Customer Needs

Customers' needs are the things that people can't live without. For example, Severn Trent provides water to people's homes in the United Kingdom. Addressing customers' needs involves four things:

Price

A customer may only want to pay a certain amount for a product.

Quality

A customer will look for a certain standard or feature when buying a product.

Choice

A customer may want choice of certain aspects of the product.
For example, Nike lets customers buy shoes in different colours and even lets them customise them.

Convenience

A customer may look for convenience when buying a product.

The Importance of Identifying and Satisfying Customer Needs

A consumer becomes a customer once a product or service has been sold to them. A business should identify the needs of potential customers and it should adapt to the changing needs of existing customers.

Consumers will buy it

If a firm is identifying and meeting customers' needs then it is more likely that they will buy a product or service.

Market-driven

Being market-driven rather than product-driven means being driven by customers’ needs and then fulfilling them. This can:
- Increase sales.
- Improve current products and customer satisfaction.

The Market-Driven Approach

It is important for businesses to identify and satisfy customer needs. Being market-driven means focusing on customers' needs, rather than building a product and then searching for people to buy it. This can let a firm:

Find the correct marketing mix

Identifying customers’ needs lets a business know how their product can be designed to serve customers best.
It also lets a company learn where customers shop, where to promote the product or service, which product/service to promote and what price customers are willing to buy a product/service.

Avoid costly mistakes

Developing a new product or making adjustments to existing ones can need a lot of investment.
Being market-driven and developing products that customers need or want can avoid costly errors.

Be competitive

If a business satisfies a customer’s needs better than competitors do, then it is likely that a consumer will buy their product.
So identifying and satisfying customers’ needs is even more important when competing with businesses selling similar products.
Adapting to new customer needs is important for staying competitive as the business environment changes.

1Exploring Business

2Marketing Campaigns

2.1Marketing

2.1.1Setting Marketing Objectives

2.1.2Customer Needs

2.1.3The Market

2.1.4Competition & The Market

2.1.5Consumer Behaviour

2.1.6Market Research

2.1.7Forms of Market Research

2.1.8Market Segmentation

2.1.9Cultural & Social Factors in Marketing

2.1.10Promotional Decisions 3

2.1.11Pricing Strategies

2.2Marketing Mix

2.2.1Marketing Mix

2.2.2Product Life Cycle

2.2.3Pricing Decisions & Price Skimming

2.2.4Pricing Decisions & Price Penetration

2.2.5Promotional Decisions

2.2.6Promotional Decisions 2

2.2.7Promotional Decisions 3

2.2.8Market Mapping

3Business Finance

3.1Sources of Finance

3.1.1Internal Finance

3.1.2External Finance

3.1.3External Finance 2

3.1.4Sources of Business Finance

3.2Financial Planning

3.2.1Revenue

3.2.2Costs

3.2.3Cash & Cash Flow

3.2.4Cash & Cash Flow 2

3.2.5Break-Even Analysis

3.2.6Profits

3.3Financial Statements

3.3.1Balance Sheets

3.3.2Income Statements

3.3.3Liquidity

4International Business

4.1Globalisation

4.1.1Growing Economies

4.1.2Specialisation & Trade

4.2International Business

4.2.1Internationalisation

4.2.2International Trade

4.2.3MNCS

4.2.4Conditions that Prompt Trade

4.2.5Assessment of a Country

4.3International Economic Environment

4.3.1Globalisation

4.3.2Factors Contributing to Globalisation

4.3.3Protectionism

4.3.4The EU & the WTO

4.3.5Trading Blocs

4.4Factors Affecting International Business

4.4.1Global Competitiveness

4.4.2Ethics of Global Business

4.4.3Controlling MNCs

4.4.4Cultural & Social Factors in Marketing

5Principles of Management

5.1Management & Leadership

5.1.1Managers

5.1.2Management Theories

5.1.3Managing Organisational Culture

5.1.4Management Style

5.2Theories of Motivation

5.2.1Motivating & Engaging Employees

5.2.2Taylor's Theory

5.2.3Mayo's Theory

5.2.4Maslow's Theory

5.2.5Herzberg's Theory

5.3Managing Change

5.3.1Change

5.3.2Key Factors in Change

5.3.3Scenario Planning

5.3.4Managing Change

5.3.5Managing Strategic Implementation

6Business Decision Making

6.1Business Principles & Practices

6.1.1Influences in External Environments

6.1.2Product Decisions

6.1.3Competitive Environment

6.1.4Corporate Strategy

6.1.5Quantitative Sales Forecasting

6.1.6Legislation

6.2Quality Management

6.2.1Importance of Quality

6.2.2Measuring Quality

6.2.3Total Quality Management

6.2.4Evaluating TQM

6.3Human Resources

6.3.1Contracts

6.3.2Recruitment

6.3.3Training a Workforce

6.4Documents & Business Decisions

6.4.1Sales Forecasts

6.4.2Managing Strategic Implementation

6.4.3Problems with Strategy

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