In case you didn’t get the memo, “Customer Satisfaction” is dead…buried…no longer relevant. At least it should be if you truly want to sneak ahead of your competition and drive more profitability to your company. Here’s why…
Customer Satisfaction = Mediocrity
Nothing is dazzling, exciting, or memorable to a “satisfied” customer…nothing. It simply means you met the “minimum requirements” for the experience you delivered. It wasn’t bad, and it certainly wasn’t awesome…it was…AVERAGE.
What about your organAization? Are you merely “satisfying” your customers? Are you giving them the experience they expect and merely meets their needs? Or are you WOWing them to a point where they are blown away and can’t wait to tell someone else? If not, let’s look at why this is happening and what you can do to change up the game and give them something to talk about to their friends and colleagues.
First, stop and think about the last time you had a “satisfying” experience. It was fine. It did what it was supposed to do…satisfy your need or want. Did you tell anyone about it? Probably not. Did you rave about it? Nope. Did you share all the details about it and tell an engaging story about it? Nope. And, perhaps most importantly, did you go out of your way to tell others they should definitely buy from this company because it was satisfying? Nope. Why???
Because you were merely “satisfied,” not elated and certainly not delighted. They met your requirements for what you needed…nothing else. It wasn’t terrible, and it wasn’t incredible…it was expected and average…mediocre. But here’s the big disadvantage to a “satisfying experience,” it wasn’t worth telling anyone else about. Satisfaction is pure mediocrity…average…expected.
Creating a Customer Experience that gets “talked about” isn’t easy…it’s damn difficult actually.
The NUMBER ONE REASON companies don’t deliver an over-the-top, rock your world, blow the doors off Customer Experience…it takes work. We’re talking about one that customers rave about to others and can’t wait to experience again. We’re talking about the experience that eclipses your competition and leaves them in the dust. Not just a better experience, one that is miles ahead of anyone competing with you. That’s the type of customer experience that gets talked about.
Most organizations approach their Customer Experience all wrong by focusing on two things that get them in trouble.
1
They focus on the processes that make THEM most efficient…not what blows their customers away.
They streamline, reduce inefficiencies, and eliminate waste in their processes. Nothing wrong with this…unless it goes against making their customers' life easier and more delightful. Now, you might be saying to yourself, “But we do create our processes with our customers in mind.” From all the companies I have seen and talked to, this is not the case.
In most situations, THE CUSTOMER IS NOT FIRST. As hard as this might be to hear, it is the truth. And if you look inside your organization with true transparency, you can answer this question for yourself. Often, the customer comes after they have designed their processes to be more efficient. Remember back after the year 2000? What was the most emphatic topic being bantered around? “Process Reengineering” and “Process Improvement.” Remember? I was part of the old “Big 5” just before that, and all the rage in the consulting world was squeezing money and inefficiencies out of companies to make them more profitable. And it had a second push of energy in the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Everyone was hurting, and rather than increasing sales, profitability was garnered through squeezing out inefficiencies. All good stuff…except for your customers.
Sadly, things have stayed that way, and “process improvement” is still the number one topic for many companies. Maybe it is for you, and perhaps it isn’t. But what has (or should) taken its place is the customer. The “CLV” (Customer Lifetime Value) has decreased significantly for most companies I talk with. In other words, their customers aren’t sticking around as long, so they aren’t making as much money per customer as they used to, need to, or want to today. Customers are defecting at record rates, and turnover (lack of loyalty and retention) is at all-time highs.
2
They look for their products and/or services to DIFFERENTIATE them from their competitors.
While this sounds like a great idea, it is almost impossible to win at this game. There is always someone waiting to announce a better product or richer service. After all, we live in a world economy, so there are many more competitors waiting in the wings. Unfortunately, this leads to the deadly issue called COMMODITIZATION, where everyone essentially looks the same to the customer. The internet has done a fantastic job at helping companies become commodities in the eyes of the customer.
Today, customers choose based on price, terms, and delivery ahead of other factors. Amazon is the worst enemy in this regard. You search for a product, and they give you 1000 choices. They are literally telling you they are all commodities, so pick the one with the lowest price and shortest delivery. And looking at their ratings might help you move it up on your list, but if it is significantly more expensive, you might as soon choose one that is cheaper. This is the COMMODITIZATION of the products.
Put your CUSTOMER FIRST, and you will ECLIPSE YOUR COMPETITION and be viewed as DIFFERENT.
Make a decision today to put your CUSTOMER FIRST and watch these two issues disappear!! Today, we are in the BIGGEST GREENFIELD I have ever seen in my 30+ years of business…it is ripe for the taking.
Since most companies aren’t (actually) putting their customers first, those who create a strategy to put them first are eclipsing them…leaping ahead of their competition…guaranteed! The customer is begging us to differentiate. They want to put their LOYALTY somewhere. They don’t want to shop commodities all the time…they want relationships and a company they can count on to help them meet their needs and wants. They tell me this all the time in interviews, so I know for a fact it is a “top of mind” concern for the customer.
The opportunity is to move well beyond SATISFYING your customers to DAZZLING them.
As I mentioned earlier, it isn’t easy, but the rewards are immense. For example, do a little calculation on your own, and you will see the power of this change. Start by calculating your CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). If you don’t know how there is a formula in my new book you could check out or look online at my blog post, Now is the time…to BUILD LOYALTY. In a nutshell, this helps you determine how much revenue and profit each customer contributes to your organization. It’s important to know this for your different customers…especially your top customers.
Once you know this number, here’s where the fun begins. DOUBLE IT! That’s right, double the number and then see how this would affect your bottom line. If you are like most organizations, it will have a dramatic impact. It does because it doesn’t cost you any additional money beyond what you would expend to serve the customers.
What you get is MORE PROFIT WITHOUT MORE COST. Are you in for that? I hope so.
This is just one of the many advantages you get when you STOP SATISFYING your customers and start putting them in the CUSTOMER IN THE CENTER of your business…what I call CUSTOMER OBSESSION. Less than 20% of the businesses today have committed to putting the customer in the center of their business. An appalling number if you ask me. Again, it isn’t easy, but it is powerful and profitable.
Are you in? Are you ready?
My new book (see below) is focused exclusively on this strategy. It is designed to help you build not just more LOYALTY, but ADVOCATES AND MARKETING AGENTS™ with your audience. I literally want your audience to “do your marketing for you” and help you eclipse your competition. Sound good? I don’t know a business leader who doesn’t want to do this in their organization.
What To Do Next...
I hope you can change your mindset to one where you no longer desire to “SATISFY” your customers but DELIGHT them beyond anything they imagined. When this happens, you can build more TRUST and more ADVOCATES so they can’t wait to tell others about you. How would that change your organization? How would that impact your profitability? Something I would encourage every business to think about and act on. In these trying times especially, having a pack of loyal advocates is worth more than ever. It’s never too late to change your strategy.
My NEW Book
I referenced earlier that I have a new book. It is finally here. It will change your business…forever…guaranteed. Unfortunately, I can only give you the insights and direction in a brief article like this one. The book shows you exactly WHY you might want to be Customer Obsessed, HOW you can get there, and WHAT you need to do to execute. It’s transformative. I hope you get a chance to read it. But even more, I hope you take the plunge and actually execute it. It will definitely change your business…unlike anything you probably have ever done. Let’s do this…
