5 WARNING SIGNS OF LOSING CUSTOMER FOCUS

It’s unrealistic for organizations to expect to operate flawlessly all the time. But watching for warning signs that indicate when focus is being diverted away from customers can help ensure your organization retains a competitive advantage. Warning Sign 1: Silos Silos between  divisions  and  departments  impair  a company’s  ability  to  focus on customer  needs and objectives.  Disconnects  between sales and marketing departments, marketing and products, sales and accounting or any other departmental coupling divert energy away from where it should be: on the customer. The fix: “What I see a lot of organizations doing, particularly around their strategic accounts, is some form of reorganization so they are aligned more around the customer rather than their internal product  or service line,” says Damon Jones, Executive Vice President of Miller Heiman. “Working together improves a company’s ability to cross sell across product or service lines. Without an aligned approach, customers might think you’re complicated to deal with since you have so many reps coming out to see them. Warning Sign 2: Surprise “If a loss of a deal or customer is a surprise, clearly the company wasn’t keeping tabs on what the customer was doing,” says Jones. “Accounts can be lost overnight, but typically, the relationship fades more gradually. Customers go through a process when they decide to buy—and when they decide to go in a new direction.” The fix: “World-Class Sales Organizations have clear strategies for managing key accounts,” he says. “They dedicate resources and have programmed approaches for doing internal reviews with the account support team and external reviews with the customer.” Staying connected  can alert them when a customer’s  needs or circumstances change. Warning Sign 3: No Executive Involvement An executive team that doesn’t believe time spent with customers is important raises a huge Red Flag. The fix: “Executives who spend time talking to customers send a big message to the rest of the organization on the importance of that customer,” says Jones. World-Class  Sales Organizations put  a premium  on appropriate  executive-to- executive interactions. Warning Sign 4: Bureaucracy A complicated process for resolving customer complaints raises a big Red Flag. Examine how your company resolves customer satisfaction issues. The fix: “Is the front line empowered to solve problems, make decisions?” asks Jones. There may be certain complaints that must go through a strictly-controlled internal hierarchy, but enabling the front line to swiftly respond on a pre-defined set of issues can greatly increase customer satisfaction. Warning Sign 5: No Customer Feedback “Feedback from customers is vital,” says Jones, “It provides a full picture on how you’re performing as a supplier or partner.” The fix: “Many companies have customer feedback and advisor y boards, host customer events and invest in projects oriented toward product  development and marketing.” “If you’re not validating ideas and decisions with customers and getting feedback, you’re potentially  developing solutions  that people don’t  need or won’t  buy,” says Jones. Staying On Alert Preventative measures to keep the organization healthy are worth the investment of time and effort. Warning signs that say you have strayed from your customer can alert you so you can readjust your customer retention strategies.