What is customer focused marketing?

In customer focused marketing it is the customer that drives the entire working force behind the product.Customer focused marketing mangers must know exactly who their customers are and what segments of the market that they fit into.Customer focused marketing mangers need to know the demographics of their customers and information like, how much information do your customers need before making a purchase? Do they buy the latest and the greatest products available or do they stick with what they know?What is the general purchase behavior (i.e. are they impulse buyers)?The list can and does go on and on.You can have hundreds of very specific customer segments, but most can be narrowed down to 5-10 customer groups.

The challenge is great when it comes to customer focused marketing.With so many specifics to appeal to the process of doing so can be quite exhausting.As a customer focused marketing manager you must send a unique and powerful marketing message to all of your consumer groups.Or you can somehow create one marketing plan that will appeal to all customer groups in which you are interested.

Obviously creating such ideal customer focused marketing plans is easier said than done.Most companies spend the life of their business working to evolve to the point that they are completely in synch with the purchasing desires of their customers.

Customer focused marketing spans further than just having the customers make a purchase.A customer focused marketing plan also strives to increase the value their customers have concerning the purchasing that they do.Customer focused marketing managers are responsible both for satisfactory levels of profitability and for improving relationships and understanding of customers and their needs.The usefulness of each customer must be maximized.This means both developing a product specifically for them and creating relationships that will result in loyalty and repeated business.

As is the case with most business matters, there are technical ways to look at the process of customer focused marketing.The rationale behind needing to look at relationships with customers technically is that there is no use is spending precious time and money on projects and products meant to guide a customer to buy, if ultimately the result is not an increase in cash flow.

A popular example of a formal approach to customer focused marketing is called SIVA.SIVA stands for solution, information, value and access.The SIVA model is much like the 4 P's method of marketing that focuses on product, price, place and promotion.The solution of customer focused marketing is finding a product that appropriately meets the customer's wants or needs.Information lets the customer know that such a useful product exists, tells them where they can go to purchase it, and provides all other prudent knowledge that can lead to a buying decision.Value is important because the customer must see that the value of the product is going to match the cost.Customers need to feel good about the transaction.Access refers to making sure that the customer can readily purchase or easily have the product sent to them if there is no retail provider located nearby.

As was illustrated in the SIVA model, customer focused marketing is all about "getting into the customer's head."As a customer focused marketing manager you need to be able to anticipate the desires of the customers in your market segment.You must then translate the desires of your customer into a product that they will want to buy.Lastly, you must present this product to them in the most productive way possible.Portray confidence that your product has value and is well worth whatever investment may be required.

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