The Conflict of Customer Service

It’s too often that customer service has abandoned the sales floor and disappeared to the break room. It never fails when you walk into a big department or retail store, you need sales assistance, and it is nowhere to be found. Like wise when you don’t want to be bothered, the sales associate is right behind you, pushing a sale that might not even exist. Wouldn’t it be nice if all the corporations out there all got on the same customer service page and found a solution to the confliction that burdens the personal selling department? Two retailers that differentiate in their perception of customer service are the Home Depot and Lowes. Both of these companies specialize in the do-it-yourself hardware service. If you enter either store, you will find spacious isles, tall ceilings, and a tool for just about every need. So what makes on customer choose one store over the other? Home Depot is known for its ability to keep the shelves stocked with everything you need to complete a project. It even offers a range of goods in each department that cater to people with small budgets to high end furnishings for those that look to spend a little more. But what it lacks is the availability of customer service representatives. Long ago when the Home Depot first started it hired trained professionals that were knowledgeable in their field. Eventually, those professionals were being replaced with unskilled, untrained employees who would work for a cheaper wage. At that point, customer service went on a decline and now it’s hard to find a sales associate, let alone one with knowledge of the product they are selling, on the sales floor of all places. This doesn’t make the Home Depot a bad place to shop; it’s a retailer that is meant for the person who knows what they need. Lowes on the other hand may not have everything on the sales floor that you are looking for, but you’ll always find someone willing to help you, even if it means transferring a product from another location in order to see you through the sale. In this case, Lowes is going for the person with questions. Two types of personal selling techniques, each directed towards a certain group of consumers. Question is, would there be a way to combine the two techniques into one and still make the customer feel comfortable approaching or being approached by customer service?

Sales Promotions as a Currency

Every time I go to the electronic department in any store, I find myself searching the shelves for something that will catch my eye. Although I am usually taken to products of companies which I know will give me the most reliable “bang for my buck”, I am also a sucker for sales promotions. If something is on sale it’s hard to resist not weighing it in my decision. One of my favorite sales promotions is the instant rebate. Knowing that I’m going to save money here and now at the time of my transaction is instant gratification. The evil brother of the instant rebate, the mail-in rebate, might have the same discount effect but is less desirable due to the fact that it takes weeks for it to actually hit my wallet. Plus filling out the paper work involved and making photocopies of the sku and proof of purchase tags is up there as one of the most tedious tasks known to mankind. But there is something that balances out the sales promotion spectrum, the coupon. You know what you’re getting when you have the coupon, as long as you read all the fine print, you have a guaranteed sale of that item for that price. It’s kinda like the instant gratification but you don’t get the notion of saving at the store, you get it before you leave the house. Even if the store doesn’t have that item in stock, most of the time if you take it to another retailer, that store will sometimes honor that coupon and if you’re lucky even offer a discount on top of that. BestBuy and McDonalds have teamed up to in a sales promotion effort with their Monopoly sweepstakes that combine the prizes of McDonalds food, cash prizes, gifts from Bestbuy, and Bestbuy Bucks. Each time you buy a value meal from McDonalds you are ensured at least one Bestbuy buck and a two game pieces for the Monopoly board. What a marketing ploy, combining to things Americans desire, electronics and greasy food. Does the BestBuy buck hold more value than the American dollar?

Blog 9: Nike vs. The Egg

Price taker or price searcher, which one holds the upper hand? If you’re looking for a market with a steady price range, low per unit revenue, and a sluggish return on investment (ROI), then the price taker market is for you. If you more the adventurous type with an ambitious attitude who would like a higher per unit revenue, a greater risk factor and a quicker ROI, more than likely the price searcher market is for you. A great example of the price searcher would be Nike shoes. Nike entered the market back in the 1960’s when it began making running shoes. Since there was a demand for the shoe and little to no competition, Nike was able to set prices to whatever level it felt would redeem the highest possible ROI without shocking the market. Today, Nike competes with other companies and holds its own. As a price searcher, the demand for a product is elastic. When the price of the good or service goes up, the demand will go down. On the flip side, a farmer whose main source of income is selling eggs is a price taker. His market is inelastic. No matter what the price of eggs is the demand is going to be there. But he does not set the price of his product, the market sets the price for him. Even if he tries to raise the price of his eggs it will not make a significant impact and will eventually bring his price back down to what the consumer is willing to pay. So how would the farmer be able to bring in higher revenue? One way is by producing more of his product and finding a way to produce it more efficiently. In order to do this he would have to upgrade his equipment. This would mean he would have to invest and sacrifice time and money that would other wise be used for everyday living. So where is the payoff? Should he invest in the upgrade or maybe raise more chickens in order to produce more eggs?

