Above All Else, Love Thy Customer
Have you ever developed a product or service you just know is the latest and greatest? The design is spot on, the process is seamless and you can’t wait to roll it out. You love, love, love it. Then it fails.
No amount of passion for a product or service can compensate for not being customer centric. If it’s not meeting a need, making life easier, or solving a problem, it’s doomed. Love your customers first and foremost, or else.
We’ve all heard the Henry Ford quote, “If I’d asked them what they wanted, I’d have given them faster horses,” and, despite his claim to the contrary, that’s exactly what he did. He instinctively understood what people really wanted to do -- get from here to there faster. When Ford went to market with his own version of horse power, he solved their problem and the rest is history.
The success of any relationship depends heavily on meeting your partner’s needs. So how do you keep your customer love alive?
Listen
Listening is more than an exercise in information gathering; it shows you care. How do your customers feel about your current products or services? What are their pain points? Surveys, focus groups, online reviews, even a monthly call if you’re a small shop can provide valuable insight. Chances are you’ll uncover an unmet need.
Pay Attention
What’s going on in the market? Ignoring trends and competitors’ successes and failures can be deadly. What does your own data show? Is your business offering what customers want and need in a way that best suits them, or you?
Analyze
You can gather all the information and feedback in the world, but if you do nothing with it, don’t bother. The analysis and sharing of feedback, data and market research is essential to your success. Form a cross-functional team from all levels of your company (not just executives) to problem-solve collectively and come up with meaningful ways to show your customers some love.
Act Quickly
Plans are worthless without action and action often means change. Is your company agile enough to keep pace within an ever-changing marketplace? You need to be. Your customers won’t wait around forever.
The bottom line here is it’s not about you. It’s all about your customers or clients. Find out what they really want and need and give it to them, when and where they need it. As in any relationship, if your customers or clients don’t feel the love, they’ll find it elsewhere.
How do you keep your customer love alive?