John Ware.John Ware This article is about the cowboy and rancher. For the U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, see John H. Ware, III. John Ware (c. 1845 – 12 September 1905) was an African-American born into slavery in South Carolina, or, according to another source, in northern Senior Vice President & General Manager RS Means The closer you can get your customer into your company and "employize," if you will, the customer, the better the retention and loyalty will be. Customers don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. want to be sold to, they want to buy--finding the sweet spot is the challenge. Does your company easily enable a customer to buy how and when they want? If not, focus on what the customer needs and how best they can be part of the solution. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Tracking customer needs is always a challenge, especially in an industry with rapidly changing dynamics. In the construction industry, for example, tectonic tectonic /tec·ton·ic/ (tek-ton´ik) pertaining to construction. shifts are occurring between players in fundamental ways. Traditional relationships between owners, designers, contractors, and product manufacturers are dissolving dis·solve v. dis·solved, dis·solv·ing, dis·solves v.tr. 1. To cause to pass into solution: dissolve salt in water. 2. and re-forming in response to market pressures and, to some extent, new technologies. The rise of design/build firms, many of which exist only for specific projects, is a typical example. The ability to consistently and accurately track customer needs that reflect such deep, underlying market changes requires more than a typical customer survey. Fortunately, with the advent of new technologies, companies can allow customers into the outer rim of a company by enabling: 1) self-service capabilities, so customers can effect their own customized support and create focus group mechanisms that will allow the customer be part of the design and production capabilities; and 2) high-tech touch, such as personalization Custom tailoring information to the individual. On the Web, personalization means returning a page that has been customized for the user, taking into consideration that person's habits and preferences. , email updates and online conferencing--when used judiciously ju·di·cious adj. Having or exhibiting sound judgment; prudent. [From French judicieux, from Latin i , rather than exclusively--can be utilized to expand the depth and breadth of customer requirements. Remember, the true measure of a product's success is its ability to retain the customer; we just have to give the product a few new claws. Contact: jware@reedbusiness.com |
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