Transcript What Customers Need Bruce Kasanoff Author Making it Personal

What Customers Need
Bruce Kasanoff
Author
Making it Personal
How I spent the last three months:
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)
Not another customer…
Company
benefits
Customer
benefits
Unsustainable
Customer
benefits
Sustainable
Company
benefits
Across the country, over
the past five years, has
customer service:
45%
32%
A. Improved significantly
B. Improved modestly
C. Remained the same
9%
D. Declined modestly
E. Declined significantly
14%
0%
A
B
C
D
E
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.
Does your business have a formal
and accurate method for
measuring the consistency with
which you meet customer
requirements?
50%
A. Yes
B. We’re close
20%
15%
15%
C. We’re just starting
D. No
A
B
C
D
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?
What are the odds that a
“satisfied customer” will
remain loyal?
40%
29%
A. 10 to 1
B. 5 to 1
14%
C. Even odds
17%
D. We really don’t know
A
B
C
D
Stop
1.
2.
3.
4.
Stop measuring “satisfaction.”
Stop forgetting what I tell you.
Stop making problems for me.
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.
Are the people in your division
more likely to say your firm
solves problems for customers or
sells products/services to them?
45%
29%
Solves problems
23%
Sells products/services
Neither
Both
3%
1
2
3
4
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 [email protected]
 You can also call me at (203) 341-9448