Dear CEO: Your Customers Really Want You To Know Them
Dear CEO:
The last two years have presented us with a rough economy and no doubt, many people—employees, stakeholders and customers alike—are feeling its tight squeeze and so are you. Layoffs, cutbacks, delayed product and service upgrades, lack of innovation, competitive pressure, unsure stockholders, lost supply chains, and more, likely keep you up at night or at least in the office for countless hours when you would rather be home with your family.
With or without a bad economy, the business tides have certainly shifted over the past five years.
Customers are now more vocal than ever when it comes to your brand and the promises made on its behalf. Yes, even B2B customers.
It used to be that customers would share their positive and negative experiences through customer satisfaction surveys, focus groups, industry association meetings and even with the media. Now they have tools right at their fingertips that allow them to reach thousands—if not millions—of buyers in your target market via the Internet. These tools put a microscope on your brand and magnify it more than you have ever known was possible.
I am sure you have read or heard about social media and its importance. However, it is not enough to be aware that your customers are using social media channels. It is your job to understand why. The why lies in the fact that you do not know them… not really.
I am sure your focus is on what products and services your company makes, what is the highest margin you can earn without overpricing compared to the competition, what distribution channels make the most sense without adding more cost, and generating media attention and leads to generate revenue.
That mindset is broken. Your customers don’t care.
They care about whether you sell a product or service that they need or that eases their specific business challenge. They care about what their overall cost is (and that cost goes well beyond the invoice they will be paying you). They care about the convenience they will experience in doing business with you. They care about being able to search for a solution to their problem and not being interrupting with needless promotions for a product or service they could never use.
See the difference? They really want you to know them.
So how about it? Will you consider leading from a customer-centric perspective?
Best of luck,
Beth Harte
The Harte of Marketing
@bethharte
beth@harteofmarketing.com
www.theharteofmarketing.com
Along with Gini Dietrich and 30 other smart business, marketing and public relations minds, I provided the above letter for Arment Dietrich’s new ebook, Dear CEO: Letters to the C-Suite from Experts on Vision, Culture, Community, and Integration.
I know that you also have smart advice that you’d like to share with CEO’s to help them understand today’s business environment!
Here’s your chance.
The first ten people to share customer-centric advice get a FREE PDF copy of Dear CEO via e-mail.
Let others benefit from your advice by sharing this post using the #DearCEO hashtag on Twitter and sharing it on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. There’s no better way to learn then from one another’s experiences.
If you’d like to buy a copy of Dear CEO, head on over to Arment Dietrich’s Spin Sucks, where they are available for purchase.
[Image sources: life123.com, Spin Sucks]
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Thanks so much for your contribution to this, Beth!
Gini Dietrich recently posted..Gin and Topics- Liars- Doubt- and Trouble
Occasionally try on a differen view than behind the desk. There is no better way to connect with customers than to do it in person. Social Media is a great vehicle for sharing and connecting on a large scale but also be sure to get out from behind the desk and occasionally customers to access you directly. Widely popular shows like Under Cover Boss show an example of what happens when a CEO steps out into their workforce for a good reason. When something inevitably does not go as planned for a customer or with one of your products customers are much more app to consider a solution than when they know more about the company and their workers than when they are just responding to a brand, product or logo.
Customer-centric approach should not be concerned with the number of customers who speak up and give advice. If you poll 1,000 customers and only 20 respond, this should not be seen as a failure. There are groups of people who will welcome a chance to chime in with opinions, but an even larger group who will be the ‘silent majority’ and often have the same feelings as those who speak up.
Do not discount the one person and the power they hold.
Ask a few people on your team to show you the unvarnished truth. What is being said about your company and products in social media forums. Your job – accept the input at face value; make no responses or objections. Over the next couple of days ponder the input. Then have an open conversation with your team about what you’ve heard.
Remember that this is only one view of your brand but it’s important to consider the scope of the audience and potential impacts. This should be conversational; not adversarial or defensive.
Enjoy the insights!
Gini, you’re quite welcome!
Shannon, Ryan and NWGuy (I know your real name!), thanks for the great additions and insights. Your copy of Dear CEO will find its way to your inbox shortly!
Thank you, Beth and Gini. What a great collection of insights. Highly suggest to anyone who is considering the eBook.
Listening is a powerful tool, in my little humble place. I recently read a great blog post from a hospital CEO talking about “Rounding”. The original idea centered around leadership making the rounds in a hospital with the physicians. As “Rounding” was occurring, something great happened…the hospital leadership did more than learn about the physicians day, they were able to interact with te patients on a one-to-one situation. So with this approach, leadership inside an organization taking the initiative to “Round” where the customers are taking part with the products or services, listening are responding to the customers. This idea translates to social media, leadership rounding online with blogs and other social outlets. This same hospital CEO now has a very active blog with the comment fields left open. This has allowed employees and patients to touch the leadership in a mutual space, where the CEO writes and responds openly. Listening and caring to me is key. Just my little humble thoughts in the space of smart people. ~BR
Bobby Rettew recently posted..Love This…Facebook Friend of the Day
There’s no better way to get to know your clients then to interview them on a regular basis. For attorneys and other professionals, client interviews can be a great way to ascertain what things you’re doing well, what things you might be able to do better, and where additional opportunities may be found.
You should set up these interviews annually, if possible. Conduct them at the client’s office and (of course!) don’t charge for your time.
And as Stephen Seckler suggests, for the best chance of discovering the whole truth, it’s best if the individual conducting the interview is not the relationship partner. (Often it’s easier to tell a third party about problems.) Equally important is that the interviewer is someone who is skilled at probing beneath the surface to discover if the client has any issues.
Your clients will appreciate the simple fact that you’re taking time to do this. Additionally, you will be rewarded with great feedback on how you can strengthen your client relationships, keep competitors at bay and increase your business with your current clients.