Customer Focus

The Most Important Business Strategy is Customer Focus

The Most Important People In Any Organization Are the Customers. Whether For Profit Or Non-Profit, Community-Based, Social Serving, Or Governmental Agency, There Is Always A Customer Of Some Kind At The Heart Of Most Every Action. Without Customers, It’s Likely Your Organization Would Not Exist. Some Roles, There Is A Direct Link To External Customers, And In Others, The Connection Is More Indirect. Or The Customer You Primary Serve Is Inside The Organization. Bottom Line-Those Who Please Customers The Most Will Win. It Doesn't Matter Whether Your Company Is One Person Or A Million People. People Want To Know They Matter. Winning Organizations Are Always Customer Oriented And Responsive. Winning Strategies Always Include A Customer-Focus Lens. Being Successful Means Continues To Pay Attention To Customer Needs And Adapting As These Evolve. You Need To Evaluate And Flex, Understand And Respond. Focus On Customers Opens Thinking, Drives Innovation, A Creates A Responsive And Lively Organization. Internal Or External-They Are Equally Important. It’s Hard To Develop A High Level Of Customer Satisfaction Externally If Those Within The Organization Are Disengage.

"It doesn't matter whether your company is one person, or a million people. people know they matter. they want to know they're listened to"

who does it best with Customer Focus

Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others - Walt Disney

Since 1994, Amazon Has Grown To Become One Of The Most Widely Respected Online Retailers. What Sets The Company Apart? Relentlessly Customer Focus. CEO, Jeff Bezos, Believes Customers Will Always Be Interested At Low Cost, Big Selection, Fast Delivery. Everything Is Designed To Address Those Customer Interests. Amazon Creates The Ultimate Customer Experience With A Website That Is Clear, Simple, And Easy To Navigate. Filters Help Customers Quickly find The Products They Are looking for. As They Shop, Through Intricate Algorithms, They Provide Data That Will Form Suggestions For Future Customers. Amazon Is Then Able To Recommend Products To Customers That They Never Even Thought Of Purchasing. So Committed Is Bezos To Customer Satisfaction That Approximately 80% Of The Measurable Goals Used To Track Performers Relate Specifically To The Customer, Including Focus On What Customers Don’t Want To Happen-Such As Delays, Products Out Of Stock, Defects. Measures Are In Place To Make Them As Rare As Possible. The Result? Amazon Has Been The Top Online Retailer A Customer Satisfaction For Years As Repeatedly In The Top 10 Among All Companies. Since Its Initial Public Offering In 1997, The Company’s Stock Price Has Risen From A Modest $18.00 Per Share To $300 + Per Share In 2014. Staff Competencies: Core: Customer Focus - Hr.Iu.Edu. (N.D.). Retrieved From Http://Hr.Iu.Edu/Competencies/Core/Customer.Html; 50 Customer Service Quotes - Inspirational Words Of Wisdom. (N.D.). Retrieved From Https://Www.Wow4u.Com/Customerservice/; "General Employee” - Appleton.Org. (N.D.) Retrieved From Https://Www.Appleton.Org/Home/Showdocument?Id=904.

What Does Highly Skilled In Customer Focus Look Like?

· Gains insight into customer needs.

· Identifies opportunities that benefit the customer.

· Builds and deliver solutions that meet customer’s expectations.

· Establishes and maintains effective relationships.

· Anticipates customer's needs and provide services that are beyond customers’ expectations.

· Uses customers insights to drive and guide the development of new offerings.

· Serves as a strategic partner to build, grow, and maintain profitable and long-lasting relationships with key accounts.

Ten Tips On Developing Strong Customer Focus

1. Looking To Delight, The Customer? Anticipate Customer Needs. Get In The Habit Of Meeting With Your Internal And External Customers Are Regular Basis. Set Up A Dialog. Customers Need Assurance They Can Contact You About Problems Or Ideas To Improve Service. Create Open, Explicit Lines Of Communication. The More Personal You Can Make Your Interactions, The Clearer It Is To Customers That You Want To Meet Their Needs. Instead Of Anonymous Market Research, Create Personal Connections. Ask Customers For Feedback. Solicit Their Ideals.  When You Roll Out A New Product Or Service, Connect It Back To How It Addresses Their Feedback. Try To Anticipate Their Need For Your Products And Services Before They Even Know About Them. Educate Them On Features That They Weren’t Expecting. Delivery In A Shorter Time. Added Value To What They Ordered. Show Your Cost Per Year In It For The Long Run. Show That Your Primary Interest Is Their Success. Period. Everything Else Follows. Staff Competencies: Core: Customer Focus - Hr.iu.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hr.iu.edu/competencies/core/customer.html

