Customer recruitment and management
Businesses that don’t put customer needs and desires first don’t get very far. Exceptional Enterprises know all about their customers — who they are and what they want — and know that building customer loyalty goes hand in hand with long-term sustainable growth.
Emerging Enterprises focus on doing the basics, but doing them well. An Exceptional Enterprise builds products and services around its customers, identifying market opportunities and establishing a customer base, while developing an understanding of who its competitors are and what they do. Growth needs to be balanced with available resources: making promises you can’t deliver will only damage your reputation.
Rapid growth enterprises aspire to become supplier of choice, taking their customer focus to the next level and trying to win market share from their competitors. An Exceptional Enterprise will commission research to understand their most important customers’ needs and buying decisions. High-quality sales and marketing resources can enhance the brand, and turn new opportunity into revenue.
Next-generation market leaders have a solid customer base and look to broaden their offerings. Exceptional Enterprises will further their growth by expanding internationally, perhaps considering new alliances or acquisitions to quickly establish a presence and access new markets. They will also make sure that their customer service performance meets industry best practice.
If you want to accelerate your growth, make sure you really understand your customers. As you grow, keep asking yourself:
- How do our customers see us in relation to our competition?
- What are the best ways to capture customer insight and feedback?
- How can we raise our profile and awareness among customers?
One way to raise your public profile is to participate in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year program, which also provides access to a network of other fast growth companies.
