Killing your customers? Yes, if you ignore customer satisfaction!

I recently watched a video by Geoff Burch, ‘Six ways to kill your customers off’. A catchy title and a catchy subject matter - I was in intrigued as to what the content would hold.

In this video Geoff discusses the six most common customer strategy mistakes that businesses can make. He makes some interesting and valid points. The main feature that jumped out to me related to customer satisfaction.

Burch says “If you want to grow your business it’s not your existing customers that you have to satisfy but other people’s customers”. With this statement he has hit the nail right on the head, recognising how vital it really is for organisations to focus directly on their customers’ needs and opinions. A new league of customer focused organisations is being primed for market domination, recognising that they have to look at the bigger picture and empower the voice of the customer. Gone are the days when you could concentrate on your customers’ feedback once a year. Now a continuous approach to gaining competitive advantage has emerged.

Burch goes on to say “So really, it’s not my satisfied customers that I’m interested in it’s my dissatisfied customers and the people who have actually chosen not to do business with me” .

To create a competitive advantage in any market you need to ask yourself: Why have my customers chosen not to do business with me? Only then will you be able to utilise customer feedback to your advantage, as this approach will help you make informed decisions for the future which not only attract your competitors’ customers but enhance your own customer retention and acquisition in the long term.

In summary, any company that is taking customer feedback initiatives seriously should consider these points, as they emphasise the importance of effective competitor benchmarking and customer insight!