ABSTRACT
The degree of customer focus of an organization is a determining factor for the marketing strategy and its execution. The customer focus may comprise a product focus aimed at an optimum alignment between the customer and the use of a product. The product must meet the customer's expectations. The customer focus may also comprise a relationship with a more or less uniform target group. In that case, the determining factor will be the position of the product within the target group, coupled with the customer satisfaction. In both cases, however, there is a low degree of customer focus because a product-based relationship with an unknown customer is involved. By definition, customer focus is based on personal interactions with a known (identifiable) relation. The individual customers are known and direct contact is maintained with them. In some cases, products will be tailored to customers and there may also be scenarios in which products are developed in collaboration with the customer (with a sharing of risks). The latter scenario involves a very close collaboration between the customer and the supplier.
