narrow definition of who is "customer" Are you thwarting the power of customer focus?

Today, many companies are rallying around the powerful concept of customer-centricity. Customer-centricity is when all processes within a company are designed around the needs of the customer. The goal is to ensure that processes within the company are focused on customer satisfaction, because satisfied customers are more likely to recommend the company’s products and services to someone else. By doing so, the customer, who is not affiliated with the company beyond purchasing its products and services, becomes an unsolicited promoter of the company.

Customer enthusiasm is contagious

In 2007, I was on a business trip to Shenzhen, China to investigate software engineering services provided by a company based there. After spending the day touring the company’s facilities and meeting with various members of its software engineering team, she had dinner with one of the company’s top executives at a restaurant in nearby Hong Kong. The top executive spent most of the time at dinner raving about a new, one-of-a-kind mobile phone that he bought during a recent trip to the United States. Other customers sitting near our table looked at the executive’s phone and said they would buy one as soon as it was available in China. The mobile phone in question was Apple’s first iPhone.

The executive’s enthusiasm was contagious, and I must admit I was also looking forward to buying one of the new phones.

Focus on customer experience in addition to products and services

In addition to ensuring that the customer is satisfied with products and services, executives are also focusing on the customer’s experience with the company. The customer’s experience when interacting with the company is just as important as customer satisfaction with the company’s products and services; however, companies may not be harnessing the full power of customer focus when they narrow down their definition of customer.

The definition of client

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, a customer is a person or organization that purchases goods or services from a store or business. Many businesses today still have the notion that the customer is just the individual who buys something from the business. Therefore, companies divert much of their attention to the parts of the company (for example, Sales and Customer Service) that interact with the customer as defined above. Many of these touchpoints directly correlate to the customer’s experience with the company, so they remain important.

Expansion of the client definition

While focusing on the narrowly defined customer is still important, companies can benefit greatly by not limiting their definition of the customer to the person who buys goods or services from them. To be completely customer-centric, the definition of customer must include anyone who interacts with the company. The way people are treated, regardless of their affiliation with the company, is the crux of total customer centricity. These people include, but are not limited to: the person who cleans the office; the postman who delivers the mail; the individual who drops off a sales brochure; the landscapers who maintain the office grounds; the security guards who work in the lobby; the people who work in the cafeteria; the family member visiting an employee for lunch; the employees; or the individual who comes for an interview.

An example of it

A few years ago, while working at another company, I interviewed candidates to fill an open senior management position that was available at my organization. Interviewing candidates provided yet another opportunity to provide someone with a positive interaction with the company. Last week, after more than ten years had passed, I received a message from a person who interviewed for the role and was offered the position. However, the individual had two opportunities from my company and finally decided to accept the other opportunity. The person’s message said that even after ten years, he still remembers the “thank you” card I gave him after he finished his interview. She said that this really had a positive impact on her and that she still has the card today.

Even after years had passed, this person still remembered the “thank you” card they received after their interview with us. Most people believe that the interviewee should send thank you cards to the interviewers. My team and I believed that interviewers should also send “thank you” cards to interviewees, because we understand that the process is sometimes an imposition on everyone. For many employers, the person who goes through the interview process would have been just another person who wanted to join their team. It was an honor for us to interview this person and the other candidates, so we let you know.

In summary

To reap the full benefits of customer focus, companies need to review their definition of a customer. The following are suggestions for companies in this regard:

1. Review the company’s customer definition and expand it to include everyone who comes into contact with the company, including employees.
2. Always remember that companies generally only get one chance to make a positive impression. What do people the company doesn’t consider customers have to say about your business?

In case you were wondering, I replied to the person who sent me the message within twenty-four hours of receiving it. My team and I didn’t send thank you cards to interview candidates because we wanted them to tell someone about their positive experience. We send them “thank you” cards because that’s what we would do for any valued customer.