Listening to Customers - 5 Tips

In a strange juxtapositioning of articles, this month's UK 'Management Today' has three pieces, relating to the importance of listening to customers.

Susan Rice, CEO of Lloyds TSB makes it clear how vital it is for great leaders to listen and hear. She uses the example of how Coca Cola was swift to 'hear' it's customers when they revolted against New Coke back in 1985 (good job too, it was yuk!). She also rails against the viability of change programmes where over 70% fail to meet the original objectives. A dismal return, pretty consistently due to failing to hear the needs of staff as well as customers in the business.

Fast forward to page 19, where a small piece follows the situation Henry Ford precipitated in the early 20's, with his policy of 'any colour as long as it's black', for his new revolution in car making, the Model T. This worked very well for a few years, giving Ford an enormous 57% of the market. Yet this historic icon of manufacturing efficiency, came back to bite him. His competitors, almost behind his back, found out, by asking and listening, that their customers wanted different colours.

By 1927, General Motors had stolen a March on Ford - and taken a big lead - and market share.

And finally, in an issue strangely focused on customer service, there is a long look at the state of the fashion market in the UK, now led by those lower priced upstarts who have become very visible over the last decade. From Asda's George brand, through TK Maxx, to Matalan, Primark and Peacocks. These are all mounting the pavement and decimating traditional fashion retailers. Marks and Spencer are the usual victims, but not the only ones. The common strand here is that the victors are listening closely to and responding to the needs of their customers - they are taking the time to find out and, what's more, they are 'sensing' the mood; the trend of fashion retailing.

Maybe listening to customers is as vital as it seems. And whilst on the subject, a closer attention to employees wouldn't come amiss either.

What to do in your business?

Five tips:-

• Ask questions of the people that matter - customers and employees.
  
• Listen to their answers and question more.
  
• Act quickly on those things you can fix quickly.
  
• Build into your short-, medium- and long-term strategies the things you are finding out.
  
• Work to ensure that your people are empowered to do this all the time, day in, day out and to feedback to where it will be noticed
  

Copyright 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com. (Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - it would be good if you could include a live link)

...helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow...

In The News:

---

How to Keep Customers

Who was it that said - "The customer is always... Read More

8 Critical Steps to Establish a Customer Service Culture

"Every company's greatest assets are its customers, because without customers... Read More

Putting The Serve Back Into Customer Service

Good service is easy to spot and hard-to-find. Mediocre service... Read More

Take Care of Yourself Before You Take Care of Your Customer

One of the most important questions people ask when they... Read More

Over Delivering Provides Big Results

Over promising is a problem only when you under deliver.... Read More

Be A Resource

What is one of the greatest ways to add value... Read More

How To Boost Your Bottom Line With Two Little Words

I hate to sound like one of those cheesy get-rich-quick... Read More

Carpet Cleaning in Surrey

Like any business, carpet and upholstery cleaning requires excellent customer... Read More

Poor Customer Service - Are Your Customers Driving Away Other Customers

Every customer you have is a word-of-mouth advertiser for you.... Read More

I Wont Tell My Lawyer but I Will Tell You

A general counsel of a large international consulting firm told... Read More

How To Handle Customer Billing Snafus

Q: I just discovered that for the past six months... Read More

Why You Should Always Honour Your Guarantees - Even When The Customer Is In The Wrong

The Reason Why Direct Internet Marketers Have To Work So... Read More

Your Voice Print

"Mountains are built one pebble at a time and climbed... Read More

How to Easily Increase Your Profits

Do you remember the last time you went into a... Read More

Improving Customer Service

Improving customer service starts at the top - with us... Read More

At the Carwash; The Customer really is always Right

You have no doubt heard the saying that the customer... Read More

Doors by Catering to Your Clients

Clients? they are the most important influence in the success... Read More

Customer Satisfaction and the Service Business

The relationship between customer satisfaction and success of a service... Read More

4 Customer Service Mistakes Companies Should Avoid Making

1) Being placed on hold endlessly. Don't you just love... Read More

What Do They Want Anyway?

You want customers. I want customers. We all want customers.... Read More

Automating Your Help Desk Workflow

Do you know you can open, answer, close and report... Read More

One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day

What happened to the old saying, the customer is always... Read More

Learn to Anticipate Your Customers Needs

This morning I was having breakfast with my good friend... Read More

Attitude of Service

When conducting a training session about customer service, I always... Read More

Committed To Your Customer? Prove It When They Complain!

Businesses like to brag in their advertising about quality of... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to See Customers Problems from Their Creative Side

Customer Service is a blessing and a curse; a blessing... Read More

Establishing Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Your Customers

The most important aspect of a successful business is developing... Read More

Businesses Need to Rehumanise

Big companies and corporations have lost the human touch. The... Read More

The Consumer Power

While most companies talk about consumer friendliness, customer centricity, customer... Read More

Have You Hugged a Customer Today?

It all started a couple of weeks ago when a... Read More

From Disgruntled to Champion - How to Turn an Unhappy Client Into Your Best Customer

It's a salesperson's worst nightmare- the phone call that comes... Read More

10 Customer Service Quality Statements to Measure up Against

It might sound quick and simple, to say how well... Read More

Customers - What They Really Want - 6 Secrets of Customer Service

What customers really want can be divided into two areas.Firstly... Read More