2. Not Sure What Customers Want Or Expect? Put Yourself In Your Customer Shoes. If You Were A Customer Of Your Organization, What Would You Expect? What Kind Of Turnaround Time Would You Tolerate? What Price Would You Be Willing To Pay For The Quality Of The Product Or Service? What Are The Top Three Complaints You Would have? What Would Delight You? Design Your Processes, Products, Services, And The Overall Customer Experience With The Answers To These Questions In Line. 5 Core Principles Of Customer Care - CRM Xchange. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.crmxchange.com/uploadedFiles/Featured_White_Papers/PDF/5_Core_Princip; Staff Competencies: Core: Customer Focus - Hr.iu.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://hr.iu.edu/competencies/core/customer.html

3. Disconnected From Customers? Keep In High-Quality Touch. Satisfying The Reasonable Needs Of Customers Is Straightforward. First You Need To Know What They Want And Expect. The Best Way To Do That Is To Ask them. Then Deliver On Their Suggestions In A Timely Way At A Price Or Value That’s Justified. Find Ways To Keep In Touch With A Broad-Spectrum Of Your Customers To Get A Balanced View. Face To Face. Online Or Phone Surveys. Questionnaires. Social Media. Response Cards With Your Products And Services. To Keep In High-Quality Touch, Recognize The Difference Between Convenience For The Customer And Convenience For You. Telephony (Voice Activated Technology) And Other Telecommunications Innovations Work With The Customers Experience. What Customer Hasn’t Experienced The Frustration Of Endless Computer Routing, Only To Get No Answer Or Get To The Wrong Person? High-Quality In Touch With Your Customers Means Getting Them To The Right Person In The Minimum Number Of Steps. Customer Focus - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hr.wayne.edu/leads/resource-guide/customer-focus

4. Get Defensive? Be Prepared For Customer Complaints. Be Ready For The Good News And The Bad News. Don't Be Defensive. Just Listen And Respond To Legitimate Criticisms. Vocal Customers Will Usually Complain More Than Complement. Listen To What The Customer Is Saying. Make Sense Of It By Looking For Similar Complaints. Are There Consistent Messages You Are Hearing From Various Customers? Where Do You See Opportunities To Develop? Don't Get Overwhelmed By The Negative Comments. People With Positive Opinions Speak Up Less. When You Get A Complaint That Is Justified, Put A Plan In Place. Work With The Customer To Identify The Goal. The Monitor Progress Against That Goal To Ensure Resolution Of The Problem. Checking With The Customer To See If They Are Satisfied With The Solution. Change Your Mental Frame About Customer Complaints. Studies Show That Customers Who Complain Are Still Engaged. Which Means You Still Have A Chance To Turn Them Around. It's A Dissatisfied Customer Who Doesn't Complain That Ends Up Going To The Competition.Customer Focus - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (N.D.). Retrieved From Https://Hr.Wayne.Edu/Leads/Resource-Guide/Customer-Focus

5. Want To Know Why Customers Leave? Think Of Yourself As A Dissatisfied Customer. Write Down All The Unsatisfactory Things That Have Happened To You As A Customer During The Past Month. Things Like Delays. Orders Not Right. Cost Not As Promise. Phone Calls Not Returned. Cold Food. Bad Service. Inattentive Employees. Out Of Stock Items. Are Any Of These Things Happening To Your Customers? Then Do A Study Of Your Lost Customers. Find Out What The Three Key Problems Were And How Quickly You Can Eliminate 50% Of The Difficulties That Cause Them To Depart. Study Your Competitors’ Missteps And See What You Can Do To Both Eliminate Those That Make Your Organization More Attractive. And Keep At It. Make This An Ongoing Aspect Of Your Customer Focus. Make It Your Business To Understand What You're Not Doing Right For Your Customers And Correct It. Apply That Learning To Help You Spot Issues Before They Cause A Problem.

Want Your Customers To Stay? Consider What Makes You Happy With Your Own Customer Experiences? Is There An Opportunity To Improve Your Own Customers Experiences? 

6. Want To Know Why Customers Stay? Think Of Yourself As A Satisfied Customer. Write Down Of The Satisfactory Things That Have Happened To You As A Customer During The Past Month. What Please You The Most As A Customer? Good Value? On-Time Service? Courtesy? Return Phone Calls? Or Any Of Your Customers Experiencing Any Of These Satisfactory Transactions With You And Your Business? Study Your Successful Customers Transactions So That They Can Be Standardized. Then Study What Your Competitors Do Well And See What You Can Do To Improve Customer Service. Be A Learner. Always Look To Identify Ways To Enhance The Level Of Quality And Service Your Customers Are Enjoying. The Best Customer Is The Customer You Already Have.

