| Home |
| Results |
| Customers |
| Malcolm Wicks |
| Simple Business Plans |
| Frequently asked questions |
| More articles |
| Contact Us |
How to make a customer focused strategy work |
|
The words are good but…
There was no heated discussion. In fact, most of the time was spent agreeing with each other. Obviously the organisation should be more Customer centric. The directors leave with a warm glow that they are doing the right thing. This scenario has been played out in many boardrooms around the world. So, do we all now feel like happier and better served Customers? The answer in most business and consumer surveys is a resounding no. In fact, ‘Customer satisfaction’ has remained pretty static over the last 10 years. One survey recently stated that nearly 20% of people feel mistrust or disappointment after most Customer experiences. I won’t even mention Call Centres. So what’s going wrong between setting a direction to be more Customer focused and actually implementing it? Write it down The first step to becoming more Customer Focused is ensuring that everyone has a common understanding of what the term means. This may sound obvious but most organisations do not have a written definition. That’s when different interpretations begin to create problems and the heated discussions really start. Here’s an example of a good definition from an IT company’s strategic plan. “Being Customer Focused is about creating the environment for everyone in the company to continuously learn about Customers and the market. It’s then the responsibility of everyone in the company to respond appropriately to what we learn.” Many organisations also find it helpful to state what being Customer focused does not mean. It should be obvious that it’s not about simply doing everything the Customer wants, irrespective of the impact on the business. Obvious yes, but I’d strongly recommend still being crystal clear. Here is an example from the strategy of a retail services company. “products, services and resources should be utilised in line with the organisations overall strategy as well as meeting the needs of Customers”. Building Business strategy Most business strategies fail. This is sometimes due to the quality of the plan, but in most cases it’s down to execution. However, the starting point for the 30% that don’t fail is having a helpful plan. All organisations have some form of written business strategy, although the vast majority tend to mainly focus on the financial aspects of the business. Important as they are, a plan laden with financial metrics is not very helpful to communicate a Customer focused strategy. The top level destination goal for the company needs to be financial, but the strategy to achieve it must also be very clear and well communicated. Therefore, if you decide to have a Customer focused strategy this single decision will drive the structure and content of your entire strategy and plan. It’s not just another statement or section within your business strategy document. There are several techniques to build a Customer focused strategy, including our own DecisionDirector™ methodology. This approach helps clients create their Customer focused business strategy on a small number of PowerPoint slides. Whatever methodology you use, make the plan as short as you can. The next challenge is execution. Malcolm Wicks Director, SimplePlans 0118 989 1107 |
|
Hello, thank you for taking the time to visit and read this page. If you feel it is relevant, please share with your contacts. Thank you. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
