Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A)
Chapter One
Introduction:
In today's world, which has made it possible to mass produce goods and services in the field of increasing supply compared to demand, there is no other way for manufacturers to satisfy customers, and it is no longer possible to define the scope of the market and supply with the limited tools of the past. Experience has shown that organizations that traditionally focus on the concepts of customer, product, market, sales, purchase, competition, advertising, quality, etc. They look and think that in addition to not achieving success, they have also lost their funds. With the emergence of a competitive economy, concepts such as customer orientation and customer satisfaction are considered the basis of business and an organization that is not paying attention to it will be removed from the market scene. Every organization has administrative classifications, organizational charts, different parts and goals and policies, guidelines and many other things; Of course, the size of the organization and its different parts are not important for customers, but they want someone to solve their problems and meet their needs. One of the key issues in the strategic field is how companies can maintain their independence and at the same time be accountable to their customers. In this regard, attention has recently been focused on the central role of customer orientation in the realization of organizational flexibility (Qiuzhu Mei, 2012). A customer-oriented organization is an organization whose goal is to advance the requests of customers in matters that have the most value for them, and they consider customer satisfaction as their capital and the guarantor of the return of the organization's capital. Providing customer service is always at the forefront of thinking and planning, and changes and improvements are achieved in life and existing problems for those who are responsible for keeping customers satisfied. And an organization whose performance results are measured based on the expectations and demands of customers. The real measure of the value of an organization from the point of view of society and its owners is customer satisfaction, and without this, no business can continue to exist and create jobs or provide for the lives of those who work in it and provide services to the people. A customer-oriented organization cannot achieve success without establishing a proper relationship with its customers, and in today's world, which is a quality-oriented, customer-oriented world, the customer will be the goal of work and customer orientation will be the basis of all commercial and economic activities. In this regard, it is necessary to attract customer-oriented employees who have included the characteristic features of human communication in their behavior. In addition, it is necessary to mention that focusing too much on the customer can lead the organization to stagnation and inefficiency (Qiuzhu Mei, 2012).
In this chapter, the statement of the problem, the necessity of research, objectives, theoretical framework, questions and assumptions, definitions of variables and the scope of the research will be discussed.
1-2) Statement of the problem:
The need to pay attention to the customer has been noticed in advanced countries for years. In other words, the life of organizations depends on the satisfaction of customers, and in order to succeed in this important matter, organizations must establish proper communication with their customers. Customer relationship management refers to all the processes that organizations use to persuade and encourage and retain customers (Heidari and Akhwan 2019).
Satisfaction is a person's pleasant or unpleasant feelings, which comes from comparing his mental performance in comparison with his expectations. (Philip Kotler). Satisfaction is the existence of a positive feeling that is created in the consumer or receiver after receiving a service or buying and using a product. Basically, this feeling is caused by the fulfillment of the customer's expectations and the supplier's performance (Esadi Safa, 2011). Loyalty is a deep and continuous commitment to repurchase a product or service in the future (Elvir et al., 2007). The customer is the most important person in any transaction. The customer is not dependent on us, but we are dependent on the customer. He is the goal of our activities. (Esadi Safa, 2013)
Customer satisfaction occurs when the characteristics of the service have the minimum deviation from the customer's expectations. Therefore, in order to improve quality and increase competitive power, key and effective needs in increasing customer satisfaction should be identified.(Mahabadi, 1389)
Satisfying customers is directly related to recognizing their expectations. Customer expectations are expectations that he definitely needs, but their fulfillment creates a pleasant feeling in him, which causes the stability of the relationship, i.e. loyalty. It will work towards customer satisfaction in the organization. In this way, the use of different techniques and methods can be useful. Techniques that are accompanied by accurate knowledge and can be used practically (Abbasi, 2013). Good relations with customers are the key to success in organizational processes. It is part of an organization's strategy to identify customers and keep them satisfied and turn them into permanent customers. (Abbasi, 2015)
Today, customer orientation is one of the most important categories in the all-round development of organizations. Banks, as organizations that provide financial services, are not only exempt from this, but due to the fact that most of the banks' capital is from customer deposits, they should make customer orientation the main pillar of their activities. market importance, because any bank that can identify these needs earlier than competitors will be victorious and proud in the field of competition. Creating and maintaining customer loyalty is the main and key element in obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations. The result of the durability and permanent survival of that bank will be high productivity. (Tahmasabi, 2012)
This research has been conducted in Bank Saderat of Gilan province in order to improve customer satisfaction, which in turn increases their loyalty, based on observations, negotiations and face-to-face interviews with the employees and customers of Bank Saderat of Gilan province. Providing effective services is largely dependent on organizational resources and employees who are satisfied with their jobs. Various researches have shown that it is not possible for an organization to claim the loyalty and satisfaction of its customers without having satisfied and loyal employees.
Although customer orientation is the first word in banks and private institutions, and through the loyalty of customers, they achieve a stable position and a suitable share of the market, but this position was not achieved only through the loyalty of customers, and the efforts and loyalty of Sediq employees have played a significant role in raising the prestige of banks and private institutions. Therefore, having loyal and hard-working employees is one of the most significant resources of an organization that must be invested and worked hard to access. Considering that our independent variable is customer satisfaction and the dependent variable is customer loyalty of Saderat Bank. According to the mentioned issues, these questions arise: 1- Is there a relationship between customer orientation and loyalty to Bank Saderat? 2- Is the relationship between customer orientation and loyalty moderated by the satisfaction variable? Its evolution is in stages where organizations are not only concerned with finding new customers, and today the goal of marketing is demand management by driving customers to maturity in the ladder of loyalty to organizations. Today, customer satisfaction is not enough, and companies and banks should not be satisfied with their customers' satisfaction. They must make sure that their satisfied customers are also loyal. In this paradigm, the goal is to establish long-term and mutual relations with the interest groups and most important of all customers in such a way that they keep more customers and lose fewer customers. In this way, profits are obtained in the long term, and as a result, the market share and profitability of companies increase (Salari, 2012). Now that in the global economy, customers count the survival of the company, other companies cannot be indifferent to the expectations and wishes of the customers. They should focus all their activities and capabilities on customer satisfaction, because the only source of capital return is the customers (Ali, 2011).