success - Turbo Coach, achieve breakthroughs - Brian Tracy

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produce. External customers are the focal point of all business
success. Your ability to accurately identify this customer—the
one external customer whose satisfaction
determines the success of your business—is at the heart of
every element of strategic planning.
Before you can successfully identify this crucial customer,
you must answer several questions. How does your customer
define value? Can you list the specific benefits your products
or services deliver to this customer? Probing deeper, do you
know what your customer really wants and needs from you
in order to be completely satisfied? Can you say how your
product changes or improves your customer’s life and work?
The twenty-first century is being referred to as the ‘‘age
of the customer.’’ The customer is at the center of business
transactions as never before. Your success and your rewards
in life will be determined in large part by your ability to identify
and satisfy your key customers.
If current trends continue, who will your customer be in
the future? If you were to change your product or service
offerings, who could be your customer? If you want to rise
to the very top of your field, who should be your customer?
What expectations will this customer have that you can satisfy
by upgrading your knowledge, your skills, and your ability?
With the benefit of hindsight—drawing from your
current knowledge and experience—can you name any customers
in your career or business with whom you would
avoid working today? Does your current customer list include
any names of people or businesses that should not be
your customers?
You can answer this last question more easily if you
group your customers into high-value and low-value segments.
To do this, begin by identifying and analyzing the