Customer’s satisfaction derives from a product or a service based on whether their need is

met effortlessly, in a convenient way that makes them loyal to the firm. Hence, customer
satisfaction is an important step to gain customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction indicates the
fulfillment that customers derive from doing business with a firm. In other words, it’s how happy
the customers are with their transaction and overall experience with the company. Customer
satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. It is a measure of how products and services
supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as
"the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a
firm, its products, or its services exceeds specified satisfaction goals. “Customer satisfaction
provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty. “Customer satisfaction
data are among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions. Their principal
use is twofold: "Within organizations, the collection, analysis and dissemination of these data
send a message about the importance of tending to customers and ensuring that they have a
positive experience with the company's goods and services. Customer satisfaction, a business
term, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass
customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within business. In a competitive
marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key
differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy. Customer
satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of
satisfaction varies from person to person and service to service. The state of satisfaction depends
on a number of both psychological and physical variables.

Fair competition between businesses exists in the market when companies compete on
equal terms and where same rules and conditions are applicable to all the participants in the
market. In fair competition companies doesn’t harm its competitors’ ability to compete and the
sentiment of considering competitors’ loss as your gain is absent from the picture. Sometimes,
fair competition plays a crucial role in the growth of a country’s economy and if the marketers
practice fair marketing tactics, it can provide a plank which can boosts a country’s economy a lot
the higher the consumer’s satisfaction and loyalty towards the company, the more competitive
and profitable the company will be. Furthermore, this study includes the main relational
variables (trust and commitment), thus aiming to measure the influence of CSR on the
strengthening of the relationship between the company and the end consumer. Investigation of
these relationships is one of the novel aspects of this research.

What is the usage of fair competition?

The practice of fair competition is brought into use usually in those markets where the
government finds that the unfair means of practices are on the rise. To help curb the situation and
to make the market a better place for all individuals or entities, the fair competition is used. In
this, all of the rival companies compete against each other on equal terms following the same
kind of rules and regulations.

Effects of Corporate Governance on Customer Satisfaction Due to the separation of principal and
agent, the primary function of a board is to ensure the decisions and behaviors of top executives
serve the best interests of shareholders (Finkelstein & D'Aveni, 1994). Over the past two
decades, corporate governance research has steadily become one of the mainstream research
themes in strategic management. 4 Extant research has examined a variety of associations of
corporate governance practices to financial performance (Peng, 2004; Rechner & Dalton, 1991),
R&D investments (Baysinger, Kosnik, & Turk, 1991), corporate fraud (Dunn, 2004), and
corporate entrepreneurship (Zahra, 1996; Zahra,Neubaum, &Huse, 2000). Customer satisfaction
is an important organizational outcome. The success of a business depends on whether it creates
a satisfied customer (Drucker, 1974). A great deal of marketing research has found positive
effects of customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers tend to repurchase more (Brady & Cronin
2001), spread positive words about the focal firm (Swanson, 2003)

Why customer satisfaction is important

1. A Loyal customer is a treasure you should keep and hide from the world

According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, on average, loyal customers
are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. Some research says that it is 6-7 times
more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one. Banks or mobile
providers know it best, so they don’t have any problem with going the extra mile for a customer
who is not quite satisfied and often offer him something special. Not only it is more expensive
but also much more difficult to keep existing and loyal clients (let alone keeping them fully
satisfied and happy!) than to gain some new ones. Take this rule into account while organizing
your customer service processes and do your best to look after them.

2. They can stop being your clients in a heartbeat

Is not rocket science, nowadays clients easily switch their love brands. It is often caused
by terrible customer service. Clients waiting for ages to get feedback or comment from a brand?
Unacceptable! But it still happens. And gaining clients’ trust takes up to 12 positive experiences
to make up for one unresolved negative experience. You can’t gain customers’ satisfaction
forever, you need to look after them all the time. Try to talk to them, instead of to them. Ask
questions, offer constant support, send personalized messages or offers, use dedicated customer
satisfaction software or any other technique that will help you communicate with your customers
and collect insights. Take care of each and every one of your clients’ need and you’ll be
rewarded with their gratitude and loyalty. Sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it? Brands often take
their audience for granted, and they’ve never been so wrong – one decision, or lack of it, can
result in losing a lot of clients and their respect. That’s why measuring clients’ satisfaction is so
important.

