How much time does the average business spend thinking about the people who might consume their products and services? I mean really think about them: how they think, how they behave, how they make decisions, what values they associate themselves with, what unfulfilled needs they might have.

I could argue that in the average business the answer would be ‘not much,’ which is why they are an average business.

In every business there is a production process. And in most it’s production that consumes nearly all the attention, effort and talent.

In high performing businesses it looks a little different. Production is obviously very important in terms of business organisation but it isn’t what drives the business performance. High performing businesses focus on customer operations as well as production quality.

Don’t get me wrong, process improvement and efficiency are essential. It’s just that the gains are marginal. You shouldn’t have your most creative people tied up with how things get done. The weight of day to day issues will eventually overwhelm their positivity and creative spirit.

How much time do you think Jony Ive and the Apple design team spend worrying about how their creations will be manufactured? Dyson will employ people to set up and run highly efficient manufacturing operations, but it isn’t what drives the business.

Consider your approach to customers. Is it a process of selling what you make, or making what sells? Does your competitive edge come from how much noise you make in the market or how much your product or service fits the requirement of your target audience?

In high growth, high margin businesses, it is a broader business-critical process of discovering, refining and bringing to market new products and services that are so perfectly matched to customers’ needs that they virtually sell themselves.

Being a consumerist business rather than a productionist business is a change of emphasis. It doesn’t devalue the work of people who keep the business running. But it lifts your sights to take in what consumers really value so you can make better margins and be less exposed to disruption and competition.

Access Performance helps businesses of all types to become more ‘consumerist’ in their outlook. They can then tune their strategy and marketing to what their customers value most. Contact us today to see how we can help your business.