Trump – the ultimate salesman but now comes the true test, will he deliver?

Love him or loath him, one thing seems certain. Donald Trump understood the perceived needs of the middle-American “working class” and their real needs for a bigger share of America’s wealth. In business we refer to them as disenfranchised customers. In this case it was a huge proportion of the electorate that felt abandoned and had lost hope of achieving “the American Dream”.

The decisive power of a customer centric sales approach is on show here. He had the odds stacked against him – the media, the Republican party leaders, less resources than his competitor, a perceived lack of authenticity, a flawed character on show for all to see, a dubious business track record and inconsistency in his views. Any independent marketing observer would say the Trump brand was tarnished. Yet he prevailed.

Why? He listened to Americans, understood their anger and concerns and revived their aspirations. He understood how to communicate to them in a way they could understand and he effectively used fear as a motivator for action – in this case bringing them to the polls to vote for him. He used the old maxim – “the fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain”. It demonstrates that if you can tap into real needs and create an emotional connection that demands action you can create a following and eventually loyalty irrespective of flaws or weaknesses in your product. Such is the power of a customer-centric mindset. We might say customer centricity “trumps” strategy and superior resources.

Donald Trump has done the first bit of being customer-centric – creating perceived value in the minds of enough Americans to deliver him the presidency. Now he has to deliver the promise.

How he does that will require strong customer-centric leadership – ongoing insight and foresight and a team that has the mindset, capabilities and strategy with an alignment with the external environment that delivers value to middle-Americans. He will need to be consistent in his communication, be prepared to act on feedback that may differ from his own views and implement policies that will deliver on his promise. He will need to do even more than that – demonstrate his authenticity as a leader who really cares more for the American people than himself and demonstrate a character that commands respect and even admiration.

If he cannot do that he will be a one-term president.

Many senior leaders are like Donald Trump. They talk the talk and communicate great promise to their employees and their customers. But a majority of them do not display customer-centric leadership, do not walk the walk and don’t demonstrate they are in it for the long term value for delivery of value to their customers, employees and community before rewarding themselves. Those leaders are transitory, do not leave a legacy and often create chaos for all around them.

If you want to know more about customer-centric leadership contact MarketCulture and read The Customer Culture Imperative.