When we are looking to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty through customer intimacy, it again boils down to asking questions of your customers. You know you have a good quality product. You know you provide pretty good service. But do you really think it’s a case of “Build It and They Will Come?”
You need to really be in tune with your customers. You need to ask them the right questions to determine what it is about your products that brings them back to you.
Ask these questions…
What is it that they like about your product or service? What is it that they DON’T like about it? How do they benefit by using your product? If you are business to business, how do your customers make money with your service? What challenges do they face when using your product?
Now, a lot of you may think that you already do a pretty good job of asking these or similar questions of your customers. If that is truly the case, then congratulate yourself because you are already ahead of 95% of your competition. They are still lagging behind in the “Build It and They Will Come” mentality. Really, that’s so 1989.
If you want to be even smarter about the way you do business and tailor it to your customers, take this next step…
Ask those same questions, but instead of asking about your product or service, substitute the word “business” to get a better gauge on how your business itself is serving your customers. How is your response time? Are your salespeople really helping solve problems or just trying to sell product that your customers don’t really need? Are your customer support staff knowledgeable enough about your products and services? Are there any obstacles that make it difficult to do business with you?
There was a saying that I used when I was young to defend my constant question asking.. “The one who asks the most questions learns the most.” As a business leader, you could use this same premise with a twist…
“The business that asks the most questions and acts on them EARNS the most.”
What do you think?