Intimacy with the customer (customer intimacy) is now one of the popular strategy in maintaining and building customer loyalty. Why? Because customer intimacy and competitive advantage can produce a positive bottom line for the company.
What is the customer intimacy?
Customer intimacy is a way to manage and build relationships with customers. Customer intimacy is a commitment to provide excellent service to customers. In order to conduct customer intimacy, then the company should know the ins and outs of customers, from habit, behavior, until the customer desires.
Dell, for example, which was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, has two main rules, namely: 1) minimize inventory; 2) is always listening to customers, and 3) never sell indirect. Dell is the first PC manufacturer to build a system of direct feedback from customers.
Dell has focused attitude to customers, where customers can provide input and explain their needs so that Dell can customize your PC according to customer desires. They do not want to be like most other manufacturers, who make new discoveries, and then market it.
It makes them have a competitive advantage in business. Because that is what differentiate their systems from its competitors. The system has also been the added value in the eyes of customers.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO also emphasize on customer intimacy. He stressed the importance of feedback from people who come from different backgrounds. Focus primarily on who will use your product. The point is, listen to your customers in advance.
Jack Welch, when led by GE, have different ways of applying customer intimacy. Before becoming a customer focused company, the first thing he did was to eliminate the bureaucracy and others from within the organization. Welch had done things in order to foster customer intimacy, among others, are often held meetings with the customer.
Welch, for example, conduct personal meetings with key customers in the GE every year in spring and autumn. During the meeting, so he can test insightnya to customers. Is insightnya true, then whatever the weaknesses that need to be improved, and others.
In essence, customer intimacy is essential, because it can provide useful insights about customers for business-to-front. Thus, firms can know what your needs and desires of the customer, customer perceptions and expectations of customers to the company.
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