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'Is Your Company Customer Focused' by Nigel Temple
publication date: Jun 29, 2011
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author/source: Nigel Temple
I am delighted to welcome Nigel Temple as a guest contributor to The Directors’ Centre online Business Club. (If you haven’t yet signed up for membership then click here for Lite/free or Full Membership options to boost your business sales and profits).
Nigel was originally introduced to me at least 10 years ago by Thomas Power. Nigel is Mr Integrity. He is reliable and honest, two rare attributes. More importantly, he talks sense about customers and markets. His approach to his work is deceptively simple (a true compliment) and straightforward and effective. That’s why I was delighted that he accepted the invitation to contribute. As with all Business Club contributors, Nigel wouldn’t be here if I didn’t personally rate him. See what he has to say. And don’t just read but take some action. Robert Is your business customer focused?  Is your business product focused or customer centric? The majority of small businesses adopt the former approach and they get along just fine. Market stall holders come to mind, as they shout at passers by about the interesting properties (and remarkably low prices) of their fruit and veg. However, a handful of enterprises discover that a customer centric business has remarkable advantages. For a start, the customers love it and so does the bank manager.A business is like a jigsaw puzzle. In order to succeed, you have got to be able to see the whole picture. Each part of your business is important. For example, products, finance and marketing. Running a business can fill your entire life (if you are not careful). There is so much to do, isn't there? Raising invoices, sorting out your website, planning ahead, answering phone calls and emails, attending meetings, resolving problems. Within this melee, it is all too easy to forget the one key area on which your entire business is built: your customers. Many businesses are product focused. They have a great idea for a product (or productised service). They spend considerable time, effort and money developing it. Marketing may come as an afterthought. The product is launched TA DA! And nothing much happens. Another business starts by talking to prospective customers and listening carefully to their needs. This business makes the customer the central point of everything they do. Every investment they make, person they recruit and action they take is preceded by the thought: “How will this serve our customers?” They have a true customer-based culture within their organisation. One of their first investments is a CRM system. According to David Willis, of Information Drivers CRM is: A customer-focused strategy, designed to optimise customer satisfaction, revenue and profitability Here is a Wikipedia article on the subject: According to Wikipedia, there are three phases in which CRM supports the relationship between a business and its customers: Acquisition / Enhancement / Retention. The customer acquisition phase should be preceded by some deep thinking with regards to customer segmentation. Customer segmentation Should you 'sell to everyone' or focus on target market segments? New entrepreneurs often start out by selling to anyone who will talk to them, for example wedding guests, neighbours and people sitting near to them on trains and buses. However, this approach soon generates challenges. You will find that you get a better return on your time, energy and money if you focus on groups of people with shared needs. Think of these groups as 'Tribes'. If you identify and take the time to understand a particular tribe, you are much more likely to sell to them. Human beings are tribal by nature. We tend to flock together with people who are like us. The next time that you go shopping, see whether this is true within the different types of shops that you visit. Mainly women? Mainly men? Similar age? How are they dressed? How affluent do they look? Of course there will be exceptions, but see whether you can spot similar groups of people. In fact, you will start to see tribes wherever you look. People who work for a company, follow a sport or have a hobby are likely to show tribal behaviour. The challenge is that tribal members belong to several different tribes at the same time. So you can't identify them by their face paint, style of teepee or war dance. For example, a football fan (tribe 1) may also be a sharp dresser (tribe 2) and may also be looking for a mortgage (tribe 3). In marketing terminology, our 'tribal' analogy would equate to 'market segments'. A market segment = A group of people with shared needs Think in terms of market segments. Once you have done this, you can create offers, headlines, advertisements, web pages, events and entire marketing campaigns which are aimed at distinct market segments. You will then get better results. If you sell to consumers (the 'general public'), the factors to consider include:
If you are selling to businesses, relevant factors include:
The above should form part of your marketing plan (you can download one for free if you subscribe to my newsletter via my website. Thinking in terms of customer segments will help you to decide where to focus your marketing messages and your communication style. Naturally, just by being in business, people from different segments will want to do business with you. That's fine. By all means take their money. However, one transaction doesn't mean that you have to add a new target market segment to your marketing plan, does it? Nigel Temple is the founder of The Marketing Compass, the learning community for small business owners. Join for free via www.marketingcompass.co.uk and receive the 101 CATs (Customer Attraction Techniques) e-book. Follow Nigel Temple on Twitter @NigelTemple Find out more about Nigel by visiting www.nigeltemple.com or www.marketingcompass.co.uk Contact Nigel: 01628 773128 | nigel@nigeltemple.com The Directors' Centre has helped many businesses achieve successful growth. Contact us today and will will help you achieve it with your business. Call 01225 851044 or email rc@directorscentre.com. |
