This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
W


hen you know your customers and I mean really know your customers you’ll start to focus on solving their problems and


tensions and when you go beyond selling products and start solving problems you start to fuel innovation and differentiation. Why, because in the modern fast paced commoditised world we operate in it’s no longer about ‘what you do’ it’s about ‘how you do it’. Your competitors can copy products along with everyone else but they won’t be able to do it like you do!


When you start to push forward in this way you shift your customers buying decision from the head to the heart. You’re now solving problems and that means it’s emotional because you now have a relationship with the customer that’s more than just transactional. There are two points when customers talk about your business. The first is at the very bottom of the scale, when you’re pretty ‘Poor’ at what you do and unfortunately your customers will let everyone know about it. In the middle sits ‘Good’ but no one really mentions this as ‘Good’ has become the new ‘Average’. At the other end of my scale is ‘Exceptional’ and this is the second point where people talk but when you’re here the talk is of brand loyalty,


recommendation and constant endorsement, even Love!


The difference between a customer who is ‘Unsatisfied’ (You’re Poor) or merely ‘Indifferent’ (You’re Average) isn’t that great but the customer who camps out for weeks in front of your flagship store because they just have to have your latest product does that not merely for the product itself but because your organisation is ‘Exceptional’.


The customer-centric organisations that sustainably differentiate do so because they understand the symbiotic relationship they have with their customers. They understand that the customer is there to provide them with problems and tensions and their purpose in the relationship is to


One of the big challenges for 2011 will undoubtedly be employee engagement and what better way to embrace it than allowing your people to forge stronger customer relationships. Involve your people and show them that they are important by empowering them to ‘take care’ of their customers by providing value-added, common sense solutions. Allow them to build relationships and thus equity and the net result will be far happier, engaged employees. Make that a strategic focus and you’ll create a non-silo based, problem solving, innovative culture that has the agility to react to customer need or market shifts rather than be immobilized as it would be in the traditional product- centric or sales culture.


find innovative and differentiated ways to relieve their customers of such. The benefits for both and what they get out of it are obvious but never the primary focus. What they have done in adopting this ‘Strategic Mindset’ is moved beyond the traditional lip service or at best superficial attempt at customer focus and orientated their business model around a different perspective. However this means creating a different organizational approach to how you do what you do as it also involves being what I call ‘People-Centric’. Striking the right balance between customer pleasure and shareholder return will always, always be done through your people. Whatever you think there’s absolutely no way to circumnavigate the journey to customer centricity without first becoming people- centric.


To do this, everyone in your organisation needs to understand how to collaborate on solving your customers’ problems in order for you to provide an exceptional end-to-end customer experience. Your customer’s voice must be clearly heard in your organisation every day. In fact, your customer should be thought of as ‘part’ of your company. Think of yourself as working with them not for them – that’s more symbiotic!


32 entrepreneurcountry


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56