By Scott D. Brown

When was the last time you got out from behind your desk (or wherever it is you work every day) and looked at your business as a customer might see it?

There are any number of ways you might engage in this exercise.  You might start by simply asking customers you speak with today, “How are we doing at serving you?  Are we meeting your needs?”  That would be a great start.  Maybe you already do this every day.

You could query your colleagues:  “What more can we do for our customers?”  A company President I worked for used to ask this question to anyone and everyone as he roamed the office: “Have you delighted a customer today?”  Yes, it was corny and overused, but this wise leader wanted to remind his team members – even those who weren’t necessarily customer-facing – who paid the bills.  And if their present activity was not focused on delighting a customer, perhaps it needed re-evaluation.

If you want to be more planful about it, you could establish a regular customer survey process.  Web enabled resources (such as Survey Monkey) now put this task within easy reach of every small business owner, provided you are collecting and organizing customer contacts.  If you are not diligently gathering and using this data, that would be a logical start.  Yes, we’re talking about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software (more on this in a future post).

I was once hired by a furniture company to find out why their business had stopped growing.  I spoke with dozens of their distributors and resellers, and uncovered a simple truth:  the company had become so focused on sourcing low-cost product overseas, they had forgotten why customers loved their designs in the first place.  The solution was to reinvigorate their designs, and in the process they dusted off a highly valued brand which had been overlooked.

Peter Drucker, to many the father of modern management theory, noted: “Marketing is not a function, it is the whole business seen from the customer’s point of view.”

So how do your customers see your whole business?

© Valley Forge Growth Partners LLC, 2017

Scott D. Brown, Managing Director, Valley Forge Growth Partners LLC, has more than three decades’ experience as a general manager, sales leader, marketing strategist and consultant, with a special emphasis on start-ups and turnarounds.  He has worked in many industries, including manufacturing, distribution, consumer products and services.  Scott’s primary strength lies in recognizing and unleashing the untapped sales potential in a business. His assignments have included launching sales teams, rebuilding channel partner programs, designing new products and developing customer-facing talent.  Scott earned his bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Yale University.

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Top photo credit: Sebastiaan ter Burg Design A Better Business masterclass @ via photopin (license)