An Example of Owning Customers

One of my clients is a software distributor. It is very good at what it does and constantly strives to improve its service to its clients. It wants to improve and is not reluctant to spend money to improve its already excellent service. My introduction to it came as a result of a change in technology that it was prepared to implement to improve its customer service. Part of the planned change was a conversion to an automated answering service as part of its telephone system. It had observed the calling patterns of its clients and had determined that the automated system would be an asset to them and that the system would improve efficiency while reducing costs. The system had been identified, and the company was ready to purchase it.

Company executives contacted me about helping to train their client contact reps in overall customer service communication as part of the upgrade. Their concern was getting their employees ready for implementation. During the course of our meetings, I asked whether they had contacted their customers, seeking feedback about the proposed changes. Surprisingly, they admitted that they had not.

Let me point out that these principals are not typical of the type who think they know what their customers want. These guys are passionate about their service and were pleased to ask their clients what they desired. They immediately grasped the concept of a client survey and were enthusiastic about what they would learn, as opposed to being fearful of learning what their customer base thought of them.

The results were interesting if not surprising. The overwhelming majority of their clients did not want the new service, and it was scrapped. What was even more interesting was the positive response from the anonymous survey, which reflected significant client appreciation at being asked before implementing the changes.

The company then took advantage of what was a terrific marketing opportunity. It conducted a focus group, shared the responses with the complete customer base, implemented a new set of customer service basics to its staff, developed a new logo and website, and virtually reinvented itself with much success—most of it due to its quest to be better than it had been. It also implemented a software tracking system by which it now measures (and rewards) its improved response times to customer problems. It knows, day-by-day, exactly how it is doing with its process and has put relentless emphasis on its people skills as well. By going outside its boardroom to ask what could make it better, it discovered it—by asking its customers what was needed, as opposed to thinking it simply knew it all the time.

Great customer service comes only as the result of great customer knowledge. The companies that “get it” understand that customer desires are not determined in the boardroom. They are not decided on how we want to be served. They are decided when we ask our customers how they want to be treated.