Merchant Duty

As equally as important for a product to be able to give customers some lasting satisfaction, it is important for merchants to give customers a hospitable climate when purchases are made. That way, when a customer remembers in their memory,

“Oh, I bought it from this-and-this store. The weather was sunny and cool, and I walked down a clean sidewalk filled with many trees, and upon entering the store I was greeted by genuinely polite employees, not workers droning out a generic message, my product was easy to find and I spend hours just wandering and getting lost looking at products, in the atmosphere XYZ store provided. The salesman advertised the product in an optimistic and objective manner.”

Contrast to a store where the store sign is dull and falling apart, the environment dirty, dangerous, and the place looks like as if you want to get out of there as fast as possible. Indeed, profit will always be made in certain industries, if people need lamps, they will buy lamps. If they need wood, they will buy wood. If they need food, they will buy food from a convenient location. If they need shoes, they will go some place to find shoes. Same goes for anything that is necessary for survival - living supplies. Profit is guaranteed; if people need something, they will come to you. However, being able to attract more customers and staying in business long term requires business acumen and quality of service.

In short, business is about not only being able to exchange money or goods, but also about making people feel good. A superficial commitment is not enough, a genuine commitment towards a truly satisfying experience provides the answers towards customer happiness. Not all customers can tell the difference between falseness and commitment, but mathematically, If 80% of customers cannot tell the difference but 20% are able to discern a difference in atmosphere, the business has already automatically won the hearts of the 20%, making the full 100%. Business is about being all-encompassing, being able to say yes to everybody and not excluding a single customer. The extra profit lost through investment (towards a better experience), will automatically be regained and reabsorbed over time, and will produce more profit in the long run.

Given that quality of service is a effective and competitive business model, the responsible conduct of the customer will be important as well. Businesses will assume customers are moral and responsible unless proven otherwise. Security and collaboration between either private security or law enforcement is an necessity for all sizes of businesses, small or large.

Rowdy customers is the reason that, for more than three hundred years, businesses have the sign “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” If the customer is trying to take advantage of the business, steal goods, or return products and raise a commotion, such actions must be punished either fiscally or legally.

Ultimately, the law must protect both business and consumer. A capitalist monopoly scheme, that oppresses its customers through sheer psychological force and financial power, cannot subsist. A indiscriminate customer-first scheme, putting customers first at the loss of merchants, is equally as despicable.

Power must come from above as well as below; we do not live in a mobocracy. We live in a Federalist Republican society. Merchant responsibilities, also equate to customer responsibilities. The lack of participation of either in implied contracts terminates business transactions, as well as profits. In short, the full definition of smooth business is a condition where both customers and merchants feel good. The customer must gain the product they want or need, and the corporation must make their employees feel good, and must satisfy the executive’s ambitions and dreams.

This entry was posted on 9. April 2008 at 19:44 and is filed under Exchange. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.