It intrigues me to still hear business owners talk in terms of “we’re looking to increase our total revenue this coming year by 15 %”, or “we’re looking to improve our Gross Profit % by 4 % this Financial Year”, and similar money-focused strategic (high-level) statements.
I can tell you with absolute certainty that businesses which have first and foremost a “financial focus” – rather than a “customer focus”; are never as successful as customer-focused businesses. Why is this ? It is simply because financial success is actually only/ purely a derivative (direct consequence) of a seller being client-centric and ensuring that their business’s product/ service delivery is well aligned to the needs of identified target customers.
To explain…
Without paying customers there can be no sales revenue generated – so all attempts to state/ qualify financial objectives such as those above become irrelevant. If the product/ service on offer does not align well with the needs of target customers, then such customers will not commit to purchasing your product/ service. If instead, your product/ service has been validated (i.e. via market research) as being well aligned to target customer needs then the level of engagement of target customers with your business is likely to be higher and the resulting number of sales transactions is likely to be greater…and the overall sales revenue is likely to be greater, compared to a business that is more focused on “making money”.
Remember, money is made (i.e. money exchanges hands between a buyer and a seller) where a buyer considers that a product/ service that the seller is offering will meet their needs.
When lecturing to commerce students, I actually avoid steering lecture content towards articulating “financial objectives”. Rather, I explain to students that they can expect their income in life (in both a business and personal context) to be reflective of the extent to which they satisfy/ meet the needs of other people. No more and no less.
Considerable financial gains will be made by businesses that genuinely have a client-centric mindset. For many this proves to be easier said than done.