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June 01, 2010

Public policy on Marketing (Part 5)

The final player and the king of the process is the customer. Let us examine his/her role

1. Caveat Emptor: Let the buyer beware. This is the caveat on which marketing hinges itself on. Let the buyer Beware and let the buyer be aware. It is his money that is exchanging hands. So he should be careful selecting the right product and paying the right price and check if the product is of right quality.

2. Use the product correctly: It is the responsibility of the customer to use the product correctly to enhance the life of the product and to ensure that he gets full satisfaction.

3. Damage and claim the discount: It has been noticed that the customers deliberately damage the product in the store and then claim discount. Such unethical practices should not be practiced by the customer.

4. Extra warranty: Some customers argue and try to get extra warranty/guarantee than what is due to him. Customers should understand and agree to the warranty terms before the purchase transaction and not after the purchase.

5. Create deliberate service problems: Some customers tend to harass the company service people by making repeated calls complaining that the product is not working. It is better that the customers try to do trouble shooting (preliminary fault analysis) themselves before calling in for company's help.

6. Not ask for extra and more discounts: Customers ask for discounts that are too much to bear for the company. The company might even give the discount to make the sale. This way the customers are bleeding the company and not allowing it any healthy profit margin for the company to survive.

7. Discourage fake products: It is imperative that the customers don't buy fake products knowingly. Buying of fake products damage the company's and the national economy. In many cases the makers of false products don't pay any taxes and don’t contribute any way to the exchequer.

8. Discourage pirated products: Customers buy pirated products as they are cheap and easily available. We have to remember that once the pirated products are bought in big volumes the supply of original material will cease as there is no incentive for the manufacturer to come with new products. Just consider the troubled case of pirated African music.

9. Claim extra or what is not available: Frequently consumers buy the products and later get it back to the company saying that some features are not available. It is the responsibility of the consumer to check all aspects of the product and then only purchase the product.

10. Be courteous to the sales people: It is very churlish to misbehave with the sales people. The consumers should understand that sales people are very knowledgeable and in many cases can solve our problems and can give valuable suggestions.

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