When I was a young boy, my brother and I sold peaches from our backyard tree door to door. By age 10, I had a pretty good handle on capitalism. The idea that “The customer is always right” was ingrained at a very young age. I had heard it from family and friends, but experience brought the message home. To this day, in a customer service environment, I still believe that the customer is always right. However, your customers aren’t always capable of articulating what you can do to uniquely serve their wants, needs, and desires. When it comes to growth, you’ve got to know customers better than they know themselves.
At about the same time a few years ago, two companies dis-covered that businesspeople were tired of carrying around so many electronic gadgets and set about marketing a solution. A major clothing company responded by making a pair of dressy slacks that would carry lots of gadgets in hidden pockets. Despite favorable response to initial prototypes and an aggressive advertising campaign, the product line flopped. The pants didn’t really solve the problem.
A company called Handspring (now part of Palm) decided to make a cell phone that was also a personal data assistant and wireless Internet device. The Treo combined items almost everyone was carrying around into one item that could slide into a pocket. The product was a modest hit from the start. After Handspring merged with Palm, they made a new version with e-mail access that was an even bigger hit.
Handspring knew their customers better than some of those customers knew themselves. A few years ago, if the company had asked focus group members to raise their hands if they would pay $500 or more for a 3-in-1 cell phone, few would have said yes. In fact, I would have been one of those people. An always on-the-go road warrior like me is the target for such a device. But honestly, the only reason I have one is that I was given one. For years, I have spoken on behalf of Sprint to small business owners around the country. Sprint gave me one of these devices, and I immediately loved it. In fact, I can’t imagine how I got along without it. Thanks in
Tags: business, communication, customer, tips