CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The purpose of a business is to create and keep customers. If a business successfully creates and keeps customers in a cost effective way, it will make profit while continuing to survive and thrive. If for any reason, a business fails to attract or sustain a sufficient number of customers, it will experience losses. Too many losses will lead to the demise of the enterprise. feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a product's perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations by potential user of a product is referred to as customer satisfaction as postulated by Philip Kotler (Marketing Management, Eleventh edition, slide 712). According to the Balanced Scorecard Institute (Marketing Metrics), recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business. These are leading indicators: if customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from the [customer satisfaction] perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good".

Globally, profit maximization is the focus of many business organizations. However profit cannot be maximized without the efforts of exchange of idea, value and other human features including those responsible for carrying out other marketing functions. Ideally, it is pertinent and appropriate for every organization that wants to break even in a competitive environment to first motivate its staff properly for the purpose of achieving smooth business transactions. When management satisfies its workers, then effort is diverted to the satisfaction of customers for the purpose of achieving their loyalty. From the marketing concept point of view, it could be noted that customers are the king. Therefore, they need to be satisfied so that their patronage can be affirmed.

The factors could be producing exactly what the consumers need at reasonable prices, rendering after sales services where applicable and other considerable factors that are demand stimulating through consumers' satisfaction, Most of these factors will be revealed under the approaches mentioned in chapter two of this study.

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