3. It’s (all) about the money, too

It shouldn’t be surprising, but customer satisfaction is also reflected in your revenue. Customers’
opinion and feelings about the brand can affect, in both positive and negative way, the essential
metrics – such as the number mentions and repeated transactions, and also customer lifetime
value or customer churn. Happy customers won’t look at your competitors offers – they will
happily interact with your brand again, make a purchase and recommend the product further. If
you meet all of their requirements and answer their needs while delivering the best quality of
your services, they will be fully satisfied. Not to mention your brand will increase sales revenue!
Measuring customer satisfaction should become your daily habit – not something you do from
time to time and only if you’re about to face crisis management. If you don’t know how to do it
right, you can take a look at our guide to measuring customer satisfaction to make things easier.

4. Customer satisfaction is a factor that helps you stand out of the competition

Kate Zabriskie once said that “Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service,
your competitors will.” and we couldn’t agree more. Your competitive rivals are just waiting for
you to make a wrong move. What is more, they can often play the role of an instigator. Being
prepared for their provocations is not enough if you don’t know how to deal with the negative
backlash. However, if you provide your customers with amazing customer service, you will gain
arguments to convince those uncertain of your services.

5. Great customer experience can take your brand places

The importance of customer satisfaction should never be neglected. You should consider it
especially while planning your marketing and positioning campaigns. Satisfied customers are
more likely to share your content across social media. They will also more keenly interact with
your posts, leaving some delightful and admirable comments. Later you can use it as the source
for case studies and success stories. Being an example of a company that provides a ravishing
customer satisfaction? Every brand should aim for it. Providing great customer service will
satisfy both you and your targets. They get proper service, you get a proper revenue and
everyone is happy. As simple as that. Think, is there something more you can do to better treat
your audience? That’s why you should never forget the importance of customer satisfaction.

The several advantages of the fair competition are as follows-

1) It offers lower consumer price

In the fair competition, since the companies have to compete with a lot, the companies try of
offer a lot of discount on the fixed prices in the form of coupons, etc so that they can attract more
and more customers. And they also do not make any compromise with the quality of the product.

2) There has been an improvement in technology and innovations

Now companies that compete in a fair market use technology to attract customers. They focus
more on innovations so that they can come up with products that are cheap in cost but at the
same time good in quality. This way more customers will buy their products, hence increasing
their profit margin.
3) The customers have a variety of options to choose from

Since the fair competition gives equal opportunities to all, more and more companies are on the
rise. This way the customers get so many options from which they get to choose the one that
suits them the most.

4) The quality of service is improved

This is one of the best things about a fair competition that the customers will get the best services
offered by the companies because they don’t want any of their customers to simply slip always
from their hands. And thus provide them with the best service. Thus the fair competition is quite
a decent approach for marketing in the business industry. It is beneficial to both the parties the
buyers and the sellers. And overall it adds up to the growth of the economy. Advantages of fair
competition:

 Lower consumer prices: In fair competition, one common method which companies use to
attract customers is offering lower prices than the competition may be in form of discounts or
coupons. There is no compromise with the quality of the product and is kept the same.
 Improvement in technology and encouraging innovation: In fair competition companies
often try to overtake competition by improving technology and focusing on innovation so
that they can produce cheaply and increase the profit margins.
 Choice for Consumers: Fair competition also brings in the advantage of increased number
of choices for the consumers. Since in fair competition bigger companies doesn’t abuse their
powers and hence there are more number of competitors in the market providing more
choices to the consumers.
 Quality of Service: Companies also provide better service to the consumers in a fair
competition to increase its customer base. The companies take responsibilities for their
products and assist their customers in every possible way.
 Information: Fair competition also allows more accessible information to the customers.
Free flow of information helps customers to make informed decisions. The fair competition
is seen in the open markets where all the businesses selling the similar kind of products are
allowed to compete with each other on a common base which is already fixed. This common
base includes factors like the price of the product, the quality of the product and also the kind
of service that they provide. Also in a fair competition, there is no limitation on the number
of business that can jump into the market to compete. In fact, there are no restrictions at all.
All of the companies are allowed to compete for the supreme position and the dominance in
the market. The one thing that should be kept in mind while discussing the fair competition is
that none of those practices which are condemned by either law or public sectors is
encouraged here like the bashing of the competitors, near monopoly powers, predatory
pricing, etc. So the fair competition can seen mostly in ‘open markets’ which are also termed
as the ‘free markets’. It supports the unbiased and impartial competition which drives the
fundamental economic force on the three above mentioned parameters which are the price,
quality, and service. Thus a fair competitor is based on the fair practices and eliminates the
 unfair ones. It is a great way for the economies to thrive as the competitors competed against
each other on a ‘level playing field’.

