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Welcome to this edition of the Customer
Centricity newsletter, where we explore ways you can improve the
performance of your service organization.
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In this issue:
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One of the most
complex challenges that business leaders face today is that of
maintaining customer confidence while reducing operating costs.
It's a business reality that when a company fails to make its
revenue numbers, it has to take action to achieve (or regain)
profitability. This article introduces the next series in our
newsletter that will share practical approaches that can be
taken to reduce operating costs while minimizing the impact on
the customer. In fact, why not go a step further by taking steps
to increase customer satisfaction at the same time!
After all, the customer is the single source of the “current”
revenue stream and represents a link to future revenue. If costs
are cut in a way that negatively impacts the customer then you
may very well enter a “death spiral.” That is, you cut costs,
the customer is negatively impacted and you have defections.
Your next quarter’s revenue numbers are off again. This results
from the current economic environment (e.g. you are unable to
sign new customers) PLUS the fact that you have fewer customers
than last quarter. You again cut costs, the customer is
negatively impacted and you have more defections. It's a vicious
cycle. But, there is a better way…
Following are approaches that can be taken to reduce operating
costs while maintaining customer confidence and increasing
customer satisfaction:
- Cease activities that provide
no value-add
- Implement efficient and
repeatable processes
- Focus on existing product
quality instead of new features and functions
- Enable customers to self-serve
- Perform elements of the work
with lower cost labor
- Segment the customer base and
provide “appropriate” levels of support for each
- Make informed, not random,
cuts
- Cease big, expensive projects
with long-term ROI
- Renegotiate vendor contracts
Each of these
topics will be covered in detail, in subsequent newsletter
editions.
If you make cost
cutting decisions without considering the impact to your
customers, you have lost sight of your current source of revenue.
You may also be cutting off your future revenue streams. There are
plenty of other companies that are more than happy to focus on
your customer, namely your competition.
Could your
competition be making decisions RIGHT NOW to forego the
achievement of this quarter’s profitability results (short-term
thinking) and investing in ways to capture market-share to
position itself for future profitability (long-term thinking) with
YOUR customers? Something to think about…
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ACTIVE - Part 5
By Ida Zecco
This is the fifth
article in the series, covering the six-step self-assessment
process, ACTIVE, to help you to hang-on to and grow your single
source of revenue, the customer.
A - Account Management
C - Customer Lifecycle vs. Sales Cycle
T - Account Team
I - Internal Infrastructure
V - Value Proposition
E - Enable Customer Involvement in Product/Service Development
V – Value is
the single most important element of a customer/vendor
relationship. What value do you offer your customers that they
cannot purchase or experience with anyone else? If you do not know
the answer to that question, you should not be surprised to see a
migration of your very best and valued customers to your
competitors. And, if your employees do not know the answer to that
question, the likelihood of losing opportunities every day has
just been increased. Statistics have shown that price is not the
determining factor as to whether a customer signs a contract.
Rather, the customer believes they will receive, or have received,
value throughout the customer life-cycle that is worth the price
(which is usually higher than the competitor). When you deliver
this kind of value you will find your customer referencing your
firm to other companies, internal groups, and to analysts. All of
which can only mean increased sales, profit and positive branding
for your company.
What can you do right now to increase your value proposition: in
one year? In two years?
Previous articles
in this series:
Part 1
Part
2 Part 3
Part 4
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Customer
Centricity is pleased to announce the availability of two new
whitepapers:
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More
About Customer Centricity, Inc.
Customer
Centricity is a business consulting firm that partners with
companies to improve the performance of their service
organizations. We leverage our real-world experience to help our
clients manage their customer relationships in more effective
and satisfying ways.
Customer
Centricity delivers on this promise by optimizing the
interaction between people, process and technology to achieve
higher levels of customer satisfaction and increased operational
efficiencies. We provide:
- Comprehensive assessments to identify the
actions that will yield the greatest return;
- Skills Training to enable customer-facing
personnel to deliver exceptional levels of customer service;
- Design and Implementation of business process
techniques to serve the customer in efficient, effective and
consistent manners; and
- Identification of the appropriate business
processes to automate, enabling companies to get the most from
their investments in technology.
In addition to our core
practices, we also maintain a network of strategic partnerships
to provide end-to-end consulting across your organization with a
commitment to seamless execution.
Click on the
following link to see what our
customers have to say.
To learn more about Customer Centricity:
call: 603.491.7948,
send
e-mail to:
info@customercentricity.biz
or visit our
web-site:
www.customercentricity.biz
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In Closing
If you enjoyed this newsletter and feel that others would
benefit from it, feel free to pass it on. If you have received
this newsletter from a colleague and would like future editions
sent to you directly, please send a message to
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Thanks, and have a great day!
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Copyright
(c) 2003 by Customer Centricity, Inc. All rights reserved.
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