Putting the customer back in focus

In one of my previous posts I wrote about the sublime goal of having “cool” customers. It struck me right there and then that the name of my CRM blog site “customersarecool” carries an interesting double challenge.

The name “customersarecool” has an immediate relevance for every business. Two, actually.

Firstly, it’s a tongue-in-cheek way of saying: ‘If you are going to be a successful business with satisfied customers, you had better like your customers, you had better think they are “cool”.’

The above based on the simple premise of course, that you cannot deliver consistent and sustainable quality in your products or services if you are not enthused and excited about those you deliver them to.

Otherwise, it’s like trying to be friends with someone you’re not really interested in.  Sooner or later the relationship will crumble.

It’s the enthusiasm and excitement that is going to underpin your motivation to find out what your customer needs and to satisfy that need with your products and services;  a pre-requisite before you even start doing business with any customer.

Now imagine a customer who does not have a worry in the world.

Take the average satisfied consumer enjoying a middle class lifestyle: his (or her) car is running smoothly, internet works fine, his bills are paid and they are always correct, he doesn’t really have much to worry about when it comes to his role in life of being a customer.

Mentally, the ‘customer in him’ is sitting in a deckchair on the beach, sipping an ice cold drink in the sun, listening to the waves rolling in and out. Not a single worry in the world.

A very cool customer indeed.

This is exactly what CRM is all about. Getting your customer so satisfied that when it comes to your products and services, it’s like living on the beach.

So there you have it, the double challenge.

You need to find your customer very, very cool to be able to understand what makes him tick; what he desires.

You need to then ensure that you satisfy this desire with such excellence that he becomes that cool customer on the beach.

In the end, if you don’t find your customer cool, he most likely never will be.