HOW TO KEEP YOUR CUSTOMERS
COMING BACK FOR MORE

Customer Management Magazine, January 2002

There is a huge difference between being customer driven and customer focused and the trick is to lose that focus and replace it with more drive says Dr Ian Brooks

I have long believed that business is tough but not complicated. The objective is quite simply to have profitable customers who stay with you for a very long time. These loyal customers are cheaper to look after, more likely to buy other products and services and less concerned about price. The question is, just how do you keep those profitable customers coming back for more?

The key is to build an organisation that is customer driven. Unfortunately for them, most companies are merely customer focused, and there is a big difference between that and being customer driven. Customer focused companies, for example, believe that their customers are important to their business; whereas customer driven companies know that their customers are their business.

Just think what would happen to your company if all your customers disappeared overnight! in customer focused companies, people think about their customers but in customer driven companies, they think like their customers. in customer focused companies, people are focused mainly on internal issues but in customer driven companies the priority is to understand the customer's world.

In customer focused companies, people learn about their customers so they can sell more products and services but in customer driven companies, people learn about their customers and use this information to change the way they run their business. They change, not only their products and services, but the way they communicate with their customers, how they transact business and sometimes even the way the business is structured.

Therefore, in customer focused companies, things are done because they work for the company's managers or its shareholders. In customer driven companies on the other hand, things are done because they work for the customer. In customer focused companies, staff are advocates for the company in that they explain the company's policy and procedures to the customer. In a customer driven company staff are advocates for the customer. They tell management what works best for the customer and push for changes that create a better customer experience. In a customer driven company, no decision is made, no policy is set and no action is taken without first thinking about how it would affect the customer.

ARE YOU CUSTOMER FOCUSED OR CUSTOMER DRIVEN

Customer Focused Customer Driven People think about their customers. Think customers are important. Focus on internal issues. Use information to change the customer. Do things that work for the company. Staff are advocates for the company. Decisions are made without thinking about the customer. People think like their customers. Know customers are their business. Focus on the world of the customer. Use information to change their business. Do things that work for the customer. Staff are advocates for the customer. Customer is considered before decisions are made.

The first step to becoming customer driven is to create the right culture. The culture of an organisation is the values, beliefs, and standards of behaviour that says, "This is what this organisation is all about. This is what we consider to be important. This is what we expect from you. All high performing organisations, be they sports teams, religious groups, community agencies or successful businesses, have a clearly defined culture. Even outsiders know what the organisation stands for and what its standards are. The same cannot be said for most companies. Management often sends conflicting messages about what it considers to be important. Expectations are not clearly communicated and there is inconsistency in what is rewarded. This makes it very hard for people to focus on the right things.

If you want to become customer driven, you must create a culture where everyone knows that your business cannot afford to lose customers, and that all customers are important. Your people must understand the concept of a customer's lifetime value, and know the worth, in pounds, of key customers or customer segments. You need everyone to reatise that looking after customers makes good business sense, because if the customer wins, everyone wins.

Even more importantly you must create a culture where people believe it is a privilege to have a customer because it gives them a chance to earn a living. You want people to remember that customers have a choice, and to know there is no uth commandment that says the customer must do business with you. Most importantly, you want staff to understand that if they think that way when they serve their customers, they will come back, and that will be good for everyone.

You want a culture where people care about their customers and where they always put the customer first. Therefore, they try to think like the customer and they strive to see the world through the customer's eyes. The questions everyone asks are, "How would this look to the customer?" and "Would the customer like this?" You want people to take ownership of their customer's problems and responsibility for delivering both a good experience and a successful outcome for the customer. Create an organisation where staff are can-do thinkers working in a company where policies empower them, not hobble them. In short, you need people to understand that whether or not a customer returns is to a very large extent dependent upon how they think and behave.

Effective Leaders Have 5 Characteristics

They have a vision. They care passionately about that vision. They communicate their vision constantly. They lead by example. They have a sense of urgency.

Creating the right culture takes leadership, and that is your job whether you are the CEO or a team leaden Effective leadership has five main components, with the first being the vision. Ask yourself, "What kind of company do I want to lead?" and then think about the kind of experience your customers must have, if your company is to become that kind of company. You now have your vision. Secondl~ leaders care passionately about their vision. You have to show your staff that achieving this vision is ver~ very important to you. Thirdly, to lead effectively you must communicate your vision constantly When you see people's eyes become glazed when you start to speak because they know what you are going to say, you know you have got your message across. Fourthly, lead by example. Your people will listen more to what you do than what you say. Finally, effective leaders convey a sense of urgency. Becoming customer driven is a must-do, not a nice-to-do - and now, not tomorrow.

It is a lot easier to build a customer driven company if you have the right people doing the right things. Therefore, effective people management is a key part of becoming customer driven. This should be managed as a process not as a series of unconnected activities, such as recruitment, performance appraisal and remuneration.

Hire People Who: Are enthusiastic. The customer is No 1. Are can-do thinkers. Will go the extra mile. Are likeable. Get on well with people. Have a positive attitude. Are open-minded. Are receptive to change. Are good team players. Are friendly. Are eager to learn. Are respectful. Are polite and courteous.

The process begins by being clear about the kind of people you need to hire. This is not just a matter of the skills and knowledge you will need in the future. It is more about the kind of attitudes and behaviours your staff must have. Once you have worked out the kind of experience you want your customers to have, ask yourself, "How must my people think and behave if our customers are going to have that experience? Make a list and use it as a set of criteria for hiring all new staff, irrespective of the position you are trying to fill.

You will find it easier to build the right culture if you have recruited staff who share your beliefs about putting the customer first. Hire' people who are can-do people and who are enthusiastic about lookmg after customers. Hire people who have a positive attitude to life and who get on well with others. Hire people who are friendly, cheerful, respectful, polite and courteous. Staff with these attributes will give your customers the sort of experience that keeps them coming back.

Next recruit people who fill that bill by asking about their beliefs and their behaviours when you interview them. For example, ask how they handled an unhappy customer in their last job. Then when you do a reference check, find out if what they said they
did is accurate.

When you have found the right person, induct them into your culture. Explain your vision for the company and the customer experience. Tell them how you expect them to think and behave. Make it very clear. Finally, maintain those behaviours by recognising effort, rewarding achievement and celebrating success. If you see undesirable behaviour towards customers, deal with it. There must not be any doubt in anyone's mind about what is acceptable and what is not.

In a crowded and competitive marketplace, you need your existing profltable customers to stay with you for a long time. This means making your customers the centre of your universe, learning as much as you can about them, and using this knowledge to make your business work for them. All of your policies, your decisions about resource allocation and the messages you send your staff, must be consistent with your goal of customer retention. Your customers are what you should talk about, think about, and worry about.

To make your company customer driven, you must create a culture where people believe it is a privilege to have a customer. To do that, you must be very clear on how you want people to think and behave, and you must show them this matters to you. Finally, recruit the right people, focus them on the right things, reward them when they get it right, and deal with them when they get it wrong. You must exhort your staff to treat your customers as if alt of your futures depended upon it. Because it does.

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