Example of Fair Competition

Now that fair competition uses only fair and impartial practices, it is used at a majority of places.
Here are a few examples of the fair competition:

1) In terms of price competition

In this, all the firms in a common market place selling the similar kinds of goods for example
‘furniture’ will fix a certain amount of price and all the firms will have to agree to it. Now the
firms may go a little up and down depending on their business condition, but none of them can
decrease the price to a tremendous level. All of them will have to maintain the pricing of their
products somewhere near that fixed pricing.

2) In terms of the protection of the consumer

In the fair competition, a set of a basic level of quality is set which should be offered to the
customers by all firms. Example- in food inspection agency, some basic food safety standards are
set which are mandatory for all the companies which are related to the food department have to
follow or else their license may get canceled. This is very effective as it will maintain the quality
of the product without misleading the consumers.

3) In terms of free market

In this, anyone can start their business and the government would not intervene. This way
with new and more companies emerging every single day, the completion in the market grown,
hence it ensures that the companies try to maintain their best performance so that they do not
lose out on any consumer.

The association between good corporate governance practices and stakeholder’s

satisfaction in companies. By so doing, we sought to contribute to the current literature on
corporate governance in developing economies. Our results indicate a positive and significant
association between the implementation of the three principles of governance (responsibility,
transparency and accountability), the existence of the prerequisites, and the stakeholder’s
satisfaction in the companies. However, contrary to our prediction, we didn’t find a statistically
significant relationship between the fairness, the board monitoring role, the board strategist role,
and the stakeholder’s satisfaction.
 The fair competition is quite important as it adds to the growth of the economy of a
particular company. Thus marketers are encouraged to practice these tactics of the fair
competition so that it can boost the economy in a positive manner.

It is also important because due to the fair practices, more and more people are
encouraged to start their own business. This not only adds up to the economy but also brings out
more employment opportunities.

Also, fair competition is necessary for any kind of market because since certain standards
are set, it becomes a compulsion for all the companies that are completion against each other to
follow those standardized set of rules while manufacturing and producing their products. This
way the prices remain at a decent level, no compromise is made with the quality of the product
and also the customer service is quite appreciable. This is mainly because in a fair competition
all types of business are involved. This leads to a rise in the competition. Now with the increase
in competition, people will be having quite a lot of options to choose from. As a result, the
companies will try to put their best foot forward in front of their consumers so that they can
maintain their strong customer base. Thus a fair competition is very essential as it allows all
kinds of companies to grow is it big or small, generates new employment opportunities, provides
good quality of product, maintains a decent price level which is neither too high nor too low and
on top of it they try to give the best customer service possible. Customer satisfaction measures
how your product, service, and overall experience either falls short, meets, or exceeds customer
expectations. How you measure it varies from business to business. Some may base it entirely on
retention and repeat customers, while others may create a numerical value based on data and/or
customer feedback. Regardless, it measures, rates, and attempts to manage how happy your
customers are with you, your products, and your brand as a whole.

GreatwaystoimproveyourCustomerSatisfaction

1. Treat every customer as if they were a VIP

Give every customer the same excellent treatment as you would like to receive yourself. It’s as simple
as that! You could use some of the following approaches:

 Thank your customers for their business, both in person and also printed on the receipt.

 Make a real effort to help your customers and assist them in every way you can.

 Keep your promises and integrity. If you say that you will contact them to let them know when
an item is back in stock – be sure that you do! Every so often, businesses forget or fail to get
back to their customers, who might very well find another supplier in the meantime.

2. Keep measuring customer satisfaction

Studies show that 91% of unhappy customers will never come back to a business they believe is
below par. By frequently measuring customer satisfaction, you can reduce the number of unsatisfied
customers and prevent customer churn. An effective and easy way to measure customer satisfaction is
using an online survey tool from a survey provider, such as Netigate.

3. Know how you should survey your customers happiness – the right way

With a customer feedback survey, you are able to find out how happy your customers are with you,
if and what you need to do to improve your product or service and to identify those customers who love
your product and could possibly send new customers your way. A Net Promoter Score is the ultimate
survey to find out how likely it is that your customer would recommend your business to others, with
one simple question. If you choose to have a slightly more comprehensive survey, make sure you keep
it fairly short, less than 10 questions and not longer than 3.5 minutes.

