John Ware.

• Author: Madden, Jim
• Position: Manage Your Assets - Brief Article

John Ware

Senior Vice President & General Manager

RS Means

The closer you can get your customer into your company and "employize," if you will, the customer, the better the retention and loyalty will be. Customers don't want to be sold to, they want to buy--finding the sweet spot is the challenge. Does your company easily enable a customer to buy how and when they want? If not, focus on what the customer needs and how best they can be part of the solution.

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Tracking customer needs is always a challenge, especially in an industry with rapidly changing dynamics. In the construction industry, for example, tectonic shifts are occurring between players in fundamental ways. Traditional relationships between owners, designers, contractors, and product manufacturers are dissolving and re-forming in response to market pressures and, to some extent, new technologies. The rise of design/build firms, many of which exist only for specific projects, is a typical example. The ability to consistently and accurately track customer needs that reflect such deep...