eBusiness Weekly
Clemence Mtutembo
I know of quite many businesses that were ignoring customers and ended up closing shop!
Businesses that ignore their customers are doomed to failure in the long run.
Even if a business has plenty of capital, it will not be able to sustain itself without customers.
The lack of customers will lead to a lack of revenue which will eventually lead to a lack of cash flow.
This will make it impossible for the business to pay its bills let alone invest in new products or services.
In addition, a business that ignores its customers is missing out on valuable feedback that could help it improve.
Ultimately, a business that does not listen to its customers is setting itself up for failure.
You cannot even talk about strategy without customers! It is impossible to do strategic management without customers!
Customers are the very foundation of strategic management. Without customers, there would be no need for an organisation to even exist, let alone develop a strategy.
Customers are the principal source of an organisation’s revenue and without them, there would be no money to fund the organisation’s operations.
In addition, customers are the ones who provide valuable feedback that can help an organistion improve its products, services and overall strategy.
Simply put, customers are essential to every aspect of strategic management.
If you want to impress someone, do exactly and precisely what they love or prefer. In the world of marketing and service, this is called customisation or personalisation.
This is the ability to deliver value to the customer in a manner that suits that customer’s unique tastes and preferences.
Customisation has such a fantastic and positive correlation with customer satisfaction. If you do things in a manner loved by someone, you are bound to satisfy that person.
Customer satisfaction is a very important thing to aim at when serving our customers. It has great strategic, competitive and financial benefits.
When serving customers, seek ways to deliver the value in a manner which suits the unique tastes and preferences of those particular customers.
People are different and that means any wise person should take these differences into consideration when engaging with the customers.
I am so impressed by the advances in technology such as data mining. Such technologies allow us to draw insights for personalisation because of the immense predictive value they bring.
Customers are like plants that require a certain conducive environment for their good life. There are also certain conditions that take away life from plants.
I was not very good with science but I know that if you take away sunlight from plants, they will not survive for long. That is the same with customers.
For them to be rooted at your business, you need to know how to create an atmosphere and an environment that is conducive for their stay. Below I now share three things that bring you more customers.
1. Being Fast:
No customer wants to be delayed when you are dealing with them. Whenever customers are dealing with you, try as much as you can to respond in time. Do not delay or make customers wait for too long for a product or service. Speed makes customers happy and in turn that brings you more customers through repeat purchases and referrals.
2.Being Friendly:
Being cheerful, nice, approachable and friendly attracts more customers to you. Friendliness is a form of psychological value so much needed by customers. Customers desire dealing with a warm person, business or service provider.
3.Being Thankful:
You must always say: “ thank you so much! “ to your customers before, during and after they have bought from you. Always show appreciation and gratitude to customers for the support that they give you by buying from you.
Clemence Mutembo is a high-impact customer experience, sales and brand building trainer who has made over 500 presentations to small, medium and large organisations. Connect with him on: 0778 994 994
