If You Do Not Show Your Care to Your Customers, Why Would They Care For You?
Author: Vivek Sood
This is how I explained the situation to a group of a senior executives of the company I was consulting to recently. The profitability was falling, and customers were abandoning the company (I cannot go into too much specifics of the case for obvious reasons of confidentiality). Let us say that each customer segment was unhappy.
High net worth customers were unhappy because they were not getting the premium service they expected. They would place or order and get a very mediocre service (from their point of view).
On the other hand, mass market was equally unhappy because they could get the same product for much lower price elsewhere.
Yet, the reality was different – high customer churn, accompanied by falling profits.
The main reason was that all these various customer segments were being served by a single supply chain that was a happy medium of all their requirements. No wonder, none of the customers felt that they were getting what they deserved.
The company was clearly not showing their customers that they cared for them, and as a result most customers simply voted with their feet.
So, what is the solution?
Clearly, a segmented supply chain is required to demonstrate to each customer segment that the company is going beyond the marketing and positioning statements, to actually serve them with care that evokes trust and loyalty.
This is not the only company that is in this situation. About 60% (estimate) companies I observe are not very far from this reality. If is easy to segment the market and come up with catchy marketing slogan for each segment that resonates with them. The hard work involves to follow up that marketing message with a tailored supply chain that delivers what your promised.
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- Vivek Sood is the world’s foremost authority on Global Supply Chains which are the commercial engines sitting deep within modern economies and driving them. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and has done courses from Harvard, MIT, and University of London. As the Managing Director of Global Supply Chain Group, he works as a consultant to CEOs and boards of directors of large global corporations, and helps them multiply profits by using the full power of global supply networks. He is also the author of “The 5-STAR Business Network”.
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