Customer Focus

        There has never been a time more ripe for customer focused business strategy than today. Spam, pop-up advertising, and junk mail waste loads of time and tons of money. Companies seem to find new ways to irritate us with marketing messages for practically no benefit (.005 response rate can be considered successful in some cases).

       Yet there are still professional service companies that cannot tell you when your next appointment is because they do not want to invest in any computer software that will make it easier for customers.

      There are home heating oil companies and auto service stations that will not schedule appointments on Saturday for working people. These are only a few examples of businesses that do not get it.

       Companies are losing customers and they do not even know it.

Not all industries face immediate disaster but over time the erosion in customer loyalty is certain. The process may occur gradually and never even be noticed until it is too late.   

      Choices for almost any product or service are becoming readily available as we have a glut of products and have gotten very good at producing things with good quality. Price and quality are not the big deal breakers that drive customers.  

The real edge is in customer relationships.

We all are consumers of products and we know what a positive buying experience is like compared to a poor one.

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is about listening to customers rather than sending hundreds of mass marketing messages, about products I have no interest in, to my email box (and house mailbox).   

 Think of a relationship where:

 ·       A business knows you

·       Knows what you want

·       They are there when you want them

·       Provide support and service the way you want it

·       At the price you want

 Sound like a fantasy? Maybe – but some organizations are really listening to customers and getting it right.

    Customer focused business strategy can incorporate people, business processes as well as technology in varying levels to better the customer’s experience.

    Positive effects are achieved without expensive computer software because it all begins with the customer focus. A renewed attention to customer details can go a long way toward becoming customer focused.

    I think of a customer focus just like a camera lens. When you first point the lens at a subject, it is blurry but as you adjust the focus it becomes clearer and clearer.

    This first phase is what I call the mindset stage (a preliminary focus) and deals with management, employees, and attitude. By taking initial (but very relevant) steps of reemphasizing customer importance, satisfaction, and service, the focus process begins.  

     Employee re-education concerning how each job effects customers can bring instant benefits. Employees must understand that secure employment can only be achieved by satisfying customer needs. No customers – no business – no job.

     In addition, the importance of workers must be clear. Their knowledge of customers and products are essential to any long-term success and must be recognized.   

    If a company can encourage and reward the exchanges of customer information between departments, and empower workers to go the extra mile in the resolution of customer problems, or to enhance the customer experience, you are getting the most from your first camera lens so to speak.

     The mindset stage does not involve changing processes or any software but only involves people.

 People not computers build customer relationships. How this customer reemphasis is accepted will provide a glimpse of what kind of communication and teamwork is necessary to get closer to customers.

 The acceptance (or resistance) to change will go a long way to gauge the corporate culture.

 A culture must be created to accept change because no technology or business tool can replace people and their intrinsic customer knowledge.    

 The next stage of the focus process is the “snapshot stage”  where  a representation of the current customer condition is created.

The snapshot attempts to answer the question: Where are we right now with regard to customers?

 Here we look at our present customers in as much detail as we can. I liken this to a first roll of pictures with a brand new camera. It is certainly not perfect and acts as a starting point.

  At this point in the process customer information is vital.  Organizations must put their energy into improving or creating information capture methods before they can start any customer focused process.

 These capture methods can be formal or informal, as manually gathered information still can be of use even if it is cumbersome to work with. Just as accessories on a camera can make life easier, you can still take a good picture without them.

 If current information about customers is inadequate then just like taking pictures sometimes you have to throw out the roll and start over.

 The data collected is not only sales and service information, but also human data coming from all customer-facing employees and the customers themselves. Data is organized to produce customer intelligence.

 The “Opportunity Stage” takes all information and in combination with the new customer focused mindset, decides the best area to concentrate energy and resources.

  Sometimes the direction will be obvious (less then minimum acceptable product quality) or not as obvious as in the case of certain products mysteriously declining in popularity.

 Sometimes more information is needed concerning an existing customer condition, so a return to the snapshot phase may be necessary. This may include calling some customers and simply asking why their buying behavior has changed.

 When an opportunity is recognized, certain tactics can be chosen. Tactics can be simple such as to schedule a workshop to help employees improve customer relations, or complicated as a multimillion dollar CRM software implementation taking several months to implement.

 Formal measurements should be created to gauge the effect on any targeted area. A benchmark should be documented prior to employing any tactic with an after picture taken periodically at consistent intervals.

  If you do not keep your first roll of pictures for comparison, you may not know if you are improving as a photographer.

 Measurement can be formal metrics or an informal method (the change in the number of reorders to a particular customer segment for a product).

 The specific measurement is not as important as long as you are consistent. It will be the change over time that will be useful no matter what method is used. 

 The process can be repeated through continued feedback from customers and new snapshot information. Continuous improvement (called Kaitzen in Japanese) makes for a customer focused business that is always evolving.

 The beauty of the customer concern is that it is about listening to the most important voice in any organization “the customer”.

 Just like in photography, if you are happy with the result, you stay with your present equipment but if you are searching for superior clarity from the “customer focused lens” then you can upgrade the features of the “camera” anywhere during the process.