The ULTIMATE Customer Challenge…How do you Rank?

Virtually every business owner and executive I talk to says they “care about their customers.” Who doesn’t…they pay us money…what’s not to like? But do they really? Here’s a simple “test” or “challenge” for you to take behind closed doors…or with your management team. The answers just might change the way you think and might just help put you on a more aggressive path to achieve “Customer Centricity” in your organization.

The Challenge…

1. Think of the most incredible and memorable “customer experience” you have had in recent years…picture yourself back in this experience.
2. Write down the answers to the following (this makes a great exercise in your next leadership meeting)…
   1. Why is it your favorite and most memorable experience?
   2. What were the pieces that made it so incredible and memorable?
   3. If someone asks you to tell them about it, what are the key points you want to make sure and tell them about this experience?
   4. Have you told others about this experience? How many (roughly) and did you tell them one-on-one and/or on your social channels?
3. Picture the experience your company delivers to your customer’s day in and day out. Think about the elements of the experience, good or bad, and write them down.
4. Now do the comparisons…evaluate the two experiences. How close does the experience you deliver relate to the one you described as your most favorite in #1 and #2 above?
   1. The experiences we deliver and my most memorable one are equal…both remarkable and incredible
   2. The experiences we deliver and my most memorable are pretty close with the majority of key points the same
   3. Our Experience has about half the key parts of my most favorite and memorable experience
   4. The experience we deliver is not very close to my most memorable experience
   5. The experience we deliver isn’t anything like my best and most memorable experience
5. The final…and arguably the most important question. Do you think your customers are going out of their way to tell others about the experience they have with you (good or bad experiences)? If so, how do you think they are telling them, one on one or one to many (social media)?

The Results                                            

The best way to think about the results is by discussing the answers to #4 and #5 above. This should give you some guidance as to where you fit on the scale below…

CUSTOMER CENTRIC                                                                         PRODUCT/SERVICE CENTRIC

This is a helpful exercise/challenge to ask your leadership team and top level managers. It will give you tremendous insight into how you might answer the most critical question of all…“Why is it we deliver a customer experience that is less than what we would expect when we are the customer?”