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| Decision Time by Mike Wagner |
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The most important decision a business leader can make is seldom made. Oh, it is often discussed – and avoided. Employees wonder and might even ask about it – but, if they do get an answer, it usually varies from person to person.
The decision organizations avoid and most leaders guess at: Who is our customer?
Failure to make this decision threatens the future of your organization. Even so,
this most important of decisions often goes unmade. You have never strategically chosen your customer.
Without a preferred, chosen customer being your focal point, business becomes about “something else”:
The Product/service: When it is not about the right customer, the focus often shifts to your “unique” product our service. You are convinced you have the most innovative, highest quality “widget” and if “we stay the course, customers will beat a path to our door.” This is rarely the case.
The Price: When it is not about the right customer and when a quality product/service isn’t enough to win business, the price comes into play. Buyers may love this lowest-price “strategy” but it is rarely sustainable and your financial bottom line suffers.
The Boss: If it is not about the right customer, the product/service, or the price it defaults to the individual with the most power, influence and control – the Boss. Often it’s the owner, president or CEO – in some organizations, that’s the same person. The Boss ends up being the bottleneck for all decisions. Not much gets done when The Boss is not around and company growth is limited. The Boss is stuck working in the business instead of on the business.
Getting the top leaders in an organization to decide upon their must-have customer is not easy. I have worked with hundreds of business leaders on this very decision. It takes commitment and open, honest conversation with the well being of the organization the ultimate outcome.
Make the decision you have been avoiding. Gather your leaders; agree upon your preferred customer; focus your resources on serving this customer; grow your organization.