Art of Marketing
Chapter 05. Customer-focused marketing
Always remember that the most important thing is whether
you are determined to succeed or not. – Abraham Lincoln
Successful marketing puts the customer at the center
of all planning and decision-making.
Everyone in the company is always focused on the customer.
The company always appreciates customer service.
Employees communicate,
interact and stay close to their customers.
Regular communication with customers
and market research are essential to their satisfaction.
When Buck Rodgers was the chief executive officer
of IBM in the US,
he emphasized that each individual
in the group should consider themselves
as a customer service representative.
Your company will be so successful
that every person in the company,
including the janitors,
truck drivers or agents,
is always thinking about customers at all times,
everywhere.
Vision is the art of seeing what others do not see. — Jonathan Swift
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Master the problem
One of my favorite examples of this point of view was
when I was hosting symposiums for IBM
and couldn’t figure out where to hold the next day’s conference.
I called from the West Coast to the East Coast
after office hours to ask.
When a male employee at the IBM office answered the phone,
I explained my dilemma,
he told me he would call back to get back to me
as soon as possible 15 minutes later he called back and told me
that he had reached out to the conference organizer
and had the name and address of the hotel where
I needed to go the next day.
I thanked him and said,
“I know I’m calling you after work.
Are you late for work today?”
He replied,
“Of course, I am on duty today.
I’m the gatekeeper after all.”
I told him how much I appreciated his help
and asked how he could provide me with that information.
He replied in wonderful words:
“At IBM, whoever answered the phone had to find a way
to solve the problem.”
To get more money,
you have to contribute more. — Brian Tracy
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Think of your customers
There is a metaphysical law of concentration that says,
“No matter what you focus on, it grows.”
This means that whatever you think and focus on continuously,
it grows and grows in reality.
When you focus on customer satisfaction,
on keeping your customers happy by all means,
you will continue to discover new and better ways to achieve this.
What is your company philosophy?
Are you determined to please your customers in the best possible way?
When you always think about your customers,
they will think about you too.
When you put your customers at the center of your attention,
you’ll discover easier,
faster,
better,
cheaper ways to keep them happy,
and they’ll return you by becoming a customer,
too your loyalty.
Success always follows success. — Brian Tracy
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Restaurant service
One of my favorite seafood restaurants is the nationwide chain
of restaurants called Truluck.
From the first time I went to a Truluck branch
(and I’ve been to many of the chain’s other branches
in various parts of the country),
I observed a feature that
I don’t normally experience at other restaurants,
it’s the service here that’s really great.
Everyone in the restaurant,
from the operator who took my reservation to the waiter
who cleared the dishes and filled the water,
had excellent customer service.
When I asked the manager of one of the Truluck restaurants what
I had observed,
he smiled politely and told me that service is the focus
and obsession of everyone at the restaurants,
From the director to the cleaners in the kitchen.
The restaurant’s owners soon came to the conclusion
that there are plenty of other seafood restaurants out there,
even ones with expensive seafood dishes,
so they’re not just competing based on food eat.
They have to compete on what can connect with customers emotionally
and that is warm and emotional customer service.
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Your Quality Service Strategy
In chapter 1,
I talked about developing a quality service strategy
for your business.
How can you make your company’s customer service faster,
more efficient,
more welcoming,
and more customer-focused than your competitors’?
Often, this can be a factor in helping
you achieve a competitive leading position
in your active market segment.
Once you identify your target market and your ideal customer
or the one you most want to have,
you must reposition to attract exactly that type of customer.
In what ways are your best customers different from others,
and how can you develop your image
in front of the customers
you most want to attract and retain?
People will not create anything
if they do not first have an idea,
a breakthrough thinking. — Napoleon Hill