4. Keep an eye on what customers say about you on social media

When you track and monitor customer satisfaction on social media you are updated on both positive
and negative feedback and can take appropriate measures to resolve them. The majority of people use
their mobile phones up to 150 times per day and many of them turn to social media when they want to
leave a complaint. Take the opportunity and use social media to increase your customer satisfaction!

Here is how you can use social media:

 As a customer support channel – make sure you are active and respond to your customers within
24 hours.

 Hold Q&A sessions, live chats and tutorials

 Monitor brand mentions

A happy customer is for sure one that returns. Read more about how Circle K stayed at the pulse of
the market by frequently collecting feedback.

Effective Strategies to Increase Customer Satisfaction

1. Know Your Customers

Knowing your customers goes well beyond their names, age and locations. It is when you start knowing
their interests and tastes that you get an idea of how the services provided by your business can actually
help them. An insight into what your buyer wants opens up a goldmine of opportunities. You can revise
your business strategies and decisions around their requirements to deliver a positive buying experience to
your customers.

The right information will help you collect the right data to initiate customer engagement. There are scores
of ways to know your customers well. You can concentrate on the web analytics, behavioral data,
customer profiles and so on to obtain what you are looking for.
2. Offer Personalized Services

The revenue of every business boils down to its customers. A business’s success is mirrored by how the
customers are treated. We all like to be treated as individuals. This is why personalized service scores big
time to improve loyalty.

The easiest and the most effective way to implement this is by lending a voice to your brand. Ensure that
your customers do not end up talking to an automated machine. Apart from that, shopping assistance and
sending customized messages and offer notifications according to the customers’ needs and habits can
work to your business’s advantage.

A one-to-one experience for your customers will help add relevance to their purchases and can engage
your visitors well.

3. Provide Product Training and Customer Service

Helping your customers understand how a product works is vital. Product training and support should be
designed to ensure that customers obtain maximum value from the product. When people spend money on
purchasing something, they tend to doubt their ability to understand how the product works. A constant
assistance to guide them through the product helps in easing this doubt considerably. When such guidance
accompanies every purchase, your customers will begin to trust your brand immensely.

It has been found that 76% of consumers use customer service as a tool to measure how much a company
values them.

Customers always have certain expectations regarding post-purchase support. This can extend up to the
entire lifetime of the product. When you identify and meet these expectations accurately, you build a
responsible image of your brand among your customers. This plays a major role in impacting sale.

4. Turn to Social Media

Did you know that over 75% of Internet users are on social media? Chances are, a large part of that
comprise your customers too. Social media is an effective channel for customers to share their experiences
with your company. Therefore, social media serves as a goldmine of customer reviews and
recommendations. You would need to keep track of these to ensure that your customers are satisfied with
the services your business provides.

You can use social media to:

 Monitor customers’ reactions to your services

 Keep track of your brand mentions and feedback
 Provide constant support to your customers
 Engage your customers through activities like contests, quizzes etc.
Here’s an interesting fact: In a study conducted on 24,000 consumers connected via social media, 71% of
the respondents said that they trust product recommendation on Facebook more than those on other social
media platforms.

5. Leverage Free WiFi

Internet-on-the-go has become an important part of our everyday lives. Today, people expect to stay
connected wherever they are. The same for your business premises. When your clients are visiting your
office, you can serve them better by offering free WiFi. Apart from meeting customer expectations and
acquiring new customers, this will also help you keep a tab on customer activity and send them
personalized offers.

62% of businesses have stated that offering free WiFi to customers encourages them to stay on the
premises longer and shop more. Businesses that have used free WiFi have reported 79% success rates.

6. Provide Additional Benefits

Who doesn’t like added benefits? Or, a special offer once in a while? Surprising your customers with a
free goodie unexpectedly can go a long way in building concrete relationships.

Sometimes, an unanticipated discount on the products your customers have been eying for some time can
work. On other events, you can consider throwing in an additional accessory or a week’s worth post-
purchase support for free.

You would be amazed at how effective these little things can be in building a positive image of your
brand. It helps in increasing customer satisfaction immensely.

7. Have a Feedback Strategy in Place

Customer experience is the most valuable aspect of a business. There can be no better way of
understanding customer experience than having a feedback system. This post-purchase follow-up can be
carried out through surveys or through talking to them directly over chat or phone. These insights will
help you identify any concerns or complaints that your customers may have regarding the services and/or
products and devise strategies to serve them better.

Communication and responsiveness can make or break a brand’s image. Therefore, you need to maintain
an online and offline presence for customer satisfaction. Understand your customer’s perspective and
implement strategies based on what works. Remember, it is always wise to treat your customers the way
you want to be treated.