Learn from Internet Businesses: Customer Satisfaction Drives Success.

• Author: Biff Motley, L.
• Position: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

ARECENT THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE explored the distinctive skill sets and perspectives of six successful CFOs who were alumni of eBay's highly regarded finance department. These six are among the 20 or so graduates of the so-called "eBay mafie--those who learned their skills at eBay and were recruited to other successful Internet firms.

What's interesting about these young Turks is that not only are they skillful financial engineers, but they understand and embrace the crucial role of customer satisfaction in establishing critical mass during a company's start-up.

For example, one of the CFOs learned that you have to stay "relentlessly customer focused" not only during the initial rollout but also during the remainder of the company's life. What he means is that getting and keeping new customers is the purpose of the enterprise.

Another eBay alumni observed that one of the things he learned at was that you have to get critical mass first. And, if you put the objective of "racing to new-customer volume" front and center, it starts driving all of the strategic decisions. By strategic decisions, he meant things like: Who is our target market? How do we reach them? What do they like/dislike about our offering? What should our initial pricing be? When and how do we "monetize" gain revenue from) our customer base? These are CFOs talking. But doesn't this sound like the sort of questions marketers should ask?

One thing is clear from this article: In the expanding universe of the Internet, marketing issues drive strategy, tactics and execution. Other functions are supportive.

Here are five strategic practices you should consider to align your customer focus outlook with those who are achieving success in the e-commerce .domain.

1. Customer satisfaction is the prime mover. Imaging, building, testing, measuring and improving customer satisfaction is the mission of the enterprise.

2. New offerings are part of the strategy. Part of today's ongoing business strategy is the recognition that new product offerings are an essential ingredient to sustainability. Competitors...