Tom O’Toole is world famous in Australia for turning his Beechworth Bakery into an outstanding success as the largest independent bakery in Australia, see www.beechworthbakery.com.au. Tom’s secret sauce for his success comprises 3 rules (all in uppercase as he’s very enthusiastic and loud with his delivery):

  1. TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER!
  2. TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER!!
  3. TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER!!! real rocket science isn’t it!

Vineet Nayar wrote the brilliant book Employees First, Customers Second. He has a valid point and it worked for him.

My main point at this point (😊) is that to avoid an undecipherable black smudge on the page you’re reading, we have to make a choice, we can’t start everywhere at once.

So here goes, I’m going to start with the customer, the focal point for businesses, because as Peter Drucker said “the purpose of business is to create a Customer.”

Creating customers that are so loyal that they become advocates should be the goal of every business. Why? Because advocates will proactively tell others about your business through word-of-mouth and social media. Advocacy is important as it almost eliminates the need for advertising and personal referrals by family, friends, and associates are a very powerful way of increasing sales through trusted contacts. Who do you trust, a stranger, an advertisement, or a friend’s recommendation?

How do we create customer advocates?

  1. You provide prospective customers with solutions for their Jobs To Be Done.
  2. You provide those solutions at a price that costs less than the value of …
  3. You provide exceptional and memorable experiences at every point of contact, known as touch points, that the prospects have with your business.