Knowing that your business needs to be customer centric (focusing on customer’s needs and wants) is one thing. Knowing how to go about introducing this customer-focused culture is something else entirely!
Here are some tips to help you implement the changes necessary to become a more customer focused business:
Create a Vision
As a business owner or manager, your teams are looking to you for direction. When they see you focusing on customer benefits when making your decisions, they will follow. The vision of the company needs to focus on the product or service offering, specifically the way it should be delivered and the goals the company wants to achieve as a result. It must also focus on the benefits provided by the product or service to the customer.
Once this is determined, management should actively share this vision with the rest of the business. Only when all parties are aligned with the overall vision can they then work in the same direction. As a result, your team will feel a stronger sense of purpose in their work and will share in the success of the business.
Identify Core Values
Customers do business with people that they know, like and trust. Your business has core values that resonate well with your existing customers. You need to identify these values and communicate them to your team. Then you can build a sales process around these core values in order to ensure that all customers know what to expect when doing business with your firm. If your team constantly delivers a service in line with your business’s core values, your customers will be more satisfied and will be more likely to refer business to you in the future.
Focus on the Ideal Customer Experience
Your business model should be designed in such a way that it delivers your products or services in a manner that is enjoyable and efficient for your customers. Whether a customer walks in through the door of your premises or logs onto your website, they should enjoy a consistent, high quality experience. Your team and your systems should be set up and optimised to ensure the delivery of that quality experience.