Your Customers Have
the Answers
July 2009
If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past 35 years it is
your customers will tell you everything you need to know to succeed. Unfortunately,
we usually do not listen to them.
I am chairman of a company that licenses automotive workshops to use
a system for testing engine efficiency. It is a great product because
a workshop makes money doing the test as part of a vehicle’s annual
service, the customer saves money by not wasting fuel and the community
breathes more easily because we reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.
I had always thought this product was a classic win-win and therefore
I was amazed to discover workshops would buy the equipment and pay a license
fee and then do very few tests.
When I first noticed this, I sent regular emails to workshops explaining
the benefits of doing engine efficiency tests but it made no difference.
Then we ran training courses for workshop owners and their staff but nothing
changed. I even sent monthly emails telling workshops how few tests they
had done and how many the best performing workshops were doing. That made
no difference either. Finally, we implemented a minimum monthly fee for
workshops to provide an incentive. Licensees happily paid the fee and
still did very few tests.
My frustration grew and I became convinced the workshop owners did not
see the benefits of doing engine efficiency tests as part of an annual
service. Throughout this period, we tried to organise a national conference
to discuss the issue but we could not find a date when all workshop owners
could attend. Finally, I ran out of ideas, and knowing something had to
be done, suggested to the board we hold regional meetings which the directors
would attend. As a board, we agreed our role was to listen and learn,
and not to push a point of view or become defensive.
We recently held our first regional meeting and in the first ten minutes
we learned licensees saw the value of doing the test and were keen to
do more tests. What was stopping them were problems with our processes
and our IT system. Our top performing workshops knew how to get around
these problems but less experienced licensees and their staff quickly
gave up. We learned all this because we asked one question right at the
start of the meeting: “What problems do you have doing business
with us?” Needless to say, we fixed the problems and within weeks,
the number of tests increased. Some workshops did five times the number
of tests they had been doing.
Perhaps you think we should have been on to this sooner. I certainly
do and we now telephone every licensee weekly to find out what problems
they have doing business with us and what we can do to help them become
successful.
What did
get right was to ask the correct question and to listen to the answers
without becoming defensive. Think about it. When is the last time one
of your suppliers asked you that question? And, if you have tried to tell
a supplier about problems you have doing business with them, how many
listened?
I have just finished working with staff in a large a large organisation
where groups of about 30 came together for half a day. To each workshop,
we invited customers to talk about what the organisation does well and
how that helps them, what it does poorly and what problems that causes
them, and what they need and expect from the organisation. It was interesting
to see that whenever a customer talked about problems the organisation
was causing them, the typical response from staff was to blame the customer,
explain to the customer what they should do to overcome those problems,
or justify their actions.
This response was not unusual. A retailer I buy from regularly got a
special order wrong and when I pointed this out, the shop assistant gave
me a lengthy explanation about how they usually are really good at handling
special orders. When she had finished, I asked her if she felt better
for having got that off her chest. She was smart enough to acknowledge
her explanation probably had not made me feel any better and then explained
why she had given me the explanation. She should have quit while she was
behind! More recently, I have had a battle with an agent for a well-known
manufacturer of laptops because their product, which cost nearly $5,000,
failed. It still worked but it the sound function had died. Instead of
saying sorry, they told me what I had to do to get the product repaired,
which included leaving the laptop with them for three days while they
ordered a part from Australia. I explained I used the laptop almost constantly
and said it made no sense to me to leave it sitting on a shelf while they
waited for the part when I could be using it. I was told that was their
policy. When I challenged that, I was told what later turned out to be
lies as they attempted to pressure me to do business their way.
So what can you learn from my experience as both a supplier and a customer?
First, stay close to your customers. Secondly, ask them what problems
they have doing business with you. Thirdly listen to the answers - no
counter attacks, explanations, justifications or lies. Fourthly, do something
to fix those problems, and be quick about it. If you think you are already
doing all of these, ask your customers. They may have a different view.
The good news is delusions of adequacy can be treated if detected early!
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