The customer is always wronged
You’ve done this. You’ve launched a new part of the customer journey, a training course, an onboarding email series, a best practice document or maybe a revised QBR process and you didn’t seek out any customer input. Admit it. You’ve done it. I know I’ve done it before. Guess what? You have wronged the customer. There are no exceptions.
Pop quiz. Have you ever thought or said these statements out loud?
- “I don’t have time to get customer input. I need to get this [insert blank] launched”
- “I speak to a lot of customers, I know what they need”.
- “I’ve got input from all of our internal stakeholders. It was hard enough getting everyone to agree. Let’s just go with what we have.”
- “This is a best practice that others customer success managers have used. It will work for our customers too”.
Guess what? You have wronged the customer. When it comes to building processes for your customers, you don’t know what they want unless you talk to them. You may think you do but most likely, you will miss the mark and may even cause more damage than good. You’re not alone. According to the 2018 Global State of CX Report, just 3% of those companies surveyed provide an outstanding customer experience. I can guarantee that that the low performers in this survey are not doing enough to listen to their customers.
Here’s the good thing. A recent survey demonstrated that customers want to give you their input. Just make it easy for them with a short survey or by offering to pay for their time. Make them feel valued. It’s easier than you think.
