Most businesses at least pay lip service to customer relationship building. But companies that translate slogans into a value-laden customer experience are scarcer than single guys looking for commitment. One reason businesses aren’t delivering, says Lior Arussy, author of Passionate & Profitable: Why Customer Strategies Fail and 10 Steps to Do Them Right!, is that the company is geared for one outcome, the customer another — a classic Mars-Venus dichotomy.

Competition pressures companies to “commoditize” customers, Arussy says, and extend the same level of customer service to all. Their focus is on the transaction: the quicker the better. Customers, on the other hand, want to be respected in the morning — and for the duration of a long-term relationship.

Arussy serves up convincing explanations of why so many businesses that claim to be customer-centric are falling short — and what they can do about it. In keeping with his Mars-Venus perspective, “Passion Loss” makes Arussy’s list of “10 fatal mistakes.” Chemistry may attract two separate entities, but customers stick around for the quality of the interaction.

As an antidote to a culture that denigrates customers, Arussy recommends dumping the old company-driven four Ps of marketing (Product, Placement, Price and Promotion) for a customer-driven set:

Premium Price. Products can command a higher price when customers are getting a differentiated experience.

Preference. Product preference goes beyond selecting to recommending.

Portion of Budget. The more commitment customers have, the more budget they’ll allocate to a company’s products.

Permanence. Longer customer relationships are likely to be more profitable.

In Arussy’s convincing scenario, the “new four Ps” boost a customer retention strategy, ensuring more profits — and much less distance between Mars and Venus.

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