What Are Your Customers Saying
“Building a good customer experience does not happen by accident. It happens by design.” – Clare Muscutt
I believe a good customer experience begins with a good customer relationship. It’s easier for me to help you get what you need when I know you, your habits, likes, and dislikes. Market research costs in the U.S. are in the billions of dollars annually, to discover that very thing.
Understanding your consumer demographics and psychographics are the basics of getting to know them.* In a small neighborhood business, these can be acquired through casual conversations over time. Knowing your customers and their families by name are simple in a smaller setting; the complexities are many on a much larger scale.
Having systems and methodologies to understand your customers better enables your company to reach its objectives consistently. Websites can be more engaging, content can be more appealing, and person to person interactions when done right always wins the day.
Four Simple Questions
“Customers love certainty, make sure you give it to them.” ― Amit Kalantri
Integrity and quality assurance are vitally important, they inform your customers that you appreciate them. Most people will stay with you if you deliver on your promises. Consistency over time allows you anticipate their needs and meet expectations. Jason Langella aptly states, “If you don’t appreciate your customers, someone else will.”
Obviously four simple questions aren’t comprehensive enough to address the nuances of customer relations but, they are a good start.
How can you get to know your customers better? Are your employees honestly engaging customers/clients? Are you working with them to find solutions to their problems? Do you have a vision for third and fourth-generation customers?
Arvind Rongala writes, “This is one of the simplest methods that business enterprises can employ to get to know their customers better. Asking questions will provide insights into what the customers really need and helps companies to serve them better. The questions must emphasize on both ‘why’ as well as ‘how’ to get a clear picture of what has to be accomplished to provide superior customer experience. This method can really help companies to find new opportunities and stand out from their competition.”(1)
What Do Your Customers Need?
“Your customer service opens up unique opportunities to offer an excellent customer experience.” – Oscar Auliq-Ice
What do your customers encounter when they contact customer service? Is someone conversing with them, asking, and answering questions to the best of their ability, or is someone responding by reading scripted responses? Is it automation that customers are looking for when addressing an issue? Harvey MacKay notes, “There is place in the world for any business that takes care of its customers – after the sale.”
Katherine Barchett says, “Make a customer, not a sale.” Are consumers looking for someone to sell them or to listen and meet their needs? Many companies still employ antiquated sales techniques, unaware their customers’ needs are going unheard and unmet.
Ronica Roth states, “It takes courage to give customers what they need instead of what they ask for. But the rewards are great.”
I trust the following three questions adapted from our Master Operating System’s Customer section may help you and your organization.(2) Understanding the values, habits, and preferences of your customers allows your company to serve them better.
Are you crystal clear on the specifics of your ideal customer? Do you understand the demographics of your ideal customer? Do you understand the psychographics of your ideal customer?
Remember, what is being said about your business is infinitely more valuable than what your business is saying about itself.
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.” – Peter Drucker
End Notes
(1) Arvind Rongala 10 Ways of Getting to know Your Customers Better ttps://bit.ly/3bOBGxR
(2) Learn more about our Master Operating System https://bit.ly/3fxSTLx
* Merriam-Webster defines demographics as: “The statistical characteristics of human populations (such as age or income) used specially to identify markets.”
Psychographics as: “Market research or statistics classifying population groups according to psychological variables (such as attitudes, values, or fears).”
*** This article was authored by John Picarello, Chief Leadership Officer at Lions Pride Leadership Co.***