the nordstrom name has become synonymous with a quality shopping experience 566863

The Nordstrom name has become synonymous with a quality shopping experience. The company has a reputation for the helpfulness and friendliness of its employees in satisfying customer needs, even at the potential cost of losing a Nordstrom sale if the customer will be more satisfied purchasing merchandise at a competitor”s store. Nordstrom management invests in this reputation by hiring talented staff, by investing in training, and by forgoing a sale now in order to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction in the long term. Nordstrom management believes that satisfied customers are more loyal and therefore will spend more at Nordstrom in the future. Thus, satisfied customers provide future benefits in the form of increased future sales. Neither the expected future sales nor the satisfied customers are assets on Nordstrom”s balance sheet because Nordstrom cannot control customers” future purchasing decisions.