Who is Our Customer

Like the frog who sits in the cool water and when the water starts to heat does nothing; we sometimes continue with a strategy that has worked in the past when all around us is changing.

When you first take a job or start a business your very first consideration is "who is my customer". It may be an internal customer, a department head or a boss. But if you are in sales then it is someone outside of your company. Someone who can choose where they buy what you sell. The old model in our industry was to get a building; fill it with product; go out and find a customer who wanted to buy that product in our market area. Worked. It was based on limited availability of product, brand recognition and competition within a market space.

If the space included unlimited availability, brand parody and enormous competition ..... would you act differently? Wait a minute, that sounds familiar doesn't it?

Large companies perform market research that sometimes work and sometimes yield questionable results. Either way it is expensive and most dealers in our industry wouldn't spend that much if they had it. The DIY market research has as much chance of yielding good data as the expensive kind if it is done correctly. The good news is that it can be carried out while you are doing business daily, by the people you have.

It starts this way. Gather the brain trust .... in most companies that should include everyone that has any contact with the customer. The receptionist, the accounts receivable person, customer service, sales, shipping and yes even the delivery person. It is almost certain this is several separate conversations since you never have the luxury of being able to get everyone together without the phone ringing or a visit from ...... a customer. Everyone in your organization has an idea about the customers preferences. Mine that data.

From those conversations pick the top three things you could focus on to improve your relationship with your customer and increase the likelihood of repeat business. New customers are great but repeat buyers are gold. I am going to use a word that is misused and sends chills down my spine. Survey. A strategic survey should be in place at all times. A survey is a company's quest for information that will please their customer. Don't print a form, stick it in an envelope and expect any real insight into anything.

The best surveys are people to people.....because of the follow-up.

More next time...

Good selling