The etiquette of doing business

BUSINESS In reality, the customer is given far too little attention in day-to-day sales operations. Edoardo Beretta of the Università della Svizzera italiana identifies five business principles that can help ensure successful customer interactions.

However, the customer and the right way of dealing with them are and remain irreplaceable for successful business.By Edoardo Beretta*Corporate communication and marketing have played a massive role in creating the desired corporate image in recent decades: very few companies can imagine their business life without advertising - whether by word of mouth or viral marketing - and the associated slogans or sponsorship to better market their products. However, this hype about self-promotion has often overshadowed fundamental business principles that affect the most important link in the sales chain, namely the customers themselves. The relationship between the company and its customers is as simple as it is underestimated: the less customer satisfaction, the fewer (long-term) opportunities for growth and profit. It should therefore be clear from everyday business practice how no company - whether small, medium-sized or large, private or public, traditional or new - can remain sustainably successful or even viable if it loses sight of its end customers, namely the most important decision-makers for success or failure, or even has a permanent reputation problem. In this context, there is also no positive discrepancy between De-iure- and De factoThe following principles apply:Principle 1: The customer is not always right, but is always king.Principle 2: Smile, smile, smile.Principle 3: One-to-one ratio between e-mail inquiries and replies.Principle 4: Return to free "0800" customer hotlines.Principle 5: The art of mutually (customer versus company) palatable profit.In order to avoid the frequent cause of dissolution in companies, namely failure due to customer dissatisfaction, it is at least a matter of a priori avoiding failure due to customer dissatisfaction: The art of mutually (customer versus company) palatable profit.To avoid a priori a frequent cause of dissolution in companies, namely failure due to customer dissatisfaction, it is at least worth recalling five guiding principles from sales practice after the textbook, which should also be observed in today's age. In this context, the first thing to remember is that the customer may not always be right, but he is always king (Principle 1), and from this metaphor, the end consumer must be treated with respect, patience and special sensitivity, even if he is mistaken or even unfriendly. At the same time, it should be pointed out to them how their requirements unfortunately cannot be met. Nevertheless, each of us has certainly experienced (in)direct discussions between customers and salespeople, which are often more like a dispute between private individuals on the street, i.e. people who are not connected to the business. Here, too, the following applies for the sake of the company: regardless of which of the two "opponents" is right, no (properly trained) company member should put themselves on the same level as the customer and thereby disregard their superior role, namely that of the ultimate employer.A further, directly related principle for the effective marketing of companies, in addition to (often only euphemistic) advertising campaigns, is accordingly the rule of "smile, smile, smile", which, contrary to some assumptions, should not only apply to stewardesses, but should appeal to every salesperson in close contact with customers (Principle 2). In other words, the choice of person (especially in the front office) is of strategic relevance and, if it is perceived as customer-friendly and close, it could multiply the positive perception on the part of the customer. In today's information age, where end consumers can theoretically contact companies around the clock and marketing thus becomes an all-day affair, prompt, accurate and unwavering response to written inquiries becomes a decisive factor (Principle 3)In this sense, the abolition of chargeable customer hotlines and their replacement by free "0800" customer numbers should also be seen as an investment in additional service and customer satisfaction, as the company or salesperson who responds to the customer's needs most quickly and in the most customer-friendly way could also ensure the greatest chance of gaining a satisfied customer at the end of the day, who could potentially provide free word-of-mouth advertising of their own accord (Principle 4). In view of the complexity of today's economic conditions and increasingly globalized sales processes, some principles of business etiquette may seem less relevant or even old-fashioned, but they are not. The increasing competition between different product suppliers across all sectors of the economy is forcing companies to focus even more on the quality of their products on the one hand and service and customer satisfaction on the other, and it is therefore important to rediscover and exploit the art of "mutually palatable profit" as defined here (Principle 5)which enabled the company to consolidate or even increase its profits thanks to successful business, while the customer would be completely satisfied with the service received. What encourages consumers to buy similar goods? And what are the most significant sales weaknesses of today's small and large companies? One thing is already clear before answering such complex questions: in today's competitive environment, it would be wrong to ignore the etiquette, i.e. the basic elements of customer-oriented sales, and rely solely on the company's reputation as reflected in advertising or the qualitative characteristics of the products on offer. However, the customer and the right way of dealing with him are and remain irreplaceable for successful business - even in the most modern age.-------------------------*Dr. sc. ec. (PhD) Edoardo Beretta: Research and teaching assistant at the Department of Economics and Monetary Economics of the Faculty of Economics at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)