What Is Customer Focus? How Companies Improve Customer Focus

Customer focus is the strategy and business philosophy of prioritizing the customer experience above other aspects of the business. Businesses that commit to customer focus direct their entire company culture to meet customer needs wherever they arise.

This holistic concept goes far beyond a brand's customer service team. Customer-focused organizations center company-wide decision-making processes around customer satisfaction, customer retention, and overall customer success. Every initiative—whether it originates from the frontline sales team or the HR department—must seek to increase customer satisfaction. The theory is that if customer needs are met, other aspects of the business will naturally fall in line.

Some of the most famous customer-focused businesses have risen to exalted status in the marketplace because they addressed a customer need that other businesses had not.

1. 1. Tech: Some tech companies actively seek out customer feedback as a means to develop new products. Others offer software for free because its core business comes from mining customer data and selling it to advertisers.
2. 2. Fast food: Some fast-food chains prioritize positive customer interactions above all else. Whether the customer satisfaction initiatives involve launching an easy-to-use ordering app or implementing novel approaches to moving drive-thru traffic along, these chains look beyond the menu to increase customer loyalty.
3. 3. Online retailers: Some online retailers comb their sites for pain points in an effort to offer the best customer experience. Improving site navigation, customer support systems, and the return process are some of the ways e-commerce businesses look beyond the products to increase customer engagement and reduce churn.

When a business struggles to attract new customers or loses existing customers to market churn, it may be time to examine its customer focus strategies. Consider five ways you can bulk up your own customer focus strategies and benefit your bottom line.

1. 1. Invest in customer relationship management (CRM). Committing to CRM means restructuring a business so that all departments either feature customer satisfaction officers, or they report to a customer satisfaction team.
2. 2. Simplify your supply chain. The more you control your own supply chain, the better able you are to meet customer expectations. When possible, create products in-house or source them from local companies. If your supply chain intrinsically leads you overseas, seek out vendors known for reliability and ethical behavior.
3. 3. Use feedback surveys to study customer metrics. Popular customer metrics include the net promoter score (NPS), which puts a number value on customer satisfaction. To gain access to this data, you must survey your company's loyal customers or its subscriber base, and ask them to evaluate their own customer journey with your business. Note that some customers resist taking surveys on the computer, but they may be more willing to engage with text messages (SMS). Other customers would rather visit a website. Offer different options for a higher response rate.
4. 4. Use human reps whenever possible. Few things alienate customers as quickly as chatbots or endless phone menus. If you can afford to hire human customer service reps and sales reps to help customers, it’s one of the simplest ways to improve customer satisfaction.
5. 5. Align every team involved in customer interaction. Make sure your business's marketing strategy accurately reflects the products your sales team is offering. Your customer support team should also understand how a customer might use a product developed by the product team. The more that your departments are on the same page, the more likely you are to provide an even-keeled, consistent customer experience.

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