The key to a business’s success is its customers: they are those paying for products or services sold by a business. Getting and keeping customers is what makes a business thrive. People – and businesses are made up of people – are attracted to what makes them feel good: being understood, appreciated and having one’s expectations exceeded, rather than just met. However, an approach that centres the customer can be difficult to achieve.

Some businesses may have developed the way they produce and deliver goods and services around their own needs without considering the needs and wants of their customers. This may make customers feel that the products, service or customer service they have received was impersonal and does not meet their expectations. In addition, there may be a gap between what managers or employees believe that customers expect and what customers actually expect from a business; this inaccurate perceptions may lead the business to spend money and resources on things that clients neither need nor appreciate. For example, some businesses may spend significant amounts of money on hiring and training telephone customer service staff, when its customers prefer to interact with the business via, for example, web chats. Another example is a business lowering the quality of its products to keep prices down, when many of its loyal customers would have preferred to pay a higher price to have the quality they have grown to expect from this business. The outcome is that customers feel dissatisfied with the business and look to competitors for better service.

Not many businesses can afford to lose customers and reduce their customer reach on a regular basis. Some businesses may realise that this has happened too late in the process and – to fix their direction of travel at a late stage – they may be spending a lot more than they would have spent had it resolved earlier on: customers will have already been lost forever.

It is easier to keep customers than regain them after they have moved to a competitor. It is also easier to convince customers that a business is the right fit for their wants than to change their negative perceptions after a negative experience or negative feedback about the business from those they trust. Therefore, a customer-centred approach is something that few businesses can afford not to have.

• Knowing what your customers want through gathering data on their preferences and through person-to-person communication: who in your business communicates with your clients? What do they know about your clients’ needs? And about what your clients want or prefer?
• A basic level of service is often not enough for clients to perceive the business as excellent, rather than just ‘good enough’. What is the extra mile for your client? Are they price-sensitive and enjoy price reductions or specific offers tailored to their use? Do they like to be given extra service? Would a personalised approach through a named customer service representative that gets to know them?
• Delivering your products or services as well as your customer service in a way that works for your customer is something we all expect. Often this does not cost the business any more than doing things its own way, rather than the customers’ way.
• Genuinely caring about your clients will be rewarding not only from a business-growth perspective, but also from a personal perspective. We all like to connect with others and to feel understood. Having an empathetic, honest and respectful communication and relationship with clients: people respond well to be understood and appreciated for who they are, and in relation to business-to-business relationships, for what their business is and needs.