7. Looking For Opportunities To See Customer Service And Action? Play Detective. Be A Student Of The Workflows And Processes Around You At Airports, Restaurants, Hotels, Supermarkets, Government Services, Etc. What Do You See? What Do You Hear? What Are Customers Saying Out Of Earshot Of The Staff? How Can You Relate The Service Approaches In Those Industries To Your Environment? What Processes Could Be Adapted? As A Customer, How Would You Design Those Things Differently To Make Them More Effective And Efficient? What Difference Will It Make To Your Customers? How Can You Prove On This Even Further? Customer Focus - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (N.D.). Retrieved From Https://Hr.Wayne.Edu/Leads/Resource-Guide/Customer-Focus

8. Want To Create Stronger Customer Loyalty? Build A Relationship. Let's Face It. It Is About Customer Loyalty But Is Also About A Repeat Business. The Number One Way To Maintain Loyalty Is To Build And Maintain A Relationship With Your Key Customers. Come Up With A Plan. How Are You Going To Interact With Your Customers Regularly? Customers Are Less Likely To Think About You If They Don't Hear From You. Then, Add Value. How Are Your Products Or Services Helping Your Customers? Use Real-Life Case Studies Of Winds With Key Customers As A Way Of Demonstrating Your Value. Think Beyond Simply Selling Your Products Or Services. How Can You Help Your Customers Be More Successful? Offer A Suggestion For A Way To Streamline Processes. Help Cut Costs. Recommend A Person For An Open Position. Refer Potential Customer To Your Customer. Go Beyond The Traditional Cell Cycle. Provide Additional Value For Your Customers In Unexpected Ways.

9.  Just Looking Externally? Delight Your Internal Customers. Not All Customers Are External. Internal Customer Of Those People Who Work Every Day To Make The Organization A Success. There Is A Complex Web Of Customer Relations And Inter-Dependencies Across The Organization. For Example? A Salesperson Who Does Not Work Well With The Dispatch Can Cause Service Issues For The External Customer. A Glitch In The Relationship Between A Designer And Production Can Delay Speed To Market. First, Identify Your Key Internal Customers. What Do You Interact With Regularly? Who Reviews Your Work? Who Is Impacted By The Quality Of Your Product? Second, Ask For Feedback. How Are You Doing? What Would You Like To Change? Continue Doing? Lastly, Act To Improve Your Internal Customer Experience. Think Outside The Box. Consider Issues From Their Perspective. What Can You Do To Make Their Job Easier? How Can You Help Them Be More Successful? What Information Do You Need To Supply? Shift Your Thinking And Look For Ways To Create Internal Customer Delight. Customer Focus - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (N.D.). Retrieved From Https://Hr.Wayne.Edu/Leads/Resource-Guide/Customer-Focus

10. Need A Customer Service Process? Think "Custom-In." Always Design Your Work A Manage Your Time For The Customer In, Not From You Out. Your Best Will Always Be Determined By Your Customers, Not You. Research Suggests That Companies That Have Restructured Themselves Around Customer Needs Are Often More Nimble And Agile. These Companies Can Respond Quickly And Effectively To The Needs Of The Customer. Try Not To Design And Arrange What You Do Only From Your View. The Best Innovation Comes From The Outside-In-Your Customers Tell You What They Need, And You Respond By Making Improvements To Products, Services, Or Processes. Your Customers Know What They Want. All You Need To Do Is Ask them. Create An Organization That Listens To And Then Builds On Customer Needs And Requests. One Of The Most Important Aspects Of Great Service Is Anticipation. See What The Customer Needs Even Before They Do. Try To Always Show And Take The Viewpoint Of Your Customer First. You Will Always Win Following That Rule. You Can Sell Experience, Not Just A Product And Service. Customer Focus - Wayne Leads - Wayne State University. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://hr.wayne.edu/leads/resource-guide/customer-focus; Mentoring. (2018). Director, 72(1), 16.

Lastly - Take Time To Reflect

…If You Don't Think Customers Figures Into Your Role

The Remember That, Whatever Your Job Description, Customers Are Part Of It. Front-Line Or Internally Facing, You Have A Responsibility To Customers In Some Way Recognize It And Act Upon It.

…If You View Customers As Statistics Rather Than Stakeholders

…Then Recognize The Danger Of Thinking Of Them In This Cold, Impersonal Way. You Probably Need Them More Than They Need You. Give Them A Reason To Come To You. Give Them Better Reasons For Staying.

…If You Know There Are Barriers To Customers Being Happy

…Then Take Steps To Break Them Down. Final Way Through Them. Explore Options For Getting Over Them. A Blocker To Customer Delight As A Blocker To The Organization's Success.

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