Although customer-centricity is one of the most mentioned terms in today’s business, it doesn’t mean that is new as a concept. Back in 1954, Peter Drucker, one of the most influential and widely known thinkers of management, in his book, The Practice of Management, wrote that “it is the customer who determines what a business is, what it produces, and whether it will prosper”.
Read more: Customer-Centricity – Easy to Say, Difficult to Implement (Part 1)
We all tend to think of ourselves as rational human beings that take decisions based on logical thinking, rather than “irresponsible” people that are governed by emotions. If this is the case, surely, when it comes to buying, we all prefer to stick to facts and figures, so based on them and using our logic, we proceed in concluding our purchases. Or maybe not?
In Sales, some people say that “No” is not the worst thing that you can hear from a customer. The worst thing that you can hear is, “I will think about it…”, not as a polite way to decline, but rather as a clear statement of indecision.
There has always been a discussion regarding whether the overall impression that a salesperson leaves to the buyer, can play part in the customer’s decision to buy or not. In the past 25-30 years, the concept of sales charisma has gained considerable interest also in the academic field, as significant research has been done about its’ effects on the performance outcomes of salespeople.
When customers do a high sales revenue with a company, this doesn’t automatically mean that they are as profitable, as we may think that they are. Unfortunately, we tend to pay most of our attention on how much turnover an account does with our organisation, rather than focusing on the overall cost of serving this particular account.