Customer Focused Initiatives Used by Businesses
Sales training courses have long recommended that customer loyalty is principally responsible for productivity and growth of a company. Most businesses have grasped this now. In relation of recent research 98% of those questioned named the beginning of customer orientation at all levels of the business as their most important aim. 90% of the participants in the survey agreed that customer service will be decisive for their future success in sales!
But what do such businesses associate with the terms "customer orientation" and "service considerations"?
Whereas almost all participants in the survey could agree with key phrases like "customer satisfaction ranks the first place" and "service and complaints management deserve a high ranking", only, for instance, three out of four of those surveyed understood "contribution of the customer to product development inside the company" as part of customer orientation.
Indeed, only two out of three companies try to direct the internal business processes entirely by reference to the needs of the client.
Table 1 shows what measures the businesses surveyed intend to use to get rid of gaps in customer orientation. The businesses were asked "What measures are you taking to optimise customer orientation?" and multiple answers were permitted in the survey.
Measures for optimising customer orientation: 88% More intense sales training of employees concerned, 56% Information from the business management to the employees, 38% ISO certification of the most important sales processes, 34% Expansion of service and guarantee obligations, 18% Practice of TQM (Total Quality Management), 18% Working with benchmarks in sales, 6% Other measures
Whether or not the customer is actually satisfied with their supplier's efforts or whether they are just waiting for the opportunity to jump ship remains hidden for the majority of businesses. No more than 43% of the participants in the survey measured this.
Businesses in the investment goods industry, with 52% of mentions, are the most curious about what the client thinks of their efforts. The remaining participants in the survey will have to continue to surmise about what they are doing right or might be doing wrong.
In reply to the question "what measures are you implementing to promote customer loyalty and what significance do the individual measures have for you?" the following replies were given. Please note multiple answers were permitted and significance is reported as mean value between 1 and 4 whereby 1 = very important, 4 = unimportant .
Implemented measures: 84% Mailshots 1.8, 77% Company surveillance 1.8, 69% Discount / bonus systems 1.8, 63% Regular written customer information 1.6, 59% Customer training (selling by seminar) 1.6, 54% Telephone marketing 1.9, 48% Workshops for customers 1.7, 46% Incentives 2.7, 36% Customer magazine (closed media concept) 2.2, 28% Cross-selling 2.4, 27% Incentive trips 2.3, 25% Train the trainer measures 2.2, 19% Customer clubs 2.5, 16% Founder customer groups 2.6, 9% Customer cards 2.8.
The classics are the most popular - mailshots, company surveillance, discount / bonus systems. Indeed, 84% of all the businesses questioned are implementing mailshots as a means of promoting customer loyalty and the importance of mailshots as a tool for promoting customer loyalty is assessed as having a mean value of 1.8. However, only every sixth business exchanges ideas with clients in founder client groups and only every fifth has started a client club, yet almost every second supplier offers supplier workshops for its clients.
Summary: Since contacts with the client should not be left to chance, the participants in the survey are implementing a broad spectrum of client relationship measures to nurture business contacts. On average, every business questioned uses 6.6 different methods to assure itself of its customer's loyalty. In addition because of the vital importance of the first impression that, if it is not convincing, means the supplier gets no second chance to raise its profile, intensified sales training of all employees who are in direct contact with the customer is identified as the most important action that businesses are taking to strengthen customer orientation.
About the Author
Richard Stone a Director for Spearhead Training Ltd that runs management and sales training programmes aimed at improving business performance. You can see more information at => http://www.spearhead-training.co.uk
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