Being Customer Driven

 Many people feel technology is the major challenge facing business today. But rather it's recognizing and grasping the opportunities that technology uncovers. 

The real challenge is to pull together the technology, the people, and the business processes and center them around the customer.

Many organizations (of all sizes) see technology in a diverse unconnected manner.

Sure they:
• Created a website (maybe even put some useful information on it)
• Email a few customers (when they have a question)
• Use off the shelf software packages to do invoicing and sales
• Look at a couple of canned reports (if they have time)
• Have a database and a spreadsheet on their desktop (although they don't really know what to do with them)

Technology and all business processes have to revolve around one thing to be successful today. That one thing is:

The Customer

Some companies are quick to integrate the latest technology into their business but fail to see its real benefit. These companies will use fancy whiz bang websites that have no value to customers. Others will email every customer every promotion they run, even for products customers have no interest in.

When a senior citizen gets a promotion for a skateboard the message is dismissed and the relationship with the company diminished (I will not do business with any company that SPAMs me - Never!).   Therefore the technology works against the business and the relationship.

But some businesses are getting it right. They segment their most profitable customers and use technology to educate them with regard to new products and interact with them to exchange useful information and give them valuable offers.   

By not wasting a customers time with irrelevant marketing messages, the business conditions their buyers to pay attention to messages because they are relevant and have value.   

Copyright © 2003, thecustomerconcern.com.  |  Last updated Oct. 2003
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