How False Focus Kills Companies

I have noted in numerous podcasts that the most common cause for company failure is that company leaders are out of touch with their customers. They fail to interview their customers to uncover their Mindset when they set out to buy, which consists of their desires, concerns, and questions. All of the money spent on marketing consequently misses the mark. The company never reaches its full potential.?

The second most common cause for company failure is an offshoot of that mistake, which is falling into the “false focus” trap. This is what happens when company managers and advisors focus on something other than their customers. Because customers are any company’s main source of revenue and guarantee of continued success, this is definitely dangerous behavior.?

What follows are examples of what managers focus on instead of customers. It should be noted that customers know if a company’s managers are focusing on them—or not. How your business makes them feel determines whether they want to continue buying from you—or not.

Automation

Of course, there is good automation, and AI makes automation easier than ever. But the kind of automation that irritates customers is bad automation.?

Voicemail is an old example of automation gone wrong. “Please listen carefully, as our menu has recently changed” is a lie, and customers know it. Lying to customers the first time (or subsequent times) they call is a bad idea.

Telling customers to “check out our website” while they are waiting on hold is insulting; of course, the person has already gone to the website and is only calling because the answer wasn’t there (or was too difficult to find).?

Playing advertisements while people are waiting is a terrible idea; it’s like kidnapping someone, tying them to a chair, and then bragging about how smart you are.?

“Press one for this…” is a terrible joke when it does not include an option to reach a real human or doesn’t include the option that the customer needs.?

Bad automation sends customers away.

Investors?

Investors include venture capitalists and stockholders. They have goals. They want you to do things that make them comfortable with their investment.?

But I can’t tell you how often I’ve seen the needs of the investors become the prime focus of the company leaders, to the detriment of their customers—and, therefore, their company’s revenue growth.

Worse, when your whole focus is profit, the bean counters take over and start looking for ways to “cheapen” the product by cutting here and there. I’ve seen companies die by 1,000 of these tiny cuts, to the point where the company’s brand - which is the promise that they keep (or break) is obliterated.?

What’s strange to me is how managers assume “no one will notice this tiny change” when in fact, customers DO. And they say so, too, in product reviews.?

“I used to buy these exclusively, but the last few shipments have been disappointing. Now the [whatever] doesn’t [whatever], and it’s pretty inconvenient.” That type of thing.

Customers are always way more sensitive to “minor” cost-cutting changes than managers think they are.?

The way to keep this from happening to your company is for the marketer to interview one to two customers a week. Trends will become obvious after just a few weeks. You’ll find a list of questions to ask in my book , and also in this article .?

The Press and Other Influencers

Reporters have questions and concerns, especially regarding public companies. “What are you doing about X?” they ask the CEO. Do your customers care about what you’re doing about X? Often, the answer is no.?

Influencers are complaining about a certain aspect of your product. She or he goes on and on about this deficiency in an entertaining way. This rant gets picked up by an online publication with a large subscriber base. Everyone in the company starts scrambling to respond to this complaint.?

Meanwhile, a customer somewhere is trying to get basic questions answered about the product or trying in vain to open the product after purchasing it.?

Growth suffers.?

Employees

Yes, it’s true. The Most Important People in your company consist of customers, employees, and partners. And you definitely want to listen to, respect, and take really good care of your employees. But if their needs conflict with customer needs, your revenue will suffer.?

This could be as simple as an employee in a retail environment talking to someone on their cell phone or other employees while ignoring customers who are waiting for service. Or a customer service person surfing social channels instead of responding to chats, emails, or customer calls.?

There should be absolutely no doubt in any employee’s mind that the customer is the priority, and any behavior contrary to that will be discovered and discussed. If the behavior continues after an appropriate number of warnings, the person should be let go.?

Regulators?

Of course, all businesses are subject to regulations. Every business owner needs to spend time making sure the company is complying with any applicable regulations. But sometimes, new regulations, super-complex regulations, and unexpected regulations can dominate management time to the point where other aspects of the business are pushed aside.?

The key here is to remember that this, too, shall pass; that the best way to deal with complex regulations is to skip the panic mode and simply work on understanding what needs to be done and doing it. Hiring a professional who specializes in that area is always an unwanted expense, but it’s also always a good investment.?

Partners

People think of business partners as “fresh feet on the street,” but the reality is just the opposite. They are mouths that need to be fed. They are another type of customer.

To sell the company’s products and services, they need training, updates, online and physical materials, marketing and selling assistance through lead-generating efforts, and regular meetings to discuss new offerings and strategies.?

Mothers-in-Law

Everyone has a boss. Even a CEO with no board of directors or investors still has to answer to someone. It could be the in-laws, a spouse, or even the CEO pushing to be the best ever. An obsession with “winning” also falls into this category and has the same negative effect on revenue as any of the other distractions.?

Competitors?

I once worked with a CEO who founded a semiconductor company for the express purpose of showing up his peers in the industry. He was driven by the desire to prove he was the smartest of them all.?

This ego obsession got in the way of almost everything. His narcissism hung over every meeting like a cloud, to the point where the free flow of ideas was impossible. Everyone was on tenterhooks (it didn’t help that he was generally just a rude guy).?

The customers were treated like bit players in a play where the Big Star dominated the stage. Everything was about him and his needs.?

A different kind of competitive obsession happens when a CEO focuses on a particular competitor and does everything possible to imitate, stalk, and out-sell that competitor. This is very un-customer-friendly behavior because customers don’t really care who your competitors are or what you think of them. They just want help finding, understanding, and buying products and services.?

Customers are the only real source of revenue

Ensuring that customers get what they need at all stages of their buying process is the most important activity a company’s managers can engage in.?

The most important question a CEO should ask every day is, “What else can we do to make it easier for customers to find us and buy from us?”?

What is their buying process? What are their desires, concerns, and questions, and how can we address all three as quickly and yet as thoroughly as possible??

This is the real road to revenue; everything else is secondary.