Do Marketers Still Consider Customers as King (Or Queen) In Their Business?

By Dr. Michael K.

There is something truly magical about that precise moment when a product is bought or sold. I suppose it’s because our species has relied upon this most fundamental form of capitalism for so long.

As humans became more efficient in drawing sustenance and were no longer engaged 100% in the act of survival, we learned to plant a little more rice or catch a few more fish. This abundance was then taken to the “marketplace” where people traded it for something they didn’t have but nonetheless needed. I’m no evolutionary biologist, but I’d be willing to bet the act of buying and selling activates some ancient and primitive part of the human brain.

The act of selling, of course, requires a customer, and for years sales professionals have been taught that Customer is King. They learn about the product they are selling, learn how to counter objections from their customer, learn how to educate their customer, and learn how to generate new leads. When each person was responsible for selling their own extra crops, it was clear who the customer was.

As business grew, though, entire functions came into being that had nothing whatsoever to do with product, or customers, or selling.

It certainly makes sense. After all, there is no point in having every person in the company learn all the thousands of regulations associated with the accounting function. It’s a trade-off, though, as a smaller and smaller proportion of employees gets to participate in that most sacred act of selling products to a customer.

The company where I work makes products associated with eye care, and many of our products are sold to eye-care professionals. Recently, the recruiter who hires our sales professionals and I joined one of our territory managers for a day in the field. I’m not about to suggest that we contributed in any way to the sales that were booked that day; I’m sure our presence was more of a nuisance than help.

However, my “day in the field” was an awesome experience. I prepared by reviewing the training materials and learned a lot about our products. For the first time, I opened packages of the different products and held them in my hands. I was also able to meet the medical professionals who used these products to help patients.

No matter what business you’re in, you have a customer. I hope as a recruiting professional you don’t wait as long as I did to watch your product get into a customer’s hands. I know my colleague who recruits sales reps now uses her experience in the field to answer questions for potential hires. My major take-away was that, regardless of your business, there are a few fundamental characteristics all customers share.