Blog 8: Is Walmart setting the right price?

Recently some of my co-workers and I had a discussion about "super power" stores like Wal-mart and Target. Most agreed that Wal-mart and Target stores were the best thing to happen to mankind since the invention of the wheel. I agree. I am one of those people enslaved to the commercial enterprise that Wal-mart and Target provide for the pliable human being. Each time I go into one of these stores I go in with a small list of items I need and walk out with a shopping cart full of stuff I don't necessarily need or even want. It is almost like as soon as you enter through the automatic doors, the Wal-mart greeter's "welcome" puts you into a kind of hypnosis and that's when the madness starts. Like a kid in a candy shop I can't keep my hands in the cart. I reach for everything on the shelf. One of my co-workers, whose belief that both stores are the bully on the block, brought up a good point that whenever one or both of these two giants move into a town or city, all the little mom and pop stores which for years have been a corner stone for most local markets, are being shut down, unable to compete with these juggernauts. These stores have what seems like a self-contained market and their own ecosystem. We see the commercials, the little yellow smiley face flying around knocking down price tags throughout the store, advertising Wal-mart’s ability to set their prices at whatever they want, sometimes setting them so low that it makes it impossible for the smaller stores to compete. Is it ethical for a company to have such a hold as this? How would a new company choose a pricing strategy going up against what seems like a supernatural power? Would it have to offer goods with exceptional quality? It would be extremely difficult to compete with lowering prices. Even if they were to start off with the average price of a certain good or service, there is always the threat of one of the two stores lowering it's prices. So where does the onslaught end? Is Wal-mart the new "wheel" or the end of the road for small business owners?

Blog 7: Retailing

A second topic that was discussed in my marketing class this week was about retailing. Retailing is basically everything that goes into the sale of a product or service. We all get tired of telemarketers invading our right to privacy on a daily basis. They even call our cell phones now trying to do their job in selling a product or service that we don't neccessarily need. But how different are they from the sales associate working at Dillards? Doesn't his job have the same entities as the salesman on the phone?Most people know what retailing is, but can't distinguish the different types and levels of retailing. When the holidays or family birthdays come around, I usually find myself going online to do my shopping. The benefits of going online as opposed to going to a department store are that I can do it all from home without having to waste gas and fighting the crowd. Plus I can have all my gifts shipped directly to their homes. Some online retailers will even offer to wrap the gift and have it delivered at a specific time when you know the person will be home. There are other types of retailers that make up the business market. Supermarkets which sell mainly groceries and other food items, department stores which sell a variety of items from clothes to furniture, and the local convenience store which sells the bare essentials. Retailing is as much of marketing as marketing is a part of retailing.

Blog 6: Supply Chain

This week, one of the topics discussed in my marketing class is on the supply chain of business. We may not realize it everytime we walk into a department store or pick up a candy bar at the nearest gas station, but there is a very divine process that takes place in order to give us the customer the ease and benefit of being able to go out and buy the necessities of life without having to travel too far to get them. I recently went shopping to pick up a case for my laptop at Best Buy. I was offered a few different options, each with its own special features. Not thinking twice, I picked up the one that best suited my needs. After reading the chapter on the supply chain, I realized a few things, that I was a victim of indirect retailing and that Best Buy was just the middle man in the sale. The product itself had been handed down through different marketing channels. From the resources it took to manufacture the different parts, to the company whose name is branded on, to Best Buy the retailer who sold it to me the consumer. There are so many factors that go into a sale that we normally don't think about, but all play an important part in the business supply chain process.

Blog 5: Product Concepts

Whenever a company decides that it wants to expand its market or create a new one within the company, homework is involved in order to have a firm grasp on the different demographical and geological traits that will make its product marketable. Coming up with a new product concept takes time and sometimes fails on the first few attempts to place it out in the market. A good example of this are the automotive shows in Detroit, Michigan. Car compnies bring their line of vehicles for the upcoming year and along with that they bring concept cars. Not even prototypes, these machines are their for show. Car companies want to see how well they do in front of the critical automotive crowd. Most ideas never make it past this stage and they get scrapped. Other concepts might not make it but they are used in furthering the design of another car. The lucky ones make it, and after a few cosmetic and small minor adjustments the car makes it out onto the production line. Most products take years of testing and perfecting before they see the general public. Another good example of this are pharmaceutical drugs. They go through numerous studies and test before they can enter the local drug store. First the company has to research an illness and find out what causes it. Next they have to figure out what will elements will be needed in order to provide a cure or slow the ailment down. After that they go through testing the product in labs and making sure that the drug is suitable for human consumption. Doing all this they must make sure they have a large enough market for this drug in order to make a profit. If their is no market for that particular drug, the idea will be kept in a file possibly for future use. Even after the Food and Drug Administration approve of the drug, it may take years to see the side effects taking the drug may cause. Product concept does not stop when the product hits the market, it is an ongoing process that is perfected over time.

