BUSI 4004 Week 1 Customer Loyalty Discussion Post Example

Course	BUSI 4004 Customer Relationship Management for Small Business
Week	Week 1
Paper type	Discussion post
Length	About 510 words, 3 pages
Format	Discussion post, APA 7 citations
School	Walden University
Program	BS in Business Administration
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for BUSI 4004 Week 1

Week 1 Discussion: A Business You Keep Returning To

Three Years of Shirts at One Neighborhood Dry Cleaner: The Small Acts That Kept Me Coming Back and the Line in Their Ticket System That Let Them Repeat Those Acts

For three years I have taken my work shirts to the same small dry cleaner in Lansing, Michigan, a family shop with two counter clerks. There are two cleaners closer to my apartment and one that is cheaper. I keep going back, and when I thought about why, it came down to three things the shop does, not a general sense that it is nice.

First, the clerk asks nothing. When I walk in, she types my phone number, and the screen already says "light starch, on hangers, no crease in sleeves." I gave those instructions once, in my first month. Second, in my second year a button came back cracked, and the shop sewed on a new one without charging me or making me ask. The ticket said "replaced button, no charge." Third, I get a text when the order is ready, so I never make a wasted trip.

What strikes me now is that each act depends on something the shop wrote down. My preferences live in a notes field; the free repair shows up on my history; the text uses the phone number tied to my account. If the clerk who knows me left tomorrow, the next one could do the same things. Reichheld and Sasser (1990) argued that service companies gain far more profit from keeping customers than most of them realize, and Zeithaml et al. (1996) linked service quality to customers' intentions to stay and to say good things about a firm. My cleaner does not talk about loyalty; it just remembers.

Is there a business you return to, and do you know whether it remembers you because of a person or because of a record?

I tested this once without meaning to. The clerk who usually serves me was on vacation for two weeks, and the substitute still found my preferences, still sent the text and still asked whether I wanted a loose hem fixed. That was when I realized the shop's memory is in its system, not only in its people, and that is a large part of why I stay.

What this page is doingThe post separates what the business did from what it recorded, since the record is what makes the acts repeatable.

Reply to Paula

Paula, your barber "always knows how you like it." Does he write it down, or is it in his head? If it lives in his memory, the shop's hold on you may leave when he does. Payne and Frow (2005) describe customer relationship management as a process that brings together information about customers across a business, not just one employee's knowledge, which is the difference I am asking about.

What this page is doingThe reply asks what the business would lose if the person behind the loyalty left.

Reply to Jamal

Jamal, the pharmacy you described texts refill reminders, but you said you stay because a pharmacist once caught a drug interaction. Do you think the reminders or that single moment does more to keep you? If it is the moment, the pharmacy's records may matter less than the trust that one conversation built.

References

Payne, A., & Frow, P. (2005). A strategic framework for customer relationship management. Journal of Marketing, 69(4), 167-176. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.2005.69.4.167

Reichheld, F. F., & Sasser, W. E., Jr. (1990). Zero defections: Quality comes to services. Harvard Business Review, 68(5), 105-111.

Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. (1996). The behavioral consequences of service quality. Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 31-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299606000203

Reading the BUSI 4004 Week 1 instructions

The first discussion asks you to describe one business you keep returning to and explain why, using specific acts rather than general feelings. Identify the business by name or type, how long you have used it and which competitors you skip to get there. Then list the particular things the business does that bring you back. The distinctive part of this course's prompt is the next step: for each act, ask what the business must record to repeat it, and whether it depends on one person's memory or on a system. Tie the post to a reading on customer retention or service quality and close with a question. Posts run near 300 words, and two replies follow.

How the BUSI 4004 Week 1 example is put together

The sample names a family dry cleaner in Lansing with two counter clerks, three years of weekly shirts and three alternatives the writer ignores. It describes three acts: preferences appearing on the clerk's screen, a cracked button replaced free and a ready text. A paragraph traces each act to a record, a notes field, a repair entry and a stored phone number, and a short paragraph reports a substitute clerk doing the same, which shows the memory lives in the system. Reichheld and Sasser and Zeithaml and colleagues support the claim that keeping customers matters. The reply to Paula asks whether a barber writes preferences down, citing Payne and Frow. The reply to Jamal asks whether refill texts or one caught drug interaction keeps him at a pharmacy.

Reading the BUSI 4004 Week 1 rubric

Graders reward specificity. A post that says a business has great service earns little; one that names concrete acts and connects each to something the business records shows the analytic move the course is built on. The distinction between loyalty held by one employee and loyalty supported by a system is the key insight, and posts that test it, even informally, stand out. Readings should explain why retention matters or how service quality affects it, rather than appearing as decoration. Replies earn credit by asking a classmate where their business's memory lives or which act really keeps them, ideally in a way the classmate can answer from experience.

BUSI 4004 Week 1 help from the desk

Choose a business you have returned to many times and list the moments that made you come back. For each, ask what the business would need to know or write down to do it again for you, or for anyone. Then ask whether that knowledge would survive if your favorite employee left. Write the post in that order: business, acts, records. Weak posts praise friendliness without examples, pick a national chain with a points program or skip the question of what is recorded. Others never mention alternatives, which is what makes loyalty meaningful. Keep it near 300 words. In replies, ask where a classmate's business keeps its memory. Share the business you keep returning to and what it does for you, and we can draft a model post around it.

Get a BUSI 4004 Week 1 example written to your instructions

Your Week 1 discussion prompt and its rubric are enough; a finished post returns in 24 to 48 hours, free the first time, with replies drafted if the week requires them. Have a business you actually kept returning to? Mention the type and what brought you back, and the sample builds its analysis around a composite business of that kind.

More BUSI 4004 papers and BS in Business Administration samples

BUSI 4004 Week 1 questions, answered

Where can I find a free BUSI 4004 Week 1 sample paper?

The dry cleaner loyalty post, both replies and the margin notes are reproduced in full below, free of charge.

What business does the BUSI 4004 Week 1 example describe?

A small family dry cleaner in Lansing, Michigan, where the writer has taken work shirts weekly for three years.

Which acts keep the customer coming back?

Preferences shown on the clerk's screen, a cracked button replaced without charge and a text when the order is ready.

Why does the post focus on what the shop records?

Because recorded preferences, repairs and contact details let any clerk repeat those acts, which a substitute clerk proved.

What do the replies ask?

Whether a barber's knowledge is written down, and whether reminders or one caught drug interaction keeps a pharmacy customer loyal.