What’s the customer vibe?

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Customer dynamics is a term that is used to describe the flow of activity that takes place between a customer and a vendor or supplier. The range of this type of business will include the free exchange of information and any type of transaction between the two parties. As part of the process, the customer dynamic goes beyond simply looking at the buying activity generated by the customer and includes consideration of the range of emotions and building relationships that occur as part of that ongoing exchange of information. This approach can help qualify the level of relationship and loyalty each party displays towards the other, which in turn can help define the value of the relationship with each party involved.

As part of the evaluation of customer dynamics, different types of interactions are considered. This starts with the level of relationship and trust that develops during initial sales contacts, goes through the creation of customer accounts, the processing of customer orders and the nature of interactions between customers and customer service personnel. Within these types of interactions, each type of communication is considered important to the dynamics of the relationship. Telephone calls, emails, face-to-face meetings, and the ease of placing and receiving orders all help to provide a more accurate assessment of the existing customer-supplier relationship.

There are a number of benefits to understanding customer dynamics. A very important outcome of this activity is that suppliers can identify ways to strengthen customer ties. This is valuable as customers who feel more invested with a particular vendor are less likely to be sidetracked by competitors, based on their loyalty to the vendor. Even if competitors offer very attractive prices or other incentives, the chances that the customer will at least give the supplier the opportunity to counter the offer are greatly improved. In some cases, the dynamics between the customer and the supplier can be so strong that the consideration of working with a competitor is neither practical nor desirable.

Suppliers can also use strong customer dynamics as a means of gaining feedback to improve current products or even develop new ones in an effort to meet additional expressed customer needs. From this point of view, the evaluation of all information exchanges between the two parties can pave the way for new ideas for the benefit of all involved. In addition to enhancing product line breadth, this type of healthy exchange can sometimes lead to changes in policies and procedures that offer additional benefits to customers and help strengthen existing ties.

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