Research (business Development)

Today, businesses are no longer only about demand and supply nor are they only about sales and making profit. () As the Forrester Research suggests, this is the “Age of Customers,” where customer relationship is crucial in maintaining the development of a business. A business should be customer-oriented but to be one, they must be aware of who their customers are, their whereabouts and even those interests of theirs that links to the Customer Relationship. (See online : http://www.growbusiness.org/) The depth of knowledge is critical to comprehend what type of person is most likely to need or want the product or service provided. Knowing the customer’s hobbies, tastes and interests along with what they watch, listen to and read can be a profitable advantage.

Likewise, it is unlikely that a business organization enters a market with no competitors. There will always be a competitor or competitors fighting to achieve a larger customer base to spread the sales of their products and services. Competitors play a heavy role in affecting the strength of a business so a thorough investigation of a business competitor is required to have an advantage over the other organization. (Berry, 2005) explains that the more information we have about our competitors, the better. He says that looking for information is easier with publicly-traded companies as thousands of companies publicly share their stock and other information with the world as it has been made mandatory by the law. But when our competition is small or local or private, the information will be harder to come by. Private companies have no obligation to say anything. Financial information will likely remain private while business plans and blueprints will certainly be confidential. It will definitely be a much more difficult task to form an analysis with such limited information but other information about the company can still be used in the analysis.

Information of the customer is helpful to the extent of development of newer products and service but it omits other elements of the market research such as appraising new markets. Customer relation may improve as the process of customer research engages the customers with the company through various programs and activities. During this period, there is a lot of contact and communication allowing space for a clearer understanding of a larger group of customer.

Customers repurchase occurs often when customer needs are carefully looked after and a responsive customer service could also possibly improve customer loyalty. Repurchases and loyalty from the customers is a boost to the organization’s survival as an organization. With the information obtained, the data can be used not only for improving customer service and quality of products but rather using the information to report back to funders and to analyze the impact and result of their activities. Furthermore, this information will help monitor the health of the organization meaning that the information of customers regarding the number of customers, their turnovers and satisfaction will alert us of the current status in the market.