Customer Perspective is really the only thing that matters in Customer Experience (CX) work. I know this seems a bit extreme… please bear with me.
I know that you are doing what you think is best for your business and your customer. I know that most of you are looking to create solid experiences for your customers that will bring them back to you time and time again.
But what if your customers don’t think the same way you do? What if you think the billing process you currently have is fine, but it’s driving your customers nuts? What if they think your invoicing or billing practices are inconvenient or confusing?
What if you’ve invested in a state of the art contact call center, but your customers can’t stand it?
That’s the rub. Many companies feel what they have in place is just fine. And, in all likelihood, it probably does the job. But just consider this… your customers aren’t comparing you to your competitors. They are comparing you to wherever it is that they do business where they feel important, valued, and listened to. They unconsciously compare you to any company that makes things easier on them than you do… Amazon perhaps? So if they make a suggestion to you, or even complain, about your billing practices and you don’t at least seriously consider it, you have a problem on your hands.
Because who drives your business? Yes, you are leadership… but your customers are giving you their money that helps you stay in business. If they leave, you won’t have a business to run. You should consider putting the customer perspective in the driver’s seat, at the head of the table, in the position to help guide your business and operating decisions.
Now I’m not suggesting that you will go out of business simply because your invoicing is confusing, but if you aren’t taking suggestions or feedback in one area of your business seriously, I would venture to guess you likely aren’t taking it seriously in other areas as well. Just be aware that it is a psychological pattern that how you do “something” is highly indicative of how you do “everything”… both in our personal and professional lives.
Customer-driven companies… it’s an OUTside IN approach… meaning you find out what is important to your customers, find out what they prefer, and make things happen as much as possible as you can according to their preferences. If you do this well, I promise you, they will stay loyal to you.
You are basically telling them… “Hey, we value you. Thanks for your business. Let us know what you like and we’ll try to do it.” You’d be hard-pressed to find a customer that wouldn’t feel important to your business with that approach.
Because every single human alive has their own opinion and perspective. And everyone’s perspective and belief is their reality. Our perspective is what drives our beliefs, decisions, and actions.
So in business, the customer’s perspective is their reality. If they believe that your billing practices are confusing, then pay attention to that. Because if you want to keep them as your customer, you need to address it.
When the customer perspective serves as a guiding light to your operations… it’s a beautiful thing.
To listen to the podcast covering this topic… click here.