“Amazing thing will happen when you listen to the consumer” – Jonathan Midenhall
According to the traditional concept, marketing was just about selling goods and services that have been produced. Thus, all those activities which are concerned with persuasion and sale of goods and services are called marketing. This concept of marketing used to emphasize on promotion and sale of goods and services and little attention is paid to consumer satisfaction. Then the focus was on selling the product and making profit through maximum sales.
In days back, marketers used to aim on product, i.e., we have a product and it has to be sold. So, we have to persuade the consumers to buy our product. All efforts of the marketing people are concentrated on selling the product. They adopt all means like personal selling and sales promotion to boost the sales. The ultimate goal of all marketing activity is to earn profit through maximization of sales.
Nowadays, the concept has changed, Today’s concept of marketing considers the consumers’ wants and needs as the guiding spirit and focuses on the delivery of such goods and services that can satisfy those needs most effectively. Thus, marketing starts with identifying consumer needs, then plan the production of goods and services accordingly to provide him the maximum satisfaction. In other words, the products and services are planned according to the needs of the customers rather than according to the availability of materials and machinery. The activities of marketing includes manufacturing, research and development, quality control, distribution, selling and more; they all are directed to satisfy the consumers. Here, the focus is on customer’s need and making profit with customer’s satisfaction.
As they say, ‘Customer is the King’, marketers are now more into customer orientation. The marketing activity starts with an assessment of the customers’ needs and plans the production of items that satisfy these needs most effectively. All marketing activities like product planning, pricing, packaging, distribution and sales promotion are combined into one as coordinated marketing efforts; also called integrating marketing. The main aim of all effort is to earn profit through maximization of customer satisfaction.
This implies that, if the customers are satisfied, they will continue to buy, and attract potential buyers. This will lead to increased sales and so also the profits in any business organization.
