Putting Your Customers' Needs First

How to Create a Customer-focused Company…

Traditional Approach

Companies invariably make most of their business decisions exclusively based on “dollars and cents” analysis. It’s easy…it’s the traditional way…and besides we have lots of accounting folks to help us determine the best course of action. Math is a great science—everything is either black or white…no real gray area. Either the numbers support the stated goal, or they don’t. It is much easier to sell an idea by the numbers than to sell an unproven concept or program…the numbers makes us “feel good” about the project…helps us to accept an unproven idea or undertaking that we are not too familiar with or don’t understand or don’t have the time to deal with right now. All major capital expenditures go through “rigorous” financial reviews before they are submitted for management approval. Note: It is too bad that in many companies…those same projects never get a post-audit review to see if they really met the intended financial goals in the timetable that was rendered at the beginning of the project. Everyone has heard the term “Environmental Impact Statement”. It is usually associated with some major highway project or building project that is going to wipeout some swampland somewhere and the builder must set aside some funds or redevelop another swampland somewhere else to replace the one that is about to become a parking lot! Well that is where I got the idea for a Customer Impact Statement that should accompany every major project undertaken within a company. The Customer Impact Statement is a one-page document that simply describes how this great new proposed project is going to benefit our customers: o $5M projected annual savings to close a regional warehouse o $1M advertising campaign to promote a new product o $500K product cost reduction project o Six-week IT project to develop an HR employee self-enrollment benefit system When the advocate for a project now must “justify” the project not just on its financial merits, but also on how his/her project can help better serve the customer…you have a whole new set of issues to address. There is never enough money to go around to support all the projects that everyone wants to accomplish in a company…not to mention the time and other resources to support them. Customer Impact Approach o $250K to refurbish the board room