Take Your Understanding of Customers Way Beyond Spreadsheets

One of the things that is common to all "customer zealot" companies is that they take their understanding of their customers way beyond spreadsheets and survey scores and stats and results. Their meetings about customers and customer experiences are far from paging through a deck looking at results and asking why the number hasn’t moved.

Companies that customers love bring their customers to life.

Most of us know our customers in terms of broad spectrums of how they cluster by demographic or by segment or even by if they are a “Promoter” or “Detractor.” But you need to know them for who they are. Wwhat makes them tick? What kind of people are they? And that means personally reaching out and talking to them. 

Every month, people inside your organization should be having live conversations with your Promoters and Detractors. All you need to do is call a sample of them – and most importantly spread the wealth. Have folks up and down your org chart call them. And record the calls. From here, bring these customers to life.

Something that we are finding great success with as a way to bring the customer to life is the creation of a “Customer Room.” Here, you gather people once a month if possible and recreate the customer experience they are having. Put all the physical evidence of what you are sending them, how you package their goods, screen shots of how they experience your company.

And you can do this by telling the story of what Promoters experience and contrast that with the story of Detractors experience. Most importantly, describe who the customers are who you talked to that month. Bring them to life, tell their story, and play their calls. By having the voice of your customer in your ear, and by taking them off those spread sheets, it will make it a lot harder to walk away from the issues that are impacting their lives.

Talking about the customer in this way shifts the tenor and tone of your passion from the numbers to the people. And that’s what customers want and desire.

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[Net Promoter Community]

Rob Markey, Partner and global head of Bain & Company's Customer Strategy and Marketing practice, provides a related post in the Net Promoter discussion forum. Here is a link (viewing/posting requires brief registration):

http://netpromoter.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2731073251/m/5921064213?r=6541013313#6541013313