How To Build A Customer-Focused Business
Customers are one of the most important – perhaps the most important – things to think about when you’re in business. Imagine trying to make a profit without them; it would be impossible, no matter whether you sell to the end user or to another business. This is why it pays to ensure your business really is all about the customer.
Building a customer-focused business is something that every entrepreneur can do, yet it’s not something they all decide to work on, and that means they are potentially missing out on a large swathe of potential customers. Remember, by keeping the customer happy, your business is sure to grow. With that in mind, here are some of the best ways to building a customer-focused business.
Listen to Feedback
If a customer has some feedback for you, it’s crucial that you listen to it. This is easy to do when the feedback is positive; in fact, it’s a pleasure, and it can be useful too – hearing what you’re doing well in your business means you can continue to do it, ensuring that that particular aspect of your work stays the same.
Listening to more negative feedback isn’t such a great thing, but it is just as important. It might even be more important. When a customer has a complaint to make or a suggestion that they feel would make your business more customer-friendly, don’t dismiss it straight away just because you feel defensive. Instead, understand that the customer is the person best placed to notice these flaws. When they tell you about them, and you make the necessary changes, not only will your business improve, but your customers will be happier too.
Put Them First
Since customers are so vital to your business, you need to put them first at all times. When there is a decision to be made, think about how the customer will react and how it will benefit them (or otherwise). In this way, not only will decisions be easier, but you’ll be much more likely to take your business in the right direction. By neglecting your customers either because you don’t feel they are important or because you genuinely forget about them, you’ll run the risk of doing some significant damage to your business.
Employing the use of technology to help you get this right can be extremely useful. Gantt Chart tools, for example, will enable you to make sure you are always in the right place at the right time, and the same goes for the rest of your team – you won’t forget any customers when everything is planned in advance.
Solve A Pain Point
The most customer-focused business are the ones that solve a pain point for their customers. Whenever you are discussing options with a customer, whenever you are answering a question, no matter what, you must always ensure you explain to them how your business, or how one product or service, in particular, could solve their specific pain point, whatever that happens to be. In this way, you are focusing directly on the customer, and the customer themselves is aware that you are trying to help them personally.
This way of selling might take a little time to get used to, but there are a variety of ways it can be done, and once you have at least some of them in place, you should be able to prove to your customers that their pain point can be eliminated by using you. Regular newsletters, making how-to videos, and giving advice are all going to be good places to start.
