One way to get unanimous agreement is by asking, “Who likes to DIET?” Everyone hates DIETING. They hate all aspects of the word and what it stands for…pain and suffering. The only reason people go on one is for the “DREAM OF SUCCESS.”
It is in fact a “dream” because the failure rate is off the charts…more people fail on a diet than succeed. And the stats show the average person will go on at least 11 in their lifetime! No wonder diet companies make so much money…repeat customers…and that’s not a good thing.
This isn’t a great record of success…regardless of the business you are in. Now switch your thinking to your business…the same thing happens in the customer experience world…lots of starts and stops…lots of failures. Yet everyone will say they “care about their customers”…they just aren’t willing to change their business to put them at the center of everything…they aren’t willing to take the leap to being “Customer Centric.”
And what about “word-of-mouth?” People talk about most things in their life on social channels…kids, relationships, sports, hobbies, etc., but they don’t talk about “being on a diet.” They only talk about it AFTER they have lost their weight and people started noticing or if they are considering one. Why is that?
They have the “dream” but know they have a high likelihood of failing. Who wants to talk about something they know they will probably fail at…not many. They are only willing to talk about it if they either look like they will succeed or they do succeed…then they are willing to share this with their friends. No one says, “I am so excited to tell you about this new diet I am going to fail at.” So they say nothing. They don’t spread word-of-mouth about the diet…they don’t talk.
Compare this with your potential customer experience and customer centric initiative and you will see the similarities. Why would a company go out and tell their customers they are going to start on an initiative to dramatically improve their customer experience, put them at the center of everything they do, and become a customer centric company…when they know they have a high likelihood of failing. They won’t. So they say nothing. They don’t tell their customers or anyone else. And when they don’t tell others…they don’t make it happen.
This is what group therapy is based around. You go to the group and tell a bunch of people you are going to commit to change something. And by telling the group, your odds improve dramatically that you will get there…certainly much higher odds than if you told no one.
If you truly, honestly want to become “Customer Centric” and deliver a totally awesome customer experience your customers will talk about on social channels…TELL THEM. This will give you a much greater chance of success than keeping to yourself until you see it working…it most likely won’t. But by telling them, they will by watching, asking you questions, and getting engaged in your journey. If you are truly committed, your odds of success go up dramatically. This is success at “dieting” and changing your “customer experience.”
