Get to know me
 According to IBM’s research, customers want fast, friendly service that
is personalised to them and delivered by people who know their stuff.
I recently conducted six half-day seminars throughout New Zealand for a company
that is on a journey to become customer driven. We invited three of the company’s
most important customers in that locality to each workshop to talk to staff
about what the company does well, what it does poorly and what they need and
expect from that company. I have done this for over 15 years in several countries
of the world in just about every industry you can imagine and it never fails
to have a big impact on staff. Customers are very good at driving home some
key messages. I strongly recommend you do it with your staff. You do not need
an outside facilitator. You can do it yourself. Just give choose three outspoken
customers, give them the brief outlined above and then give staff a chance
to ask questions. I guarantee your staff will be talking about it for months
afterwards.
After each customer had spoken, I asked each of them how they personally liked
to be treated by their suppliers. Some answered they wanted to be treated politely
and with respect; others said they wanted to have a close, friendly relationship
with their key suppliers. Some wanted to be in frequent and regular contact;
others had a need to meet less often. Some liked to talk face-to-face, some
over the telephone and others preferred email. There were commonalities in
the way these customers wished to be treated but there were significant differences
too.
I then asked how often their suppliers asked them how they wished to be treated.
They looked at me or at each other in amazement. “Never,” they
said. “No one ever asks us that question.” Since then I have asked
dozens more customers of a wide range of companies the same question and the
answer is always the same. No one seems to ask their customers how they wish
to be treated.
Most of us just assume people want to be treated the way we treat them, which
is not necessarily the way we ourselves would like to be treated, I might add.
Personally, I find that in both my life as a consumer and in my role as a business
owner, my suppliers are constantly making assumptions about the way I like
to be treated. They think I like to be called by first name when I do not,
especially if the person is a stranger and barely out of kindergarten. Perhaps
they think they are being friendly. I think they are being disrespectful. Some
of my suppliers assume I like my mail sent to my street address. I prefer it
goes to my post office box because it is more secure. Others suppose I like
to be contacted by telephone when, in fact, I would rather communicate by email.
Every time someone gets it wrong it irritates me but they think they are delivering
great customer service. If ignorance is bliss, there must be a lot of happy
suppliers out there!
Indeed, my own research suggests that most New Zealand companies do not know
very much about the kind of experience their customers would like to have when
doing business with them. As a result, they cannot assure their customers they
will be treated the way they want to be treated. Even worse, they cannot tell
their staff the kind of experience their customers want and what they have
to do to deliver that experience. Consequently, if their customers do have
a good experience, it is more by luck than good management.
But this is more than just an issue of treating customers as they want to
be treated. It is an example of how little we know about our customers, the
very people who create 100% of our profits! The National Association of Purchasing
Managers in America conducted a survey a few years ago and 75% of the purchasing
managers surveyed said their suppliers did not understand their business. People
wrote on their survey forms, “My suppliers do not know enough about my
business to hold an intelligent conversation with me.”
Do you know your customers’ businesses? I am not talking about their
purchasing history and their use of your products and services. I am wondering
whether you know their business goals, the strategy and tactics they will employ,
the competitive issues they face and the problems they must overcome to succeed?
Get to know your customers. They are not important to your business; they
are your business. Without them, you would have nothing. Put them in the centre
of your world and learn as much about them as you possible can. Then use that
information to change the way you run your business so that you are doing business
the way that suits your customers, not the way that suits you.
As I never tire of saying, you should treat your customers as if your future
depended on it because it does!
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