2010 -The Year of the Customer……….

19th January

2010 -The Year of the Customer……….

2010 is going to be a tough year for those businesses that don’t have a complete customer focus.

Customer Experiences Managing Director Chris Bell, is predicting that 2010 will be “The Year of the Customer” Unless businesses understand that in today’s economy the customer is very much in charge and they start delivering a better level of service and experience, business will suffer due to an increasing focus on price and the continued decline of customer loyalty.

Customers are sick of marketing that has over promised and under delivered. The recent behaviour of the likes of Telecom and others has not helped consumer confidence according to Bell.

Bell believes businesses are trying to compete in a “world of sameness”. Almost every product is a commodity which is becoming increasingly bland and boring. Consumers are becoming increasingly confident with the use of e-commerce thanks to website like Trade Me, opening up even more opportunities. Bell himself is a classic example of this, for the past 10 years Amazon.com has been his book shop. Bell can’t remember the last time he purchased a book from a local book store. “The increased amount of competition is having a huge impact on customer loyalty. Couple this with the fact that it’s becoming increasingly costly and difficult to be heard in a market place where there are an ever increasing number of options, raising business costs and further eroding profitability.

Business is paying lip service to the importance of the customer and the need to find ways to “add greater value” but it’s clear that there has been little action, in most cases due to a lack of knowledge.

The answer, according to Bell is to take a strategic approach that focuses on both employees and customers in a way which delivers increasing value, in return for greater engagement and loyalty.

“This new approach necessitates a change in a businesses focus, both from a leadership perspective and in the way employees and customers are prioritised. Let’s be very clear - employees will never deliver a consistently great customer experience unless they are having the same, so putting your people first must be a priority. From here you can improve employee engagement and create the magic customers are looking for at the front counter.”

“Emerging from this recession is a great time to take a serious look at business, talk to your people, suppliers and customers and step back and take a good hard look from the ‘outside in’, remembering there is only one perspective which really matters, and that’s your customers. >>>ends

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