, M.., 2014. Methodological aspects of customer satisfaction: Measurement and models.International Journal of Arts and Commerce,3(8), pp.49-58. Orel, F.D. and Kara, A., 2014. Supermarket self-checkout service quality, customer satisfaction, and loyalty: Empirical evidence from an emerging market.Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,21(2), pp.118-129. Srivastava, M. and Kaul, D., 2014. Social interaction, convenience and customer satisfaction: The mediating effect of customer experience.Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,21(6), pp.1028-1037. Zablah, A.R., Carlson, B.D., Donavan, D.T., Maxham III, J.G. and Brown, T.J., 2016. A cross-lagged test of the association between customer satisfaction and employee job satisfaction in a relational context.Journal of Applied Psychology,101(5), p.743.