You almost can’t read anything today that isn’t talking about something relating to CUSTOMERS these days…it is popping up everywhere. There is no question about the truly heightened awareness and buzz over this topic and the impact improving your customer experience or service can have on your bottom line. Why so much attention and buzz over customers today? I have some answers that might help explain this a bit more for you…
There is much more buzz and discussion going on about the following topics…
- Customer Experiences
- Customer Loyalty
- Customer Retention (a biggy today)
- Customer Advocacy
- Customer Satisfaction
- Customer Service
- Customer this and Customer that…
And I believe there is one common factor that is causing this massive increase in conversation… NOTHING ELSE IS WORKING! All the other solutions have either been tried, have already been implemented, or they haven’t produced the results companies wanted so there is nowhere else to turn than back to their customers. Seems kind of ironic doesn’t it…the last place companies are turning is their customers…the place I believe everyone should be starting from, not ending up. It seems a bit backwards to my way of thinking. I believe the customer should be the first thing companies think about since they are the only ones who pay them money to stay alive and do everything they want.
You might be asking, “What’s not working today that worked in the “Industrial Revolution”?…
- Lowering the cost of your products…today there are countless new competitors in everyone’s space who are more than happy to lower their prices to attract new customers away from you…we are solidly in the “Commodity Economy”.
- Giving away more products and services…because of the massive commoditization impacting virtually every company today, companies feel it necessary to give more things away for the same price as a way to increase their “value” to their customers…this is another form of discounting, only less abrasive
- Improving processes to be more efficient…this is one that has been going on for the past 20 years…and it has literally run its course with many companies…they have taken the bulk of their inefficiencies out of their business so now it doesn’t have the return it used to have in the early days
- Cost cutting of any kind…this is definitely something that was in high vogue when the recession hit in 2007 and beyond…everyone was looking for ways to cut costs just to keep the doors open…but now those costs have been cut and most companies are down to a pretty reasonable cost model
- Hiring “happier” employees…I can’t say this isn’t a good idea, but if it isn’t coupled with a very specific purpose for these employees, they are just happier but don’t necessarily change the customer experience significantly or consistently
- Others???…you can add to the list of things that are not working for you today that you may have tried or have run their course
Here’s what IS WORKING TODAY…and HAS ALWAYS WORKED throughout history…TREATING YOUR CUSTOMERS BETTER THAN YOUR COMPETITORS.
This has been consistent throughout time…it has never gone out of style. Companies that have always treated their customers in awesome, incredible, and remarkable ways have always done well. They may not have survived for other economic reasons, but it wasn’t because they didn’t go out of their way to treat their customers better than anyone else.
Nordstrom, like Zappos, got their start selling a commodity…shoes. But they didn’t sell shoes…they sold an experience that happened to include buying shoes. Nordstrom developed their history as the most experiential shoe store in the country and soon became known as the only place to go get the right shoe, the right fit, and be treated incredibly well. They later expanded beyond shoes and now are a full clothing line retailer. Zappos took the same strategy only applied it online to meet the new needs of consumers in the Internet Revolution. Both will tell you that they are 100% about the CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE and it’s what made them as successful as they are today. And what about Disney…do you think they sell ride tickets…they sell an experience that happens to deliver rides to families.
Developing and delivering a totally awesome, incredible, amazing WOW experience has always been in style…and will become even more critical for businesses survival well into the future.
So it begs the question…if it is such a stalwart of business success, why doesn’t everyone do it? Great question and actually a pretty simple answer…because it’s hard…harder than almost anything on the list I shared above. This might not resonate with everyone initially…that’s OK…but building a CUSTOMER OBSESSED company isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes planning, design, execution, measuring, improving, modifying, and doing this over and over again…continually. But here’s the biggest issue…
CUSTOMER OBSESSION TOUCHES EVERY PERSON IN THE COMPANY…everyone has to be on board and delivering this awesome customer experience or it won’t work. This is what makes it difficult…but incredibly rewarding. It’s what allows companies to be completely differentiated against their competitors for today and well into the future. It is more widespread in the organization than anything on the list above. But like the saying goes, “If it was easy, everyone would do it and it wouldn’t be differentiating.” THIS IS DIFFERENTIATING…
With everything else falling off the list of things to do to grow and improve profitability, there seems to be one elephant left in the room…the CUSTOMER. So when things aren’t working as great as they were before and there is more competition knocking at your door, it’s time to find something else that could help them stand apart. It’s the CUSTOMER…
When we wrote our book, “Creating and Delivering Totally Awesome Customer Experiences” several years ago, we didn’t realize it was a book ahead of its time. It was written during the late Industrial Revolution when there were lots of other things to do…other than focus on customers. But today, everyone is very interested in our book and our methodology because it is more relevant today than when it was written. While I plan to rewrite the book and update it with some additional new material, the goal of creating a “CONSISTENT, REPEATABLE, AND SCALABLE” Customer Experience hasn’t changed.
For most companies, there really aren’t any other options left to help them cut costs or increase revenues…it’s time to get back to the core of business…their customers. Even though I have helped companies in this area for the past 20 years…I have never seen a more impactful time for companies to become OBSESSED over their customers. It is the new battleground…and for those that decide to be aggressive about it early, it will pay huge dividends. It’s like the Tsunami that’s sitting off shore. I can tell companies I have seen it and it’s headed our way…but it’s up to them to decide to stay put or seek the higher ground. For many, they will wait until it hits shore and be wiped out…for those that migrated to the hills, they will reap the rewards.
This is what all the buzz is that’s going on about the customer. There are people running around (some of the largest consulting firms in the world) telling company leaders about the Tsunami. The warnings will continue…the only question is “when” it hits rather than “if” it reaches shore. The only real decision for leaders is to decide if they can move to higher ground in time. And moving to higher ground is what CUSTOMER OBSESSION is all about.
