If Customers Are Gold, Why Do Companies Ignore Them?

Why isn’t every company super focused on the needs of its customers?

Why do so many marketers talk about being customer-centric?

Jack Fussell suggests that complacency is a huge culprit. If the business is rolling along, why rock the boat? Why allocate time and money to customers when it can be spent on attracting prospects.

But Jack says that attitude is quickly changing.

“I think customer-centric is suddenly starting to come into the conversation because we’re realizing none of us are standing out,” he said when I interviewed him for the Marketing Spark Podcast.

“We’re realizing that all of us are competing and that suddenly my competition, isn’t just people in my zip code, but it’s the entire planet.”

Jack said he worked with a client who had an obvious customer relations problem when they couldn’t quickly give him a list of 10 customers to interview.

“It took them days to come up with names. This usually happens when a company hasn’t spoken to a customer besides the sales process. Once they do the sales or unless there’s like a customer service issue, they don’t have customers on speed dial.”

A better approach, he said, talk to your customers on a regular basis, not just as marketers but as owners, founders, and CEOs. “Customers and the things that influence them change non-stop,” Jack said. “We don’t change until they’ve walked out the door. That’s usually what gets our attention.”

Some tips on how to show customers that you care about them and their business:

• Call them on a quarterly basis to get feedback, ways to improve, and insight on what’s not working.
• Do a Net Promoter Score exercise to quickly assess the level of happiness or unhappiness.
• Conduct surveys to get feedback on a variety of issues. Make them short, sweet, and easy to complete.
• Focus your newsletter on their needs and how they can get more value from your product. This is more valuable than highlighting corporate awards, events that you’ll attend, or content marketing.
• At conferences (when they return), wine and dine your customers.

Offer them early access to new features and discounted prices.

I’m a fractional CMO for fast-growing B2B companies that want to drive more engagement, attract better prospects, and grow sales. I help companies with brand positioning and strategic plans and oversee tactical execution.

Book a free 30-minute strategy consultation to discuss how I can help you on an advisor, project, or part-time basis.

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