Jun
17
Who is Your Customer?
Posted by Erin Paulson at 10:12 am | Filed In Smart, Strategic
I am sharing some insights here that will eventually get to a point related to B2B - so read on and be patient.
A few weeks ago, we purchased a new-to-us (i.e., used, and now brilliantly marketed as certified) Honda Pilot. This was much to my delight, as I have been trying to persuade my husband to do this since January. I had been itching to rid ourselves of a GMC Envoy. I could write an entirely different blog about the demise of GM based on my personal opinions of local union situations as well as the poor quality product that I drove for almost 5 years. But we can wait for another day for that one. Plus, I was humbled a few weeks ago by a lengthy conversation with a GM retiree in the parking lot of Kroger. (Don’t ask my why but perfect strangers are happy to share their life stories with me often.) He was so proud of those GMC Envoys, helping build the frames for over 6 years. So far be it from me to take away from that kind of dedication to one’s work.
After driving our new car for a few days, I realized that Honda has an excellent grasp of who their customers are and design their cars based on consumer input. From the cup holders to the radio buttons to the DVD player, everything is exactly where I would have put it. There are unexpected bonus storage areas, and nothing rattles or shakes inappropriately. Honda has delighted a customer.
Which leads to how this story relates to B2B…..when was the last time that you spoke to a customer? And maybe not just the person that signs the invoice, but the actual user of your product or service? Any new products, features or functions that you could be offering? And how do you know for sure that what you have to offer is competitive?
When business is thriving or even just steady, it is easy to keep moving forward without checking in with the actual customer. But the company that maintains open communication with their customers as users creates a competitive advantage. One of my best experiences at Teradata was working with their Service Focus Team, which is comprised of database administrators and managers from around the world. These loyal customers happily share their thoughts with Teradata daily/weekly/monthly about how Teradata can improve both their software and hardware solutions as well as their customer service.
User groups are a powerful resource and are a direct view into the minds of your customers, making it less complicated for you to know how to delight your customer. And isn’t that what we all hope to achieve?
