The Five Things Your Customers Have Learned About Your Business

You probably have some sort of mission statement or elevator pitch for your business – with lots of “enabling” and “satisfying” and “amazing” sprinkled around to show that you’re on the ball. But your customers have their own version – and it might be very different. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Am I A Cog In Your Machine? As a customer, I like to feel that you’re interacting with me as an individual. But sometimes, in the pursuit of consistency and efficiency, you end up sounding a little robotic: <ul> <li>“For sales, press one. For service, press two. For another recording, press three.” </li> <li>“Welcome to Blinky’s, home of the three-cheesy burger can I add extra cheesy fries with your order?” </li> <li>“Do you have our super-special club card? No? Well you don’t get the discount.” </li> <li>“What’s your address? Phone number? Favorite color? Income? Boxers? Briefs?”</li> </ul> If your goal is to <a href="http://www.jimssupply.com/images/CLASSIC_SQUEEZE_CHUTE.jpg">push as many cows through the chute</a> as possible, maybe you should move to Nebraska and work for Hormel. What Do Mean When You Say “Special”? From car dealers to karaoke bars, it seems that everything is now on “special”. You get 20% off, or you buy one and get one, or after the purchase of ten you turn in your card for a punch in the arm. Most of us realize that if you’re always selling stuff at a discount, that means that your “regular” price is a little inflated. If you can give me one free after I buy ten, you could just lower your prices. And if you’re offering me 0% interest, you’re bumping up the price to cover it. Eventually, I start to feel like you just think I’m stupid. It would really be refreshing if you’d just tell me how much it costs, and let me decide if I want to buy it. There are actually a few businesses who have adopted that model, scandalous as it sounds. Do You Really Want My Feedback? It seems that just about every transaction today includes a request for my feedback – either on the huge receipt tape, or in a pop-up window, or if I press “7” after your phone support rep can’t help me. But if I’m unhappy with the product or service, do I get anything other than a form letter that says customer satisfaction is your most important product? One of my new hobbies is to actually give real feedback – on what I liked, and what I didn’t – every time I’m given the chance. It’s only about one time out of 10 that I ever hear back at all. And one time out of 20 that anyone actually takes any action. Do You Treat Your Employees Well? I do a lot of standing in line at your store. And I spend a lot of time walking the aisles, looking for what I need. (Since you just re-designed the store layout for the 25th time this year.) And during that time, I get to overhear lots of employee conversations. Very, very infrequently are your people telling each other what a wonderful job they have, and <a href="http://www.cameroncole.net/humor/posters/burnout.gif">how lucky they are to work there</a>. More often, they’re complaining about their manager, or their pay, or how poorly they’re treated. I often see one poor cashier working alone with 20 people in line. Or a customer service clerk all alone, answering phone lines and dealing with angry customers in a line leading out the door. I guess you were scheduling light to save some money there, right? Do You Execute On The Basics? Even if you have a grandiose vision statement, a complicated business plan and a wonderful organizational chart – can your organization actually execute on the basics? Are your products clearly priced, freshly stocked and nicely faced? Is your phone answered quickly and by someone who can actually give me information? Does the store actually open and close on the posted times? Will you return or adjust a purchase, or give me a ration of shit about it? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Here’s your bottom line. How many of your customers would <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/outrageously-good-customer-service/">recommend</a> that their friends use your business? And what are you doing about the others? 2008-06-03T17:31:30Z

2008-06-05T10:33:59Z

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the-five-things-your-customers-have-learned-about-your-business

2008-06-05T10:33:55Z

You probably have some sort of mission statement or elevator pitch for your business. But your customers have their own version – and it might be very, very different.

The Five Things Your Customers Have Learned About Your Business

2009-02-24T09:44:40Z