Ask the Customer
When we meet clients for the first time, one of the first questions we ask is what makes you different?
Sometimes the client believes they know. They think they are better than their competitors in some way.
In truth many of us work in very competitive environments, where many of our competitors say the same as us when they are asked the same question.
So how can you really know what makes you different?
The answer is to ask your customers…
There are a few ways to do that:
Online survey – this is best for getting ratings for a specific service, but it is hard to really dig into people’s thoughts online, and response rates can be quite poor
Face to face – you could book time for an annual review where you go through your work with your customer and ask them about how it was for them. This can be a great experience for you both, but be aware that sometimes it puts the customer on the spot which can be uncomfortable.
Telephone – diarise a convenient time to call them – less confrontational than face to face but still a good way to capture their thoughts
Outsource this to a third party. We do this for a lot of our clients and they find the results very informative and helpful. Customers tend to feel less intimidated talking to somebody else, and you can get some very illuminating answers. We’ve also created some great testimonials for our clients as a result of these conversations.
But whilst we’d love you to hire us to help you out with this, actually, that’s not why we are sharing this…
We just want you to understand your business from your customers’ point of view
Why do they like working with you? What makes you different in their eyes?
The better you understand the answers to those questions the more effective you can be. And then you’ll know what to make the most of – and what needs to change to ensure you deliver exceptional customer experiences.
