Focusing on Customer

Peter Drucker, a sage of financial marketing discipline, discussed customer defined value almost 50 years ago. During last decade his concept of a customer-centric focus has become part of popular marketing literature and is now guiding principle of financial marketing. Drucker’s fundamental mandate that ‘the customer’s interests must come first’ can be summarized by following statements paraphrased from his extensive writings: * The only valid definition of business purpose is to create a customer. * What business thinks it is producing is not as important as what customers think they are buying; what customers consider to be value is decisive. * Every business has only two basic functions: marketing and innovation. * Marketing is your whole business as seen from customer’s point of view.

While easy to articulate, customer-centric practices are difficult to implement in most financial services organizations. Obstacles include a prevailing product-push mentality, a focus on short-term profitability, under-investment in financial marketing activities, and lack of solid market intelligence about needs and wants of target markets. We believe, however, that in future most successful financial services marketing organizations will be those that make Drucker’s principles their own through extrapolation, adaptation and creative application. As effective financial marketing evolves to a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary activity, successful firms will create a culture of customer orientation throughout organization and incorporate advocacy for customer welfare in all corporate decision-making.

With financial services industry currently going through a transformation, management’s challenge is to provide leadership to displace status quo and create a culture of opportunity. Early adaptors who apply concept of “integrated marketing” on an organization-wide basis will not only develop a customer-orientated culture, but also create opportunities for innovation, improved performance and incremental profitability.

Second, have others write articles for you. Many people are anxious to write for online newsletters.

Third, a quick Internet search is bound to produce several places you can access articles that are there for taking. Usually, only requirement is that you give full credit to authors.

Because I love to write so much I prefer to write my own articles. And yet, if ever in a pinch, I know there are many options.

Here are some examples of well done E-Zines. Each has produced excellent results for name recognition, promotion opportunities and back end business. Notice all have a place to leave an email address. I highly recommend this in that this helps you to build a solid database of interested readers.

http://www.justbearsandstuff.com/newsletter/newsoctober2004.htm

http://www.greatsmilesutah.com/october-04.htm

http://www.kathleengage.com/newsletters/enewsoctober2004.htm

In my experience, I have found E-Zines, when sent to people who want them, are one of most incredible marketing tools you can use.

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