Strategy starts with the customer: How to truly recognize your most valuable customers
At a time when markets are becoming more complex, customer demands higher and resources scarcer, it is no longer enough to simply be "customer-oriented". If you want to succeed in strategy work today, you not only have to address the customer - you have to really understand them. In the new episode of "Hope is not a strategy", strategy expert Christian Underwood debunks the myth of customer centricity and shows what real customer focus looks like.
Customer focus is not a buzzword
Terms such as customer centricity or touchpoint optimization sound good - but are of little use if they are not filled with real substance. Many companies only know their own customers superficially. Who are the top 10 customers? Which customer segments really contribute to profits? Questions that shockingly often remain unanswered. Christian Underwood talks openly about how organizations hide behind methods and buzzwords instead of analyzing the obvious: Which customers bring value - and which just cost time and money?
Understanding 80/20 - and using it
The famous Pareto rule also applies here: You often make 80% of your turnover with 20% of your customers. But which 20% is that? This is exactly where this episode comes in. It's about how you can use structured customer classification and clear segmentation to find out where the real potential lies - and how you can draw strategic conclusions from this. Whether through sales, contribution margin or loyalty analyses: if you ask the right questions, you get clear answers - and can align your sales, marketing and organization accordingly.
From analysis to strategic orientation
Customer analysis is not an end in itself, but the starting point for strategic focusing. If you know your A customers, you can manage sales more efficiently, deploy resources more effectively and even discover new potential in the market. Christian Underwood emphasizes: "Without clear customer data, there is no meaningful strategy. And without a strategy - no growth." It's not just about figures, but also about qualitative factors such as market potential, loyalty or logistical complexity. All of this is part of the assessment - and forms the basis for the realignment of sales territories, target images and value propositions.
A plea for clarity
This episode is aimed at managing directors, strategy managers and sales managers who want to know where their company really stands - and where it can develop. It is a plea for more clarity, structure and genuine customer understanding in strategy work. Because as Christian says: "Without customers, you don't need a strategy. And without a strategy, you won't reach the right customers."
Listen in now and find out how you can identify your most strategically important customers - and set your company up for the future!
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