The Sum of All Parts: Defining Your Customer
March 9, 2018 | Sam Sangani, PNC Inc.Estimated reading time: 1 minute
“What’s your clientele like?”
“What industries do you serve?”
“What type of customers do you generally see?”
These are the most typical ways in which someone will ask us who our customers are. Many times, the purpose is to see whether we work in the same spaces as them or as a way of gauging whether we are “worthy” enough of having them as a customer. The approach to a customer, though, should not be focused on a certain industry or a certain aspect of the manufacturing sector. It should fill a need, one that is broad and encompasses a wide variety of industries—from at-home appliances to aerospace parts.
It is our responsibility, as the providers of a product or service, to treat an individual or group as a customer before they give us their money. To treat them any other way seems conspicuously selfish. The cliché of the aggressive, borderline-rabid salesperson is just that: a cliché. People are less and less inclined to being “pitched.”
Webster’s dictionary defines a customer as “one that purchases a commodity or service.” On the face of it, that seems like a reasonable definition. What happens, though, when 100 or 1,000 other businesses offer the same commodity or service as you? You make every effort to set yourself apart from the competition. We’ve done this by redefining what a customer is to us.
It is no longer about the product we’re selling; now it’s also about the experience. Ask yourself this question: If price was not an issue, why would your customers pick you? Even in a predominantly B2B industry such as ours, experience matters. Sellers often forget that they are not only selling a product—they’re selling themselves. Trust is the single-most important thing a person or a business can buy from you.
From there, the price of the product arguably becomes inconsequential. So, to answer the question in so many words, our customer is anybody who comes to our business looking not just for a product, but for an experience that will allow us to demonstrate why you should pick us and not the other guys.
Sam Sangani is president and CEO of PNC Inc.
Suggested Items
Absolute EMS Successfully Recertifies ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100 Standards
03/26/2024 | Absolute EMS, Inc.Absolute EMS, Inc., an award-winning EMS provider of turnkey contract manufacturing services, is proud to announce the successful recertification of its ISO 9001:2015 and AS9100 Rev D SAE International Aerospace Standards.
Arlon EMC Receives IPC-4101 QPL Recertification
03/20/2024 | Arlon Electronic MaterialsArlon Electronic Materials has successfully completed an intensive two-day recertification audit by IPC Validation Services that examined Arlon’s manufacturing processes and testing procedures to assure that they are in conformance to the requirements of IPC-4101E-WAM1, the Specification for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards.
Northrop Grumman Honors Suppliers for Excellence
03/14/2024 | Northrop GrummanNorthrop Grumman Corporation honored more than 70 suppliers for their outstanding contributions in 2023. In an annual recognition event, the companies included women-, minority- and veteran-owned small businesses as well as those operating in underdeveloped areas.
Cicor Acquires TT Electronics IoT Solutions
03/04/2024 | Cicor Technologies Ltd.The Cicor Group has signed an agreement to acquire TT Electronics IoT Solutions Ltd, with three production sites in the UK and China.
AEM, Texas Aerospace Technologies Bolster Partnership for Latin America
02/26/2024 | AEM Corp.Canadian avionics manufacturer, Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. (AEM), is pleased to announce a partnership expansion with Texas Aerospace Technologies, a subsidiary of Texas Aerospace Services, to add AEM’s new MTP136D modern panel-mount P25 VHF FM Forest Service radio to its lineup of product offerings for their Latin American customers.