Thursday, July 14, 2011

What does your customer think of you?

Many companies can ask this question internally and get replies that vary from; I do not know to they like us to they love us. These vague answers unfortunately are just not enough though to help companies take corrective actions that would lead to better business decisions.

Leading companies make sure that they not only know what their customers think of them but can point to specific metrics to prove their case. If you are not there yet a good start would be to formally meet with your top customers and conduct a  business review / interview asking detailed questions that allow you to better understand their use case for buying your product.
Document answers to questions like:
  1. What problem(s) were they trying to solve?
  2. What were the company’s business drivers?
  3. Was there a driving event that catapulted the initiative?
  4. What type of decision time frame were they working with?
  5. What was the customer using before your solution?
  6. Where their other solutions being considered?
  7. Were there specific reasons why they selected our solution
  8. Did they roll out all at once or was it phased?
  9. Is there a secondary use case for the product?
  10. Was there a consultant or consulting group involved in the selection process? Who?
  11. How has business improved since implementing our product(s)?
  12. Can I use a quote or testimonial or write a case study? 
This "Voice of the Customer" activity will enable you get a more thorough understanding of what "value" you delivered to the customer and how you did it. Armed with this information, you can update your existing marketing strategy and then modify the messaging in all your marketing assets as needed to have more impact.

Make it a great day
e