The customer is a company’s scarcest and most valuable resource. It is the only thing that really makes them different from the rest. Products are no longer the focus of Marketing Strategies because they can be copied and imitated. They have become commodities, transforming the customer into every company’s greatest asset.

The customer has been the biggest victim of short-term strategies marked by financial markets, which have put pressure on companies in recent times. Company directors can be reprimanded for not meeting the predictions of the stock exchange or stockholders, but have you ever heard an analyst recommend against buying a stock because of low “satisfaction” or “lifespan and potential” in the customer portfolio?

Let’s imagine two companies with the same financial ratios and similar results. One account with a portfolio of satisfied customers who recommend it to other customers and that has great potential for product launches. The other account with a portfolio of unhappy customers, many in the process of abandonment, who do not recommend the company. Even if the two companies are valued equally in financial terms…Which company would be “better”, which would be of higher value?

We must begin to think of our companies’ value not only in terms of equity and assets, but also of Customer Equity (the net value of the customer portfolio). To do that, it is necessary to launch a true “Strategic Customer Plan” that allows us an exhaustive knowledge of the customer portfolio, its motivations, behaviors, purchasing tendencies, and future actions. It should help us to differentiate the offer, the sales channels to direct it towards the customer, and the sales effort to be carried out for each customer segment. That is to say, we should not make the mistake of managing the customers in a standard and depersonalized way, as if they were numbers within a cold, unprofitable mass Marketing plan.

It is necessary to have a specific plan for the most profitable customers, for the customers prone to abandon the company, and for those who are susceptible to linking and loyalization. It is necessary to know what channels and resources must be aimed towards each one of them… Just by knowing the real value of the clientele, companies can speak of a true Strategic Customer Plan, whether they are current or potential customers.

The value of the customer is the DNA of every company. It is time for organizations to begin structuring themselves according to this premise. Instead of using only the much-praised ROI (Return on Investment), they must begin to measure strategies and results by the ROC (Return on Customer). That is, knowing what we invest in each customer and what the customer generates for the company. This is important both in the short-term, as well as keeping in mind the customer’s entire value over time.

It is time for companies to get involved in a complete strategic orientation towards the customer, that turns them into true “customer-driven organizations”, where the customer feels he or she is being heard, the decision-making process is carried out in an ordered and intelligent manner, from the lowest ranks to the highest positions in the company. Opting for a company that is geared 100% towards the customer not only promises benefits; it guarantees results.