Focus on Customer Outcomes

I recently read an article called Don’t Give Customers What They Think They  Want in which the writer, Steve Towers reminds us of Henry Ford’s great quote ““if we ask customers what they want they’ll ask for faster horses.”  Customers are not always able to think outside the box and articulate what they want, but they all know what they want to happen as a result of what they bought or the service they received.

I talk a lot about talking with your customer to understand what is valuable to them – what can you do or provide that will set you apart from the competition.  But Steve is right – if we ask the question wrong – i.e. expect the customer to understand what we need to do or provide to help them achieve their goals, then we could travel down a wrong path. 

I’m reminded of a great cartoon that depicts every department’s view on a customer request.  You can see what is budgeted, what is designed, what is marketed and then delivered – none of which are what the customer actually wanted.

Experts.com has an article offering 20 questions to ask your customer to help gain a better understanding of what they need.

Paul Cherry wrote an article offering ways to ask some tough questions of customers considering the difficult economic times.  What is the first thing you need to do?  BUILD RAPPORT.  It’s all about building relationships.  Gee – where have I heard that before?

What ways have you separated what the customer thinks he/she wants versus what their ultimate goal is?