Principle 1 - Customer focus

Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.

Mahatma Gandhi's following statement is the ultimate expression of customer focus:

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him.

Benefits: 

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  Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and fast responses to market opportunities.


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  Increased effectiveness in the use of the organization's resources to enhance customer satisfaction.


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  Improved customer loyalty leading to repeat business.
  

Application:

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  Researching and understanding customer needs and expectations.


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  Ensuring that the objectives of the organization are linked to customer needs and expectations. 


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  Communicating customer needs and expectations throughout the organization. 


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  Measuring customer satisfaction and acting on the results. 


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  Systematically managing customer relationships. 


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  Ensuring a balanced approach between satisfying customers and other interested parties (such as owners, employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole).