The reality of customer satisfaction is in the eyes of the beholder: the customer. The sooner we realize and accept our customers’ perceptions of our products and services as reality, and accept it as our challenge, the sooner we will earn their trust and become their permanent supplier of choice.
Customer connectivity represents a set of business processes that affect all aspects of the business. Customer satisfaction is much more than the clichés of “approaching customers” and the motto “the customer is always right”. Because some companies sell to a variety of customers with varying and even conflicting wants and needs, the goal of getting closer to customers and the motto that “the customer is always right” are somewhat vague. Nor have we found a significant business philosophy in the terms “market-driven” and “customer-oriented.” Most business gurus use the phrases interchangeably and have difficulty defining and communicating their scope and meaning. Successful business leaders go beyond these clichés and strive to provide their selected customers with products and services under the Customer Connectivity business philosophy.
Because different customers have different needs, a company cannot effectively meet this wide range of needs equally. The most important strategic decision in the pursuit of customer connectivity is choosing the most important customers. All customers are important, but invariably some are more important than others. Collaboration across functions is important when identifying key accounts and market segments. With that done, salespeople know who to call first and, more often than not, the people who schedule production runs know who gets preferential treatment; those who make service calls know who deserves special attention. If priorities aren’t clear in the lull of planning meetings, they certainly won’t be when sales, production scheduling, and service dispatch processes get hectic.
Client connectivity begins with client selection, however the next phase is just as important. Company executives must gain a deep understanding of their customers’ buying influences and their relevant needs. Such customer information must be communicated by these executives beyond sales and marketing functions and must be allowed to “permeate all business functions”: R&D and design engineers, manufacturing/quality personnel, and product specialists. Field service. When these technologists, for example, get unvarnished feedback on how customers are using their products, they can better develop improvements to products and production processes. If, on the other hand, people in the market predict information, technologists may miss opportunities for improvement.
Client connectivity must be predicted on team dynamics and engagement. Serial communications, where one department routinely passes an idea or request to another, without interaction cannot create the team dynamics and engagement necessary for Customer connectivity. Successful new products do not arise, for example, from a process in which marketing sends a set of specifications to R&D; R&D sends conceptual design to design engineering, which sends finished drawings and designs to manufacturing. But joint design/development reviews and decision making, in which functional and divisional people from the customer and supplier share ideas and discuss alternative solutions and approaches, leverages the different strengths of each party. Powerful internal and external connections make for clear new product development communications, strong coordination, and high engagement.
Establishing effective business relationships with key customer personnel is critical to making it easier for customers to do business with your company. From the shop floor to the front office, we must establish “one-on-one” customer communications that provide real-time information to the customer regarding business relationships, product performance, and field service. We must turn these communications into action plans and do our best to quickly resolve all issues. Let’s remember that being nice to people is only 20% of providing good customer service. The important part is designing systems that allow you to do the job right the first time. Not all the smiles in the world will help you if your products or services are not satisfactory.
Individual and team hotline communications with customers are the best approach to getting timely and relevant feedback on “how we’re doing” from customers. Customer satisfaction surveys are tedious, possibly vendor biased, and not very accurate in their depiction of customer service. We prefer a “one-to-one” client connectivity system!