This is the second in a four-part series that the CCC team is writing on New Year’s Resolutions for 2012…as it relates to the customer experience, of course. Read part one here.
New Year’s observation: If there’s anything longer than the line at the (bar) (buffet line) (dessert table) in December…it’s the line at the (gym) (health club) (Weight Watchers’ meeting) in January.
‘Tis the season to resolve.
If your quest for the new year is to drop a few holiday-induced L-B-S’s…the best advice I’ve ever heard is, “Write down everything you eat during the course of the day.” Turns out that simply training your brain to become hyper-aware of how many unnecessary calories we each consume every day is the “trigger” to kickstart a whole new mental process, that ultimately makes you eat less, and lose weight. (BTW, 45 minutes a day on the treadmill ain’t gonna kill ya either, pal!)
But if your resolution for 2012 is to create an even greater customer experience at your company, here’s a small piece of friendly advice that will similarly trigger a new mental process for you and your entire team. It’s a matter of eliminating one simple phrase from your everyday vocabulary. It’s not a phrase that sounds harmful at any level (in fact, when you use it, you probably think you’re doing something positive). But if you stop using it (although it’ll be hard at first), many amazing things will happen.
Stop saying, “the customer.”
I mean, we say that all the time. We ALL do. We all talk about how important it is to listen to the customer. To treat the customer with respect. To reduce the effort the customer has to put forth to resolve their issue.
But here’s where we need to re-wire our brains. ‘Cause there’s no such thing as THE customer.
Your company has thousands of customers. Or millions. And they are each very different. They have different interests, experience levels, language issues, expectations. And the more we allow ourselves to think about them as if they are one thing, one amorphous mass, one chain-gang of humanity…the further we get from creating the kind of customer experience that defines excellence in todays world:
A tailored, customized interaction that meets the specific needs of that one person, and their issue(s).
So, we need to stop thinking about thousands of different people (our customers) as one thing (THE customer) and start thinking of them as individuals who are as different from each other as — let’s say — your grandmother…and that weird dude with the gigantic gauged earlobes who works at the music store. Both of whom may very well be your customers.
Now, the fact that you have thousands of different people as customers doesn’t mean you need to create thousands of different service experiences. But certainly “one size fits all” isn’t the right approach either.
That’s where customer segmentation comes in. Instead of just segmenting customers based on how you see them or how they appear to the company (higher-or-lower value, users of different products) it’s important to segment customers based on what matters to them (personality needs, issue urgency, level of interest in what your company provides).
I saw a great sign during this past year in the break room at the Houston-based call center of Southwest Airlines (one of the great low-effort service companies in the CCC network). It reads simply…
Behind every customer, is a person.
Here’s wishing that 2012 is the year you and your company refocus on the people you serve, instead of just THE customer.
HOW ABOUT YOU? What are you resolving to do differently in 2012?
Related CCC Resources:
- Customer Segementation (B2B and B2C Findings)
- How Cisco Increased Web Stickiness through Customer Segmentation
- Personality-Driven Service (Training Resources)
Related posts:
- New Year’s Resolution Series: A More Valuable Survey
- New Year’s Resolution Series: Achieve Cost Savings that Last
- New Year’s Resolution Series: Prioritize Your Customer Experience Improvements
- New Year’s Resolution Series: Not Your Grandmother’s Engagement Solutions
- Does Issue Resolution Belong on Rep Scorecards?
on January 19, 2012
Respond
I have been saying this for a good three years now and it’s amazing how hard it can be for people to make just one simple change in language. My reasoning is different from yours, however. Customers are people not things. When we refer to things we say: THE table, THE computer, THE cup, etc. But when you refer to people, especially people you care about, you say: MY friend, YOUR friend, OUR friend, not THE friend. To me, when you stop saying THE customer and start saying OUR customers, all of the sudden your mindset becomes one that views customers as human beings and not objects.
on January 19, 2012
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Jenna–Hey there…thanks so much for your great and insightful comment. Brilliant. I REALLY like the way you’ve phrased this, and the way you’re thinking about the need for “personalization” in customer strategies. This is so well-articulated—as a show of appreciation, I plan to steal this idea and use it from now on. (always giving proper credit, of course!)
on January 19, 2012
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One of the article’s related resources proposes using a personality-driven service model to assist in providing a tailored customer experience. This basic concept seems like a good idea, but the particular personality model suggested by CCC warrants concern. It appears to be closely related to the Myers-Briggs personality framework, which has consistently fared poorly in scientific testing. What empirical evidence is there to support the model proposed by CCC?
Before any enterprise adopts a personality-driven service model, it should do its homework and only employ tools that have been scientifically shown to accurately measure personality and predict behavior. Fortunately, there is a wealth of relevant academic and applied research to drawn on, and decision-makers do not need to rely on anecdotes and simple case studies.
on January 24, 2012
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Great article… I love the idea of changing the way people think. Just wondering how you refer to ‘the customer’ in communications, visions etc. Is it enough to say ‘our customers’ or are there other recommended ways to phrase this?
Loved Jenna’s comment as well…
thanks,
Brett
on January 27, 2012
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