The Customer

Who is actually the customer! Is he the demon, or is he the God. Is he the friend or is he the foe. Companies frown upon the fact what the customer actually is. I would say customer is the epidemic which if it never leaves you, you will always survive. Companies are at war. Not among each other. But for its share in the customer's wallet.

Every customer is unique in nature. They have different buying patterns, different insights & different outlooks. But there is one thing unique about the entire customer fraternity:Every customer is confused. And when anybody is confused he needs advice, consultancy or help.

First mover advantage: One who can advice first wins a better part of this mind game. Let others follow and give the same advice. But your one is unique.

Blue Ocean: Give advice which no body has given before. The market is ahead of you and the competition behind. You either have to be in pace with the market or some where between the two.

Red Ocean:What do you do when a hell lot of companies are giving the same advice as yours and you are not the one to create the ocean!

-Create a blue inside the red.

- Patent your advice.
- Strict to the core part of your advice and cash on it.

Do not let the confusion creep in: While trying to make the road clear for the customers, donot forget your own people. Do not let the confusion creep inside your own organisation. Let your own employees be the pillars of your success. Remember one who knows the most about the customer is your front line sales force. They are the ones who know what the confusion is all about and how it can be healed. Their contribution and feedback is a must.

Let the confusion prevail: The day the consumer stops being confused is the day advisors lose their jobs. So dont let this happen. Offer them variety rather value added variety and let customers choose their own solution for their confusion. If the customer dosent find the solution the door is always open for other competitors. Never let this happen.