To what extend should you always listen to your clients?
Designing your organization requires careful decisions regarding people, structure, processes and technology. Strict focus on efficiency might bring benefits such as standardised products or services at lowest operating costs. However, it may compromise your ability to effectively respond to market changes, and may limit your agility to satisfy client needs.
No standard solution exists. It depends on factors such as financial strength, level of competition and the uniqueness of your product or service. In any case it is important to not only decide based on your own perspective (inside-out), but to also take the client's perspective into consideration (outside-in).
Target clients wisely
Focus your propositions
Deliver your promises
Grow lifetime value
Client centric principles that may help achieving long term commercial success whilst maintaining healthy operating margins.
Target Clients Wisely: Do you want to dance?
In their quest for revenue growth too often companies wish to please all and any client. Careful consideration can help avoid engaging with those that in hindsight you regret:
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Be client centric, but not too much
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Decide who you want to be for whom
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Set limits to client influence
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Remain efficient when meeting needs
Each market is different and there are many types of clients. Some customers pay only little and may switch fast. Others can be more demanding but remain loyal. It is important to clearly specify which clients you want to target, and to define the value propositions that will set you apart from the competition.
Most organisations understand they need to make their clients happy. Whilst some customers require a tailor-made product or service, others will accept your standard offering. The level of complexity to deliver your products or services determines their costs. Efficiency requirements limit your ability to meet all and each clients’ wishes.
The flexibility to satisfy client needs usually is constrained. It is key to make conscious decisions about how far you allow your clients to influence the way you operate. And if the cost to serve remains higher than revenue and other benefits, then in some cases it is likely better to say no.
Focus Your Propositions: Why open your present?
All too often sales people only explain who they are and what they offer. However clients typically know this already and are looking for the right reasons to buy from you:
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Forget the WHAT, focus on the WHY
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Know what drives each stakeholder
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Translate benefits into value
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Structure your messages well
Most clients will tell you what they want. Some are explicit and clear, whilst others require help uncovering their true needs. It is crucial to more often stop talking and start listening carefully. You shall understand what they need and why. The reasons why clients buy typically drive the way they buy.
Client requests are driven by underlying needs which may differ per stakeholder. What customers need may differ from what they want, and from what they tell you. Good value propositions address the root causes. If you know the bigger picture for your clients, you will understand the needs behind their requests and who wants to achieve what.
Your proposition shall clearly explain: Why change, why now, why you, and what is in it for each decision making stakeholder. Most organizations are good at explaining what they offer. But most clients don’t just buy what is on offer. They want to understand why they shall buy.
And when explaining, it is proven that your message is perceived more convincing when structured well. Content of proposals may be disregarded if not logical to follow. Well structured value propositions with a compelling client centric storyline can help convince clients to award their business to you.
Deliver Your Promises: What happens on the other side?
Just giving clients what they bought sounds easy, but may be difficult to achieve. Balancing the commercial front-end with the operational back-end can be a challenge:
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Go for a seamless experience
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Watch the cost to serve
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Align structure, processes and culture
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Ensure people know their contribution
In our private lives most of us get what we want on a daily basis. We hardly ever need to think about why something happens exactly as we expect. Clients typically want a similar seamless experience. You shall make their lives simple and easy, and continuously eliminate any friction in the delivery of your product or service.
This however may come at a cost. Many organizations struggle to remain efficient whilst providing optimal service. And over-promising and under-delivery are a constant threat. Your processes and activities shall be designed smartly to remain both flexible in serving clients, and to keep costs at an acceptable level.
Organizations need systems and processes. Yet clients may not care how you operate. Every step incurs costs, but not all steps add value to them. You shall ask clients what they don't like. Then carefully consider if you should keep these steps, or eliminate those that don't add value.
Everyone impacts the client experience, directly or indirectly. Your own actions affect others. It is critical that your people understand how they contribute to the client experience. But it can be difficult to get teams understand how to collaborate serving clients. You shall therefore involve them as early as possible.
Grow Lifetime Value: When are your clients happy?
Imagine what it is like to feel welcome, truly recognized and well understood. Living and breathing your client is the key to successful long term partnerships with equal benefits:
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Reach higher win rates
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Improve client satisfaction
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Increase client loyalty
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Achieve better margins
Regardless of your product or service, and the value chains you operate in, ultimately you are serving an external or internal client. Understanding your client is critical. You shall know what the clients at the end of your value chains want and why they want this.
Client influence is growing. Each client has different and changing needs over time. Private life experiences impact professional expectations, making them more complex to satisfy. You should be obsessed with providing clients a better experience, and agile enough to adapt quickly.
Building long term relationships improves your business performance. Deeply understanding client needs and their buying behavior is important. Clients expect you to continuously simplify and improve. They reward pro-activity, and are more likely to stay loyal when you put them first. Ultimately they may become your best sales agents.
However, client relations take time to build, but can be instantly destroyed. And because everybody influences the client experience, all your people shall be aware. The right focus, processes and tools shall be available for them to collaborate and excel in serving the client. Making clients happy every day.