Customer orientation checklist

Customer orientation definition: customer orientation is a set of activities undertaken by a company for the purpose of
supporting beliefs in sales that allow considering customer needs and satisfaction as the major priorities of the company. Read
the customer orientation template to find out how to undertake and maintain customer oriented processes in your
organization.

1. Developing customer orientation strategy within your company.

 The first thing you need to comprehend is that all processes within your company (like producing, communicating,
selling, delivering, etc.) should be organized and managed in a customer-oriented way. Then you can develop a
customer orientation strategy – a set of directives and guidelines as to attracting and treating customers as well as
fostering customer oriented attitude for the purpose of gaining the best customer orientation experience and
turning your company into a flourishing, customer oriented organization.
 A successful customer orientation strategy includes the following principles:
o Customer-driven quality: your company develops and uses customer orientation approaches and ideas
that contribute to customer satisfaction.
o Leadership: leaders and managers in your company need to play an active role in fostering customer
oriented persons among your employees. Executives should take care of running and supporting
customer oriented processes that contribute to strengthening quality values.
o Continuous improvement: your customer oriented company needs to commit to ongoing improvement
by optimizing employee performance and providing enhanced quality through new and improved
customer oriented services and goods.
o Immediate response: your customer oriented business needs to support a rapid-response-time
improvement internally by reducing product/service introduction cycles and giving faster replies to
customers.
o Full participation: your company should have an effective reward and recognition system which
encourages full employee participation in total customer management, including customer oriented
selling wholesale and customer orientation in retail.
o Long-run outlook: your company needs to plan policies and resource allocations that reflect perspective
and long-term commitment to customers, employees, stakeholders and suppliers. Also the company should
regularly review and assess its customer oriented jobs and occupations for the purpose of optimizing
workload.
o Using facts only: customer oriented account managers and executives in your company should use only
facts and actual data to illustrate current status of customer satisfaction and performance goals.
o Public responsibility: your customer oriented business should address general community concerns and
interests. For instance, it should decrease the effect of product waste on the environment, improve the
quality of products, and consider adverse contingencies, such as rejects or recalls.

2. Improving skills of executives and subordinates – organizing customer orientation training.

 Customer orientation training is aimed at developing and retaining the required customer oriented attitude, so
your employees will be ready to follow the strategy and treat customers as expected.
 Organize regular customer orientation training sessions, seminars and workshops to let your employees improve
their skills and customer orientation competency.
 Integrate customer orientation games in the regular trainings – they will help employees to comprehend and learn
lessons easily and quickly.
 Customer orientation exercises and games should be based on actual examples and existing situations. Do not try
to make up a customer orientation example or situation, but use only facts.
 Consider organizing regular examinations to find out current customer orientation skills level of employees.

3. Measuring customer orientation in your company.

 Consider creating and applying measures of customer orientation based on the following:
o Quality of products/services your company provides.
o Number of existing customers.
o Your company’s image and reputation.
o Current quality level of support services.
 Here are some indicators and measures of customer orientation:
o Customer satisfaction index.
o The number of satisfied customers against the number of non-satisfied ones.
o Customers’ intentions to re-order your products/services.

4. Improving customer orientation in your company

 Regularly conduct internal reviews on the status of customer orientation and the quality of customer oriented
services and products.
 Conduct external, independent customer surveys to find out what customers think about your company and its
products/services.
 Allow your customers to send requests and express their opinion concerning your company, its products and
service, and the level of customer support. You can create customer registration forms on the company’s websites
to receive online feedback from your clients.