This is the 2nd part of a series on 'Customer Energy' - go to part 1.
Once we’ve worked out how to get more A’s and B’s and get rid of or convert D’s and C’s, it’s time to look at how we nurture and grow these customers. One way to do this is to look at how your business interacts with customers externally and internally. Something like this:
Starting with the Outbound side, this is all about perceived experience. It’s not just about delivering great products or service, it’s about how your customers perceive your business. The old adage ‘under-promise, over-deliver’ is an example of this. Another less positive example is from 1991 when Gerald Ratner described one of his company’s products as “total crap”. The ensuing fallout resulted in the company losing £500 million in value and having to rename itself to avoid collapse. Customers’ perceptions of the products Ratners sold before the CEO made those remarks were fine – they were happy to buy based on a perception of value. Afterwards, the perception was that they were being taken for mugs and fools and conned out of their hard earned cash. Nothing had changed but the perception …
So what is your business doing to not just deliver the level of product or service you’re targeting but to make sure your customers perceive (see, touch, feel) the value in doing business with you too?
On the Inbound side, this is about keeping customers’ wants and needs central to your business’ offering. As your customers’ needs evolve, so must your product or service, otherwise you get left behind. Sony were the leaders in portable music devices through the 80’s and 90’s. They led in the concept of being able to take music anywhere with their Walkman cassette and CD players. Sony weren’t the first to launch an MP3 player but in 1999 they did. Unfortunately, they’d lost the Voice of the Customer and instead of a simple, accessible piece of tech that anyone could use (the Walkman), their new MP3 player was tech driven, tricky to use and only played a Sony file type. By the early 2000’s they’d been leapfrogged and left behind by Apple with the iPod – a truly customer centric product based on the idea of “1000 songs in your pocket” and a library of music that was easy to access. How are you making sure your Customers (the right ones) remain central to the work of your business?
Finally another story from that illustrates both sides of this particular coin. Kodak invented digital photography. Why, then, did they go bankrupt in 2012 having been out-played by multiple other digital camera companies? It was because Kodak tried to supress the technology, believing it to be a threat to their core products of film and film cameras rather than moving to embrace it and lead the next stage of development for their loyal customer base. Kodak has since re-invented itself as a print and speciality materials company, based on the aspects of its expertise that it can deliver excellently to the right customer base. Kodak today is a very different company with a new, loyal customer base.
So examine your customer base. Who are the A’s that love you? Who are the D’s that hurt you? Cherish the one and remove the other. Then focus on how you deliver real value to your customer base with an experience that allows them to see, feel and appreciate that value.
Now and into the future.
Be guided by the Voice of your true A grade customers and you won’t go far wrong.
This is the 2nd part of a series on 'Customer Energy' - go to part 1.
