To understand a man, you must walk a mile in his shoes', so says the proverb of the North American Cherokee Indians. Whilst it is becoming a cliché to describe where we are as the new world it is nevertheless true that people are thinking in new ways, therefore have new attitudes and demonstrate new behaviours as a result.
As a Chartered Marketer Veronica Swindale, Managing Director of nesma asks us to take a step back to make sure we fully understand our customer’s journey and how they feel about it. If we are to be successful in business, we must therefore reappraise our market and identify not only whether we still have the customers we used to have but also be clear where any new potential business may now lie. There are several key things to take into account here: a) Clearly understand what your customers want, what is important to them and why they buy from you; b) Do not work on assumptions – if you are going to use personas, make sure they are based on the results of real people who you work with; c) Make sure your business decisions are based on factual information from actual customers or prospects; d) Have a clear understanding of every stage of your customer’s journey; e) Have a plan! Communication is as essential as customer service. I recently spotted a new sandwich shop whilst out shopping and thought good for them (as Greggs was just around the corner) and decided to pop in for a sandwich. Instead of giving me a friendly greeting (who knows, I could work in an office of 50 people, and they could all be potential customers), the assistant swore about the fact that the card machine had intermittent connectivity and the ‘sandwich maker’ came through from the back and completely ignored me. The sandwich was good and was nicely packaged, but the service and lack of human interaction let them down. A simple example of an impulse opportunity that won’t be repeated. We often talk about the customer journey and assume it starts with how quickly we answer a web request, online chat, email or phone call. More of that later. There are several stages before that one. The first is known as ‘pre-recognition’ experience. This means that even before you knew you were a potential customer for a particular restaurant, vehicle or even divorce lawyer, your perceptions of a brand or company are formed. By word of mouth and a million different types of ‘phygital’ (physical plus digital) media and channels. Hearing about other peoples’ experiences over time shapes our perceptions.
