Exeter business coach and author Dave Mutton is encouraging business owners to look beyond the constant search for new customers and pay closer attention to the people they already serve.
Dave is the author of Build Around Them: Unlocking Loyalty, Growth and Trust Through Customer Centricity, a practical business book which draws on more than 25 years of experience across leadership, marketing and operations.
The book explores how understanding customers, listening to feedback and building customer needs into everyday decision making can help businesses create loyalty and more sustainable growth.
Dave Mutton makes the case for customer centric growth
For smaller businesses, where time and marketing budgets can be limited, Dave argues that putting energy into existing customer relationships can be just as important as finding the next sale.
“Most small businesses don’t fail for lack of effort, they fail because their energy is in the wrong place,” said Dave. “Customer centricity isn’t a buzzword, it’s a survival strategy. Build Around Them shows how refocusing on your customers can turn effort into real results, less stress, more growth and lasting trust that delivers regular repeat customers.”
His approach has been shaped by a career spanning online retail, FinTech, healthcare, education and the creative industries. This included being part of the team involved in the launch of Amazon in the UK.
Today, through Dave Mutton Consulting, he works with start ups and established SMEs on areas including business performance, customer strategy and growth. His work also includes the THRIVE framework, which he developed to help assess different areas of a business.
Alongside his commercial work, Dave is involved in Exeter’s wider business and community landscape. He is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at Age UK Exeter and mentors emerging businesses through the Exeter Innovation Accelerator.
Why customer loyalty matters for Devon businesses
The ideas behind Build Around Them have particular relevance for Devon’s independent businesses and SMEs.
Smaller companies do not necessarily have the marketing resources available to national competitors, but they can build their reputation through personal service, customer knowledge and the relationships they develop over time.
Dave’s book looks at how businesses can better understand what customers actually want, make customer focus part of their internal culture and use feedback to improve the way they operate.
It also considers the wider structure needed to support customer led growth, giving business owners a framework for thinking about the connection between customer experience and the way a company is run.
For Devon’s growing community of entrepreneurs and established businesses, it is a useful reminder that business growth is not always about reaching more people. Sometimes it starts with doing a better job for the customers a business already has.
Build Around Them is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats. Find out more about Dave Mutton and his business coaching work through the Dave Mutton Consulting website. You can also see the Dave Mutton Consulting listing on Devon Business Directory where you can submit a free listing if you are based in the Southwest.
Elsewhere in Exeter’s business community, local accountancy firm MD Group has also been reflecting on long term business growth, having marked 25 years in the city. Read: Exeter based MD Group marks 25 years.
Devon Business
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