If there were 10 Commandments for a business, the most important commandment would be Know Thy Customer.

If there were 10 Commandments for a business, the most important commandment would be Know Thy Customer. Knowing and understanding targeted customers is the overarching rule of exceptional companies, yet sometimes this fundamental step is skipped. Across many executive teams, their picture of their customer is actually hazy.

Businesses find it challenging to aggregate data because they are pulling it from multiple touch points to create a single view of the customer. However, doing this is the key to sending customers the messages, offers, and products they really want. Research shows that personalization can deliver five to eight times the ROI on marketing spend and lift sales 10% or more.

It’s all about really knowing the story, the customer story that is.

Successful entrepreneurs know with exactness the wants, wishes and buying behaviors of their customers at all their touch points. Further, they research and evaluate the size of the market or the number of potential customers that fit the target profile. They know their customers’ names, ages, genders, incomes, home and Internet addresses, professions, education, associations, and marital status, number of children, hobbies, their tastes and interests. They grasp what their customers watch, read and hear, as well as where they most spend their time. They understand their likes and dislikes. Having this in-depth knowledge of their customers is one of the key characteristics of highly successful business leaders.

It’s not just about having an exceptional sales person, an efficient call center, presence on a variety of social media sites, or a web site with many bells and whistles. It’s about having ALL of those things working together like an assembly line handing off the customer from one touch point to the next in a seamless manner.

Having this knowledge and leveraging it to create and deliver solutions to meet customers’ wants and needs leads to a company’s success. It ensures they deliver products at the right locations and price, and with the appropriate guarantees, and deliver with the right features and support to create positive buying experiences.

Make certain you aren’t committing the ultimate sin of a marketer, which is to spend your energy on everything but talking with your current and potential customers. Take the time to truly know your customer.