"The times, they are a 'changin."- Bob Dylan
Everything changes-
businesses, people, relationships, products, food- you name it. If everything
is changing, why would a successful business stick to the same old tired
routine? We've noticed it before- rapidly destabilizing work environments,
unhappy employees, and unhappy customers. What used to work simply isn't doing
it anymore.
Why?
Because age old tactics
like Lean Six Sigma that only approach customers as an end to reduce waste,
whereas the only true focus is to reduce waste and lower costs are driving
customers away.
Good businesses operate with
an "outside- in" approach that allows them to succeed in the highly
transparent times that technology has created. Instead of putting your
customers at the end of the list- most modern, successful businesses (like
Google, Acuity, Twitter or Intuit) have started putting the customer first.
Sure, it's a novel idea, but the end result is the same- to increase sales, do
what customers want. There are a wide variety of ways that modern companies are
approaching this topic:
- User
Experience Technicians
- Enterprise
Feedback Management
- Voice/Needs of
the Customer
- Customer
Relationship Management (CRM)
- Understanding
CEM (Customer Experience Management)
But in general, it's all
about simply collecting and analyzing the things that customers say about your
brand, business or market. Then, you have measure the gap between what you're
doing and what you want to do, and close the gap. The way modern businesses are
doing this is by supporting the idea that positive customer experiences fuel
sales and retain customers- and that's going to increase the overall
organization's market position.
There are 8 Ways to
Achieve the Outside- In Approach In Your Business
1. Figure out who your
customer is.
2. Define what outcome you
want your customer to have.
3. Figure out how to align
your goals with your customer goals (this is called SCO [Successful Customer
Outcome] in the business world)
4. Identify what is
keeping your customer experience scores lower than perfect
5. Use these scores and interpretations
to figure out your weak points internally and eliminate them
6. Establish plans that
reinforce achievement of your SCO to boost sales exponentially
7. Execute your plan as
you go
8. Don't wait to improve
your customer's experience, start now instead of waiting for a sign off from
upper executives
When all your eggs fall into
the right basket, everything works perfectly. Your business revenues skyrocket,
your employees are happier because your customers are happier, and you're lowering
costs because you've cut out the parts that aren't working, and buying more
because you can afford to branch out. The facts are thus:
-You'll see 10% pipeline
conversion to your competitors
-40% increases in staff
productivity
-25-30% improvement to customer retention
-lower costs across the
board
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