Blog 4: Business Marketing

In modern day America, it is hard to make a product that wil fulfill a majority of the population's needs. Many businesses find themselves struggling to develop a concept that will make their business a profitable one. They might find themselves making a strategic partnership in order to draw customers into their business. Companies work together as if human, providing essential attributes that other ompanies can benefit from as well. If one company has a service or product that will benefit in marketing for another company, the two companies will combine marketing forces in hopes that it will provied a gain for both sides. I'm sure that you have noticed that any Walmarts that you have shopped at, now have a Mcdonalds just past the entrance. Both Walmart and Mcdonalds use the technique of strategic partnership to benefit one another. Walmart realizes that they attract families to shop in their store, in some cases for hours at a time. Both the kids and parents get tired and hungry, so stopping at the Mcdonalds after the checkout will save them time and give some convenience to shoppers by providing enough space in between the tables for them to place bags and shopping carts. Both companies benefit one another by contributing a particular marketing strategy to draw the customers in. Another example of this marketing method is the relationship between Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles. Strategically placed next to eachother, Starbucks and Barnes and Nobles both know the crowd they attract will be people wanting to lounge around and read while they drink their coffee. A cafe style setup with internet access will make consumers feel more than welcome to stay a little longer and maybe spend a little more money while browsing through the isles of books and literature that Barnes and Nobles provides.

Blog 3: Business Ethics

This post is on the basic ethics of business. No matter what department of business the company is into, it has a basic set of rules and guidelines that it must abide by in order to survive in our society. Ethics are guided by everyday decisions, moral decisions that are made by individuals that make up the machine of the business world. I believe that everyone has a conscience whether they want to admit it or not. Even the most infamous criminals in our history had a conscience, and at one point they came to a “fork in the road” where there was a decision to be made. It is not the decision our the consequences of that decision that make it ethical but the intention behind that decision defines it as being moral or immoral. There are four basic components. The first component and the pinnacle of the pyramid are the philanthropic responsibilities, in other words, community involvement. The second is ethical responsibilities, doing the right thing all the time. The third is legal responsibilities, playing by the rules of the game. At the base of the pyramid lies the fourth and final component, economic responsibilities, being profitable. All of these components must be done in accordance with moral business practices and in doing so will enable our world to progress towards a more ethical society.

Blog 2: Marketing 101

Marketing, in the business facet, is the process of establishing a relationship between the business and the consumer, and will benefit both parties. Marketing is one of the key aspects for a successful business. With out it consumers would not have precise knowledge of a product and businesses would find it much harder to sell their products and services. We experience marketing all day, everyday, whether we want to or not. TV commercials, billboards, even while listening to the radio, we are directly and indirectly influenced by numerous companies advertising their product. They do this by getting on a personal level with their target market and driving on the benefits of purchasing their product. A lot of companies rely on the word of mouth from previous consumers in order to create their business. In order to do this, the firm must not only sell a product, but a service as well. A good example of this is Midas. When you go there to get an oil change, then don’t just go out there flush your old oil out and put new oil in, they take the time to do the job right. From the moment you walk in the door, you feel as if that person with the uniform on is actually there to help you. Even after the job is done, they follow up by sending a thank you card in the mail and offer a discount on their service the next time you decide to come in. That is how you sell not only the product you are advertising, but you are creating a positive relationship with the customer and sending that consumer out to do some of your advertising for you, without having to pay for it. So the next time you go to sell something on eBay, think about not only the product you are selling, but your service as well.

Blog 1: Who am I

First and foremost, I would like to welcome everyone to my blog. I am completely new to this world, so please try not to be too critical. My name is Tim, I am a 24 year old student attending Northwood University in Texas. I am currently enlisted in the Marine Corps and have been in the service for just over 6 years. I am an avionics technician and I am finishing up my associates degree and looking to complete my bachelors in business administration within the next few years. I was born in Hawaii, grew up in Maryland and joined the military at the age of 18. I moved to Texas back in 2004 and currently reside in Fort Worth. My long-term goal is to one day get out of the military and start my venture towards owning my own business. I would like to open a restaurant/club on the waters of Northern Virginia. I believe that going to Northwood University and getting my bachelors degree will not only give my a signed pieceof paper showing that I have completed post-high school education, but also provide me with the tools I need to successfully achieve my dreams. Again I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my blog and now that you know more about me maybe you'll stop back again and browse through my future posts.