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The Customer
Taking a cue from Disney, Jacques Nasser, the outspoken
Ford CEO, regularly goes globetrotting, getting to know his markets and
customers well. For he knows that to maintain Ford's ranking as the
world's second-largest carmaker, customer-focused policies are a must. Customers
are the raison d'etre of all companies; no customer, no
company, a simple fact often overlooked by all of us in the cut and thrust
of day-to-day operations.
Customer-friendly services are the hallmark of successful
organizations, and even the aloof public sector companies have to bow to the demands
of this compulsion, as globalization gathers momentum.
Some tips on customer focus:
- He is KING! Always Right!!
- Stand at the counter and
take customer queries
- Random survey of
correspondence to locate ‘issues'
- Phone in from outside to
ascertain level of response
- Hold ‘customer meets' to develop and get
feedback
- Set an example by
dealing with that ‘difficult' customer yourself
- Encourage employees to
treat customer interaction as rich source of ideas to develop innovative sales
approaches
- Take staff with you on
sales conventions, for exposure to ideas/ growth
- Encourage them to do
field surveys of rival companies to get a taste of customer experience/
generate ideas
It
should ensured when training staff that they, too, have insights into customer
behavior/ motivations, to enable them to adopt a more practical approach to training which
will produce the result desired above all else…a
satisfied and happy customer, and a successful company!
QUESTIONS:
- Importance of the
customer is well known, but is the customer well known… to you (and you
dependent on him)? Your staff?
- Why is it so important
to get to know the customer well? Please make a presentation bringing
out the major advantages of getting to know your customer well…and the
consequences of NOT
doing the same?
