We regularly ask our new clients what it was that made them seek us out. And although it's never the exact same answer, it is centred around a common theme of "how do we give ourselves the confidence that we are focused on the right business drivers to achieve growth".
It also comes in the form of other questions like:
- How do we get our team aligned around the right outcomes?
- How do we improve the Customer Experience along the end to end journey?
- How can we ensure fewer arguments across departments about what to focus on or even?
- How do we understand exactly what our customers do and don’t want from our products and services?
A recent research study across 800 internal research buyers provided similar insights.
43% of people tasked with improving the customer experience in their organisation, voted that their favourite thing about research "was to make decisions with better evidence".
32% or almost 1/3 of respondents voted that it brought the voice of the customer to their teams...so they could all make better decisions.
Or in even simpler terms, 75% of all respondents believed Customer Research when done well, helped them make better business decisions.
This raised some questions that we should all being asking ourselves:
Things like:
- Do we employ Customers as our most valuable advisers? How often when the the stakes are important, do we seek out evidence from those that are the most informed about what is important - our customers?
- What do our customers really want? What do our customers really want from our product/service (beyond the obvious) and do I really (really) know given all the change going on?
- What are our Customer Top 3 Needs? If asked, how many companies would be able to list their customers top 3 Needs( and have the Exec all agree... and how that translates to program management?
This is where lots of times, we hear leaders say " But we know what our customers want".
At a surface level that's largely right. But so do your competitors. Everyone knows at a high level the big rocks for customers. "On time, in full, good price, no surprises...etc...
Tell me who isn't working on those obvious "needs"?
What the vast majority of companies don't know is:
- How well is your business actually doing against those customer expectations that really matter?
- What are the other expectations that your business isn't aware of that can create new and differentiated value?
And that's what the best companies do well, that win in the arena of customer experience. They don't leave winning to chance and they inform all their key decisions with data from their most valuable advisers - their customers.
They understand at a much deeper level why their customers use their product or service and what role it fills in their life.
They use this insight to understand their customers' needs, validate early-stage solutions and bring the voice of the customer into the business so...everyone can make better more informed business decisions.
And from that follows stronger growth, increased retention and less confusion and much more clarity and confidence in our work ....and a better experience for your customers.
If you would like to learn more about how you can do this in your business click here.
