It seems like every company and every salesperson talks about “putting the customer first.” If only it were true.
To be sure, there are many companies (and salespeople) that actually walk the ‘customer first’ walk, but most simply display a catchy customer slogan while pursuing whatever policies or business practices are most beneficial to themselves, not the customer. Sure, I am aware that salespeople rarely have any control over company policy, but they are more than capable of adopting a “customer first” business strategy on their own.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos discussed his company’s continued growth and the overwhelming success of the Kindle (pictured). “We start with the customer and we work backward,” Bezos said. “We learn whatever skills we need to service the customer. We build whatever technology we need to service the customer.” Amazing how that works, huh? Take care of the customer, and all that. I suspect that if this particular philosophy works for a $20 billion company in the midst of a severe economic downturn, it might possibly work for an individual salesperson or a small-to-medium sized business.
Another ‘customer first’ success story is Southwest Airlines. The continued success of Southwest in the midst of an airline industry meltdown is pretty well documented. Amazingly, the White House (of all people) called on Southwest for customer service advice (talk about an oxymoron – government bureaucracy and customer service?). As reported in a recent Dallas Morning News article, CEO Gary Kelly said this about customer service, “You need to know what you are. It’s more important for us to be on time and have great employees…than offer frills.” Why? Because airline customers want to be on time. Because airline travel can be tedious and customers prefer friendly, helpful employees (are you listening American Airlines??).
First lesson: Remove the barriers that make it difficult to deal with you or do business with you.
Do You Want Satisfaction or Loyalty?
In the battle for customers, Jeffrey Gitomer, author of Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless says a salesperson (or company) should have one simple objective – to create customer loyalty, not satisfaction. “Satisfied customers will shop any place,” Gitomer notes. “Loyal customers will fight before they switch – and they will proactively refer people to buy from you.”
Most salespeople rarely see their primary objective as creating loyal customers. Instead they are focused on selling a product or service in order to make money. Unfortunately, there is a world of difference between selling a product or service and creating a loyal customer. Again, many salespeople (and companies) claim that customers are important, and believe they are trying to create customer loyalty. Unfortunately, they are often guilty of many of the following practices:
- Company policies and procedures that fail to consider customers; i.e., policies that are good for the company, but bad, bad, bad for the customer
- Poorly trained salespeople or support personnel that cannot answer questions, provide information, or deal with issues
- Situations where a customer gets a different answer from every person they talk to; or worse, a different answer each time they call
- Companies that do not follow-up, fail to do things they say they will do, or otherwise deliver only a fraction of what the customer expects
With respect, if your methods (or policies) for dealing with customers are developed to benefit you or the company without consideration of how they impact the customer, you might want to re-think the fancy slogan on the wall that touts your customer commitment.
Second lesson: In dealing with customers, think like a customer! Strive to provide the level of service and support that creates loyalty, not just satisfaction.
Create a ‘Customer First’ Approach
Look, if you really want to create a sustainable competitive advantage, try working backwards. First, as Bezos suggests in the article, ask yourself the following: “Who are your customers? What do they need? And then…give that to them regardless of whether [you] currently have the skills to do so [or not]. Learn those skills no matter how long it takes.” In addition, consider the following:
- Look at everything you do and assess it from the customer’s viewpoint. Instead of making excuses, make changes where necessary.
- Ask your top customers what they would change about you or your company, given the opportunity. Stop the excuses, and make changes where necessary.
- Assess every customer touch point in your company. Ask yourself if you would enjoy the experience of dealing with your people. Rather than excuses, make changes where necessary.
Sometimes, going at things backwards can be incredibly productive.
