Marketing links the company to the customers through audio, visual, audio, audio-visual and print media. The two most important people in marketing are the consumers and the companies involved when the company is marketing; it has to communicate to the customer through marketing using the aforementioned methods. Marketers should understand the buying situations in which their customers are in (Sandhusen, p253).
The marketer’s focus is on changing the decision making process of the customer to buy its goods. Problems usually arise in the marketing of the product to the customers and advertisements and promotions or even posters for the customer to make up a decision whether to by the product or not. It is the relationship of buying and selling of goods or services between a company and a customer. The aim of marketing is to attract the attention of a customer to a good or service. A customer usually uses the limited problem solving approach (Sudman, Seymour, and Edward, p.206).
For the company to retain its customers and be efficient in marketing, it therefore needs to have good problem solving skills. This is because the process of marketing has various problems that may arise anytime and sometimes find the seller unawares. Mostly, this arises due to various challenges that involve the relationship between the customer and company. Therefore, a good relationship between the customer and the company is all what a company needs to survive in the market and maintain its competitive edge which is beneficial to the company in the long run. The company has to find ways of marketing its product effectively and at the same time be able to solve the problems that it faces during the marketing of goods and services to the customer in order to be effective in the market.
Some marketers may not have the necessary skills in problem solving and hence the many problems that usually arise may find them unprepared and without any solution. This may result into loss of their customers. Many different situations arise during the day to day activities which may arise from the marketing of a certain product or establishing a business in a new area, that require proper problem solving skills.
For the efficient running of business, the company has to deal with such problems. These problems vary and range from complex to simple which need prior problem solving skills and methods. This is because each problem requires a different approach and solution which, the company has to strategize on how to come up with. Consequently, the company may resort to employing people who have been trained in problem solving skills or cater for the training of their personnel. This would increase their marketing prowess in the market. This gives them an edge over their competitors.
Hence, the study of problem solving methods enables the company to have diverse knowledge on many similar issues or problems that have affected other companies and the solutions that were found. This gives the company a greater scope of thinking in solving its problems and even forecasts on marketing issues that may face it in future. Thus, the company can anticipate demand, customer expectations, and hence help retain its market share. The study of solving problems helps in looking into problems clearly and giving the sales marketer or the marketing department a better judgment in making any decisions in regard to the problem.
Problem solving does not only deal with problems of the past but also recent ones. It helps to deal with the future market and helps the company or business plan ahead. The study makes the marketing department or business figure out problems and come up with solutions. It also helps in finding alternative solutions for the problem then implementing it and checking the success of the solution in problem solving. Problem solving helps in making good and quality decisions.
The problem solving technique of SWOT analysis helps the company to know its strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This prepares the company for any marketing challenges it might face in the market due to the added problem solving skills. The business can find its weaknesses and strengths and work on them to minimize losses.
One major problem in marketing is when customers want discounts. Though, discounting of goods attracts a lot of customers, the profits may reduce revenues to the business. The solution to this is not to lower the prices since it may be hard to increase the prices in the long run, but to improve on service delivery to the customer. In addition, gifts can be given to the customers when they purchase a certain amount of goods or loyal customers. The company can also offer a longer period for the customer to pay for the goods and services.
In conclusion, the study of problem solving helps the marketer to solve most problems that would arise in the market. The company is thus well prepared to deal with its problems and coming up with its own solutions from related problems studied (Alderson, Wroe, and Paul, p.59). Moreover, the market which a company is in can be complicated especially if it is a perfect competitive one where there are many firms operating. Therefore, the study of problem solving can alleviate some of the problems that arise in competition with other players in the market.
Works Cited
Alderson, Wroe, and Paul E. Green. Planning and Problem Solving in Marketing. Homewood, Ill: R. D. Irwin, 1964. Print.
Sandhusen, Richard. Marketing. Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron’s Educational Series, 2008. Print.
Sudman, Seymour, and Edward Blair. Marketing Research: A Problem-Solving Approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998. Print.