What would happen if you were forced to operate with a very narrow view of what your customers needed: Quality, delivery, and low price. That is all you could address in attempting to keep customers satisfied. Now, it would not take a great imagination to think of other things they might want—being easy to do business with, handling problems when they arise, and other types of transactional activities. It is still very limiting, isn't it? It does not allow you to clearly see the entire customer dynamic.
Now, how can your company overcome this myopic view? Challenge your organization to list 100 additional things that customers might want. Could you do it? I bet you could. What if they wanted the “extras” that their very best suppliers offer (even if these suppliers are from a completely different industry). Why aren't you working on providing those additional 100?
Most supplier-centric organizations rationalize that they know what customers need and they focus predominantly on how the products they sell meet those minimum needs. What these companies perceive to be needs, of course, fall far short of what customers want. Customer-centric organizations, on the other hand, look for new opportunities to offer to their customers, rather than waiting for them to be asked for.
Expand your organization’s field of vision. Encourage the realization that customers have many requirements that matter to them—and that they expect your organization to be aware of them.
Image credit: 
DraconianRain
