Are You Listening to Your Gut or Your Customer?

Mary Schmidt had a brief but powerful post that asks all of us the question: "who do you think about when you focus on company goals and priorities?" Do you focus on "our" goals and "our" priorities or do you focus on what your customers' want and expect?

Let me add a follow up question: "Do you even know what your customers want and expect?"

It's not just a question for executive goals and initiatives, it's a valid question for the Quality Assurance (QA) team, as well. It's common for QA teams to focus on what management wants to hear in the call and not give any thought to what customers want and expect.

I've been amazed through the years to see how many entrepreneurs and executives smugly announce "I know what our customers want!" - but they've never taken the time to systematically ask customers and measure the response.

Maybe it's time to stop listening to your gut and start listening to your customers.

Related Posts:
Do You Know What You Don't Know?
Lower Prices Isn't Always What Customer's Want
Don't Blame the CSR for Losing My Business

Comments

[Ann Handley]

Great reminder, Tom. Often (in life and business), it's better to shut up & listen than it is to talk.

[Tom Vander Well]

Thanks for stopping by Ann. You're right! It's a great lesson for both business and life. At least, I know my wife would agree :)

[Ellen Weber]

What a good reminder Tom ... and yet there must be reasons companies do not seem to care -- there must be. I wonder what would happen if one brave company went over the edge for customers and others saw the profitability of that move... It's seems such a no-brainer. Not sure why we keep falling farther from clients:-)but I think the opportunity is there for the industry that wants to set a new standard:-)

[Tom Vander Well]

The opportunity is definitely there, Ellen - but it requires a leap of faith for many. It is an investment, of course. Yet, I wonder if the fear for many an entreprenuer is not the cost, but the fear of finding out what their customers really think. I have yet to meet someone who was not grateful that they took th leap when all was said and done. As Julia Cameron says, "Leap - and the net will appear".