We hear all the time that we must be customer focused, but what does that mean? Let me give you the short answer.  First, you have to know who your customers are.  Second, you need to know the needs and desires of your customers. And third, you need to have a plan to meet those needs and desires.

The first mistake we typically make is to worry about who is supposed to be providing a product or service to us.  It is totally counter productive to look at your job from the prospective of who you are a customer to.  To see yourself as the customer. This is a selfish perspective that will sub-optimize your performance. Believe it or not, it will make your job harder.

You can only improve business processes by reversing the direction of your vision. You must look instead at who your customers are.  Being customer focused is at the core of every successful business and relationship. Being inwardly focused is at the core of every business failure and personal failure.

A customer is anyone to whom you provide a product or service. Basically, customers come in two flavors. Internal and external.  We typically know who our external customers are, because that is the orientation of our thinking. At the same time, though, we typically lose site of who our internal customers are.  Internal customers are those we work with.  The person in the next cubicle or another department.

To start the process of becoming customer focused, create a list of who you think your customers are (include your family and significant others). Don’t worry about being wrong, just base it upon your opinion.  Next to each customer, list what product or service you provide them.

When ready, show your listing to your customers and ask them to rate your performance.  If they are honest, you probably won’t have too many surprises. At the same time, you will probably not like what you hear. We generally know how good or bad of job we are doing.  Don’t be defensive. Just like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, quality is in the eyes of the customer.

Once this is done, answer the following questions.

If taking care of my customer’s needs (instead of my own), in a timely and appropriate manner, became the focus of my work, what would change about my work (what would I do differently)?

If this happened, how would you measure how successful your day was?

How would your perception of “what is a good day” and “what is a bad day” change?

The profound fact here is that if everyone were to take care of their customer’s needs (internal and external), than everyone’s needs would be met. No one would feel as if they were not given appropriate support. It becomes a seamless circle where no one gets left out.

To ensure that you get what you need, you have to first ensure that your customer’s get what they need.