| What do we mean by customer focus? If your | | | | has a robust quality management system, it is a |
| service is customer focused the demands of your | | | | requirement that a company (using ISO9001-2000 |
| customers will drive it. It really is time to consider | | | | as an example)shall monitor customer intelligence |
| how best to develop a Customer Focused | | | | relating to customer awareness as to whether |
| organisation. | | | | the company has met the customer wishes. |
| Customers | | | | Always try where possible to get customer |
| Customers require accurate information to help | | | | opinion. It is often the customer who will not voice |
| them make the best decisions about purchases. | | | | their opinion, is the one who walks away to your |
| Customers deem (and quite rightly so in many | | | | competitors. |
| cases) that they are the centre of the cosmos. | | | | Knowing Your Market Place |
| Customers vary according to the type of service | | | | Community engagement helps the organisation |
| being used or needed. As proud as you may be | | | | ensure that the priorities of local people translate |
| of your company and your product or service, | | | | into strategy and decision making. Being able to |
| most customers only care about how well you | | | | demonstrate customer focus and effective |
| can support them to meet their wants and needs. | | | | methods of community engagement are a |
| If you don't put your customers at the very | | | | necessary condition of excellence and will support |
| centre of everything you do, your business will | | | | you to achieve recognition for improvement. |
| fail. | | | | Marketing |
| Focus | | | | A customer focused approach affords the |
| Focused senior executives and business owners | | | | opportunity to obtain many results: increase the |
| spend time with customers, irrespective of size. | | | | lifetime value of customers; maintain satisfactory |
| They always promote and ensure that customer | | | | levels of profitability; improve knowledge of |
| issues are always a key agenda point at any of | | | | customers, and improve the marketing mix. |
| their board meetings. If you want more of them | | | | Differentiated marketing can take your business |
| to buy your services or products, your focus has | | | | into a new dimension and can gain a great deal by |
| to be on your customer; avoid being too internally | | | | having truly differentiated product/service offers |
| focused. I can assure you that it will take you | | | | to make. If your business has any volume of web |
| eye off of what is really happening in the market | | | | based business, one of your key “focus” |
| place and will eventually kill your sales. | | | | tools must be web analytics and dashboards. |
| Business | | | | These tools are extremely beneficial and can |
| Looking from a business standpoint, a new | | | | offer a business-to-business or |
| approach may be practical. To put a spotlight on | | | | business-to-consumer organisation a real picture |
| the customer can only mean orienting all business | | | | as to what is happening in their business, what |
| processes to customer requirements, which is | | | | customers are looking at and how long they are |
| both common sense and surely the key | | | | looking at it (plus hopefully a successful sale!). |
| objective. Good customer focus initiatives the | | | | Conclusion |
| analysis of key "customer centric" metrics and | | | | Customer focus increases customer satisfaction |
| this greatly assists to recognise the business | | | | while allowing you to compete and thrive in your |
| impact of strategic actions. | | | | industry. Sharper customer focus means |
| Trust | | | | abandoning the normal trends and practices of the |
| This is essential to build a customer centric | | | | market place and segmenting customers |
| organisation. Trust-Based Selling shows how trust | | | | according to how they actually act. At the end of |
| between consumer and seller is created and | | | | the day it is always key to know that usually it is |
| illustrates how both sides benefit from it. It’s | | | | down to an excellent leadership team that |
| a win for your business and for the customer. | | | | changes a businesses approach, and it is not just |
| Information | | | | a one off customer focus programme that will |
| Information technology is answering these | | | | truly bring substantial and consistent business |
| questions with an unprecedented precision about | | | | rewards. |
| customer-focused ends and means. If a company | | | | |