It is often said that customer-oriented business is the heart of every successful business. Yet, customer-oriented businesses are not as easy to find as we might like to think. Most companies fail because they do not care about their customers. The first step to success for any business is to create a strong customer-oriented business culture. That means having customers that come to your doors and leave with a smile on their face. And it means providing great customer service.
Customer-oriented business are usually small and usually include a small staff. But customer orientation is a good business practice regardless of size or staff size. Any small business that wants to grow must adopt customer orientation. One way to do this is by defining customer preferences. For example, if you are selling tires, you probably would not sell flat tires; you would probably sell them only with air pressure adjustments.
Many companies have defined customer satisfaction differently. Some use the Satisfaction Theory, which holds that a customer’s level of satisfaction with a product or service determines the return that he or she gives the company. This is known as the Cost-benefit Analysis. According to this theory, a customer satisfaction survey will tell a company whether or not it should change its product or service if it discovers that some customers are dissatisfied. The company would then take appropriate corrective measures to address the needs of those dissatisfied customers. On the other hand, if the Satisfaction Theory was to be applied in customer service, it would hold that customer service reflects a company’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
Another way to think of customer-oriented business is to think of it in terms of a balanced scorecard. With the balanced scorecard, management measures the health and growth of a firm by the performance of each of its most important business processes. A customer-oriented business will, obviously, fall into this category. It is important, however, for such businesses to also exhibit good customer service. A customer-oriented business should aim to build customer loyalty by providing good products or services, consistent after sales service, and excellent support from the dealer or manufacturer.
In customer-oriented business operations, it is crucial to make sure that the information regarding the customers is up to date. It is also important that these information are accurate because updated and accurate customer information reflects the quality of services that a company can provide. A customer-oriented business operates on the principle of first fulfilling customer needs, followed by customer satisfaction. In order to achieve customer satisfaction, a company should first understand the needs of its customers. Then, it should be able to meet these needs promptly.
For customer-oriented businesses, customer orientation is more than just having good products or services. A customer-oriented business should also adopt customer orientation in its marketing and sales strategies. One way to do this is to create a personal contact with each of the customers. Customers are very unlikely to buy something that they have not personally tried and most importantly, have not even seen or touched.
A customer-oriented business should have customer experience as its main objective. There are many ways in which this can be achieved. One way is to use technology to streamline customer experiences. Another is to ensure that the products or services being offered are worth the customer’s time or money. Finally, the customer experience is also important to ensure customer loyalty because satisfied customers are more likely to refer their friends to the business.
Businesses that take customer orientation initiatives seriously will definitely experience positive results in customer satisfaction. In fact, these results will lead to customer loyalty and customer retention. A strong customer orientation initiative will not only improve customer satisfaction but also bring about higher levels of productivity. In the end, businesses invest more in customer satisfaction initiatives that actually work.