A Customer Focus Strategy That Can Work Wonders For Your Business

Essentially, customer focus reflects your company’s culture and commitment to its customers. Further, the primary goal is to facilitate an exceptional customer experience. An experience that your customers will not forget easily. We all know that in the current market scenario customers have ample choices available to them. So, we have to provide them with an unmatched experience at every point of contact. This is one sure shot means of improving customer loyalty rates. For instance, you consider several parameters while booking flight tickets. Presumably, the choice of airlines depends on ticket prices. But, service quality makes a big difference. You will obviously rule out airlines that deliver poor customer service. In such scenarios, your preference will be the airlines known for its outstanding customer service. In short, the airlines that offer good value for money.

Customer focus strategy – a basic overview

A customer-first slogan on the employee T-shirts does not achieve the desired results. And, managers fail to acknowledge this fact. Management perspectives differ on the strategic focus of the firm. And, most firms adopt a product-centric strategy that focuses only on sales instead of customers. So, it all boils down to your business priorities or outlook.

Basically, a truly customer-centric focus requires a well-planned strategy involving various initiatives designed to enrich customer experience. Begin with a clear definition of your business goals. Set up goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Hence, SMART objectives underline an effective strategy. Remember, your goals must reflect your firm’s customer service intent. And, also its commitment to improving customer experience across each touchpoint. So, you may identify your key focus as increasing customer retention rates by 40% in the next 5 months. Or, improving customer experience by 60% in the next 6 months. Make sure your strategies follow your business objectives.

Creating your customer-focus strategy

Your customer-centric business strategy revolves around your customer expectations and their requirements. Hence, your primary aim is to deliver value to your customers. The customer value proposition is spread across several dimensions. These dimensions include price, usability, service, customization, delivery, and overall efficiency. So, value equates to the perceived benefits of associating with the brand as opposed to the price paid for the benefits.

Suppose, your customer has deployed your ERP product to facilitate his work processes. But, if the system is not customized to his unique requirements, the overall goal of deploying the ERP is lost. Let’s say, for instance, you have customized the system to his business needs. But, he faces some bugs in the near future and your support team fails to fix these as soon as possible. Eventually, the customer is disappointed. Consequently, the perceived value of the ERP product goes down and the customer begins searching for an alternative.

The customer experience perspective 

Customer experience is another important parameter responsible for increasing loyalty and business growth. A customer-centric business focus aims at creating positive experience across each touchpoint. Primarily, post-sales service and prompt responses promote customer loyalty and business growth. However, the customer-centric focus is not just about prompt services. Essentially, it reflects its commitment to delivering extra value-based deals to the customers. The focus is on understanding your customers and crafting the entire package to suit precise customer needs. 

Challenges facing customer focus strategies

Customers are often selective about the product or brand they want to buy. Hence, people prefer to build a relationship with brands that offer tailored product options and great service. However, the challenge of meeting customer expectations has increased on account of the use of multiple communication channels. Moreover, we are exposed to voluminous data that requires expert tools to generate predictive analytics. 

Increasingly, customers are getting difficult to please. Below we have listed some of the key challenges facing the effective deployment of customer focus strategies.

1. Lack of clarity in understanding customer expectations and needs
2. Multiple channels of communication
3. Creating a customer-centric culture
4. Inadequate tools to manage customer support services
5. Ineffective data analytics
6. Restricted access to shared customer data

Best practices

Want to deploy customer-focus strategies in your firm? Here are some best practices as a first hand guide.

1. Research customer needs and expectations from the brand.
2. Promote a customer-centric culture within your firm.
3. Map your customer journey and align your focal strategies with each touchpoint.
4. Deploy a dynamic customer support management tool.

To sum up

Customer experience is an important parameter defining your firm’s success. Hence, it is time to switch to a customer-centric focus. And, you can achieve this easily with the help of a service desk. A dynamic service desk application offers proactive support, improved productivity, omnichannel customer support management, self-help support options and much more. Our product, ngDesk, offers a comprehensive tool designed to manage your business and customers efficiently. Sign up for this amazing tool today and see how it boosts your customer loyalty scores.