What Customers Need

Bruce Kasanoff Author

Making it Personal

Arthur Blank (Home Depot)Vaughan Beals (Harley Davidson)

Jim Cantelupo (McDonald’s)Jay Fishman (St. Paul Travelers)Robert Johnson (Black Entertainment Television)Shelly Lazarus (Ogilvy & Mather)Lord Peter Levene (Lloyd’s of London)Rick Menell (Anglovaal Mining)Nandan Nilekani (Infosys)John Pepper (P&G)David Pottruck (Charles Schwab Co.)John Rogers (Ariel Capital Management)Paul Tagliabue (NFL Commissioner)William Wrigley, Jr. (The Wrigley Company)

How I spent the last three months:

Not another customer…

Customerbenefits

Companybenefits

Unsustainable

Customerbenefits

Companybenefits

Sustainable

9%

0%

14%

45%

32%

A B C D E

Across the country, over the past five years, has customer service:

A. Improved significantly

B. Improved modestly

C. Remained the same

D. Declined modestly

E. Declined significantly

Your customers sent me.

How great firms profit by making life less difficult for customers

• CEO• Sr mgmt• Managers• Staff• Front lines

Today, pick one action… and do it

Listen Examine Stop Solve

Listen

1. Remember information for me, not just about me.

2. Know more about me than your competitors do.

3. Show me why I can trust you.

4. Communicate in a sincere and understandable way.

5. Take personal accountability for my needs.

6. No secrets, please.

7. Listen actively to what I tell you.

8. Respond quickly and meaningfully to my feedback.

9. Tell your colleagues what they need to know about me.

10. Remember what makes me different than others.

15%20%

15%

50%

A B C D

Does your business have a formal and accurate method for measuring the consistency with which you meet customer requirements?

A. Yes

B. We’re close

C. We’re just starting

D. No

Examine

1. Do you look at things through my eyes?

2. Do you anticipate my needs?

3. Can you make it easier for employees to help me?

4. Are you giving me negative “clues?”

5. Why should I want you to be successful?

6. Do you use too much jargon?

7. How consistently do you meet my requirements?

8. Are you flexible enough to win more of my business?

9. Do you measure success in a way that also benefits me?

10. How effective are you at inventing solutions for me?

40%

14%17%

29%

A B C D

What are the odds that a “satisfied customer” will remain loyal?

A. 10 to 1

B. 5 to 1

C. Even odds

D. We really don’t know

Stop

1. Stop measuring “satisfaction.”

2. Stop forgetting what I tell you.

3. Stop making problems for me.

4. Stop any initiative that has no direct benefits for

customers.

5. Stop wasting resources on the wrong customers.

6. Stop defending inaction and inattention.

7. Stop allowing your interests to clash with mine.

8. Stop holding employees back; let them solve my problems.

9. Stop relying on overly complicated approaches.

10. Stop avoiding me.

29%

45%

23%

3%

1 2 3 4

Are the people in your division more likely to say your firm solves problems for customers or sells products/services to them?

Solves problems

Sells products/services

Neither

Both

Solve

1. Recognize patterns that can save me time, money or effort.

2. Eliminate from my experience everything irrelevant to me.

3. Don’t ask the same question twice.

4. Give me more expert and relevant advice.

5. Design service into the products themselves.

6. Error-proof your services so I can’t make mistakes.

7. Reduce the steps I must take.

8. Minimize repetition for me.

9. Assume functions I used to perform.

10. Trigger actions automatically according to my conditions.

Do you want a one-page summary of what I learned from top CEOs?

Please give me your business card or email bruce@nowpossible.com

You can also call me at (203) 341-9448